District Six Traditional Cache
Fairest Cape: This cache had its day and attracted a reasonable amount of interest but for reasons of safety it is now being moved into the archives. A new District Six cache may appear one day when a safe appropriate location and hide can be scoped out.
-
Difficulty:
-
-
Terrain:
-
Size: 
(micro)
Please note Use of geocaching.com services is subject to the terms and conditions
in our disclaimer.
Easy park and grab in a part of the city bowl steeped in history.
The towering backdrop of Devils Peak makes this a memorable place to visit
District Six became a political hot potato in the transition from apartheid to democracy in SA. After 2 decades as a barren wasteland waiting for land claims to be resolved it is now ready to see development.
The name comes from the original division of the municipal area in 1867 when this was labelled the 6th District. After the war it was a happy cosmopolitan mix of mainly coloured and Cape Malay residents and smaller numbers of Afrikaners, whites and Indians.
On 11 February 1966 the National government proclaimed District Six a "Whites Only" area under the widely condemned, racially devisive Group Areas Act. The reasoning was that it was viewed as a slum area characterised by gambling, drinking, crime and prostitution but critics of the government believed it was more to do with the desirable location so close to the burgeoning CBD and the harbour.
60,000 residents were forcibly removed in 1982 and resettled on the windswept Cape Flats some 25km away before the bulldozers moved in and flattened all of the structures except places of worship which today (2012) still stand like beacons in a 42 hectare zone of desolation. Developers and investors were however reluctant to commit because of the sensitive, controversial nature of the area at a time when the political future was so uncertain and, whilst the Technikon buildings sprang up in the western portion, re-named Zonnebloem, District Six remained undeveloped.
The first democratic elections in 1994 paved the way for displaced residents to reclaim their land. This was not a quick process however and only in December 2011 was the flood of claims resolved, land re-allocated and plans put in place for the erection of over 1000 new homes in a modern, well-planned multi-phase development due for completion in 2014.
The nearby District Six Museum on the corner of Roeland and Buitenkant Streets has an interesting collection of pictures and exhibits portraying what life was like here and the famous political figures who carved its future.
http://www.districtsix.co.za
The cache is hidden in a safe place which should survive the construction work as it spreads but it is fairly exposed and stealth is essential, especially in the morning and mid afternoon during the week when there are scores of learner muggles passing this location on their way to and from the nearby schools.
Bring a pen to record your log entry.
Additional Hints
(Decrypt)
Vavgvnyyl Cbfvgvbarq Ol Fngryyvgr
Treasures
You'll collect a digital Treasure from one of these collections when you find and log this geocache:
Loading Treasures