Did you know?
On 11 February 1966 District Six was declared white, and more than 60,000 people lost their homes.
District Six was declared a whites-only area under the Group Areas Act on 11 February 1966. Over 60,000 people were removed to the Cape Flats and the buildings were bulldozed.
The story
District Six sat on the slopes above the city centre: crowded, poor, mixed, and by every account one of the most alive places in South Africa. On 11 February 1966 the apartheid government declared it a white area under the Group Areas Act of 1950. The District Six Museum records that more than 60,000 people were forcibly removed to the barren outlying areas known as the Cape Flats, that their houses in District Six were flattened by bulldozers, and that by 1982 the life of the community was over. The cleared land was largely left empty afterwards, which is its own kind of statement. The museum that carries the district's name was built around what former residents kept: their own records, photographs and memories of a place the state tried to take off the map.
History District Six 1966 Cape Town
Source: District Six Museum: About District Six