Cape Town - The Bo-Kaap is renowned for its rich history, colourful houses and spectacular views - the very characteristics that have put the suburb at risk of losing its heritage as newcomers and developers eye the prime land.
The historic neighbourhood, on the slopes of Signal Hill, is one of 50 sites in 36 countries named by the US-based World Monuments Fund as being at risk “from the forces of nature and the impact of social, political, and economic change”.
The non-profit organisation releases its watch-list every two years highlighting neglected culturally significant sites and raises funds for their protection.
An Albanian prison, Edwardian swimming baths in Birmingham and a Yorkshire mansion are included in the list, as are the monuments and temples destroyed in the earthquake in Nepal, caves in India and an urban park in Mexico.
The World Monuments Fund says the Bo-Kaap was recognised for its “distinctive vernacular architecture and its enduring Muslim culture”. “But the forces of gentrification are also at play, as the Bo-Kaap has become a fashionable suburb that attracts newcomers, causing a rapid increase in land values,” it said.
Osman Shaboodien, the chairman of the Bo-Kaap Civic Association, said gentrification was a massive threat - “people are coming with dollars, pounds and euros to buy up the place”.
Shaboodien said there were investors who bought properties to rent out and foreigners who bought “summer houses”.
Some rented out their homes to foreign students or marketed their properties to overseas tourists. But, he said, estate agents don’t tell people the Bo-Kaap is a noisy place. There is a call to prayer five times a day, people practising music and the Noon Gun.
“And now until the end of February we have the (Kaapse) Klopse here every weekend.”
Yusuf Safudien, who handles the events for the association, said newcomers were quick to complain about the noise.
“You might have arranged a programme with music in your house and the next minute the neighbour calls the cops.”
There were also complaints during weddings and funerals if people parked in the street, even though there wasn’t enough off-street parking.
“Our culture is under threat,” he said.
Jacky Poking, in charge of tourism at the association, said they had to put up with dozens of tourist buses every day, and sometimes at night: “You feel like you are in a zoo. People get out and take pictures but we don’t get any benefits.”
She said the big tourist companies come through the Bo-Kaap in 15 minutes, using guides who didn’t even know its history.
Erefaan Ramjam, of the Bo-Kaap Neighbourhood Watch, said some people, especially pensioners who didn’t have money, would grab an offer of R1 million for their homes - but most later regretted it. Ramjam, whose family has lived in the area for generations, said the Bo-Kaap was changing and also getting smaller due to commercial “creep”.
Shaboodien said the biggest problem facing the community was non-recognition by the government.
“We are on each and every tourist brochure but there is no legislation to protect the environment and its people.”
The council said the South African Heritage Resource Agency had graded the Bo-Kaap as a Grade 1 heritage resource, which meant that it was of national significance.
“This is, however, not a protection in itself but an indication of the area’s significance,” spokeswoman Jean-Marie de Waal said.
Cape Argus
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