District Six Museum

A museum dedicated to a place that doesn't exist. There was a whole district where completely different people worked, rested, and enjoyed their lives. They had different tastes, hobbies, education, and professions, but most importantly, they had different nationalities and races. District Six was home to Jews, Muslims, Christians, former black slaves, and members of the working class. They all lived good lives almost in the city center and enjoyed it. But one day the district was gone, it was destroyed, and the people were expelled.

The District Six Museum is a very moving place. Here, interest and enthusiasm arise along with anger and a sense of injustice. It all started in the 1960s and 1970s. The apartheid regime, that is the policy of racial segregation, began in Cape Town. More than 60,000 people were forced to leave their homes. The authorities decided that it was not appropriate for blacks to live in the center and decided to evict them further out of the city and populate this district with whites. A bulldozer drove through the homes, as well as fates of locals. The district was demolished and built up with high-rise buildings.

After several decades, the regime fell, and the rights of the black population were restored. Some were even awarded compensation and allowed to return. However, they have not found their homes.

The museum was founded in an old Anglican church in memory of those events. There is everything that was salvaged from the disappeared district: road signs, signs with the names of the streets where people lived in District Six, photos, and interior items. The museum's exposition is very interesting, although it resembles a mess in a garage. You can find here documents of people who were forced to leave their homes, their stories. Sometimes there are meetings with residents of the district, who tell about the eviction and their life after it.

The District Six Museum is one of the few museums in Cape Town that you need to visit to get to know the city.