The Newlands/Claremont Heritage, Environmental Justice and Restitution Society (NCHERS) was officially inaugurated on Heritage Day.
More than 200 former residents of Claremont and Newlands unanimously approved the establishment of the heritage society and its steering committee on Saturday September 24 at Claremont civic centre.
The main objectives of NCHERS are to build public awareness, collect, publish and memorialise the lost heritage and history of the area, said Imam Rashied Omar of the Claremont Main Road Mosque.
The organisation will also seek to support efforts for environmental justice and restitution claims in its designated areas.
Imam Omar, Reverend Chesnay Frantz, Cecil Lategan, Cameron Scott, Jaamia Galant, Aeysha Adams, Russell Dudley, Fatima Haron, Abubakr (Boebie) Cassiem and Richard Buttress were selected as the steering committee members for the group.
Imam Omar said the public endorsement for the formal establishment of NCHERS and the elections of the steering committee was overseen by Ciraj Rasool, Professor of History and director of the African Programme in Museum and Heritage Studies at the University of the Western Cape (UWC).
Revered Chesnay Frantz powerfully captured the historic event in his remarks delivered at the opening of an eventful day when he proclaimed: “It carries some nostalgia, but ought to also be a call for action.”
The launch of NCHERS was preceded by the second Walk of Remembrance, which began at the St Saviour’s Anglican Church in Claremont, moved up Main Road through Arderne Gardens and ended at Claremont civic centre.
The keynote address at the civic centre was delivered by Simon Banda, an ex-resident and former principal of Livingstone High School.
In his address, Mr Banda reminded all about the violence of apartheid and the injustice of forced removals and encouraged all to support this project of reclaiming the history and heritage of all those displaced from Claremont and Newlands.
Imam Omar said there was an ecstatic yet nostalgic mood among the participants as friends and old neighbours reminisced about their time living in Claremont and Newlands as well as recalling the painful memories of their forced removals.
