Stakeholders gather

Andrew Bermann of Urban Design Services, Tim Hart of the Archaeology Contracts Office, Noëleen Murray from the Office of Deputy Vice-Chancellor Professor Martin Hall, Hennie van Wyk of community group Gorachouqua House and Rushdie Majiet were among those at the 17 May meeting of the Rustenburg Burial Ground Stakeholders' Forum.

The forum is part of the public participation process currently under way for the proposed development on middle campus, and is made up of representatives from various community and heritage groups with an interest in the memorialisation of the Rustenburg Burial Ground.

The meeting considered the identification of a sensitive core burial area around which new buildings might be built, and also discussed exploratory archaeological approaches to investigating the extent of the burials before architectural design and construction take place.

The planned buildings would skirt an area that's been identified as a burial site dating back to the Cape's slave period in the 17th and 18th centuries, on what was once the Rustenburg farm. The forum's proposals and suggestions will feed into UCT's heritage and development reports.