Agriculture, Land Reform and Rural Development Minister, Thoko Didiza, has welcomed the return of the 20 of the 108 District Six Phase 3 beneficiaries who have received the keys to finally return to their ancestry land.

In a statement on Friday, Minister Didiza said the final return of the District Six Phase 3 beneficiaries will be done in phases starting from today to observe COVID-19 protocols.

On the 9th and 16th May 2022, 42 beneficiaries will receive their keys, while the other 46 will receive their keys on 20 May 2022.

“I am grateful to all stakeholders who made this historic day in the lives of these beneficiaries possible. This is a clear indication by all three spheres of government our commitment to restore the dignity of the people of District Six,” the Minister said.

In March this year, the department received the letters of occupancy from the City of Cape Town and then deliberations took place regarding the manner and plan in which the return of the beneficiaries will be managed.

To date, 96 dwellings have been allocated while the remaining 12 have some family disputes and verification challenges that are being attended to by the department.

Didiza said she was pleased that deliberations aimed at creating a safe environment for the returnees and facilitating social integration is ongoing.

“We would like to apologise to all the beneficiaries for the delays as they were unavoidable and meant to ensure that we tick all the boxes before the final return following the lessons learnt from the previous phases,” she said.

The Minister added that it should be noted that in May 2021 the City of Cape Town took a final order before Judge Cloete in the Western Cape High Court, interdicting and restraining any person who intend to unlawfully occupy any part of District Six.

The relief granted to the City is far reaching in that it interdicts any new unlawful occupations from taking place on any part of the full extent of District Six.

Source: South African Government News Agency