Contemporary Cape Town

Nelson Mandela Sculpture on the balcony of the City Hall where he gave his first speech as a free man after his release from jail in 1990.

Contemporary Cape Town City Tour
While this tour stands on its own and can be booked for a fantastic experience without doing any of our other tours, it works even better as a follow up to our Understanding Cape Town walking tour. While the Understanding Cape Town tour focuses on the background story and earlier history of Cape Town, this tour focuses on the recent history of the 20th and 21st centuries. It provides insight into the contemporary culture and future development of the city. Together, the two half-day tours make for a perfect full day tour, of course with a lunch stop in between. Or two separate tours on different days.

The Contemporary Cape Town City tour focuses on the recent storytelling themes mentioned on our welcome page – Union & Apartheid Republic (1910-1990) and Contemporary Times (1990-2025). Starting off at the Company’s Garden, we pick up the Cape Town and South African story in the early 1900s, and look into how fascism and nationalism came into being in South Africa, eventually resulting in Apartheid by 1948. We delve into the philosophy of Apartheid and how this system affected the daily lives of people in Cape Town. This of course includes the tragic destruction of District Six, a once thriving neighourhood, as well as the attempts to erase the Bo-Kaap (which survived till today).

We investigate how the struggle against Apartheid gained momentum and  how the Apartheid state eventually crumbled by 1990. We discuss the turmoil of the early 1990s during four years of negotiations to reach democracy in 1994. Then we consider the growth and development of Cape Town (and South Africa) during the past 30 years of democracy – both the highs and the lows. The tour will leave you inspired about Cape Town as a growing city of the future, but also make you understand the severe challenges that this city and country face ahead.

Our route ambles from the Company’s Garden down to Parliament, St Georges Cathedral and St Georges Mall. We then proceed to the edge of District Six and the Grand Parade where Nelson Mandela gave his first speech as a free man in 1990. We stroll through the heart of the city up to the Bo-Kaap with its bristling bright houses and down to the Waterkant area to end our tour on a high note, contemplating urban regeneration versus gentrification and how Cape Town can overcome its history of spatial apartheid, providing access to the economy and society for many more people. Apart from plenty of storytelling, there are wonderful opportunities to stop and taste city delicacies and to shop too.

Duration:
This tour lasts 4-hours and can be booked for a 9am or 2pm start.

Rates: 
Only available as a private tour at any time, subject to availability, at a minimum of R2880 for up to 4 guests
(or R720 per person if you are more than 4 guests).

Any food, drinks, or shopping along the way for guests’ own account.

BOOK NOW:
To book your tour, send an email to gerald@localplaces.co.za or a WhatsApp to + 27 82 894 5216.

Please do not phone as we are mostly busy hosting guests.
Send a message and we will contact you as soon as is possible.

We will respond to your booking request and provide an online payment link for you to pay by bank card to secure the booking.

One of the many highlights of this tour, includes ambling through the Bo-Kaap.

 

TERMS & CONDITIONS
Guests participate in all IkapaPlaces tours at their own risk. Neither IkapaPlaces, nor its guides, accept any responsibility whatsoever for any injury, accident or death that may occur while participating in an IkapaPlaces tour, whether in a public or a private space.

A tour booking is only secured upon payment.

Provisional bookings will automatically be cancelled if not paid within 48 hours from making a booking.

Bookings cannot be cancelled once paid for any reason whatsoever and no refunds will be offered for cancelled bookings.

Bookings can be postponed to another date if postponed more than 30 days in advance of the booked date. However, bookings cannot be postponed for any reason whatsoever within 30 days of the tour date, as we would lose the opportunity to take another booking for that slot.

STARTING POINT
We will stipulate the starting point for your tour in your booking confirmation letter. This tour starts at the top of the Company’s Garden, near the Iziko South African Museum.

For private tour bookings, it is possible to arrange pick up and drop off from your hotel or accommodation, possibly for an additional fee, depending on location.

WhatsApp us on +27 82 894 5216 or email us on gerald@localplaces.co.za to check availability.

 

A panel of the Berlin Wall reminds us of the incredible change in the world in 1989/1990 which contributed to the fall of Apartheid in South Africa.

 

A walking tour in splendorous central Cape Town is always an inspiring experience.

 

Mutual Heights, today an apartment block, was once the offices of Old Mutual, an architectural Art Deco gem that is a must see along this tour.

 

Contemporary Cape Town is alive with culture. Choirs often perform under the Arch at the entrance to Government Avenue. Of course so much of the story of Apartheid is centred around this part of the city – between Parliament and St George’s Cathedral.
The Bo-Kaap holds much of the city’s history of overcoming Apartheid, while it is also a contemporary hotspot and an area that is feeling the pressures of gentrification while trying to preserve its unique culture.
The stories of District Six, destroyed by the Apartheid Government will never be forgotten, thanks to places such as the District Six Museum.