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For decades, South Africa was under apartheid: a series of laws that divided people according to race. Then, in the 1990s, these laws were dismantled. But many of the barriers they created continue to divide South Africans based on the color of their skin – which in turn determines their quality of life, access to jobs and wealth. Racial division is embedded in the urban fabric of all of South Africa, and it has still not been uprooted.
This is partly because, although apartheid was the culmination of racial divisions in South Africa, it was not the beginning. This story begins closer to the 1800s, when the British built a railroad network that transformed the region's economy into one that excluded most black people — and then made that exclusion law.
Sources and further reading:
If you would like to learn more about the railroads and their impact on the Cape Colony economy, check out this article by Johan Fourie and Alonso Herranz Loncan:
https://academic.oup.com/ereh/article-abstract/22/1/73/3930943?redirectedFromfulltext
To understand segregation in South Africa's major urban centers, take a look at this article on segregation and inequality:
https://www.seri-sa.org/images/SERI_Edged_out_report_Final.pdf
For more information on post-apartheid cities, you can read this article by Edgar Pieterse (which we feature in the video):
https://www.africancentreforcities.net/wp-content/uploads/2013/10/post-apartheid_geographies_pieterse_15dec09.pdf
To explore the history and heritage of District Six, visit the District Six Museum website:
https://www.districtsix.co.za/
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