SPEAKER: ANGELA HESLOP, CHAIRPERSON, HERMANUS HISTORY SOCIETY

VENUE: CATHOLIC CHURCH HALL

TIME: 16.00 (REFRESHMENTS FROM 15.30)

Zwelihle: An Oral History Project

Angela Heslop who worked in Zwelihle in early 2000s, setting up a home-based nursing service, got to know and respect people in this suburb. As a member of the Hermanus History Society she will give a presentation of the early history of Zwelihle, a township created in 1962 for black people who were forcibly removed from Mount Pleasant. The 56 year history of Zwelihle is currently completely undocumented, except in some newspaper articles and municipal documents.

Initially, people who were removed lived in a small area comprising 42 houses and two nearby hostels for men. Oral history was used as the research method to record the memories and stories of some long-standing residents. The history of the Western Cape as a whole has also played an integral role in the development of Zwelihle.

Zwelihle, looking towards the ocean