Fifty years ago the apartheid government decreed that Simonstown becomes a whites-only town. It was a shock to the small multicultural community. In 1965 the first residents to be removed over the course of two weekends were the residents from Luyolo. They were moved to Gugulethu too distant to keep their jobs and a far cry from their mountainside idyllic ocean views. In 1968, those categorized as ‘coloured’ were next in line to be forcibly removed to Slangkop, later renamed Ocean View. The Simon’s Town Community was further fractured into other areas including: Steenberg, Retreat, and Grassy Park.  

Each year on heritage day, the residents gather near Jubilee Square in Simonstown to remember the violent removal from their homes. In bitter-sweet embraces and telling of those who passed away and young ones becoming the transmitters of stories old and new. The hurt and pain of injustice and ejection is the inter-generational  trauma that does that does not release them.

“We meet to remind our children and grandchildren. But also we tell, through our witness, those now living in Simonstown what once took place here. We are thankful for those living in Simonstown, who join us to always remember that the horror of apartheid must never, and never, be repeated”.

 

But the memory of what happened half a century ago is fading. Those expelled are aging and many have passed away. It is time we augment the act of annual gatherings with a modest but powerful symbol that we will not forget. We seek a way for the generations after us to stand up to be counted, whether victim or beneficiary that such injustice must never be repeated. To prevent a tide of forgetting, the Simon’s Town Museum with The Simon’s Town Phoenix Committee have embarked on a memorialization project we call ‘Wag ‘n Bietjie.’

Outline: ‘Wag n Bietjie’

The inspiration for ‘Wag ‘n Bietjie’ stems from the German example of Stolpersteine – stumbling stones on the pavements outside homes or shops with inscriptions that remind those who pass that here once lived a Jewish family or an opponent of the Hitler regime, who was taken from this place to be murdered in a concentration camp. To stumble is to remind everyone, every time they pass, that people were once murdered here in the name of descendants now living there. So far there are 69,000 stumbling stones in Germany and throughout Europe where Nazi atrocities took place. The real power of this is that ordinary citizens, however belated, make a personal statement in public in which they acknowledge and demonstrate some responsibility, however minor, for the atrocities committed. Such personal accountability and acknowledgement aims to nurture citizens to always find it in them to stand up and be the guarantor equality and the human rights of any and every human being. It is in this vein that the Simon’s Town Museum Phoenix Committee would like to nurture through memorialization in Simon’s Town, a strong vibrant human rights culture

The ‘Wag ‘n Bietjie’ are a variety of South African shrubs and trees. Literally translated it means ‘hang on a minute’, for the shrub and its tree relation, has a curved counter-thorn that compels you to take a step back reverse before you are free to progress forward. In isiXhosa and isiZulu it is known as umphafa and also known as the buffalo thorn (ziziphus maronata).

The objectives of the ‘Wag ‘n Bietjie’ project is to:

Remember the violent forced removals under the apartheid Group Areas Act

·        Remember the sites where family homes and businesses were razed to the ground.

·        Acknowledge the weight of the past that burdens us to this day.

·        To invite those descending from the perpetrators, whether intentionally or passively, to find ways through which to acknowledge, atone or reach out a reconciling hand.  

·        To seek a dialogue across the divide that is real in our country to this day.

·        To seek collaboration with groups and individuals with similar aims throughout our land.

·        To be educators through example and thus contribute to fairness and a human rights culture.

·        To encourage the telling of stories and memories in archival ways accessible to future generations.

Our partnership with Greatmore Studios exemplified the power of art as a mobilizing and memorial tool. A group of young artists were trained in the art of mosaic making. Under the guidance of the accomplished artists Ziyanda Majozi, Mandisi Mncela and Reagan Rubain, young artists were tutored in mosaic making as a means to designing and creating the memorial benches. The training workshop enabled young people to learn a new skill that can be used as an income generating tool.

The benches were unveiled in 2019 during our annual heritage day programme. In 2021 we placed the benches on Jubilee Square overlooking the False Bay.To have chosen Jubilee Square is poignant in that it locates our memory alongside the memorialization of the men drowned on  the SS Mehndi, Just Nuisance, and the Jubilee of

 

The horror of forced removals under apartheid at last has a visible place in Simon’s Town. No longer can this atrocity be ignored.

Former Simonites will be able to touch and remember through the Wag ‘n Bietjie benches, the past that once they shared in Simon’s Town. They will know that the tragedy and cruelty of forced removals will never be forgotten.

The benches are also physical markers which is connected to an online oral history project. In due time visitors coming to enquire about the benches will be able to listen to people’s stories connected to the different localities in Simon’s Town represented by each of the six benches.

To date we have created six out of twelve benches. If you would like to assist in the development of the next six benches you may contact the Museum Manager, Cathy on cathy@simonstownmuseum.co.za.

We would like to thank the following artists for helping us bring to life a memorial that has impact and meaning to the Simonites once forcefully removed:

Reagan Rubain

Zolani Mguhlo

Melikaya Gwama

Ziyanda Majozi

Mandisi Mncela

Remo Stringer

Diegao Roberts

 

We would like to acknowledge the following people and organisations for their assistance:

 

Ukhona Mlandu

Horst Kleinschmidt

Harry Croome

Greatmore Studio's and Thupelo Trust

South African History Online

STADCO

                                             

The idea of the benches was developed by the Simon’s Town Museum and the The Simon’s Town Phoenix Committee. The benches and the mosaic making workshop was made possible by Greatmore Studios. This was an independent community-driven project that we took upon ourselves to ensure that the story of Forced Removals is visible in the public and touristic space of Simon’s Town. We are not and have never been in the position to return land back to claimants. Instead, we assist claimants with their individual land claims processes using the documentation that we have collected. It is for this reason that our archive is important and accessible. Our objective is to ensure that the memories and stories of Simon’s Town are collected and preserved for future generations.