The Bo-Kaap area is located in between Cape Town city center and the foothills of Signal Hill. Today, Bo-Kaap is known as one of the most Instagrammable places in the country, thanks to its pastel-colored houses and picturesque cobbled streets. You will find brightly painted houses in greens, yellows, blues and pinks as residents express and celebrate their freedom, not only from slavery but also from apartheid.
Bo-Kaap’s origins date back to the 1760s when slaves were brought from Indonesia, Malaysia and other African countries to work on the Cape. During this period, the earliest development in the Bo-Kaap area was undertaken in the 1760s by a chap called Jan de Waal. Numerous “huurheisjes” (rental houses) were built and leased out to the slaves.
There is existence of distinctive vernacular architecture in Bo-Kaap. The buildings were characterised by Cape Dutch architecture flat-roofed houses with cobblestone streets. Subsequently, the area became known as Waalendorp. It has also been known as the Malay Quarter, the Slamse Buurt, and Scotcheskloof. Translated from Afrikaans, Bo Kaap means ‘Above the Cape’.
From the very beginning, Bo-Kaap was a multi-ethnic and multi-lingual community, made up of people from South and Southeast Asian nations who had been forcibly relocated to supply skilled labour for the expanding Cape Colony. Throughout the centuries that followed, Bo-Kaap’s residents have sustained a community that preserves a rich legacy of tangible and intangible heritage. Enforced segregation of the community under the Apartheid regime strengthened the identity of Bo-Kaap, even as the racially-motivated policy represented an assault on the human rights of the community.
So why are the buildings so colourful?
It is unclear, but it is believed that when Bo-Kaap residents bought their houses, they decorated their homes with bright colours, as an expression of individualism. After apartheid ended, they painted their houses in bright colours as a celebration of their freedom.
Bo-Kaap, One of Safest Places to Visit in Cape Town
Cape Town is still a popular tourist destination. The whole of the general Western Cape region of South Africa is well trodden and received over 3 million visitors in 2019. Unlike some of Cape Town’s poorer areas, Bo-Kaap is safe to visit independently. It’s a five-minute walk from the city center, and a 10-minute drive from the V&A Waterfront (the city’s main tourist area). From the city centre, just follow Wale Street straight up until you get the IZIKO Bo-Kaap Museum. If you’re travelling there solo or towards the evening, we’d recommend going by Uber for safety.
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The Amazing Bo-Kaap Museum
The museum showcases South Africa’s Islamic heritage in Wale Street, falls under the Iziko group of Cape museums. It’s in the process of transformation into a social history museum that will tell the story of the local population within a cultural and socio-political context. The museum occupies a 1768 original house, and is furnished as a 19th century home of a Muslim family. As you relive the history of the Bo-Kaap community, you’ll learn about its customs and beliefs, and how it was affected by the political ideology of apartheid and its discriminatory legislation.
Bo-Kaap enduring Muslim culture
Bo-Kaap has been the traditional home of Cape Town’s Muslim population since the second half of the eighteenth century. Also, it is one of the oldest and most historic residential areas in Cape Town. Most of all, it’s synonymous with Islamic Cape Malay culture evidence of which can be found throughout the area, from its halal restaurants to the haunting sound of the muezzin’s call to prayer.
Historically, many Muslims moved to the new parts of Bo-Kaap. Some were fishermen, others were tailors, shoemakers or builders, and yet others were skilled craftsmen such as cabinet-makers and silversmiths. This influx is of course closely connected with the construction of several mosques in the area after 1840.
The mosque is the most important institution in a Muslim’s life and since the beginning of their settlement at the Cape this, together with religious instruction, has been their main concern. There are at least nine mosques in the Bo-Kaap, the oldest being the Auwal Mosque in Dorp Street. On the hillside behind the houses there are also several kramats, or tombs, containing the remains of much-respected religious leaders.
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