Many of the residents of Bo-Kaap are direct descendants of the slaves brought from Indonesia, Madagascar and Bengal in India. Bo-Kaap was the slave area of the colonists. The Bo-Kaap community can trace their heritage back more than 250 years. It is the oldest surviving residential neighbourhood of the City of Cape Town and South Africa. The tangible and intangible aspects of heritage places are acknowledged in the inclusion of our parks, streets and our “stoeps”. Tourists do not only come to see the brightly coloured houses, they come to share the culture, tradition and cuisine implemented by the descendants. Click here to view on google maps.

The area is threatened by ongoing gentrification, insensitive development approvals by the City of Cape Town and rapidly increasing rates and taxes.

Source: 2017 Endangered Heritage Sites Nomination Form. Image courtesy Sadiq Toffa (UCT School of Architecture, Planning and Geomatics  |  Faculty of Engineering and the Built Environment)

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