The area known as District Six got its name from having been the Sixth Municipal District of Cape Town in 1867. Its earlier unofficial name was Kanaldorp, a name supposedly derived from the the series of canals running across the city, some of which had to be crossed in order to reach the District (kanaal is the Afrikaans for ‘canal’.) A place where people of colour were forcibly removed from their houses and the reason being white needed to land for their own personal use. Houses were destroyed and masses were left homeless