City Guide · ZA

Cape Town

South Africa's oldest city, cradled between Table Mountain and the Atlantic, where centuries of layered history meet world-class coastline.

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History & Heritage

From Khoi Pastures to the Mother City

Long before European sails appeared on the horizon, the Cape was home to San hunter-gatherers and Khoikhoi pastoralists, who grazed cattle across the coastal plain and, from around 1600, traded with visiting sailors near a freshwater stream the Khoi knew as the Camissa, flowing into Table Bay.

On 6 April 1652, Dutch East India Company commander Jan van Riebeeck landed in Table Bay with three ships and built a fort to resupply passing vessels, founding the settlement that grew into Cape Town. As Dutch settlers arrived, native pastoralists were evicted from grazing land, often by force, and the Company began importing enslaved people from East Africa, Madagascar and the Dutch East Indies to meet a chronic labour shortage. Between 1666 and 1679 the Company built the pentagonal Castle of Good Hope, the oldest surviving building in South Africa, and in 1685 Simon van der Stel established Groot Constantia, now the country's oldest wine estate. Britain annexed the Cape Colony in 1806, and when slavery was abolished in the 1830s many freed people settled on the slopes of Signal Hill, forming the community that became the Bo-Kaap.

Segregation hardened into law under apartheid after 1948, and its cruelty is nowhere clearer than in District Six: home to some 60,000 residents living as an interracial, cosmopolitan community, it was declared a whites-only area under the Group Areas Act on 11 February 1966, and from 1968 the government forcibly removed its people to the Cape Flats and bulldozed their homes, a process that continued until 1982. From 1961, the maximum-security prison on Robben Island in Table Bay held political prisoners, among them Nelson Mandela, who spent 18 of his 27 years' imprisonment there.

South Africa's first democratic elections in 1994 opened a new chapter. Cape Town's old docklands, redeveloped from 1988, became the Victoria & Alfred Waterfront, now one of Africa's busiest mixed-use precincts drawing around 24 million visitors a year. The city built Cape Town Stadium for the 2010 FIFA World Cup and was named World Design Capital in 2014, even as it continues to reckon with the legacies of apartheid-era displacement.

Key Historical Places

Places of Significance

Robben Island

A former maximum-security political prison in Table Bay that held Nelson Mandela for 18 of his 27 years' imprisonment; now a UNESCO World Heritage Site and museum reached by ferry from the V&A Waterfront.

UNESCO World Heritage Site Nelson Mandela Guided by former prisoners

↑ Book the Nelson Mandela Gateway ferry well ahead — the full round trip, including the boat crossing, runs about 3.5 hours, and tours are often led by former political prisoners.

District Six Museum

Housed in the historic Buitenkamp Methodist Mission Church, the museum preserves the memory of District Six, a vibrant, mixed-race inner-city neighbourhood of around 60,000 people that was declared whites-only in 1966 and bulldozed under apartheid; much of the collection was donated by former residents.

Apartheid history Museum City Bowl

↑ Open Monday to Saturday, 09:00–16:00, closed Sunday — allow time to read the floor map of street names former residents have annotated by hand.

Castle of Good Hope

Built by the Dutch East India Company between 1666 and 1679, this pentagonal bastion fort is the oldest surviving colonial building in South Africa.

Oldest building in SA Military heritage

↑ It's a short walk from the Grand Parade and Company's Garden, so pair a visit with both in one City Bowl outing.

Bo-Kaap

A former Cape Malay quarter on the slopes of Signal Hill, its brightly painted houses date back to 1760s rental housing for enslaved and exiled people from the Dutch East Indies; home to South Africa's first mosque, the Auwal Mosque.

Cape Malay heritage Colourful houses Living neighbourhood

↑ Visit in the early morning light before day-trip crowds arrive, and remember it's a residential neighbourhood — be respectful when photographing homes.

Company's Garden

Laid out in 1652 as a vegetable garden to provision passing VOC ships, this oak-lined city-centre park sits beside the Castle of Good Hope and South Africa's Houses of Parliament.

Colonial-era garden City Bowl Free entry

↑ Free and shaded — a good midday stop between the Iziko museums and a walk down Long Street.

Timeline

1652
Jan van Riebeeck lands to build a Dutch East India Company refreshment station
1666–1679
The Castle of Good Hope is built, the oldest surviving building in South Africa
1685
Simon van der Stel establishes Groot Constantia, South Africa's oldest wine estate
1806
Britain annexes the Cape Colony from the Dutch
1830s
Slavery is abolished at the Cape; freed people settle Signal Hill's slopes, forming the Bo-Kaap
1961–1996
Robben Island operates as a maximum-security political prison, holding Nelson Mandela for 18 years
1966–1982
District Six is declared whites-only and its 60,000 residents forcibly removed under apartheid
1994
South Africa's first democratic elections mark the end of apartheid rule

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