“All who pass by remember with shame the many thousands of people who lived for generations in District Six and other parts of the city, and were forced by law to leave their homes because of the color of their skin. Father, forgive us…”
The south municipal district in Cape Town, also known as District Six, is Cape Town’s visible scar of apartheid. In 1840, Cape Town was divided into 12 districts, each with separate identities with different groups of people. District Six was established in 1867 as a community of former slaves, merchants, laborers, artists and immigrants. It was centrally located- close to the waterfront and the center of the city, making it an ideal place for working families to live. The diverse community of District Six was very tight-knit and has been considered to be one of South Africa’s most creative and inspired communities.
As time went on, District Six began to include politicians, businessmen, writers, teachers, sheikhs, priests, gangsters and children. District Six had been a community for many colored people, black Xhosas, Afrikaans, whites and Indians after World War II. Although many different racial groups lived peacefully together in District Six, there were rules and regulations that kept them separated. Blacks and Whites could be charged for talking about politics together, the Immorality Act was put in place to prevent Blacks and Whites from kissing or being in relationships with one another, and the Mixed Marriages Act forbade multi-racial couples to get married.
When the apartheid began in 1948, District Six was undisturbed, yet on February 11, 1966, it was designated as a “white only” area according to the Group Areas Act. The government had various reasons for the destruction of District Six- they claimed that there was a high crime rate, along with too much gambling, drinking and prostitution. There were approximately 60,000-70,000 residents in District Six at the time and nobody was sure about their futures from that point forward. The people of District Six were forced out of their homes, out of the communities and away from the people who they had grown up with for their whole lives.
It was a few years until the government took action on the “renovation” of District Six, but as soon as the bulldozers appeared, the people were forcibly removed from their homes to the barren outskirts of Cape Town to the Cape Flats. An area that held almost one tenth of Cape Town residents instantly disappeared. The government forced the people out of their homes and only paid them a small sum of money to be relocated. Once the people were moved, their salaries were decreased, they needed more money to commute to their jobs, and the levels of poverty and gang violence greatly increased.
When the apartheid ended in 1994, the people who had been removed from District Six had nowhere to move back to. Their homes had all been destroyed and they did not know where to begin to build their lives back.
The District Six museum was established in 1992 as a two-week exhibit that has expanded over time to become a very well known museum in Cape Town. The museum features many photos and documents that were kept from the days of District Six. There is a section of the museum that has been recreated to look like a typical “house” in District Six. For six family members, there were two small beds, one chair, and a counter with a stovetop. Although they lived in close quarters, they were happy and felt fortunate to live in such a great area of the city with their friends and family. We were fortunate enough to visit the museum on January 7, and we had tour guides who had actual experiences of life in District Six to share their stories with us. One of the parts of the museum that I found to be the most interesting was the floor. There was a hand drawn map of the area of District Six with details about the shops, churches, schools and community centers located there. Former residents of the area were welcomed to the museum to write on the map where they lived, really adding a true sense of reality to the exhibit. Our tour guide was a man named Noor Ebrahim, who was born in 1944 in District Six. He wrote a memoir titled Noor’s Story: My Life in District Six, and he writes, “The people of District Six shared and cared for each other, no matter what color they were.” He lived there until he was 26 years old when his family was forced out. He now works at the museum to educate visitors about the area and to share his story of survival in the apartheid.
After visiting the District Six museum, we were able to go to the actual location of District Six in Cape Town. Once the houses, schools, and community centers were demolished, nothing ever happened to the area. Affluent white citizens had already moved to the wealthy suburbs, and the area was left alone. Now, the only remaining feature of District Six is the Moravian Church that sits at the bottom of the mountains. It is a real icon of suffering, yet the area is slowly being rebuilt. After learning about the struggles that these innocent people had faced, it was truly eye opening to go to the actual location and see the devastation that occurred.
The District Six museum has welcomed many famous guests, such as Al Gore in 1995, former President Mary Robinson of Ireland, Queen Beatrix of the Netherlands in 1996, King Carl Gustaf and Queen Silvia of Sweden in 1997 and Queen Sophia of Spain in 1999. By sharing their stories, the former residents of District Six have shown the world about the “Rainbow Nation” that South Africa has become, and we wonder how they will continue to tell their stories of survival.
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