Preservation of the Bokaap, Cape Town: changes in attitudes and actions

Abstract

The Bokaap is a distinctive Cape Muslim residential area west of the Central Business District of Cape Town, which has survived the ravages of time, commercial intrusion and apartheid legislation. This article is a study in changing attitudes and actions towards the Bokaap – and the Old Malay Quarter within it - over the last 50 years. The article first addresses the changing attitudes associated with the problems of slum clearance and redevelopment in the Old Malay Quarter during the 1930s, and with the unofficial campaign early in 1940 to preserve it. Emanating from the preservation campaign there were changes in official attitudes and actions towards the Old Malay Quarter from the 1950s until the early 1970s.