Author(s): David Goldblatt

Photography

Known affectionately by its inhabitants as Fietas, though officially called Pageview, this was one of the city’s few “nonracial” suburbs, where Malay, African, Chinese, Indian and a few white people lived. Composed of narrow streets and small houses, here different races and religions formed a strong, safe community where children played in the streets. There were two mosques, Hindu, Tamil and Muslim schools, cricket, soccer and bridge clubs, and shops. In 1948 the National Party came to power and made the clearance of all “nonwhite” inhabitants of Pageview an immediate objective: some 5,000 Africans and other people of color were evicted or “persuaded” to leave.