Cape Town - With its pristine blue coastline and preserved historical buildings, a casual walk or drive through Simon’s Town at first glance shows a quaint slow-moving town with little to no flaws, enlivened by the occasional thrill that comes with an unexpected baboon sighting and navy workers passing through.
However, upon closer inspection and visit to the Simon’s Town Heritage Museum, the eerie emptiness of a town torn apart as a result of the Group Areas Act can still be felt.
Simon’s Town was declared a “White Group Area” on September 1, 1967, seeing over half of its original approximately 12000 inhabitants evicted.
Six schools were closed as a result, with only Simon’s Town High School surviving. Museum curator Sheribeen Amlay said more than 5000 people were evicted.
Amlay took over the running of the museum with a strong Muslim influence, from his aunt and museum founder Zainab Davidson, warmly referred to as “Aunty Patty”, two years ago.
The museum, situated at Amlay’s grandfather’s home at King George Way, is over 150 years old.
Newspaper clippings telling of every triumph and devastation recorded, adorn its interior. All items had been donated from the displaced residents’ families.
“In 1837, slavery was abolished and families (slaves included) started buying properties throughout South Africa, from Green Point, Sea Point, Tamboerskloof Oranjezicht, Bo-Kaap, Claremont, Constantia, Bishops Court, Tokai, Kalk Bay, Fish Hoek and Simon’s Town. They bought property and started farming with fruit, vegetables and flowers,” Amlay said.
Slaves brought to South Africa were from Indonesia, Malaysia, India, Madagascar, Mauritius, Maldives, Mozambique and Zanzibar.
“If any white man wanted a house or property, then the house, the road, and the whole suburb was declared a white area. That is how the Group Areas (Act) worked,” Amlay said.
Luyolo Village was established in 1896 to accommodate the majority of black workers involved in the building of the railway line from Kalk Bay and later employed in constructing the East Dockyard of the Royal Naval Base.
At the time of the enforcement of the Act, its population was at 1500.
Despite resistance, particularly from Amlay’s grandfather, Dawood Achmad Amlay, one of the first councillors of colour in the country and others, residents who were meant to be moved to Transkei and Ciskei, were instead displaced to Gugulethu and Nyanga.
Of the displaced, many were placed on to a truck and taken to Ocean View.
He spoke of a former displaced resident, in his nineties and wheelchair-bound, who would visit the museum every six months, to sit in the corner surrounded by his family’s pictures, sobbing. “That’s the last time he ever saw his family and friends.”
He said it was important for information related to the Group Areas Act and affected communities to be taught at schools, forming part of the syllabus.
Davidson, 88, who resides at the museum established in 1998, said: “Those younger that had been forcibly removed, a lot of them came to find their roots, but at some stage, it stopped because the young ones were not reminded about Simon’s Town.”
She recalled a grandchild sobbing as she was able to touch and smell items belonging to her predecessors when visiting the museum.
Davidson said the area had been predominantly non-white, prior to the evictions. The museum, named “Amlay House” after the navy had taken over, was previously called “Villa Marina” due to its close proximity to the sea, which had nearly reached its fence.
The family has taken up residence at the home, while its claim placed in 1994 is still being processed.
Her father, Dawood Amlay, had owned several properties in Simon’s Town. Davidson said less than a handful of the town’s original inhabitants returned as their claims were resolved.
The museum, largely sustained through donations, is open daily from 9am and offers walking tours to the kramat (Muslim holy shrine) and waterfalls at R150 and R200 respectively, and a meal costing R50.
Amlay has put out a request for anyone to assist with digitising its historical records as well as in the procurement of a laptop, printer, laminator and photocopy machine.
Every Sunday, the museum also offers a local market with local traditional foods and goods on sale.
To find out more, contact Amlay on 083 462 5846. Donations can be made to Heritage Museum Simon’s Town at Capitec Bank, account number 2077696709.