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It’s no secret that the residents of the Bo-Kaap are gatvol of the gentrification that is forcing out many of its long-term residents.

Back in June, residents burnt tyres at 5PM each night in order to draw attention to their concerns, and tensions were further heightened when police arrested a 17-year-old and charged him with public violence.

Locals spoke of police intimidation tactics, but they continue to mobilise behind a cause that is close to their hearts, and slowly but surely their message is reaching an international audience.

Take the Guardian, for example, who covered the story over the weekend. Their headline reads “In the Cape Town enclave that survived apartheid, the new enemy is gentrification”.

Below is some of that article:

In recent weeks angry young men have burned tyres in the streets of Bo-Kaap. There have been marches and demonstrations. The immediate spark for the anger? Plans to build hotels, luxury apartments and shops. The deeper cause? Fear that gentrification will destroy the community…

The protests have attracted media attention across South Africa. Some reports have portrayed an economic struggle between haves and have-nots. Others have highlighted a faith angle – most of Bo-Kaap’s estimated 6,000 people are Muslim. The reality, however, is more complicated than either interpretation suggests.

The reality is one that we have all become accustomed to. Property prices sky-rocket, leading to people selling, and developers move in to build high-end hotels and apartment blocks.

Slowly but surely, the heart and soul of the area changes.

About those apartheid references:

But the argument over Bo-Kaap is not simply about the future. It is also about the past. The racist, repressive government that took power in South Africa in 1948 enforced the division of cities across the nation into ethnically distinct areas. The effect on Cape Town was particularly dramatic. Poor “non-white” communities were exiled to bleak new settlements on the hot and dusty flatlands to the east of the city, far from the picturesque coastline with its fresh breeze and beaches…

[Fauzia Ahmed’s] family could live in Bo-Kaap because it was designated as a home for the “Cape Malay” or “Cape Muslim” community under the twisted apartheid laws designed to enforce segregation. Though on prime real estate in the centre of the city, the neighbourhood thus became a unique enclave where few white south Africans ever ventured and none lived…

“It is not about its commercial value. It’s about identity, history and destiny of people in our society. With Bo-Kaap, it’s a place of historical importance, but the people who have suffered in previous decades cannot afford to live there any more,” [Ralph Mathekga, a political analyst and author] said.

According to Councillor Brett Herron, the city of Cape Town’s mayoral committee member for transport and urban development, the City itself can only do so much.

“Any person owing an asset in Bo-Kaap – be it a piece of land or structure – is free to sell their asset as [and] when they choose to do so, and at a price and to a buyer of their choice … [But] there are no developments that are proposing the destruction of the historic cottages that are at the heart of this iconic neighbourhood. These are recognised as national heritage resources and neither the city, nor other spheres of government, would support the demolition of such valuable heritage assets,” Herron said.

Those assurances will do little to placate residents of the Bo-Kaap, and the activists fighting for their cause, who remain determined to prevent the area from changing irrevocably.

We’re in for a long and heated showdown.

[source:guardian]