Coloured and Black Identities of Residents Forcibly Removed from Blouvlei

Abstract

The paper seeks to identify the differences in memory between coloured and black residents of Blouvlei from the 1930s to the 1960s. In particular it looks at residents of an area in Retreat, Cape Town that no longer exists, known as Blouvlei. It examines how people's memories of the same period are vastly different owing to their different life experiences and how they relate those stories in the present. Blouvlei was declared a coloured area in the 1960s by the National Party government and therefore black people were forcibly removed from the area. The article aims to highlight the lives of 36 people and their views on life in Blouvlei and the various areas to which they were moved. More generally the paper looks at the importance of race, class and whether race is the determining signifier, or whether it is class that separates groups. It also identifies various times in Blouvlei's history, namely before, during, and after forced removals. The article therefore encompasses issues such as race, class, identity, life and politics in Blouvlei in this period.

Keywords:

• forced removals
• Blouvlei
• Retreat
• coloured identity
• black identity
• memory