Overview
    Identifiers
    Inventory Number
    3318DC148
    Site Name
    Freedom Square, Corner Bluegum Street and Kiaat Road, Bonteheuwel, Cape Town
    Site Category
    Record Administration
    Author
    clinton.jackson
    Last modified
    Thursday, May 2, 2024 - 21:26
      Location
      Location
      Mapping
      -33.951695, 18.552196
      Western Cape
      • City of Cape Town
      Land Parcel Details
      Type of land parcel
      Farm
      Land Parcel Reference
      Erf/Farm No: 100010
      Erf/Farm Portion: RE
      Address:
      115 Bluegum Street
      Bonteheuwel
      Cape Town
      Grading
      Grading
      Grade II
      Grading Date
      GradingComment

      Grading by: Heritage Western Cape

      Statement of Significance

      Bonteheuwel has a rich history of political activism in the center of an apartheid state repression. Freedom Square in Bonteheuwel was a space used at the center of political activism. Freedom Square is significant in honoring the legacy of selfless leadership and the contribution that youth played in the struggle against racial discrimination and apartheid. During the liberation struggle, Freedom Square was a space for congregation and political meetings. The Bonteheuwel Civic, the library, the staircases and platforms surrounding the library would act as assembly and meeting points, which provided a platform for activist to address crowds. The significance of Freedom Square lies in the cumulative significance of its series of spaces.Meetings were held in the library in the 1980s away from the scrutiny of the apartheid police. The staircase at the square provided a platform from which activists could address crowds, when not done so at the Bonteheuwel Civic. Freedom Square possesses high social and historical significance as it comprises of places and buildings of cultural significance to which oral traditions are attached which are associated with living heritage. Freedom Square embodies the spirit and legacy ofBonteheuwel’s heroes and heroines. The site holds importance in the community, in the pattern of South Africa's history and has strong and special association with the life or work of a person, group or organisation of importance in the history of South Africa. Freedom Square, its spaces, buildings and memories bear significance for social and cultural reasons in representing defiance against an apartheid state.

      Declaration
      DeclarationName
      Declaration Type
      Declaration Description

      ScheduleThe demarcation of the Provincial Heritage Site is as follows:Freedom Square”, Portion Erf 100010 in Bonteheuwel, as described in the SG Diagram No. 2595/1966 Deduction Plan 9468, Sheet 3. The proposed boundary thus only incorporates the Bonteheuwel Civic, the Bonteheuwel library, the staircase outside the old entrance to the library and series of public spaces surrounding these public buildings.SignificanceBonteheuwel has a rich history of political activism in the center of an apartheid state repression. Freedom Square in Bonteheuwel was a space used at the center of political activism. Freedom Square is significant in honoring the legacy of selfless leadership and the contribution that youth played in the struggle against racial discrimination and apartheid.During the liberation struggle, Freedom Square was a space for congregation and political meetings. The Bonteheuwel Civic, the library, the staircases and platforms surrounding the library would act as assembly and meeting points, which provided a platform for activist to address crowds. The significance of Freedom Square lies in the cumulative significance of its series of spaces.Meetings were held in the library in the 1980s away from the scrutiny of the apartheid police. The staircase at the square provided a platform from which activists could address crowds, when not done so at the Bonteheuwel Civic.Freedom Square possesses high social and historical significance as it comprises of places and buildings of cultural significance to which oral traditions are attached which are associated with living heritage. Freedom Square embodies the spirit and legacy of Bonteheuwel’s heroes and heroines. The site holds importance in the community, in the pattern of South Africa's history and has strong and special association with the life or work of a person, group or organisation of importance in the history of South Africa. Freedom Square, its spaces, buildings and memories bear significance for social and cultural reasons in representing defiance against an apartheid state.

      Gazette Date
      Gazette Number
      8435
      Gazette Notice Status
      Notice Date
      Notice Number
      P.N. 55/2021
      Declared by (Organisation/Heritage Authority)
      Diagram Number
      2595/1966
      Freedom Square.pdf (538.74 KB)
      Media
      Images uploaded directly to Site