7/25 District 6 Museum and Robben Island

District Six was named the Sixth Municipal District of Cape Town in 1867. Originally established as a mixed community of freed slaves, merchants, artisans, labourers and immigrants,

District Six was a vibrant centre with close links to the city and the port. By the beginning of the twentieth century, however, the process of removals and marginalisation had begun.
The first to be forced out were black South Africans who were displaced from the District in 1901. As the more prosperous moved away to the suburbs, the area became a neglected ward of the city.

On 11 February 1966 it was declared a white area under the Group Areas Act of 1950, and by 1982, the life of the community was over. More than 60 000 people were forcibly removed to barren outlying areas aptly known as the Cape Flats, and their houses in District Six were flattened by bulldozers.

The District Six Museum, established in December 1994, works with the memories of the 
District Six experience and with that of forced removals more generally.- (District Six Museum website )

 

 

We visited the District 6 Museum where our tour guide witnessed and was impacted by the eviction. The government would force the Blacks and Coloreds to move out of the cities and created townships for them to live. Often times these townships lacked in schools, markets, jobs and other necessities that people were used to in their former city.

She was mixed. Her father was Black and her mother was White. Her father died right before the removal of people from District 6. Her mother refused to leave District 6 because she considered it home. Consequently, the government made her apartment complex unlivable by disconnecting her electricity and water. Eventually her family convinced the mother to move into the new home against the mother's wishes. The mother declared "This will never be home".  The next day her mother died of heart failure.Throughout the museum, there were photos, documents and testimonies of people who were impacted by the forced eviction.

Afterwards we boarded the ship and headed to Robben Island to where former South African president Nelson Mandela was imprisoned for 18 years. We took a tour of the prison. Our guide who was a former prisoner, explained living conditions of the prison and we were able to see Nelson Mandela's cell. It was located in the middle of the Indian Ocean. The water was so clean and blue. Randomly, I saw penguins and reindeer on the prison island.

Later on a few of us went to to a District 6 jazz night where one of the workers performed. His voice was soulful. It was a pleasant night.