Salegga Mustapha
There doesn't seem to be a person, name or an event that Salegga doesn't remember with uncanny clarity. Names, surnames, who their uncles were, what their dogs were called - you ask, she knows! For those with questions, Salegga always has an answer - and she peppers all her responses with her characteristic good humour and impressive spirit.
Salegga lived on York Street, in what is currently called Harfield Village, and now resides in nearby Lansdowne - an area marked for coloured residents under the Group Areas Act. With her grandfather as Imam at the Harvey Road mosque, her family has a long-standing and well-documented history in the area, and she remembers it all fondly, and with countless photographs as triggers.
She is actively involved with Claremont Re-united Alliance - an organisation centered on reuniting the ex-Claremont residents so that they don't lose touch with their community, have a chance to share word about the injustice, and provide a valuable resource for those trying to better understand their rights as displaced people.
Salegga lived on York Street, in what is currently called Harfield Village, and now resides in nearby Lansdowne - an area marked for coloured residents under the Group Areas Act. With her grandfather as Imam at the Harvey Road mosque, her family has a long-standing and well-documented history in the area, and she remembers it all fondly, and with countless photographs as triggers.
She is actively involved with Claremont Re-united Alliance - an organisation centered on reuniting the ex-Claremont residents so that they don't lose touch with their community, have a chance to share word about the injustice, and provide a valuable resource for those trying to better understand their rights as displaced people.
In York Street (1960s)
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In 2014 outside her old York Street Home (now vacant).
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Salegga's home at 12 York St, Harfield.
View Sallegga's Photo Gallery
Some of Salegga's Memories...
Morrises and Minors
The first car I ever bought was from the British hippies who lived in our street: York Street. One of them was returning to London and sold his car to me - that was my first car. It was a 1958 Morris Minor and it had a small air vent and those little arms on the indicator - and we even went to Joburg in it! I enlisted my sister's husband who was a mechanic, because the car was so old - I was worried we'd get stuck! And you know, absolutely nothing happened to that car - the drive was so smooth. Once we got to Joburg, all the boys made a fuss about the car. I remember that on one of our walks in Joburg, one of our friends' brothers arrived & told us "Come, let me show you the real Joburg." and he took us to see Chinatown and all the other interesting places.
These boys who we met up with were all just friends of ours, but still they would have a place to stay with my family on York Street whenever they came to visit Cape Town. At the start of the school summer holidays, they would just hop on a train straight from Johannesburg to Cape Town, and they'd come to our house and get free board and lodging because they were students and couldn't afford vacations. They would come, no money, and just enjoy the school holidays in Cape Town.
The first car I ever bought was from the British hippies who lived in our street: York Street. One of them was returning to London and sold his car to me - that was my first car. It was a 1958 Morris Minor and it had a small air vent and those little arms on the indicator - and we even went to Joburg in it! I enlisted my sister's husband who was a mechanic, because the car was so old - I was worried we'd get stuck! And you know, absolutely nothing happened to that car - the drive was so smooth. Once we got to Joburg, all the boys made a fuss about the car. I remember that on one of our walks in Joburg, one of our friends' brothers arrived & told us "Come, let me show you the real Joburg." and he took us to see Chinatown and all the other interesting places.
These boys who we met up with were all just friends of ours, but still they would have a place to stay with my family on York Street whenever they came to visit Cape Town. At the start of the school summer holidays, they would just hop on a train straight from Johannesburg to Cape Town, and they'd come to our house and get free board and lodging because they were students and couldn't afford vacations. They would come, no money, and just enjoy the school holidays in Cape Town.
Like father, like daughter
I always drove to Kalk Bay - you see, my dad loved cars. He had quite a few of them. And so I started driving at a young age, and we would sometimes sneak the cars out for rides and get into such trouble when we got home!
I remember that when I went for my driving license at Green Point, the man who tested me said, "OK, OK, you don't have to brag - I can see you're driving already!" and then during my test he made a detour and we stopped to visit one of his girlfriends at the art centre where Nando's is now. In the middle of my test! He popped in and visited her, and then I drove back to the testing yard.
My father once had a Pontiac Parisienne - a huge car fitted with push buttons. Once, before I bought my own car, I stole the Parisienne and went to visit friends in Wynberg and I was so excited about driving it. While coming down Ottery road, right at the Wittebome intersection, I pushed a button and the entire car leapt! It was so embarrassing.
I also once bought my own car with push buttons and my father asked to borrow it to go to work out at some farm. He had my brothers as apprentices with him. And my brother came back to me to tell me how my father pushed the buttons willy-nilly in the car, making the car jerk like crazy. Once he even brought a live sheep back home with him in my car! It smelled terrible! And I cried for that car! We loved cars, my father and I.
I always drove to Kalk Bay - you see, my dad loved cars. He had quite a few of them. And so I started driving at a young age, and we would sometimes sneak the cars out for rides and get into such trouble when we got home!
I remember that when I went for my driving license at Green Point, the man who tested me said, "OK, OK, you don't have to brag - I can see you're driving already!" and then during my test he made a detour and we stopped to visit one of his girlfriends at the art centre where Nando's is now. In the middle of my test! He popped in and visited her, and then I drove back to the testing yard.
My father once had a Pontiac Parisienne - a huge car fitted with push buttons. Once, before I bought my own car, I stole the Parisienne and went to visit friends in Wynberg and I was so excited about driving it. While coming down Ottery road, right at the Wittebome intersection, I pushed a button and the entire car leapt! It was so embarrassing.
I also once bought my own car with push buttons and my father asked to borrow it to go to work out at some farm. He had my brothers as apprentices with him. And my brother came back to me to tell me how my father pushed the buttons willy-nilly in the car, making the car jerk like crazy. Once he even brought a live sheep back home with him in my car! It smelled terrible! And I cried for that car! We loved cars, my father and I.
