Historical Timeline

1951 to 1953

To view a chronological order of the history of Oukloof and some of the events that lead to the forced removal and the subsequent establishment of Esterhof, please scroll through the timelines below. Archive documents have been provided to add to the narrative of the Oukloof story.

1951

Ten years after initial discussions regarding the formal housing scheme for Oukloof, no progress had been made on this front. Instead, the Village Management Board now starts looking at the possibility of moving the coloured community to a completely new location.

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1951

In a letter to the Health Department, the Village Management Board notes that two coloured people have died from Tuberculosis (TB). There is no separate facilities in the location for such cases, but they blame the TB cases on the coloured people because they do not work to look after their health.

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1952

Electricity comes to Riebeek Kasteel but for the coloured community, it is only the Mission Church and a coloured school teacher’s house that are on the list to receive electricity. Oukloof will remain in the dark.

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1953

The Village Management Board starts negotiations with the Advisory Board for Land Ownership to form a separate settlement for the coloured people, with the aim of building a housing scheme in the new coloured extension.

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1953

Through the years, Tuberculosis (TB) seems to be of great concern in many of the health reports relating to the location where the coloured community live.

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