The Group Areas Act and Community Destruction in South Africa - The Struggle for Cato Manor in Durban | South African History Online

Archive Category
Article
Name of Publication:
Urban Forum
Author:
Brij Maharaj
Publisher:
Witwatersrand University Press
Date of Publication:
1994
Place of Publication:
Johannesburg, South Africa
Copyright:
Brij Maharaj
Synopsis:
In South Africa, attention has been drawn to the destruction of Sophiatown in Johannesburg (Lodge 1983) and the razing of District Six in Cape Town (Hart 1988). In Durban, the implementation of the Group Areas Act (GAA) of 1950 in Cato Manor similarly reflected, at the micro-level, the conflicts and tensions which were evident in the broader society. The GAA was one of the key instruments used to enforce the ideology of apartheid. It served as a powerful tool for state intervention in controlling the use, occupation, and ownership of land and buildings on a racial basis. In terms of the GAA, separate residential areas, educational services, and other amenities had to be provided for the different race groups. The overriding goal was racial residential segregation (Maharaj 1992c). This paper examines the struggle to save Cato Manor from the GAA and its consequences.

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