SAVE THE BO-KAAP’S HERITAGE

We need your support to make the proposed Bokaap Heritage Protection Overlay Zone (HPOZ) a reality. Please submit your letter of support here! The deadline is midnight on Thursday 21 February 2019.

The City of Cape Town has finally responded to our pleas to protect our unique heritage through the proposed Heritage Protection Overlay Zone (HPOZ). We give thanks to all our community members who have worked and demonstrated tirelessly to get us to this point. Despite being approved by the Bo-Kaap community in December 2015 after an extensive community public participation process, the Bo-Kaap HPOZ was stalled (deliberately?) inside the De Lille administration for 3 YEARS! During this 3-year period a host of insensitive and extractive developments were able to be approved and some of them are currently on site. This has caused great distress and trauma in our wider community - costing us an enormous amount financially, emotionally and psychologically. Community volunteers have given thousands of hours of unpaid input to support the preservation of Bo-Kaap’s living heritage for future generations.

Our community members gave many wonderful presentations at the Bo-Kaap HPOZ hearings at the City Centre on Saturday 9 February. The Bo-Kaap Civic and Ratepayer Association’s presentation can be viewed here. The Bo-Kaap Collective’s presentation can be view here. We have also issued a press statement about these hearings and the HPOZ in general. This can be viewed here.

We have prepared a response to many Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ) about the Bokaap HPOZ. You can view these here.

There will be a special HPOZ focused community meeting at 8pm on Tuesday 19th in Schotsche Primary School hall. Any community members or members of the wider public who need assistance with their “letters of support” will be assisted at this meeting.