District Six

District Six Memory Plaque

District Six (Afrikaans Distrik Ses) is the name of a former inner-city residential area in Cape Town, South Africa. It is best known for the forced removal of over 60 000 of its inhabitants during the 1970s by the apartheid regime.

Creation and destruction of District Six

The area was named in 1867 as the Sixth Municipal District of Cape Town. By the turn of the century it was already a lively community made up of freed slaves, artisans, merchants and other immigrants, as well as many Malay people brought to South Africa by the Dutch East India Company during its administration of the Cape Colony. It was home to almost a tenth of the city of Cape Town's population.

After World War II, during the earlier part of the apartheid era, District Six was relatively cosmopolitan. Situated within sight of the docks, It was largely made up of coloured residents which included substantial coloured Muslims, called Cape Malays. There were also smaller numbers of Africans, whites, and Indians.

Government officials gave four primary reasons for the removals. In accordance with apartheid philosophy, it stated that interracial interaction bred conflict, necessitating the separation of the races. They deemed District Six a slum, fit only for clearance, not rehabilitation. They portrayed the area as crime-ridden and dangerous. And they claimed that the district was a vice den, full of immoral activities like gambling, driking, and prostitution. Though these were the official reasons, most residents believed that the government sought the land because of its proximity to the city center, Table Mountain, and the harbor.

ANC election poster, linking the rival party to the history of forced removals

On 11 February 1966, the government declared District Six a whites-only area under the Group Areas Act, with removals starting in 1968. By 1982, more than 60 000 people had been relocated to the sandy, bleak Cape Flats township complex some 25 kilometers away. The old houses were bulldozed. The only buildings left standing were places of worship. International and local pressure made redevelopment difficult for the government, however. The Cape Technikon (now Cape Peninsula University of Technology) was built on a portion of District Six which the government renamed Zonnebloem. Apart from this and some police housing units, the area was left undeveloped.

Since the fall of apartheid in 1994, the African National Congress has recognized the older claims of former residents to the area, and pledged to support rebuilding.

Return

By 2003 work had started on the first new buildings — 24 houses that will belong to residents over 80 years old. On 11 February 2004, exactly 38 years after being rezoned by the government, former president Nelson Mandela handed the keys to the first returning residents, Ebrahim Murat (87) and Dan Ndzabela (82). About 4 000 families are scheduled to return over the next three years.

Land claimants at a "hand back" ceremony in District Six, 2001

Emerging from the Hands Off District Six Committee which mobilized to halt investment and redevelopment in District Six during apartheid after the forced removals, the District Six Beneficiary Trust is managing the process by which claimants will get their "land" back (actually a flat or apartment residential space). In November 2006, it broke off negotiations with the Cape Town Municipality in favor of the National Government. The Trust accused the Municipality (currently under a Democratic Alliance mayor) of stalling restitution, indicating that it preferred to work with the ANC national government. In response, the DA Mayor, Helen Zille, raised questions about the right of the Trust to represent the claimants due to the fact that it had never been "elected" by claimants. Some discontent claimants would like to create an alternative negotiating body to The Trust; however, the historical legacy and "struggle credentials" of most of the Trust leadership ensure that it will continue to oversee the process.

Museum

In 1989 the District Six Museum Foundation was established, and in 1994 the District Six Museum came into being. It serves as a remembrance to the events of the apartheid era as well as the culture and history of the area before the removals. The ground floor is covered by a large street map of District Six, with handwritten notes from former residents indicating where their homes had been; other features of the museum include street signs from the old district, displays of the histories and lives of District Six families, and historical explanations of the life of the District and its destruction. In addition to its function as a museum it also serves as a memorial to a decimated community, and a meeting place and community center for Cape Town residents who identify with its history.

Arts

With his short novel "A Walk in the Night" (1962) the well-known Capetonian journalist and writer Alex La Guma < gave District Six a place in literature.

Richard Rive wrote a highly-acclaimed novel called "Buckingham Palace, District Six", which chronicles the lives of a community before and during the removals. This book has also been adapted into successful theatre productions which toured South Africa.

In 1986, "District Six - The Musical" by David Kramer and Taliep Petersen told the story of District Six in a popular musical which also toured internationally.

District Six also contributed mightily to the distinguished history of South African jazz. Basil Coetzee, known for his song "District Six", was born there and lived there until its destruction. Before leaving South Africa in the 1960s, pianist Abdullah Ibrahim lived nearby and was a frequent visitor to the area, as were many other jazz musicians. Ibrahim described the area to The Guardian as a "fantastic city within a city...", explaining, "[W]here you felt the fist of apartheid it was the valve to release some of that pressure. In the late 50s and 60s, when the regime clamped down, it was still a place where people could mix freely. It attracted musicians, writers, politicians at the forefront of the struggle. We played and everybody would be there."

South African writer Rozena Maart, currently resident in Canada, won the Canadian Journey Prize for her short story "No Rosa, No District Six". That story was later published in her debut collection Rosa's District Six.

External links

• The District Six museum
• The District Six Beneficiary and Redevelopment Trust
• Southern Cross (SA Catholic newsweekly) article on District Six
• Interview with museum director on history of District Six, purpose of museum

References

• Western, John. Outcast Cape Town. Berkeley: University of California Press, 1996.