Distict 6 by Tayler Weber

District 6 was named the Sixth Municipal District of Cape Town in 1867. During the earlier part of the apartheid era, District 6 was largely made up of coloured residents that included many Muslims with small numbers of Africans, Whites, and Indians living there as well. On February 11, 1966 the government declared District 6 as a whites-only area under the Group Areas Act with forced removals starting in 1968. Over 60,000 non-white residents were told by their government to evacuate their homes with barely any warning at all. Their houses were bulldozed and they were forced to relocate to the Cape Flats Township almost 25 kilometers away.

In 1994 the District 6 museum was built not only as a remembrance to the tragic events of the apartheid era but also to the rich culture the area had before removals. One of the museum’s greatest displays is of the large street map of District 6 that is located on the floor in the center of the museum. The District Six Museum Foundation welcomes former residents to come in and personally write notes indicating where their homes used to be. Some other interesting features of the District 6 museum include street signs, historical explanations of life before the forced removals, and perhaps most importantly a meeting place for former residents to come and share their stories and memories of District 6.

Our group was fortunate enough to have Linda Fortune, author of the “House on Tyne Street” give us a tour of the museum where she shared personal memories of her experiences in District 6. Linda experienced apartheid firsthand including forced removals and relocation. She also gave us a tour of a secluded beach where people used to live in caves in order to escape living on the streets.

This is our group standing on what used to be one of the main streets in District Six.

This is a display of old streets names that used to exist in District Six before apartheid destroyed the former community.