SmartPass Cape Town | District Six Museum

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Learn about the turbulent and discriminatory history of removals and marginalisation in Cape Town during Apartheid on a guided tour of the iconic District Six Museum

District Six was formally named the Sixth Municipal District of Cape Town in 1867. When it was established, it was a thriving mixed community of freed slaves, merchants, artisans, labourers and immigrants. While the main racially motivated and systemtic removal of people took place during the period of Apartheid, there were already some removals that took place in the early 1900s. Step back in time and learn about the unjust displacement of residents here in Cape Town.

Highlights:

National Heritage Site - application in process

National Symbol of displacement

Guided Tours

Exhibitions and Collections

Education about racial segregation and displacement in South Africa

Did you know:

District Six was once known as the ‘soul of Cape Town’

Apartheid was established in 1948 under the racialist National Party and it stripped South African blacks of their citizenship

Apartheid means ‘apartness’ in Afrikaans

South African blacks were displaced into tribal bantustans

Nelson Mandela played a key part in anti-apartheid activism

District Six, together with Sophiatown in Gauteng, became a local and international symbol of the suffering caused by apartheid displacement

District Six appears on maps now as the suburb of Zonnebloem. Most of the land from which people were forcibly
removed remains vacant and undeveloped

This vacant land is the focus of a land restitution process through which former residents can claim their right to return

The Experience:

District Six Museum tells the story of how District Six went from being a vibrant place to live, close to the city and the port, to becoming a target for racial segregation. The area became neglected after wealthier members of the community moved out into the suburbs. In 1966 on the 11th February, District Six was declared a White Area under the Group Areas Act of 1950, and by 1982, the life of the community was over.

Over the three decades more than 60,000 people were displaced from their homes and forced to move out to the barren Cape Flats. Their thriving community was but a memory and they had to create a new life for themselves under harsh living conditions and restricted by new apartheid regulations imposed by the government.

The District Six Museum was established in 1994 and works to preserve the memories of the displaced community's experience and bring to light forced removals that are still happening in South Africa and around the world today.

IMPORTANT: This experience is normally R55 but is included in your SmartPASS, see the prices for all Passes HERE.

see the: full list of attractions included »