About 200 people gathered to break their fast on Bree Street on Sunday for the first time in over six decades.
Image: Lutfi Omar
Chairperson of Cape Family Research Forum Abdud-Daiyaan Petersen, talks about the history of families and community on Bree Street.
Image: supplied
Around 200 people gathered to break their fast together on Sunday March 23 between Shortmarket and Castle Streets as part of a Boeka on Bree, aimed to reclaim the space of the families who once lived in the city centre.
The mass boeka was held in partnership with MSA Union, Salt River Heritage Society, AwqafSA, the Cape Family Research Forum and Young Urbanists. Those who attended were given a historical talk, and also prayed together.
People brought salaah mats and food to share for the mass boeka on Sunday
Image: supplied
Chairperson of Cape Family Research Forum, Abdud-Daiyaan Petersen, who also organised the event, said for the first time in over six decades, the community came back to practice what was a regular occurrence in the homes of Bree Street since the late 18th century.
In Bree Street alone, there were many prayer rooms, Muslim schools and homes of influential leaders, such as the first Imam of the Chiappini Street Mosque, Imam Abdol Bazier, and one of the first individuals to go on pilgrimage to Mecca, Imam Abdol Ganie of Ambon.
It was filled with people of diverse backgrounds who lived together as one community until Apartheid's Group Areas Act resulted in the forced removal of many of these families who had lived there for generations, said Mr Petersen.