District Six Museum

District Six Museum. Photo courtesy Damien du Toit

The District Six Museum revives the history of a vibrant community that was forcibly removed to the city’s periphery during apartheid.

In 1966 the National Party government declared District Six a “white group area” and moved thousands of residents (mostly coloured and black people) to the Cape Flats, where they had few facilities or means of making a living. All buildings except religious ones were demolished.

Nowadays, former residents and their descendants are rebuilding their memories and cultural heritage once again in this area.

According to the museum, District Six, close to the city and port, was originally “a mixed community of freed slaves, merchants, artisans, labourers and immigrants”.

The 170-year-old museum building in Buitenkant Street was formerly the Methodist Mission Church. It contains a permanent multimedia exhibition called Digging Deeper, which includes narrated life histories of District Six residents.

The District Six Museum is one of the stops on the CitySightseeing Bus red route.