Always There: Table Mountain and the people of District Six

Duration: 24 minutes
“If you were born in District Six, you realised that you were born on the slopes of Devils Peak, and Table Mountain with all its majestic splendour was our backyard…” (Irwin Combrinck, ex-District Six resident)

Linda Fortune knows first-hand about the pain inflicted by apartheid forced removals in the 1960s. Her reflective oral life history project comprises interviews with ex-residents of District Six, and presents a litany of loss – both of community and the deep emotional bonds that she and others shared with Table Mountain.

Junaid West is one of a few young people who have subsequently moved back into the new District Six. Aware of gangsterism and drugs as a potential threat to this new community, he and his friends start to explore the history of District Six and discover the immense value that Table Mountain had for the original residents. With the mountain once again in their backyard, can the broken ties be restored to serve the District Six youth as a place of spiritual guidance and recreational value?