District Six Museum

Learn about the turbulent and discriminatory history of removals and marginalisation in Cape Town at the turn of the 20th century on a guided tour of the symbolic District Six Museum

District Six was formally named the Sixth Municipal District of Cape Town in 1867. When it was established, it was a thriving mixed community of freed slaves, merchants, artisans, labourers and immigrants. By the early 1900s the process of removals and marginalisation had begun before apartheid was in full swing. Step back in time and learn about the unfair displacement of innocent residents throughout the 20th century, here in Cape Town.

Highlights:

• National Heritage Site

• Symbol of national displacement

• Guided Tour

• Museum

• Exhibitions and Collections

• Learn about racial segregation and displacement throughout the 20th century

Did you know:

• District Six was once known as the ‘soul of Cape Town’

• The Apartheid was established in 1948 under the racialist National Party and it stripped South African blacks of their citizenship

• Apartheid means ‘apartness’ in Afrikaans

• South African blacks were displaced into tribal bantustans

• Nelson Mandela played a key part in anti-apartheid activism

• District Six, together with Sophiatown in Gauteng, became a local and international symbol of the suffering caused by apartheid

• District Six appears on maps now as the suburb of Zonnebloem, it is now little more than an a vacant lot

The Experience:

District Six Museum, now a National Heritage Site, tells the story of how District Six went from being an impoverished but vibrant and prosperous place to live, close to the city and the port, to a target in the firing line at the beginning of the racial segregation when black South Africans were the first to be displaced in 1901. The area soon became neglected after wealthier members of the community moved out into the suburbs. Then, in 1966 on the 11th February, District Six was declared a White Area under the Group Areas Act of 1950, and by 1982, the life of the community was over.

Over the three decades more than 60,000 people were displaced from their homes and forced to move out to the barren Cape Flats. Their thriving community was but a memory and they had to create for themselves a new life under these harsh living conditions and new apartheid regulations imposed by their fellow countrymen.

The District Six Museum was established in 1994 and works to preserve the memories of the District Six experience and bring to light forced removals that are still happening in South Africa (South End, Sophiatown, Marabastad, Cato Manor, Fietas, Malay Camp, Protea Village) and around the world today.

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