District Six
Zonnebloem, Kanaladorp | |
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Country | South Africa |
Province | Western Cape |
Municipality | City of Cape Town |
Main Place | Cape Town |
Time zone | UTC+2 (SAST) |
Postal code (street) | 7925 |
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Apartheid |
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District Six (Afrikaans: Distrik Ses) is a former inner-city residential area in Cape Town, South Africa. In 1966, the apartheid government (the National Party) announced that the area would be razed and rebuilt as a "whites only" neighbourhood under the Group Areas Act.[1] Over the course of a decade, over 60,000 of its inhabitants were forcibly removed and in 1970 the area was renamed Zonnebloem, a name that makes reference to an 18th century colonial farm.[2][3][1] At the time of the proclamation, 56% of the district’s property was White-owned, 26% Coloured-owned and 18% Indian-owned.[4] Most of the residents were Cape Coloureds and they were resettled in the Cape Flats.[5][1] The vision of a new white neighbourhood was not realised and the land has mostly remained barren and unoccupied.[1] The original area of District Six is now partly divided between the suburbs of Walmer Estate, Zonnebloem, and Lower Vrede, while the rest is generally undeveloped land.