An oral history of Tramway Road and Ilford Street, Sea Point, 1930s-2001 : the production of place by race, class and gender
The political economies of segregation and apartheid contributed to the production and reproduction of a mainly Coloured working-class enclave in Tramway Road and Ilford Street, Sea Point, during the 20th century. Against this background, this thesis discusses activities performed by residents of the enclave in their residential area, activities that reflected the changing political economies and through which the residents themselves produced and reproduced their residential area. From the 1920s through to 1961, the enclave was both a product and a response to the successive political economies of segregation and apartheid. Excerpts of life history interviews are used to discuss activities that residents performed. Those activities discussed focus on the household, occupation, leisure, race and class. In doing so, this thesis is a micro-study of Tramway Road and Ilford Street. Part of the discussion of households and occupation is based on a household survey that was conducted in Tramway and Ilford streets around August 1961. Combined with oral history excerpts, the survey shows that household structure changed over time and in response to conditions internal and external to the enclave. Oral history excerpts are also used to discuss the occupations of people who lived in the enclave. To date there has been little discussion on the working lives of Coloureds in the now-destroyed residential areas. Oral history excerpts and data from the 1961 survey emphasise that the gender and race bias of the political economy limited the occupational status and income of the residents. Based on the 1961 survey, tables on the wages of females and males and household income were developed to support discussion on occupation and the economic well-being of households. The data and excerpts provide evidence of the legacy of the political economy of segregation and its role in the reproduction of a mainly Coloured working-class residential area. Owing to the mainly working-class character of the enclave, residents interacted in ways that promoted their economic well-being and helped to sustain households that lived in the residential area. Oral history excerpts are used to discuss race and class. Matters related to race examines ways that residents of the enclave responded to the racialisation of space in Sea Point. Matters related to class focus on how a general working-class status was expressed through housing but how the inhabitants communicated their personal status through material possession and inter- and intra-class distinction. In doing so, the thesis discusses how segregation and apartheid not only informed a sense of race identity but also contributed to class distinction and tension in the residential area. Newspaper, municipal and city archives are used to discuss the historical origins of the enclave and the concerns of city officials about the condition of the dwellings there. Newspaper archives and oral history excerpts also form an important part of the discussion of the forced removal of the residents of the enclave in 1959-1961. Minutes of meetings and personal communication provide data on the process of restitution for Tramway Road in 1997-2001. Through this micro-study of Tramway and Ilford streets, this thesis is meant to contribute to the histories of now-destroyed residential areas of Cape Town.
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