District Six was named the sixth municipal district in Cape Town in 1867 and is the name of the famous former inner-city community. The area was known as a vibrant multicultural centre that had residents of diverse religious, cultural and racial backgrounds. However, this has since been overshadowed by a more traumatic history. District Six has become synonymous with the process of forced removals and the marginalization of non-white South Africans under Apartheid rule.

To gain a better sense of the area’s long and complex history we meet with Shireen at The Slave Lodge, where we begin our tour of District Six. The Slave Lodge was built in 1679 as the residence for the slaves of the Dutch East India Company and it is believed that approximately 9000 slaves, convicts and the mentally ill lived in the building between 1679 and 1811.

In order to contextualize the events leading up to the formation and eventual destruction of District Six Shireen traces the area’s history to the Cape’s original inhabitants, the Khoisan who were here as far back as 363 years ago. This leads into a discussion of the arrival and impact of the Dutch East India Company and the British to the Cape and the modern history leading to Apartheid South Africa. Once this has been established, Shireen delves into the forced removals of District Six and the historical legacy and implications of this.

Many previous residents of District Six still speak of the community as a true representation of the rainbow nation long before the term was even necessary. This of course all changed on 11 February 1966 when the area was declared a white area under the Group Areas Act of 1950. Over a period of 13 years more than 60 000 people were forcibly removed to barren outlying areas known as the Cape Flats. Their houses in District Six were flattened by bulldozers and their home was renamed Zonnebloem, a whites only suburb.

Though the apartheid government destroyed homes and roads in an attempt to erase any sense of the area’s previous inhabitants, there are still many remnants of this history, which can be found at the District Six Museum. The museum was established in 1994 to recapture the spirit of District Six and to remember the unforgiveable history of the forced removals.

Since the 11th of February, to commemorate and reclaim the date on which the forced removals got underway, there have been concerted efforts by the current government to resettle some of the families of District Six residents who were forcibly removed. It’s hoped that this will help rebuild the community and heal the wounds of the past.

The tour is a sobering reminder of the painful history that has shaped South Africa as it is today. But it is also a reminder of an arduous journey successfully negotiated to arrive at our newly gained freedom. We leave this tour with a feeling that it is not simply a journey through the history of a particular suburb in Cape Town, but a window through which to understand South Africa at large and to keep revisiting this history so that it never repeats itself.