Source: Fernwood Residents Association
The Protea Village Restitution Project | Fact Sheet A short history of Protea Village
The Protea Village community was established on the farm Protea in 1834.
– When Bishop Gray, the first Anglican Archbishop of Cape Town, bought the farm Protea, he changed the name to ‘Bishopscourt’, but Protea Village retained its name.
– Bishop Gray established the Church of the Good Shepherd and the present church building was built in 1886 by the residents of Protea Village, using stones from the nearby Liesbeek River.
– The residents also played a key role in the development of Kirstenbosch Gardens from 1913, and the construction of Rhodes Drive to Hout Bay. Many were gardeners, some were stonemasons and they provided skilled and unskilled labour both to these projects, and to the households in the area.
– There were 132 families that lived in an area of approximately 28 hectares along the river.
– They had a church, a school, playing fields, the spring to supply the drinking water and a shop run by the Hussein family.
Q: Who owned the tracts of land?
– Despite having been established on the land since 1834, and recognised as a formal community, it is important to note that under the apartheid regime, in terms of the Natives Land Act (1913), the Protea Village community were legislatively prohibited from “the purchase and leasing of land”.
– Protea Village was declared a “White Group Area” in terms of Proclamation 190 of 1957 and Proclamation 34 of 1961.
– The Protea Village Community had their homes forcibly taken from them by the State between 1959 and 1970, in terms of the Group Areas Act, and the Community was purposefully separated, with families being scattered across the Cape Flats, from Steenberg to Parkwood and Manenberg, among others.
– Despite being scattered across the Cape Flats, the Community stayed together and cohesive by attending services at the Church of the Good Shepherd Protea during the Apartheid years.
– In 1995, the Community lodged a claim in terms of the Restitution of Land Rights Act, 1994.
– The claim was lodged on behalf of 132 former residents, who resided in the original Protea Village Area.
– 86 of these former Protea Village residents opted for land restitution whilst financial compensation was paid to the other 46 in 2002.
– In September 2006 the City of Cape Town and the State agreed to release Erf 212 and Erf 242, Bishopscourt to the Protea Village Communal Property Association (CPA) and a Settlement Agreement was entered into in this regard.
– An area of ±28.4 hectares of land was claimed in relation to the property that was lost during forced removals. o Not all of the dispossessed land could be restored to the Protea Village CPA. The total area of the property restored is approximately 12.29 hectares. Only 43.2% of the dispossessed land was restored.
o Of this, 4.18 hectares is retained for public recreational use by the broader community of City of Cape Town residents, with 3.85 hectares being used to develop 86 stands for the Community and 86 houses thereon. o Ultimately, the Protea Village Community are returning to significantly less land.
– During 2007, Mr. William Booth and other owners of erven neighbouring Erf 212 lodged an application at the Land Claims Court of South Africa to review the decisions of the Minister of Land Affairs and the Regional Land Claims Commissioner regarding the approval of the land claim.
– On 15 June 2011, Judge Mia held that the Minister and the Commissioner had not erred in approving the claim and that the decision was correct in ordering the properties to be restored to the Protea Village Community.
– In 2015 the Protea Village Community published a Request For Proposal for potential development partners, and in 2017 Bethel Partners was appointed as the Development Manager and work on the business plan, including the process of Land-Use Rights, began.
Q: Who were they transferred to and when?
– On 05 October 2020, the City of Cape Town transferred the 2 subdivided portions of Erf 212, Bishopscourt to the State:
1. Erf 503, Bishopscourt, measuring 1.1716 hectares
2. Erf 511, Bishopscourt, measuring 3.2141 hectares – The remainder of Erf 212, measuring ±4.06 hectares, remains in the ownership of the City of Cape Town (as elected by the Protea Village Community) to be managed by the City as public open space, for use by all City residents
– On 15 June 2021, the State transferred the awarded land to the Protea Village Communal Property Association, in fulfilment of the 2006 Settlement Agreement:
1. Erf 242, Bishopscourt, measuring 3.8544 hectares
2. Erf 503, Bishopscourt, measuring 1.1716 hectares
3. Erf 511, Bishopscourt, measuring 3.2141 hectares
Q: The land sold so far. How many plots sold so far?
– As at 07 February 2025: of the 33 plots released for sale in Phase 1 of Bishopscourt Estate:
o 23 are concluded sales
o 9 are under offer (deposits paid, await final bond approvals)
o 1 is available in Sagewood Close.
The robust Protea Village business model was developed over a 2-year consultative period with significant input from reputable professionals, the City of Cape, the Department of Public Works, SANBI, The Department of Agriculture, Land Reform and Rural Development and the Regional Land Claims Commission. The business model has been scrutinised by numerous professionals, State-led committees and signed off by the Minister of the Department of Agriculture, Land Reform and Rural Development. Importantly, over a lengthy consultative process, the Protea Village business model was approved by the Community.
Q: Lock ins – Rates holiday and 86 stand sale rules.
– Section 17(1)(g) of the Municipal Properties Rates Act applies to properties granted to land Claimant projects. This “rates holiday” benefit applies for 10-years from the date transfer of Erf 242 to the Protea Village CPA (i.e until 14 June 2031), after which Section 21(2) of the act applies for 3-years.