Western Cape Aboriginal Governance Council wins Wolfgat Nature Reserve Case

They won the Wolfgat Nature Reserve case after the City of Cape Town applied for an interdict to be made permanent by the court. “This would have amounted to a blanket interdict that would have affected anyone to occupy any land in the nature reserve and Mitchell's Plain in general,” said Faizel Brown who is the co-founder of the Mitchell's Plain Aboriginal Khoi and San Council and a member of the Western Cape aboriginal governance council.

Brown said that the application was dismissed because the court found that the City of Cape Town acquired the interdict in an incorrect manner.

Faizel Brown was born in District Six and was forcefully removed with his family when he was just 5 years of age, since then he has been a firm believer in serving the community. What he experienced as a child is what pushed him to be the voice for many who were misplaced in the Apartheid era. He was a founder member of the Western Cape Anti Eviction Campaign heading the movement for five years from 2001, and in 2010 he started working with backyard dwellers and established the Mitchell's Plain Housing Association. 

Two years ago, he co-founded the Mitchell's Plain Aboriginal Khoi and San Council to address the plight of Aboriginal communities in Mitchell's Plain. “We are currently in a land reclaiming process to secure land and housing for the local community,” said Brown. 

The Western Cape Aboriginal Governance Council was founded after the national summit that was convened in Oudtshoorn over a year ago. “It is a platform consisting of a wide range of leaders from various organisations and communities,” he said.

When asking him what the Aboriginal Governance Council’s aim was, he said that it was to be the platform that would lay the foundation for the creation of a self-governance structure and the creation of Aboriginal laws.