The City Press’ wide-ranging feature articles on the race question in the Western Cape Province (12 February 2012), with particular emphasis on the city of Cape Town, coincided with an important date in the history of the Mother City.
Approximately 40 years ago, apartheid rulers declared a district of Cape Town, located in a prime location on the slopes of the Devil’s Peak, a whites-only area. The declaration was followed by the demolition of the area, District Six, and the forceful removal of non-whites from the area.
The story of District Six, together with similar stories of places such as Lady Selborne and Marabastad in Pretoria, summarise the attitudes of South Africa’s early rulers towards native inhabitants our land.
To understand the lingering negative effects of colonialism and apartheid on present-day South African society, one has to dig deep into the history of District Six, situated in a city where Dutch invaders first came into contact with our mainland.
Originally a vibrant, multi-racial and multi-cultural neighborhood, District Six was later earmarked by the rulers of the day for exclusive inhabitation by whites. The blacks, cololureds and other non-white residents – some of whom were slaves from as far as West Africa, Madagascar and India – were to be moved to new areas away from the city, areas such as Mitchell’s Plain.
The forced removals followed earlier attempts to brainwash the non-white population. Not even the Zonnenberg College, set up specifically to transform the children of Xhosa chiefs into so-called black Englishmen, could serve the purpose for which it was established.
The barbarity of the then rulers of Cape Town got worse with every passing year, reaching its peak during the early years of institutionalised racism under apartheid. After coming into power in 1948, the government of DF Malan wasted no time passing a series of laws that were aimed at a physical and cultural separation of whites from other races. The intention? To elevate the white man (in every respect) above others.
When European invaders arrived in Cape Town in the 1600s, they are said to have established business ties with the local Khoikhoi population. By the 1650s, the Peninsula Khoikhoi reportedly held monopoly on trade with the Dutch.
Long before apartheid, peaceful co-habitation amongst various indigenous and racial groupings in Cape Town and elsewhere in the country was later seen as a threat to white domination. In 1934, the Cape Town City Council passed the Slums Act into law, giving authorities the powers to expropriate properties in so-called “slum areas”. Activists later correctly described the law as having been motivated by ideological reasons.
One such activist, RF Hurly, is quoted in a May 1966 Cape Times front page article as having described the forceful removals of non-whites from District Six as signifying a determination by the authorities to allocate prime land to “white overlords”.
Notions of lingering racism in present-day Cape Town are directly linked to this history; but there is a new dimension. A capitalist system, although seemingly motivated by good intentions, is being implemented with scant regard to the need to redress the injustices of the past.
There is little dispute as to the administrative effectiveness of the governance systems in the city, but these lack sympathy towards the historically marginalised. Cape Town is the only metro in South Africa where blacks are in minority. It is also the only metro in South Africa where local political authorities maintain strong opposition to redress mechanisms such as Black Economic Empowerment and Affirmative Action.
It is under this historical context – and because of a lack of sympathy towards the historically marginalised – that Cape Town is set to continue being seen by many as a racist city.
The current prevailing ideology that prices administrative competence above genuine political reform will, for years to come, make Cape Town a racist city in the eyes of many.
Madibeng Kgwete, Pretoria
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