The town destroyed to stop black and white people mixing

Sophiatown, in the suburbs of Johannesburg, was once known for its bohemian lifestyle and vibrant music scene. But 60 years ago, the South African government decided to clear the multi-racial neighbourhood to turn it into a whites-only area. The sound of horses' hooves and shouts from police woke 10-year-old Victor Mokine early one morning. 
(read story from here)


 It was quite surprising to me that as late as 1955, powers-that-were still thought it correct to separate people of different skin colours from staying together, even clearing from an area people who might originally be from that area. Perhaps the social climate then was different, and it was acceptable for what is now deemed politically incorrect deeds to be carried out.

I wonder if such clearing was similar to what happened in Taiwan, where Han Chinese from China had displaced the Taiwanese Aborigins?