Esterhof

Last updated

Esterhof
South Africa Western Cape location map.svg
Red pog.svg
Esterhof
South Africa adm location map.svg
Red pog.svg
Esterhof
Coordinates: 33°23′08″S18°55′19″E / 33.38556°S 18.92194°E / -33.38556; 18.92194
Country South Africa
Province Western Cape
District West Coast
Municipality Swartland
Area
[1]
  Total
0.51 km2 (0.20 sq mi)
Population
 (2011) [1]
  Total
3,617
  Density7,100/km2 (18,000/sq mi)
Racial makeup (2011)
[1]
   Coloured 83.7%
   Black African 14.2%
   Indian/Asian 1.0%
   White 0.6%
  Other0.5%
First languages (2011)
[1]
   Afrikaans 85.1%
   Xhosa 8.9%
   English 2.8%
  Other3.2%
Time zone UTC+2 (SAST)

Esterhof is a settlement and housing development in West Coast District Municipality in the Western Cape province of South Africa. Esterhof is located roughly two kilometers to the east of Riebeek-Kasteel, separated by a railway and industrial buildings, and was originally created as part of apartheid initiatives that forcibly displaced Coloured people out of Oukloof in the 1960s. [2] [3]

Contents

Geography

Esterhof is two kilometers east of Riebeek-Kasteel's center, and is part of the broader agrarian Swartland region. [2] The settlement is also approximately 6 kilometres (3.7 mi) west of the Berg River. [4] Esterhof is in the hot-summer Mediterranean climate (Csa) zone of the Köppen climate classification system. [5] [6]

History

Esterhof was founded by the local white-run Village Management Board in the mid-1960s to house the Coloured community that the Board was forcibly displacing from Oukloof, near Riebeek-Kasteel. [2] [7] A local Swartland newspaper announced in December 1961 that Riebeek-Kasteel had been declared a whites-only area, stating:

The whole area west of the railway track will be white, the Southeast will be coloured. It is the responsibility of the Village Management to plan the new area and to supply services. The Village Management must also supply houses to those who cannot afford it. Individuals can apply for a loan if they want to buy their own houses. Three months notice should be given prior to the move.

Swartland newspaper, 23 December 1961 (Cape Town Archive Repository: 1961 Group Act Press release CDC 597 G7/493/1) [8]

The Department of Coloured Affairs disputed the chosen location of the new community, noting that the land wasn't suitable for new housing, resembled a swamp, was too far from the town, and was too close to wine cellars and a wine waste sediment dam. [2] The local Village Management Board went ahead regardless, naming the new settlement Esterhof after its chair, Johannes Esterhuysen. [2] Forced displacement out of Oukloof began in September 1965, and ultimately 62 families were moved to Esterhof. [2] [9] New residents were promised titled deeds after they had lived in Esterhof for 10 years, but this never happened. [9]

In 1997, following apartheid's end, 56 former Oukloof residents lodged a land claim with the Commission on Restitution of Land Rights, providing documentation of having previously lived in Riebeek-Kasteel and asking for both monetary compensation and title deeds to their Esterhof homes. The Commission decided that financial compensation could be used by individuals to settle their debts to the municipality, which would then allow them to acquire full land tenure. In 2000, R 17,500 (2000) (equivalent to R55,855.46or US$ 4,220.63 in 2018) [10] was paid to each of the 56 claimants. One claimant noted that many former Oukloof residents thought the amount was too small, but by then "it was December and everybody became desperate to have something rather than nothing." [11] Residents used the restitution money on basic needs, renovations, furniture, and purchases associated with memories of their former lives in Oukloof. [3] For others, it enabled geographic and social mobility, allowing them to leave Riebeek-Kasteel and the Riebeek Valley, which many viewed as a site of entrenched oppression. [3]

As of 2004, Esterhof is a low-income majority-Coloured community with high rates of unemployment and overcrowding. Most of its population are seasonally employed on farms, in factories, or as domestic workers. [3] Esterhof's population has grown from around 2,000 in 2004 [3] to over 3,600 in 2011. [1]

Related Research Articles

At common law, damages are a remedy in the form of a monetary award to be paid to a claimant as compensation for loss or injury. To warrant the award, the claimant must show that a breach of duty has caused foreseeable loss. To be recognized at law, the loss must involve damage to property, or mental or physical injury; pure economic loss is rarely recognized for the award of damages.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Jan van Riebeeck</span> Dutch colonial governor (1619–1677)

Johan Anthoniszoon "Jan" van Riebeeck was a Dutch navigator, ambassador and colonial administrator of the Dutch East India Company.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">East London, South Africa</span> City in Eastern Cape, South Africa

East London is a city on the southeastern coast of South Africa, in the Buffalo City Metropolitan Municipality, Eastern Cape Province. The city lies on the Indian Ocean coast, largely between the Buffalo River and the Nahoon River, and hosts the country's only river port. As of 2011, East London had a population of over 267,000 with over 755,000 in the surrounding metropolitan area.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">District Six</span> Former area of Cape Town, South Africa

District Six is a former inner-city residential area in Cape Town, South Africa. In 1966, the apartheid government announced that the area would be razed and rebuilt as a "whites only" neighbourhood under the Group Areas Act. Over the course of a decade, over 60,000 of its inhabitants were forcibly removed and in 1970 the area was renamed Zonnebloem, a name that makes reference to an 18th century colonial farm. At the time of the proclamation, 56% of the district’s property was White-owned, 26% Coloured-owned and 18% Indian-owned. Most of the residents were Cape Coloureds and they were resettled in the Cape Flats. The vision of a new white neighbourhood was not realised and the land has mostly remained barren and unoccupied. The original area of District Six is now partly divided between the suburbs of Walmer Estate, Zonnebloem, and Lower Vrede, while the rest is generally undeveloped land.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Witzenberg Local Municipality</span> Local municipality in Western Cape, South Africa

Witzenberg Municipality is a local municipality located within the Cape Winelands District Municipality, in the Western Cape province of South Africa. As of 2022 it had a population of 103,765.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Drakenstein Local Municipality</span> Local municipality in Western Cape, South Africa

Drakenstein Municipality is a local municipality located within the Cape Winelands District Municipality, in the Western Cape province of South Africa. As of 2011, it had a population of 251,262. Its municipality code is WC023.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bergrivier Local Municipality</span> Local municipality in Western Cape, South Africa

Bergrivier Municipality is a local municipality in the Western Cape province of South Africa. It governs the towns of Piketberg, Velddrif and Porterville, as well as the surrounding villages and rural areas. As of 2011, it had a population of 61,897. It is located within the West Coast District Municipality and its municipality code is WC013.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Saldanha Bay Local Municipality</span> Local municipality in Western Cape, South Africa

Saldanha Bay Municipality is a local municipality located within the West Coast District Municipality, in the Western Cape province of South Africa. As of 2011, it had a population of 99,193. Its municipality code is WC014.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Swartland Local Municipality</span> Local municipality in Western Cape, South Africa

Swartland Municipality is a local municipality located in the Western Cape province of South Africa. Malmesbury is the seat of the municipality. As of 2022, it had a population of 148,331. Its municipality code is WC015.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Apartheid</span> South African system of racial separation

Apartheid was a system of institutionalised racial segregation that existed in South Africa and South West Africa from 1948 to the early 1990s. It was characterised by an authoritarian political culture based on baasskap, which ensured that South Africa was dominated politically, socially, and economically by the nation's minority white population. Under this minoritarian system, white citizens held the highest status, followed by Indians, Coloureds and black Africans, in that order. The economic legacy and social effects of apartheid continue to the present day, particularly inequality.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Group Areas Act</span> South African laws codifying racial segregation

Group Areas Act was the title of three acts of the Parliament of South Africa enacted under the apartheid government of South Africa. The acts assigned racial groups to different residential and business sections in urban areas in a system of urban apartheid. An effect of the law was to exclude people of colour from living in the most developed areas, which were restricted to Whites. It required many people of colour to commute large distances from their homes to be able to work. The law led to people of colour being forcibly removed for living in the "wrong" areas. People of colour, who were the majority at the time, were given much smaller areas to live in than the white minority. Pass Laws required people of colour to carry pass books and later "reference books", similar to passports, to enter the "white" parts of the country.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Indian South Africans</span> South Africans descended from British Indian indentured labourers, read as slaves, and migrants

Indian South Africans are South Africans who descend from indentured labourers and free migrants who arrived from British India during the late 1800s and early 1900s. The majority live in and around the city of Durban, making it one of the largest ethnically Indian-populated cities outside of India.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Riebeek-Kasteel</span> Place in Western Cape, South Africa

Riebeek-Kasteel is one of the oldest towns in South Africa, situated at 80 km north-east of Cape Town in The Riebeek Valley together with its sister town Riebeek West. They set off in the direction of Paardeberg and on 3 February 1661 they ascended a lonely mountain and came upon the fertile vista of the Riebeek Valley. They named it Riebeek Kasteel, in honor of the Commander.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Western Cape Anti-Eviction Campaign</span> Movement in Cape Town, South Africa

The Western Cape Anti-Eviction Campaign was a non-racial popular movement made up of poor and oppressed communities in Cape Town, South Africa. It was formed in November 2000 with the aim of fighting evictions, water cut-offs and poor health services, obtaining free electricity, securing decent housing, and opposing police brutality.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Riebeek West</span> Place in Western Cape, South Africa

Riebeek West is a small town situated about 75 km north-east of Cape Town and 5 km north of its twin town Riebeek Kasteel in the Swartland area of the Western Cape, South Africa.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Coloured Persons Communal Reserves Act, 1961</span> South African law of the apartheid era

The Coloured Persons Communal Reserves Act of 1961, was an Apartheid South Africa piece of legislation, which was enacted to apply the Mission Stations and Communal Reserves Act 1909, of the Cape of Good Hope, to coloured persons settlement areas within the meaning of the Coloured Persons Settlement Areas (Cape) Act, 1930, to repeal the latter Act and to provide for matters incidental thereto.

Land reform in South Africa is the promise of "land restitution" to empower farm workers and reduce inequality. This also refers to aspects such as, property, possibly white-owned businesses. Proponents argue it will allow previously unemployed people to participate in the economy and better the country's economic growth. It also relates to restitution in the form of settling Land Claims of people who were forcefully removed from their homes in urban areas that were declared white, by the apartheid government's segregationist Group Areas Act: such areas include Sophiatown, Fietas, Cato Manor, District Six and Greyville; as well as restitution for people forcibly evicted from rural land because of apartheid policies.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Trafalgar High School (Cape Town)</span> Public school in Cape Town, Western Cape, South Africa

Trafalgar High School is a public English medium co-educational secondary school in District Six of Cape Town in South Africa. It was the first school built in Cape Town for coloured and black students. The school took a leading role in protesting against apartheid policies. It celebrated its centenary in 2012 and is still running and was recently declared a heritage site.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Preservation of Coloured Areas Act, 1961</span> South African law of the apartheid era

The Preservation of Coloured Areas Act of 1961, was an Apartheid South Africa piece of legislation. It was ostensibly enacted to prevent land in coloured areas from being taken without compensation to the owner even if the owner had not registered his claim. It further entrenched "Coloured Areas" in the law.

Oukloof was a small rural community in the Western Cape of South Africa that was forcibly removed from their homes in 1965, and relocated in a nearby location now known as Esterhof.

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 "Main Place Esterhof". Census 2011.
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 6 "Forced Removal". The Oukloof Legacy. Oukloof Legacy. 2017. Archived from the original on 21 April 2024. Retrieved 12 September 2024.
  3. 1 2 3 4 5 Bohlin, Anna (1 January 2004). "A Price on the Past: Cash as Compensation in South African Land Restitution". Canadian Journal of African Studies. 38 (3): 672–687. doi:10.1080/00083968.2004.10751303.
  4. "Distance from Esterhof to Berg River" (Map). Google Maps . Retrieved 12 September 2024.
  5. "Koppen Earth". Koppen Earth. Haizea Analytics. Retrieved 7 September 2024.
  6. Beck, Hylke E.; McVicar, Tim R.; Vergopolan, Noemi; Berg, Alexis; Lutsko, Nicholas J.; Dufour, Ambroise; Zeng, Zhenzhong; Jiang, Xin; van Dijk, Albert I. J. M.; Miralles, Diego G. (23 October 2023). "High-resolution (1 km) Köppen-Geiger maps for 1901–2099 based on constrained CMIP6 projections". Scientific Data. 10 (1): 724. doi:10.1038/s41597-023-02549-6. PMC   10593765 . PMID   37872197.
  7. "Timeline 1960–1963". The Oukloof Legacy. Oukloof Legacy. 2017. Archived from the original on 21 April 2024. Retrieved 12 September 2024.
  8. "Timeline 1961". The Oukloof Legacy. Oukloof Legacy. 2017. Archived from the original on 21 April 2024. Retrieved 12 September 2024.
  9. 1 2 "Timeline 1965". The Oukloof Legacy. Oukloof Legacy. 2017. Archived from the original on 3 March 2024. Retrieved 12 September 2024.
  10. South Africa – Consumer price index, International Monetary Fund, International Financial Statistics and data files.[ dubious discuss ]
  11. "Timeline 1997". The Oukloof Legacy. Oukloof Legacy. 2017. Archived from the original on 21 April 2024. Retrieved 12 September 2024.