On Heritage Day 24 September 2016, the Constantia Heritage and Education Project hosted its second annual memorial walk.

More than one hundred former and current residents engaged in a symbolic walk. We began at what locals used to call “Noppies se Winkel” – the area behind Peddlars on the Bend, and waked to the commemorative plaque on Strawberry Lane.

The event saw families walking together, with grandparents and younger children, reflecting on the vibrant community that once lived in the Constantia Valley. It was an inclusive event which welcomed people of all religeous faiths and racial groups. It was a poignant moment, which although focused on the past, emphasised the future and the need for continual remembrance and reverence for those who once worked the land and built the schools before the community being split up and relocated to the Cape Flats and beyond.

The overwhelming response received prompted a core group to establish a permanent heritage project, leading to the creation of CHEP.