A museum in Cape Town documenting suffering and displacement during South Africa’s apartheid era has offered residents of another town free passes as a stinging riposte to a discriminatory rule requiring labourers, mostly non-white, to obtain work permits to enter some neighbourhoods.
Although scrapped last week following a national outcry, this system required domestic workers and gardeners to obtain passes to work in certain parts of Worcester, a town about 110 km from Cape Town, both located in the Western Cape province in the country’s southwest. This rule is reminiscent of the apartheid government’s “dompas” system requiring non-white people to carry pass books, effectively placing restrictions on their movements in a highly segregated society. The system was ended in 1986.
While the town backed down, the museum wanted to make a point. “Dear Citizens of Worcester,” said the District Six Museum in a full page notice of the March 13 edition of The Times newspaper, in huge typeface, taking a pass-for-pass approach. “We’d like to offer you a free pass…because we believe the lessons you’ll learn inside are priceless.”
“For instance, the history of the Pass Laws and the misery, indignity and severe infringement of the right of free movement they caused for several hundred years,” the scathing notice further said. “…We’d like you to visit us, so that you know what we hold dear: that those who don’t study history are doomed to repeat it.”
The notice in The Times on March 13.
The practice came into the public eye after the local press reported last week that the town had actually introduced this system in June 2014, citing a spate of crimes in some neighbourhoods as the justification. But the town dropped the requirement after the outcry and political parties slammed it following the recent media reports. The town also came under pressure from the country’s human rights commission, which proposed on March 11 to inquire into how this system came into force in the first place.
District Six, an inner-city residential area in Cape Town, faced some of the most horrific scenes of apartheid-era discrimination. The government sought to forcibly remove people from their homes after February 11, 1966, when the area was declared a white area under the Group Areas Act of 1950, More than 60,000 people were displaced in subsequent years.
The power of memory
The museum documents the District Six experience as well as forced displacement in general. The ticket price for an adult is 30 Rand, or roughly Rs 150. But former displaced residents of District Six and their descendants can enter for free.
Residents of Worcester are more than welcome to take up the museum's offer of complimentary access, Bonita Bennett, the museum’s director, told Scroll.in, via email.
“All we require is that they sign the register and leave contact details in the book, but we do not ask for proof and take people at their word,” she said. “The thinking behind [the notice] is that we have been very concerned by this process, as it is eerily reminiscent of the pass laws under apartheid, where the movement of black people particularly in cities, was restricted. Black people were required to carry a pass book which indicated that they were ‘legitimately’ in the city, such legitimisation being derived from having a job [as certified in the pass book].”
Without a pass, people could be subject to imprisonment, fines, assault or deportation to other areas, Bennett said. “We are wary of any processes which are prejudice-based and which are contrary to our rights-based constitution,” she said.
She admitted that crime was an issue. “[But] we do not believe that solutions are to be found in demonising any group or groups of people as this further entrenches the inequalities which we are all keen to overcome,” she said.
District Six Museum in Cape Town documents displacement in apartheid-era South Africa. Courtesy: District Six Museum
Although scrapped last week following a national outcry, this system required domestic workers and gardeners to obtain passes to work in certain parts of Worcester, a town about 110 km from Cape Town, both located in the Western Cape province in the country’s southwest. This rule is reminiscent of the apartheid government’s “dompas” system requiring non-white people to carry pass books, effectively placing restrictions on their movements in a highly segregated society. The system was ended in 1986.
While the town backed down, the museum wanted to make a point. “Dear Citizens of Worcester,” said the District Six Museum in a full page notice of the March 13 edition of The Times newspaper, in huge typeface, taking a pass-for-pass approach. “We’d like to offer you a free pass…because we believe the lessons you’ll learn inside are priceless.”
“For instance, the history of the Pass Laws and the misery, indignity and severe infringement of the right of free movement they caused for several hundred years,” the scathing notice further said. “…We’d like you to visit us, so that you know what we hold dear: that those who don’t study history are doomed to repeat it.”
The notice in The Times on March 13.
The practice came into the public eye after the local press reported last week that the town had actually introduced this system in June 2014, citing a spate of crimes in some neighbourhoods as the justification. But the town dropped the requirement after the outcry and political parties slammed it following the recent media reports. The town also came under pressure from the country’s human rights commission, which proposed on March 11 to inquire into how this system came into force in the first place.
District Six, an inner-city residential area in Cape Town, faced some of the most horrific scenes of apartheid-era discrimination. The government sought to forcibly remove people from their homes after February 11, 1966, when the area was declared a white area under the Group Areas Act of 1950, More than 60,000 people were displaced in subsequent years.
The power of memory
The museum documents the District Six experience as well as forced displacement in general. The ticket price for an adult is 30 Rand, or roughly Rs 150. But former displaced residents of District Six and their descendants can enter for free.
Residents of Worcester are more than welcome to take up the museum's offer of complimentary access, Bonita Bennett, the museum’s director, told Scroll.in, via email.
“All we require is that they sign the register and leave contact details in the book, but we do not ask for proof and take people at their word,” she said. “The thinking behind [the notice] is that we have been very concerned by this process, as it is eerily reminiscent of the pass laws under apartheid, where the movement of black people particularly in cities, was restricted. Black people were required to carry a pass book which indicated that they were ‘legitimately’ in the city, such legitimisation being derived from having a job [as certified in the pass book].”
Without a pass, people could be subject to imprisonment, fines, assault or deportation to other areas, Bennett said. “We are wary of any processes which are prejudice-based and which are contrary to our rights-based constitution,” she said.
She admitted that crime was an issue. “[But] we do not believe that solutions are to be found in demonising any group or groups of people as this further entrenches the inequalities which we are all keen to overcome,” she said.
District Six Museum in Cape Town documents displacement in apartheid-era South Africa. Courtesy: District Six Museum
Limited-time offer: Big stories, small price. Keep independent media alive. Become a Scroll member today!
Our journalism is for everyone. But you can get special privileges by buying an annual Scroll Membership. Sign up today!