Al Jama-ah highlights Bo-Kaap support amid concerns over gentrification and tourism

Concerns about gentrification, tourism and the preservation of Bo-Kaap's cultural identity featured in Al Jama-ah's campaign during the 2026 Local Government Elections, with the party saying its support in the historic neighbourhood reflected residents' concerns about its future.

Advocate Shameemah Salie of Al Jama-ah said the party's performance in the Bo-Kaap voting district demonstrated that residents recognised its efforts to protect the area's heritage, culture and identity.

She said securing support in the area was particularly significant because of concerns about development and what she described as spatial injustice and gentrification.

“It was very crucial for us to be in the voting district of Bo-Kaap because it was a clear indication of Bo-Kaap saying that we are not happy with the spatial apartheid, injustice and gentrification that is happening in the area,” Salie said.

Salie said Bo-Kaap was more than a residential neighbourhood, describing it as a living heritage that needed to be protected for future generations.

“Bo-Kaap is all about our heritage and our culture. It is a living heritage, and we are all duty-bound to protect it. That is what Al Jama-ah is doing,” she said.

She said the party believed residents had recognised its continued efforts to protect the neighbourhood's heritage, culture and identity.

According to Salie, voters had turned out in numbers to support Al Jama-ah, recognising its involvement in issues affecting the community.

Concerns about the neighbourhood's future have also been raised by residents, tour operators and community organisations.

At a meeting hosted by the Bo-Kaap Civic and Ratepayers Association at the Bo-Kaap Cultural Hub on October 29, tour operators and guides supported calls for tighter controls on tourism and urged authorities to intervene.

In a report published by the Atlantic Sun on November 2, the association's representatives raised concerns about traffic congestion, noise, compromised privacy and commercial activity affecting the neighbourhood's residential character.

Residents also questioned whether existing restrictions on large tour buses entering Bo-Kaap via Upper Wale Street were being enforced.

The City announced restrictions in April 2025, preventing tour buses with 36 or more seats from entering Bo-Kaap via Wale Street. Alternative drop-off and parking facilities were provided along Buitengracht Street, while smaller buses were allocated a drop-off point outside the Bo-Kaap Museum and parking behind the Schotsche Kloof Civic Centre.

Among the association's demands were traffic officers on Wale Street, dedicated parking bays for residents, limits on tour-group sizes and designated holding areas for tour buses outside narrow residential streets.

The association said it was not opposed to tourism but wanted visitor activities managed in a way that respected residents and created opportunities for local guides.

Ward 77 councillor Francine Higham acknowledged residents' concerns about traffic and congestion. She said the association's requests had been forwarded to relevant City departments for consideration.

Tourism Minister Patricia de Lille also acknowledged concerns about residents' privacy, including tourists photographing people outside their homes. She said she would facilitate engagements with Cape Town Tourism and the City.

Bo-Kaap's heritage has been the subject of formal protection measures. In April 2019, the City of Cape Town gazetted a Heritage Protection Overlay Zone covering all land units and public streets in the neighbourhood.

The designation provides additional heritage considerations when development applications are assessed, including the potential impact on buildings, sites and the area's heritage value.

The City said the measures were intended to prevent inappropriate development and alterations while protecting the neighbourhood's heritage.

Salie said the community's history and cultural identity remained central to Al Jama-ah's work in the area.

She said the support received by the party reflected residents' recognition of its involvement in issues affecting Bo-Kaap.