Protesters seize District Six flats

"Don't worry, I will give you a key, a place to live," said one of the 60 people who illegally occupied vacant flats in District Six intended for land claimants.

The elderly woman being spoken to has waited for years for her land claim to be settled.

She embraced the woman who offered her a home and disappeared up the stairs.

According to the District Six Museum, more than 60 000 people were forcibly removed when the neighbourhood, at the foot of Devil's Peak, was declared a white area in 1966. Many of those displaced instituted land claims and some are still waiting for redress.

On Friday, a group of "Khois an descendants" broke into the flats built by the Department of Rural Development and Land Reform .

On Monday, the department was granted an interim eviction order in the Cape High Court but protesters had angry words yesterday as they waited for the sheriff of the court to appear.

"The Gorachouqua, Goringhaiqua, Goringhaikona and Cochoqua walked this land. There were three kraals here. So how can they say we are invaders? I am standing on my forefathers' land!" said activist Beaulah Smith.

Bradley Sitters added that the Khoisan knew the area of Cape Town long before it became a city.

"The pre-colonial name is //Hui!Gaeb - where the rain clouds gather," said Sitters.

The group, who occasionally stepped outside to sing and blow a shofar - to "call up the spirits of the past" - were seen as an irritation by others in the area.

"I had to wait for this house for many years. You can't do things illegally," said one man.

Department spokesman Vuyani Nkasayi said that 139 units, valued at R1.2-million each, were built.

He said land restitution takes three forms: financial compensation, land restoration and alternative land.

Those who opted for land restoration in District Six have to pay R200000 before occupying the homes - a sum few can afford.

The department is compiling an "indigents list" to assist them.

"District Six is prime land and the value of property there has increased significantly," said Nkasayi.

The group announced that the resurrected United Democratic Front had joined them and they would apply for the eviction order to be revoked .