DISTRICT SIX

District Six was a multi-racial, multi-cultural, residential area on the slopes of Devil’s Peak at the edge of Cape Town’s city centre. It was destroyed by the apartheid regime, when in 1966, P.W. Botha declared the area “for whites only”, under the infamous Group Areas Act. Everyone living there was forced to move out- sometimes physically carried from their houses and loaded onto trucks with their modest belongings. As houses were vacated they were bulldozed as part of a slum clearance scheme.

The origins of District Six lie with the freedom of the slaves in 1838. Many of the slaves were Muslims who the Dutch colonisers had brought to the Cape from Java and Indonesia. Once free they settled on the outskirts of what was then Cape Town. They were later joined by an unskilled coloured proletariat in search of work. At the turn of the century blacks and whites also settled there.By the time District Six was named, it was already overcrowded.

Rapid development of this area took place after 1885. The mining boom brought skilled British artisans and the Boer War swelled the town’s population with refugees from the Transvaal. Jewish immigrants from Lithuania began their new lives here. During the war at the turn of the century many new buildings were erected, giving District Six a rich variety of architectural styles.

District Six was always overcrowded and after 1945 very little was done to improve conditions in this area. Much of it began to deteriorate, until it was generally regarded as a “slum” by officialdom. Many apartheid laws were applied during the fifties and sixties and in 1966 the Group Areas Act, which designated residential areas on a racial basis, was applied to District Six. Despite the origins of the various people that made up the population, District Six developed over a period of time into a community that was at once heterogeneous and yet still cohesive.

There was in District Six no apparent residential segregation between classes – labourers lived cheek by jowl with professionals. In addition there existed a level of tolerance amongst people that could accommodate a range of religious and political beliefs. Christians, Muslims, Hindus and others creeds co-existed peacefully within the same street, the same tenement building. This tolerance contributed to the sense of community that existed within District Six. Despite different allegiances, people could attend the same church, mosque, or school, share social and sports facilities and exchange ideas freely. This community so close to the city centre, felt, at least socially if not politically, a part of Cape Town. Residents enjoyed the advantages of being close to places of work, education and leisure, and in turn contributed to the inner city’s vitality.

In 1966 more than 60.000 people lived in the District. By the early eighties it was a barren, windswept piece of land at the foot of Table Mountain.

LIFE UNDER THE APARTHEID IN THE 50’s

According to the doctrine of apartheid each race and nation was to be kept apart, so that each could develop along its own inherent lines. Inter-racial contacts, above all miscegenation, were to be avoided. The doctrine assumed that cultural attainments were racially determined and that the races were inherently unequal. This was the doctrine embraced by the National party elected to power in South Africa in the 1948 elections. Amongst the laws introduced in the first ten years were the following:

Population Registration Act

This provided for the classification of the entire population on the basis of race. At the time the “racial” breakdown of the population was designated as 75% black, 13% white, 9% coloured and 3% Asian. The arbitrary classification in extreme cases caused families to be split as different family members could be classified as belonging to different racial groups and were relocated accordingly.

lmmorality Act

Inter-racial marriages and sexual relationships between different racial groups were prohibited.

Group Areas Act

This provided urban segregation by designating particular residential areas for specific races. In reality it often involved uprooting long established communities, with little or no compensation, as the government gave prime residential areas to whites. The areas envisaged for the “blacks”, who comprised 75% of the population, comprised the poverty- stricken native reserves which represented 13% of the National territory

Controls over blocks seeking to move to the towns were tightened and passes introduced

This controlled freedom of movement, particularly for blacks, who could not travel from one part of the country to visit relatives, or seek work in another without official permission.

PROVISIONS FOR THE RESERVATION OF CATEGORIES OF EMPLOYMENT FOR PARTICULAR RACES WERE STRENGTHENED

Separate Amenities Act

Segregation in public places such as trains, buses, hospitals, beaches, theatres, even ambulances. There would be different entrances to public buildings, different counters in the post office and benches in public parks. People from different racial groups could not eat at the same restaurant or stay at the same hotel, even radio stations played music

dictated by the skin colour of the artist. Sporting events were segregated both for players and audience. Drinking fountains, Public conveniences, sport facilities … every area of life was affected. Separate amenities did not mean that services would be of an equal standard for all racial groups.

The Bantu Education Act

This removed black education from the care of the ministry of Education to that of Native Affairs. In 1959 the right of non-white students to attend Capetown and Witwatersrand University was withdrawn.

COLOURED VOTERS WERE REMOVED FROM THE ELECTORAL ROLE

Suppression of Communism Act

The South African Communist Party was banned. The act decreed that persons named as communists could be subjected to a wide range of restrictions. The definition of communism was framed to cover almost any opposition to apartheid. Under the state of Emergency in the 80’s over 30 organisations opposed to apartheid were banned by the government.

OPPOSITION TO APARTHEID IN THE EARLY YEARS

The coloured population in Capetown organised a mass demonstration against the Separate Representation of voters act

1952 Campaign of civil disobedience led by African National Congress and South African Indian Congress

1955 Congress of The People made up of the ANC, SAIC, Coloured People’s Organisation and White Congress of Democrats issued the Freedom Charter

1956 Treason trial. 156 opponents of apartheid including Nelson Mandela were tried by the state. After hearings lasting 4 years all charges were dismissed

1960 Sharpville massacre killing 67. South Africa leaves the Commonwealth

1961 The Pan African Congress was formed by Robert Sobukwe ANC and PAC banned Military Wing of the ANC – Umkhoto we Sizwe – “Spear of the Nation” formed

1963 The Rivonia trial with six members of the ANC including Nelson Mandela on trial for treason

1964 Nelson Mandela begins a life sentence that would last 27 years. The co-defendants were jailed according to their colour.


(Source: The Europa Year Book 1998, The Long Walk to Freedom)