Faizel Patel, Radio Islam News – 06-08-2018
More than a five hundred people attended the Fietas Reunion to rekindle memories of the once multi-cultural town.
Fietas also known as Pageview or Vrededorp was rejuvenated yesterday at the 23rd Street Masjid parking area by the effervescence of its expats getting together to reminisce about a distant past which many say is difficult to erase from memory.
Legendary stories of Fietas engraved in people’s minds have filtered from generation to generation to imbue former residents with a sense of the history of this multiracial community which coexisted harmoniously and was then destroyed by the apartheid regime.
Fietas co-ondinator Omar Allie says Fietas was bustling town of multicultural diversity.
“It was a special place. It was not multi-racial, it was multi-cultural. There was Tamils, there was Malays, there was Christians, there was Indian Muslims and there was Africans also at one stage and we all lived in harmony.”
MC Ashraf Garda regaled speakers with nostalgic recollections of events of years gone by a testimony to what he remembered and some which had also been passed on to him by parents, other family and friends.
One of Radio Islam’s loyal listeners, dentist Hawa Bibi Mohammad who also hails from the town shared her memories of Fietas.
“I am proud and passionate about my past in Pageview. I remember Fietas like it was yesterday, born here, schooled year and attended the Taalimul Islam Madressa. Fietas will live in our hearts forever. We became a community divided by Apartheid, but united by fond memories, love and care.”
Allie says he hopes to compile a book about Fietas to share with South Africans who always wonder about the legendary town.
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