South Africa: Cape Town: What to See & Do: Museums & Galleries: District Six Museum

District Six Museum

In 1966, the Nationalist government proclaimed District Six, a mixed-race suburb famous for its jazz scene and colorful nightlife, a whites-only neighborhood. Over the next fourteen years, around 60,000 people were moved from this inner-city area to new townships several miles away from central Cape Town, on the bleak and inhospitable Cape Flats. The area was razed but never developed, and it became a stark daily reminder of apartheid. The District Six Museum bears testament to these events through a collection of photographs, maps, street signs and personal accounts.