South African urban history, racial segregation and the unique case of Cape Town?

Abstract

Cape Town has enjoyed an academic and popular reputation for being the most relaxed of South African cities in terms of ‘race’ relations. Part of this reputation is based on the belief that there was much less segregation in Cape Town than elsewhere in southern Africa before Apartheid. This article reviews this contention. Attention is drawn to the extent of segregation that did exist in the city by the early twentieth century. In particular, an explanation is offered for its non‐residential forms, a hitherto neglected exercise in South African urban historiography. But the limits of segregation in Cape Town, the features that have contributed to its reputation for uniqueness, are also examined and explained. These include the existence of considerable ‘miscegenation’, an enduring non‐racial political tradition and the fact that social segregation was far from comprehensive. The task of explaining these occurrences necessarily involves exploring Cape Town as a place, and thus needs to be a work of urban history. Using Paul Maylam ‘s terminology, it needs to be a ‘history‐of‐the city’, not just the ‘history'‐in‐the city’ that has been the dominant form in South African historiography.