The District Six Museum on Wednesday hosted a deeply emotional commemoration marking 60 years since the once-vibrant inner-city community was declared a White Group Area under apartheid, triggering the forced removal of more than 60,000 residents to the Cape Flats.

Former residents, descendants and supporters gathered at the District Six Museum to reflect on the destruction of a diverse, Afro-cosmopolitan neighbourhood and the unfinished struggle for land restitution and dignity.

“Today is a very significant day,” said Tina Smith, Head of Exhibitions at the District Six Museum.

“On this day, 60 years ago, District Six was declared a white group area, and over a period of almost 20 years the apartheid government systematically destroyed and removed 60,000 people and scattered them all over the Cape Flats.”

Smith described District Six as a vibrant, diverse, Afro-cosmopolitan community that became a threat to the apartheid state precisely because of its openness and social cohesion.

“You can’t talk about District Six without the built environment, without the sense of family and belonging,” she said.

“People were born here, they went to school here, they worshipped here, they worked in the inner city. Apartheid stripped people of their dignity and their sense of belonging.”

She added that the promise of land restitution after 1994 has largely failed the original residents.

“After 30 years of democracy, the expectations around restitution have failed dismally. People’s hopes and desires of our elders have died with them. Their pain and loss has gone to the grave,” Smith said.

Several former residents shared personal testimonies of life before and after the removals.

Susan Lewis, who was born and raised in District Six, recalled the trauma of being forced out in 1970.

“Leaving District Six, there was a loss of community, loss of friendship, loss of love relationship, loss of culture,” Lewis said.

“We were forcibly removed to Hanover Park. We lived there for 35 years.”

She described the emotional moment her family returned to District Six in 2005.

“For the first time in my mom’s whole life, she had a room to herself. Imagine a woman of 94 having a room to herself for the first time in her whole life. She was absolutely overwhelmed,” Lewis said. “We now live at No. 8 Radcliffe Street, our Buckingham Palace.”

Another former resident, Pearl, born in District Six in 1963, spoke of the safety and sense of family that once defined the area.

“You were safe. You could play out at night. You could borrow an egg from next door,” she said.

“But after all these years, the ground still stands desolate. You feel the sadness. You feel that something went wrong.”

Roxanne, granddaughter of the late John Gomez, said the event was about more than memory, it was about justice.

“My mom’s wish was that the grandchildren would be able to move back into a home in District Six,” she said.

“I’m trying to make that wish come true.”

In closing remarks, museum representatives stressed that District Six’s story must include all layers of South Africa’s forced displacement history.

“Memory is a powerful tool to support restitution, but it can also divide,” said a museum speaker.

“We must remember that when District Six was declared a white group area, almost 80% of the population had already been displaced into 13% of the land. These layers of history must be acknowledged.”

The District Six Museum said it remains committed to preserving the legacy of the community while advocating for meaningful restitution and the return of families to the land they once called home.

IOL News

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