Local Capetonians fight the rental market one beach at a time

by Nomonde Simelane

Cape Town is a city constantly hailed as one of the best in the country and the world for its majestic natural wonders, as well as the plethora of activities for all kinds of people to enjoy, making it a dream destination for tourists and visitors. However, an unfortunate reality is that of the local population constantly being priced out of their own city due to the booming tourism, and the locals seem to have had enough and are taking matters into their own hands.

The discussion of Cape Town becoming too expensive for locals is not a new one, as rent prices continue to rise as the influx of people such as ‘digital nomads’ make their way to settle in the Mother City, while not matching people’s salaries, making it almost impossible for the middle and working-class people to survive.

This set-up causes locals to be priced out of their city, whether intentionally or unintentionally, by the powers that be and for a long time, people sat idly by and accepted the unfortunate hand life has dealt them. As of late, however, locals have taken matters into their own hands, infiltrating and being comfortable in spaces that were often designated for the affluent.

The beaches in the city are an example of this, as Clifton Beach, which was generally reserved for a certain demographic has been swarming with large crowds of people since the weather has been getting warmer. To anyone not privy to the situation, this does not seem like anything that anyone should be interested in, however, those who know deem it as an act of admirable resistance.

In a series of trending TikTok videos, young people are seen enjoying themselves at various beaches around Cape Town. Taking to the comments, were residents who live closeby to the beaches, expressing their disdain for the sudden influx of people claiming that they now need to find other beaches to go to instead.

@pachecosanchez69 Clifton 4th beach live and shut down 📢🇿🇦🎬 #clifton #shutdown #party #viral #foryou #capetown ♬ Fede – Mr JazziQ & Vigro Deep

One Facebook user stated that Camps Bay beach is now the same as Monwabisi, which is located in Khayelitsha after a crowd of black, middle-class people has recently swarmed the beach. The now-deleted post, according to some users is clearly racist and contains harmful notions against back people.


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