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.
