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District Six, named the Sixth Municipal District of Cape Town in 1867, was a lively, multicultural district made up of artisans, freed slaves, merchants and labourers. During the Apartheid era, it was declared aa white area and remains a powerful site of memory in the modern world.
- Sarah Roller
District Six (Afrikaans: Distrik Ses) is a former inner-city residential area in Cape Town, South Africa. In 1966, the apartheid government (the National Party) announced that the area would be razed and rebuilt as a "whites only" neighbourhood under the Group Areas Act. [1]
The area known as District Six got its name from having been the Sixth Municipal District of Cape Town in 1867. Its earlier unofficial name was Kanaldorp, a name supposedly derived from the the series of canals running across the city, some of which had to be crossed in order to reach the District (kanaal is the Afrikaans for ‘canal’.)
Established in the 19th century, the area was named after its designation as the sixth municipal district in Cape Town. Over the years, District Six became a bustling and diverse community, where people of various ethnic and cultural backgrounds lived side by side.
It was named the sixth District of Cape Town in 1867. Originally established as a Community of freed Slaves, Merchants, Artisans, Labourers and Immigrants. District Six was a centre with close links to the City and the Port.
May 26, 2024 · According to historian Vivian Bickford-Smith, District Six was "a melting pot of African, European, and Asian cultures, with a rich tradition of music, food, and political activism" (Bickford-Smith, 1990, p. 35).
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This call was realised in 1989 through the creation of the District Six Museum Foundation, located in a hall on the Zonnebloem Estate. Today, empty patches of land echo silently in parts of the landscape that used to be District Six: a hollow residue of a displaced community.
