Identifiers
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.

Inventory Reference
Gazette Date
Declaration Type
Gazette Number
8435
Notice Date
Notice Number
P.N. 55/2021
Declared by (Organisation/Heritage Authority)
Gazette Notice Status
Diagram Number
2595/1966
Media
Freedom Square.pdf (538.74 KB)
Record Administration
clinton.jackson
Last modified
Saturday, October 28, 2023 - 16:06