Phoenix Sof’town oak planted to remember the past
SOPHIATOWN – Another oak tree is planted in Sof'town to remember an anti-apartheid activist and the old Bertha Street oak.
The suburb may have lost a great, iconic old oak tree but will gain another.
Arbour Week might have passed but in Sophiatown, every day after the end of apartheid was a celebration of the old Sof’town oak.
The oak tree on Bertha Street was the first tree in South Africa to be protected under the National Forests Act of 1998 and was called the first Champion Tree.
The tree gained iconic status after anti-apartheid activists regularly gathered for meetings prior to the forced Sophiatown removals. Later the tree became known as the Hanging Tree after two residents hanged themselves from it amidst the forced removals.
While the tree survived the demolition of the old Sof’town to make way for Triomf, it was cut down by the owner of the property on which the tree partially stood.
It is after that particular incident in 2002 that the tree was called to be protected in 2003.
Sadly, after indiscriminate pruning and wood borers, the tree began dying and finally fell in 2008. It is then when Tricia Sibbons of the Trevor Huddleston Memorial Centre had the remaining trunk removed to the centre.
While the death of the tree saddened many Sof’town residents, another oak tree was planted both in remembrance of Can Themba, a literary icon and anti-apartheid activist and to act as an extension of the old Sof’town oak.
“By planting this enduring tree of life in our hearts, we remind ourselves that we cannot be complacent by allowing it to wither and die. Today, we can choose to nurture the tree that we wish to grow,” director Jarryd Coetsee said in his speech at the Themba memorial after using the tree as an analogy for post-apartheid democracy being built on constitutionalism.
ALSO READ: #JoziWalk through Sophiatown – a historical road trip
