Cape Town

The earliest known remnants of human occupation in the region were found at Peers Cave in Fish Hoek and date to between 15,000 and 12,000 years ago.[15] Little is known of the history of the region's first residents, since there is no written history from the area before it was first mentioned by Portuguese explorer Bartolomeu Dias in 1488 who was the first European to reach the area and named it "Cape of Storms" (Cabo das Tormentas). It was later renamed by John II of Portugal as "Cape of Good Hope" (Cabo da Boa Esperança) because of the great optimism engendered by the opening of a sea route to India and the East. Vasco da Gama recorded a sighting of the Cape of Good Hope in 1497. In 1510, at the Battle of Salt River, Francisco de Almeida and sixty-four of his men were killed and his party were defeated[16] by the !Uriǁ’aekua ("Goringhaiqua" in Dutch approximate spelling) using specially trained cattle. The !Uriǁ’aekua were one of the so-called Khoekhoe clans of the area. In the late 16th century French, Danish, Dutch and English, but mainly Portuguese, ships regularly continued to stop over in Table Bay en route to the Indies. They traded tobacco, copper, and iron with the Khoekhoe clans of the region to exchange fresh meat and other provisions.

In 1652, Jan van Riebeeck and other employees of the United East India Company (Dutch: Verenigde Oost-indische Compagnie, VOC) were sent to the Cape Town to establish a way-station for ships travelling to the Dutch East Indies, and the Fort de Goede Hoop (later replaced by the Castle of Good Hope). The settlement grew slowly during this period, as it was hard to find adequate labour. This labour shortage prompted the authorities to import slaves from Indonesia and Madagascar. Many of these became ancestors of the first Cape Coloured communities.[17][18] Under Van Riebeeck and his successors as VOC commanders and later governors at the Cape, an impressive range of useful plants were introduced to the Cape – in the process changing the natural environment forever. Some of these, including grapes, cereals, ground nuts, potatoes, apples and citrus, had an important and lasting influence on the societies and economies of the region.[19]

Adderley Street in 1897 was an important commercial hub in Cape Town at a time when the city was the most important centre of economic activity in the Southern Africa region.

The Dutch Republic being transformed into Revolutionary France's vassal Batavian Republic, Great Britain moved to take control of its colonies. Britain captured Cape Town in 1795, but the Cape was returned to the Dutch by treaty in 1803. British forces occupied the Cape again in 1806 following the Battle of Blaauwberg. In the Anglo-Dutch Treaty of 1814, Cape Town was permanently ceded to the United Kingdom. It became the capital of the newly formed Cape Colony, whose territory expanded very substantially through the 1800s. With expansion came calls for greater independence from the UK, with the Cape attaining its own parliament (1854) and a locally accountable Prime Minister (1872). Suffrage was established according to the non-racial Cape Qualified Franchise.[20][21]

During the 1850s and 1860s additional plant species were introduced from Australia by the British authorities. Notably rooikrans to stabilise the sand of the Cape Flats to allow for a road connecting the peninsula with the rest of the African continent[22] and eucalyptus to drain marshes.[23] In 1859 the first railway line was built by the Cape Government Railways and a system of railways rapidly expanded in the 1870s. The discovery of diamonds in Griqualand West in 1867, and the Witwatersrand Gold Rush in 1886, prompted a flood of immigrants to South Africa.[24] In 1895 the city's first public power station, the Graaff Electric Lighting Works, was opened. Conflicts between the Boer republics in the interior and the British colonial government resulted in the Second Boer War of 1899–1902, which Britain won. From 1891 to 1901, the city's population more than doubled from 67,000 to 171,000.[25]

As the 19th century came to an end, the economic and political dominance of Cape Town in the Southern Africa region during the 19th century started to gave way to the dominance of Johannesburg and Pretoria in the 20th century.[26]

In 1910, Britain established the Union of South Africa, which unified the Cape Colony with the two defeated Boer Republics and the British colony of Natal. Cape Town became the legislative capital of the Union, and later of the Republic of South Africa. By the time of the 1936 census Johannesburg had overtaken Cape Town as the largest city in the country.

In 1945 the expansion of the Cape Town foreshore adding an additional 194 hectares (480 acres) to the city bowl area was completed.[27]

Prior to the mid-twentieth century, Cape Town was one of the most racially integrated cities in the South Africa.[28][29] In the 1948 national elections, the National Party won on a platform of apartheid (racial segregation) under the slogan of "swart gevaar" (Afrikaans for "black danger"). This led to the erosion and eventual abolition of the Cape's multiracial franchise, as well as to the Group Areas Act, which classified all areas according to race. Formerly multi-racial suburbs of Cape Town were either purged of residents deemed unlawful by apartheid legislation or demolished. The most infamous example of this in Cape Town was District Six. After it was declared a whites-only region in 1965, all housing there was demolished and over 60,000 residents were forcibly removed.[30] Many of these residents were relocated to the Cape Flats.

The earliest of the Cape Flats forced removals were to Langa particularly with the 1923 Native Urban Areas Act. Langa is the oldest township in Cape Town and the scene of much resistance against Apartheid. Its origins go back to the 19th century.

Under apartheid, the Cape was considered a "Coloured labour preference area", to the exclusion of "Bantus", i.e. Africans. The implementation of this policy was widely opposed by trade unions, civil society and opposition parties. It is notable that this policy was not advocated for by any coloured political group, and its implementation was a unilateral decision by the apartheid government.[31]

School students from Langa, Gugulethu and Nyanga in Cape Town reacted to the news of protests against Bantu Education in Soweto in June 1976 and organised gatherings and marches, which were met with resistance from the police. A number of school buildings were burnt down.[32][33]

Cape Town was home to many leaders of the anti-apartheid movement. On Robben Island, a former penitentiary island 10 kilometres (6 miles) from the city, many famous political prisoners were held for years. In one of the most famous moments marking the end of apartheid, Nelson Mandela made his first public speech since his imprisonment, from the balcony of Cape Town City Hall hours after being released on 11 February 1990. His speech heralded the beginning of a new era for the country, and the first democratic election, was held four years later, on 27 April 1994. Nobel Square in the Victoria & Alfred Waterfront features statues of South Africa's four Nobel Peace Prize winners: Albert Luthuli, Desmond Tutu, F. W. de Klerk and Nelson Mandela.

There was a severe water shortage from 2015 to 2018. Since the beginning of the second decade of the twenty-first century Cape Town and the Western Cape province have been home to a growing independence movement.[34] In the 2021 municipal elections pro-independence parties garnered around 5% of the city's vote.[35]

The extent of Cape Town has varied considerably over time. It originated as a small settlement at the foot of Table Mountain and has grown to encompass the entire Cape Peninsula to the south, the Cape Flats, the Helderberg basin and part of the Steenbras catchment area to the east, and the Tygerberg hills, Blouberg and other areas to the north. Robben Island in Table Bay is also part of Cape Town. It is bounded by the Atlantic Ocean to the west, and False Bay to the south. To the north and east, the extent is demarcated by boundaries of neighbouring municipalities within the Western Cape province.

The Cape Peninsula is 52 km long from Mouille Point in the north to Cape Point in the south,[36] with an area of about 470 km², and it displays more topographical variety than other similar sized areas in southern Africa, and consequently spectacular scenery. There are diverse low-nutrient soils, large rocky outcrops, scree slopes, a mainly rocky coastline with embayed beaches, and considerable local variation in climatic conditions.[37]

The sedimentary rocks of the Cape Supergroup, of which parts of the Graafwater and Peninsula Formations remain, were uplifted between 280 and 21S million years ago, and were largely eroded away during the Mesozoic. The region was geologically stable during the Tertiary, which has led to slow denudation of the durable sandstones. Erosion rate and drainage has been influenced by fault lines and fractures, leaving remnant steep-sided massifs like Table Mountain surrounded by flatter slopes of deposits of the eroded material overlaying the older rocks,[37]

There are two internationally notable landmarks, Table Mountain and Cape Point, at opposite ends of the Peninsula Mountain Chain, with the Cape Flats and False Bay to the east and the Atlantic Ocean to the west. The landscape is dominated by sandstone plateaux and ridges, which generally drop steeply at their margins to the surrounding debris slopes, interrupted by a major gap at the Fish Hoek–Noordhoek valley. In the south much of the area is a low sandstone plateau with sand dunes. Maximum altitude is 1113 m on Table Mountain.[37]

The Cape Flats (Afrikaans: Kaapse Vlakte) is a flat, low-lying, sandy area, area to the east the Cape Peninsula, and west of the Helderberg much of which was wetland and dunes within recent history. To the north are the Tygerberg hills and the Stellenbosch district.

The Helderberg area of Cape Town, previously known as the "Hottentots-Holland" area, is mostly residential, but also a wine-producing area east of the Cape Flats, west of the Hottentots Holland mountain range and south of the Helderberg mountain, from which it gets its current name. The Helderberg consists of the previous municipalities of Somerset West, Strand, Gordons Bay and a few other towns. Industry and commerce is largely in service of the area.

After the Cape Peninsula, Helderberg is the next most mountainous part of Cape Town, bordered to the north and east by the highest peaks in the region along the watershed of the Helderberg and Hottentots Holland Mountains, which are part of the Cape Fold Belt with Cape Supergroup strata on a basement of Tygerberg Formation rocks intruded by part of the Stellenbosch granite pluton. The region includes the entire catchment of the Lourens and Sir Lowry's rivers, separated by the Schapenberg hill, and a small part of the catchment of the Eerste River to the west. The Helderberg is ecologically highly diverse, rivaling the Cape Peninsula, and has its own enndemic ecoregions and several conservation areas.

To the east of the Hottentots Holland mountains is the valley of the Steenbras River, in which the Steenbras Dam was built as a water supply for Cape Town. The dam has been supplemented by several other dams around the western Cape, some of them considerably larger. This is almost entirely a conservation area, of high biodiversity.

Tygerberg hills, Blouberg hill, Durbanville are a few of the suburbs that make up the northern areas of Cape Town. In current popular culture these areas are often referred to as being beyond the "boerewors curtain".

UNESCO declared Robben Island in the Western Cape a World Heritage Site in 1999. Robben Island is located in Table Bay, some 6 km (3.7 mi) west of Bloubergstrand in Cape Town, and stands some 30m above sea level. Robben Island has been used as a prison where people were isolated, banished, and exiled for nearly 400 years. It was also used as a leper colony, a post office, a grazing ground, a mental hospital, and an outpost.[38]

Visitors can only access the island via the Robben Island Museum boat service, which runs three times daily until the beginning of the peak season (1 September). The ferries depart from the Nelson Mandela Gateway at the V&A Waterfront.

The Cape Peninsula is a rocky and mountainous peninsula that juts out into the Atlantic Ocean at the south-western extremity of the continent. At its tip is Cape Point and the Cape of Good Hope. The peninsula forms the west side of False Bay and the Cape Flats. On the east side are the Helderberg and Hottentots Holland mountains. The three main rock formations are the late-Precambrian Malmebury group (sedimentary and metamorphic rock), the Cape Granite suit, comprising the huge Peninsula, Kuilsrivier-Helderberg, and Stellenbosch batholiths, that were intruded into the Malmesbury Group about 630 million years ago, and the Table Mountain group sandstones that were deposited on the eroded surface of the granite and Malmesbury series basement about 450 million years ago. The sand, silt and mud deposits were lithified by pressure and then folded during the Cape Orogeny to form the Cape Fold Belt, which extends in an arc along the western and southern coasts. The present landscape is due to prolonged erosion having carved out deep valleys, removing parts of the once continuous Table Mountain Group sandstone cover from over the Cape Flats and False Bay, and leaving high residual mountain ridges.[39]

At times the sea covered the Cape Flats and Noordhoek valley and the Cape Peninsula was then a group of islands. During glacial periods the sea level dropped to expose the bottom of False Bay to weathering and erosion, with the last major regression leaving the entire bottom of False Bay exposed. During this period an extensive system of dunes was formed on the sandy floor of False Bay. At this time the drainage outlets lay between Rocky Bank Cape Point to the west, and between Rocky Bank and Hangklip Ridge to the east, with the watershed roughly along the line of the contact zone east of Seal Island and Whittle Rock.[39][40]^: Ch2

Cape Town has a warm Mediterranean climate (Köppen: Csb),[41][42][43] with mild, moderately wet winters and dry, warm summers. Winter, which lasts from the beginning of June to the end of August, may see large cold fronts entering for limited periods from the Atlantic Ocean with significant precipitation and strong north-westerly winds. Winter months in the city average a maximum of 18 °C (64 °F) and minimum of 8.5 °C (47 °F)[44] Total annual rainfall in the city averages 515 millimetres (20.3 in) although in the Southern Suburbs, close to the mountains, rainfall is significantly higher and averages closer to 1,000 millimetres (39.4 in). Summer, which lasts from December to March, is warm and dry with an average maximum of 26 °C (79 °F) and minimum of 16 °C (61 °F). The region can get uncomfortably hot when the Berg Wind, meaning "mountain wind", blows from the Karoo interior. Spring and summer generally feature a strong wind from the south-east, known locally as the south-easter or the Cape Doctor, so called because it blows air pollution away. This wind is caused by a persistent high-pressure system over the South Atlantic to the west of Cape Town, known as the South Atlantic High, which shifts latitude seasonally, following the sun, and influencing the strength of the fronts and their northward reach. Cape Town receives about 3,100 hours of sunshine per year.[45]

Water temperatures range greatly, between 10 °C (50 °F) on the Atlantic Seaboard, to over 22 °C (72 °F) in False Bay. Average annual ocean surface temperatures are between 13 °C (55 °F) on the Atlantic Seaboard (similar to Californian waters, such as San Francisco or Big Sur), and 17 °C (63 °F) in False Bay (similar to Northern Mediterranean temperatures, such as Nice or Monte Carlo).

Unlike other parts of the country the city does not have many thunderstorms, and most of those that do occur, happen around October to December and March to April.

Charts of sea surface temperature in and near False Bay in summer and winter[48]

Cape Town's coastal water ranges from cold to mild, and the difference between the two sides of the peninsula can be dramatic. While the Atlantic Seaboard averages annual sea surface temperatures around 13 °C (55 °F), the False Bay coast is much warmer, averaging between 16 and 17 °C (61 and 63 °F) annually. In summer, False Bay water averages slightly over 20 °C (68 °F), with 22 °C (72 °F) an occasional high. Beaches located on the Atlantic Coast tend to have colder water due to the wind driven upwellings which contribute to the Benguela current which originates off the Cape Peninsula, while the water at False Bay beaches may occasionally be warmer by up to 10 °C (18 °F) at the same time in summer.

In summer False Bay is thermally stratified, with a vertical temperature variation of 5 to 9˚C between the warmer surface water and cooler depths below 50 m, while in winter the water column is at nearly constant temperature at all depths. The development of a thermocline is strongest around late December and peaks in late summer to early autumn.[49]^: 8 In summer the south easterly winds generate a zone of upwelling near Cape Hangklip, where surface water temperatures can be 6 to 7 °C colder than the surrounding areas, and bottom temperatures below 12 °C.[49]^: 10

In the summer to early autumn (January–March), cold water upwelling near Cape Hangklip causes a strong surface temperature gradient between the south-western and north-eastern corners of the bay. In winter the surface temperature tends to be much the same everywhere. In the northern sector surface temperature varies a bit more (13 to 22 °C) than in the south (14 to 20 °C) during the year.[48]

Surface temperature variation from year to year is linked to the El Niño–Southern Oscillation. During El Niño years the South Atlantic high is shifted, reducing the south-easterly winds, so upwelling and evaporative cooling are reduced and sea surface temperatures throughout the bay are warmer, while in La Niña years there is more wind and upwelling and consequently lower temperatures. Surface water heating during El Niño increases vertical stratification. The relationship is not linear.[48] Occasionally eddies from the Agulhas current will bring warmer water and vagrant sea life carried from the south and east coasts into False Bay.

Peninsula Sandstone Fynbos growing in Table Mountain National Park.

Located in a Conservation International biodiversity hotspot as well as the unique Cape Floristic Region, the city of Cape Town has one of the highest levels of biodiversity of any equivalent area in the world.[53][54] These protected areas are a World Heritage Site, and an estimated 2,200 species of plants are confined to Table Mountain – more than exist in the whole of the United Kingdom which has 1200 plant species and 67 endemic plant species.[55][56][57] Many of these species, including a great many types of proteas, are endemic to the mountain and can be found nowhere else.[58]

It is home to a total of 19 different vegetation types, of which several are endemic to the city and occur nowhere else in the world.[59] It is also the only habitat of hundreds of endemic species,[60] and hundreds of others which are severely restricted or threatened. This enormous species diversity is mainly because the city is uniquely located at the convergence point of several different soil types and micro-climates.[61][62]

Table Mountain has an unusually rich biodiversity. Its vegetation consists predominantly of several different types of the unique and rich Cape Fynbos. The main vegetation type is endangered Peninsula Sandstone Fynbos, but critically endangered Peninsula Granite Fynbos, Peninsula Shale Renosterveld and Afromontane forest occur in smaller portions on the mountain.

Unfortunately, rapid population growth and urban sprawl has covered much of these ecosystems with development. Consequently, Cape Town now has over 300 threatened plant species and 13 which are now extinct. The Cape Peninsula, which lies entirely within the city of Cape Town, has the highest concentration of threatened species of any continental area of equivalent size in the world.[63] Tiny remnant populations of critically endangered or near extinct plants sometimes survive on road sides, pavements and sports fields.[64] The remaining ecosystems are partially protected through a system of over 30 nature reserves – including the massive Table Mountain National Park.[65]

Cape Town reached first place in the 2019 iNaturalist City Nature Challenge in two out of the three categories: Most Observations, and Most Species. This was the first entry by Capetonians in this annual competition to observe and record the local biodiversity over a four-day long weekend during what is considered the worst time of the year for local observations.[66] A worldwide survey suggested that the extinction rate of endemic plants from the City of Cape Town is one of the highest in the world, at roughly three per year since 1900 – partly a consequence of the very small and localised habitats and high endemicity.[67]

An aerial panoramic of Cape Town's City Bowl taken from above Signal Hill looking north.

The City Bowl is a natural amphitheatre-shaped area bordered by Table Bay and defined by the mountains of Signal Hill, Lion's Head, Table Mountain and Devil's Peak.

The area includes the central business district of Cape Town, the harbour, the Company's Garden, and the residential suburbs of De Waterkant, Devil's Peak, District Six, Zonnebloem, Gardens, Bo-Kaap, Higgovale, Oranjezicht, Schotsche Kloof, Tamboerskloof, University Estate, Vredehoek, Walmer Estate and Woodstock.[69]

The Foreshore Freeway Bridge has stood in its unfinished state since construction officially ended in 1977. It was intended to be the Eastern Boulevard Highway in the city bowl, but is unfinished due to budget constraints.

Panoramic view of Hout Bay from Chapman's Peak, with Chapman's Peak Drive visible at the base of the mountain

The Atlantic Seaboard lies west of the City Bowl and Table Mountain, and is characterised by its beaches, cliffs, promenade and hillside communities. The area includes, from north to south, the neighbourhoods of Green Point, Mouille Point, Three Anchor Bay, Sea Point, Fresnaye, Bantry Bay, Clifton, Camps Bay, Llandudno, and Hout Bay. The Atlantic Seaboard has some of the most expensive real estate in South Africa particularly on Nettleton and Clifton Roads in Clifton, Ocean View Drive and St Leon Avenue in Bantry Bay, Theresa Avenue in Bakoven and Fishermans Bend in Llandudno. Camps Bay is home to the highest concentration of multimillionaires in Cape Town and has the highest number of high-priced mansions in South Africa with more than 155 residential units exceeding R20 million (or $US1.8 million).[70]

Blaauwberg is a coastal region of the Cape Town Metropolitan area and lies along the coast to the north of Cape Town, and includes the suburbs Bloubergstrand, Milnerton, Tableview, West Beach, Big Bay, Sunset Beach, Sunningdale, Parklands and Parklands North, as well as the exurbs of Atlantis, Mamre and Melkbosstrand. The Koeberg Nuclear Power Station is located within this area, and maximum housing density regulations are enforced in much of the nuclear plant area.

The Northern Suburbs is a predominantly Afrikaans-speaking region of the Cape Town Metropolitan area and includes Bishop Lavis, Belhar, Bellville, Blue Downs, Bothasig, Burgundy Estate, Durbanville, Edgemead, Brackenfell, Elsie's River, Eerste River, Kraaifontein, Goodwood, Kensington, Maitland, Monte Vista, Panorama, Parow, Richwood, Kraaifontein and Kuils River.[71]

The Northern Suburbs are home to Tygerberg Hospital, the largest hospital in the Western Cape and second largest in South Africa.[72]

The Southern Suburbs lie along the eastern slopes of Table Mountain, south-east of the city centre. This area is predominantly English-speaking, and includes, from north to south, Observatory, Mowbray, Pinelands, Rosebank, Rondebosch, Rondebosch East, Newlands, Claremont, Lansdowne, Kenilworth, Bishopscourt, Constantia, Wynberg, Plumstead, Ottery, Bergvliet and Diep River. West of Wynberg lies Constantia which, in addition to being a wealthy neighbourhood, is a notable wine-growing region within the City of Cape Town, and attracts tourists for its well-known wine farms and Cape Dutch architecture. The Southern Suburbs is also well known as having some of the oldest, and most sought after residential areas within the City of Cape Town.[73]

The South Peninsula is a predominantly English-speaking area in the Cape Town Metropolitan area and is generally regarded as the area South of Muizenberg on False Bay and Noordhoek on the Atlantic Ocean, all the way to Cape Point. Until recently, this region was quite rural. Its population is growing quickly as new coastal developments proliferate and larger plots are subdivided to provide more compact housing. It includes Capri Village, Clovelly, Fish Hoek, De Oude Weg, Glencairn, Kalk Bay, Kommetjie, Masiphumelele, Muizenberg, Noordhoek, Ocean View, Scarborough, Simon's Town, St James, Sunnydale and Sun Valley. South Africa's largest naval base is located at Simon's Town harbour, and close by is Boulders Beach, the site of a large colony of African penguins.[74]

A view over government built apartments in the Cape Flats neighbourhood of Manenberg.

The Cape Flats is an expansive, low-lying, flat area situated to the city centre's south-east.

Due to the region having a Mediterranean climate, the wettest months on the Cape Flats are from April to September, with 82% most of its rainfall occurring between these months. The rainfall patterns on the Cape Flats vary with longitude, such that the eastern parts get a minimum of 214mm per year and the central and western parts get 800mm per year. A significant portion of this water ends up in the Cape Flats Aquifer, which lie beneath the central and southern parts of the Cape Flats. Most of the land of the Cape Flats is used for residential areas, the majority of which are formal, but with several informal settlements present. Light industrial areas are also found in the area. The Philippi Horticultural area in the south-east is used for cultivation and contains many smallholdings.[75]

The Helderberg is a small region in the Cape Town Metropolitan area located on the north-eastern corner of False Bay. It consists of Somerset West, Strand, Gordons Bay and a few other suburbs which were previously towns in the Helderberg district. The district takes its name from the imposing Helderberg Mountain, which reaches a height of 1,137 metres (3,730 feet).[76]

Cape Town City hall lit up in the colours of the Ukrainian flag as a gesture of solidarity with the country.

The City of Cape Town has expressed explicit support for Ukraine during the 2022 invasion of the country by Russia.[83] To show this support the City of Cape Town lit up the Old City Hall in the colours of the Ukrainian flag on 2 March 2022.[84][85] This has differentiated the city from the officially neutral foreign policy position taken by the South African national government.[84]

According to the South African National Census of 2011, the population of the City of Cape Town metropolitan municipality – an area that includes suburbs and exurbs  – is 3,740,026 people. This represents an annual growth rate of 2.6% compared to the results of the previous census in 2001 which found a population of 2,892,243 people.[92] ^: 54 Of those residents who were asked about their first language, 35.7% spoke Afrikaans, 29.8% spoke Xhosa and 28.4% spoke English. 24.8% of the population is under the age of 15, while 5.5% is 65 or older.[92]^: 64 The sex ratio is 96, meaning that there are slightly more women than men.[92]^: 55

Of those residents aged 20 or older, 1.8% have no schooling, 8.1% have some schooling but did not finish primary school, 4.6% finished primary school but have no secondary schooling, 38.9% have some secondary schooling but did not finish Grade 12, 29.9% finished Grade 12 but have no higher education, and 16.7% have higher education. Overall, 46.6% have at least a Grade 12 education.[92]^: 74 Of those aged between 5 and 25, 67.8% are attending an educational institution.[92]^: 78 Amongst those aged between 15 and 65 the unemployment rate is 23.7%.[92]^: 79 The average annual household income is R161,762.[92]^: 88

The total number of households grew from 653,085 in 1996 to 1,068,572 in 2011, which represents an increase of 63.6%.[92]^: 81 The average number of household members declined from 3,92 in 1996 to 3,50 in 2011.[93] Of those households, 78.4% are in formal structures (houses or flats), while 20.5% are in informal structures (shacks).[92]^: 81 97.3% of City-supplied households have access to electricity,[94] and 94.0% of households use electricity for lighting.[92]^: 84 87.3% of households have piped water to the dwelling, while 12.0% have piped water through a communal tap.[92]^: 85 94.9% of households have regular refuse collection service.[92]^: 86 91.4% of households have a flush toilet or chemical toilet, while 4.5% still use a bucket toilet.[92]^: 87 82.1% of households have a refrigerator, 87.3% have a television and 70.1% have a radio. Only 34.0% have a landline telephone, but 91.3% have a cellphone. 37.9% have a computer, and 49.3% have access to the Internet (either through a computer or a cellphone).[92]

In 2011 over 70% of cross provincial South African migrants coming into the Western Cape settled in Cape Town; 53.64% of South African migrants into the Western Cape came from the Eastern Cape and 20.95% came from Gauteng province.[95]

According to the 2016 City of Cape Town community survey, there were 4,004,793 people in the City of Cape Town metro. Out of this population, 42.6% identified as Black African, 39.9% identified as Coloured, 16.5% identified as White and 1.1% identified as Asian.[96]

Since the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic in South Africa the South African media has reported that increasing numbers of wealthy and middle class South Africans have started moving from inland areas of South Africa to coastal regions of the country, most notably Cape Town, in a phenomenon referred to as "semigration."[97][98][99]

The city's population is expected to grow by an additional 400,000 residents between 2020 and 2025 with 76% of those new residents falling into the low-income bracket earning less than R13,000 a month.[100]

The 1936 census recorded that the city was the second largest in South Africa with a total population of 344,223 residents; 3,740 (1.09%) of whom were recorded as Asian, 14,160 (4.11%) as Black African, 152,911 (44.42%) as Coloured and 173,412 (50.37%) as White.[86] In 1944, 47% of the city-proper's population was White, 46% was Coloured, less than 6% was Black African and 1% was Asian.[101] Race definitions prior to the Population Registration Act of 1950 were extremely vague and would have had significant overlap between Coloured and Black African identified populations.[102]

The repealing of apartheid laws limiting the movement of people to Cape Town based on race in 1986 contributed to long period of rapid population growth.[103]^: 225 The population of Cape Town increased from just under 1.2 million in 1970 to 2.8 million by 2000; with the population of residents described as Black African increasing from 9.6% of the city's population to 32.3% in the same period.[103]^{: 226–227} During this period urban in-migration from the Eastern Cape, primarily settling in the Cape Flats area of the city, has been driven by relatively better economic prospects in the city as well as the underdevelopment of rural areas of the Eastern Cape and the marginal agrarian conditions that exist there.[104] Circulatory migration between the informal communities and townships of Cape Town (such as Khayelitsha) and the rural Eastern Cape has created and maintained strong social connections between the two areas.[105]

Population density in Cape Town   <1 /km²   1–3 /km²   3–10 /km²   10–30 /km²   30–100 /km²   100–300 /km²   300–1000 /km²   1000–3000 /km²   >3000 /km²

Geographical distribution of home languages in Cape Town (2011)   Afrikaans   English   Xhosa   No population or no language dominant

A variety of cultural heritage sites have been listed by the South African Heritage Resources Agency from the Bo-Kaap, CBD and the Waterfront, Simon's Town, Helderberg, Bellville, Table Mountain, and Wynberg district

A gatsby sandwich, freshly prepared

Food originating from or synonymous with Cape Town includes the savory sweet spiced meat dish Bobotie that dates from the 17th century. The Gatsby, a sandwich filled with slap chips and other toppings, was first served in 1976 in the suburb of Athlone and is also synonymous with the city.[121] The koe'sister is a traditional Cape Malay pastry described as a cinnamon infused dumpling with a cake-like texture, finished off with a sprinkling of desiccated coconut.[122] Malva pudding (sometimes known as Cape Malva pudding) is a sticky sweet desert often served with hot custard is also associated with the city and dates back to the 17th century.[123] Cape Town is also the home of the South African wine industry with the first wine produced in the country being bottled in the city; a number of notable wineries still exist in the city including Groot Constantia and Klein Constantia.

In the 2015 General Household Survey 82.3% of respondents self identified as Christian, 8% as Muslim, 3.8% as following a traditional African religion and 3.1% as "nothing in particular."[124]

St George's Anglican Cathedral is one of the largest and oldest religious sites in the city.

Most places of worship in the city are Christian churches and cathedrals: Zion Christian Church, Apostolic Faith Mission of South Africa, Assemblies of God, Baptist Union of Southern Africa (Baptist World Alliance), Methodist Church of Southern Africa (World Methodist Council), Anglican Church of Southern Africa (Anglican Communion), Presbyterian Church of Africa (World Communion of Reformed Churches), Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Cape Town (Catholic Church),[125] the Orthodox Archbishopric of Good Hope (Greek Orthodox Cathedral of St George[126]) and The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.[127] Islam is the city's second largest religion with a long history in Cape Town,[128] resulting in a number of mosques and other Muslim religious sites spread across the city,[129] such as the Auwal Mosque, South Africa's first mosque. Cape Town's significant Jewish population supports a number of synagogues most notably the historic Gardens Shul. The Cape Town Progressive Jewish Congregation also has three temples in the city. The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints announced 4 April 2021[130] the construction of a temple with groundbreaking dates yet to be announced. Other religious sites in the city include Hindu, Buddhist and Baháʼí temples.

Several newspapers, magazines and printing facilities have their offices in the city. Independent News and Media publishes the major English language papers in the city, the Cape Argus and the Cape Times. Naspers, the largest media conglomerate in South Africa, publishes Die Burger, the major Afrikaans language paper.[131]

Cape Town has many local community newspapers. Some of the largest community newspapers in English are the Athlone News from Athlone, the Atlantic Sun, the Constantiaberg Bulletin from Constantiaberg, the City Vision from Bellville, the False Bay Echo from False Bay, the Helderberg Sun from Helderberg, the Plainsman from Michell's Plain, the Sentinel News from Hout Bay, the Southern Mail from the Southern Peninsula, the Southern Suburbs Tatler from the Southern Suburbs, Table Talk from Table View and Tygertalk from Tygervalley/Durbanville. Afrikaans language community newspapers include the Landbou-Burger and the Tygerburger. Vukani, based in the Cape Flats, is published in Xhosa.[132]

Cape Town is a centre for major broadcast media with several radio stations that only broadcast within the city. 94.5 Kfm (94.5 MHz FM) and Good Hope FM (94–97 MHz FM) mostly play pop music. Heart FM (104.9 MHz FM), the former P4 Radio, plays jazz and R&B, while Fine Music Radio (101.3 FM) plays classical music and jazz, and Magic Music Radio[133] (828 kHz MW) plays adult contemporary and classic rock from the 60's, 70's, 80's, 90's and 00's. Bush Radio is a community radio station (89.5 MHz FM). The Voice of the Cape (95.8 MHz FM) and Cape Talk (567 kHz MW) are the major talk radio stations in the city.[134] Bokradio (98.9 MHz FM) is an Afrikaans music station.[135] The University of Cape Town also runs its own radio station, UCT Radio (104.5 MHz FM).

The SABC has a small presence in the city, with satellite studios located at Sea Point. e.tv has a greater presence, with a large complex located at Longkloof Studios in Gardens. M-Net is not well represented with infrastructure within the city. Cape Town TV is a local TV station, supported by numerous organisation and focusing mostly on documentaries. Numerous productions companies and their support industries are located in the city, mostly supporting the production of overseas commercials, model shoots, TV-series and movies.[136] The local media infrastructure remains primarily in Johannesburg.

The Naspers Centre is the headquarters of Naspers, the largest listed company headquartered in Cape Town.

Most companies headquartered in the city are insurance companies, retail groups, publishers, design houses, fashion designers, shipping companies, petrochemical companies, architects and advertising agencies.[146] Some of the most notable companies headquartered in the city are food and fashion retailer Woolworths,[147] supermarket chain Pick n Pay Stores and Shoprite,[148] New Clicks Holdings Limited, fashion retailer Foschini Group,[149] internet service provider MWEB, Mediclinic International, eTV, multinational mass media giant Naspers, and financial services giant Sanlam[150] and Old Mutual Park.[151] Other notable companies include Belron, CapeRay (develops, manufactures and supplies medical imaging equipment for the diagnosis of breast cancer), Ceres Fruit Juices, Coronation Fund Managers, Vida e Caffè, Capitec Bank. The city is a manufacturing base for several multinational companies including, Johnson & Johnson, GlaxoSmithKline, Levi Strauss & Co., Adidas, Bokomo Foods, Yoco and Nampak. Amazon Web Services maintains one of its largest facilities in the world in Cape Town with the city serving as the Africa headquarters for its parent company Amazon.[152][153]

The city of Cape Town's Gini coefficient of 0.58[154] is lower than South Africa's Gini coefficient of 0.7 making it more equal than the rest of the country or any other major South Africa city although still highly unequal by international standards.[109][155] Between 2001 and 2010 the city's Gini coefficient, a measure of inequality, improved by dropping from 0.59 in 2007 to 0.57 in 2010[156] only to increase to 0.58 by 2017.[108]

Most goods are handled through the Port of Cape Town or Cape Town International Airport. Most major shipbuilding companies have offices in Cape Town.[157] The province is also a centre of energy development for the country, with the existing Koeberg nuclear power station providing energy for the Western Cape's needs.[158]

Cape Town has four major commercial nodes, with Cape Town Central Business District containing the majority of job opportunities and office space. Century City, the Bellville/Tygervalley strip and Claremont commercial nodes are well established and contain many offices and corporate headquarters.

• The Alexandra Hospital is a specialist mental health care hospital in Cape Town, it provides care for complex mental health issues and intellectual disability.[159]
• Groote Schuur Hospital is a large, government-funded, teaching hospital situated on the slopes of Devil's Peak. It was founded in 1938 and is famous for being the institution where the first human-to-human heart transplant took place. Groote Schuur is the chief academic hospital of the University of Cape Town's medical school, providing tertiary care and instruction in all the major branches of medicine. The hospital underwent major extension in 1984 when two new wings were added.
• Karl Bremer Hospital
• Red Cross War Memorial Children's Hospital
• Somerset Hospital
• Tygerberg Hospital
• Valkenberg Hospital
• The Hottentots Holland Hospital, also known as Helderberg Hospital, is a district hospital for the Helderberg basin located in Somerset West, and also serves surrounding areas in the Overberg district.
• Vergelegen Medi-clinic – Private hospital in Somerset West

The Cape Town water crisis of 2017 to 2018 was a period of severe water shortage in the Western Cape region, most notably affecting the City of Cape Town. While dam water levels had been declining since 2015, the Cape Town water crisis peaked during mid-2017 to mid-2018 when water levels hovered between 15 and 30 percent of total dam capacity.

In late 2017, there were first mentions of plans for "Day Zero", a shorthand reference for the day when the water level of the major dams supplying the city could fall below 13.5 percent.[160][161][162] "Day Zero" would mark the start of Level 7 water restrictions, when municipal water supplies would be largely switched off and it was envisioned that residents could have to queue for their daily ration of water. If this had occurred, it would have made the City of Cape Town the first major city in the world to run out of water.[163][164]

The city of Cape Town implemented significant water restrictions in a bid to curb water usage, and succeeded in reducing its daily water usage by more than half to around 500 million litres (130,000,000 US gal) per day in March 2018.[165] The fall in water usage led the city to postpone its estimate for "Day Zero", and strong rains starting in June 2018 led to dam levels recovering.[166] In September 2018, with dam levels close to 70 percent, the city began easing water restrictions, indicating that the worst of the water crisis was over.[167] Good rains in 2020 effectively broke the drought and resulting water shortage when dam levels reached 95 percent.[168]

Dams and resrvoirs

• Alexandra Dam
• Berg River Dam
• De Villiers Dam
• Hely-Hutchinson Dam
• Kleinplaats Dam
• Land-en-Zeezicht Reservoir
• Lewis Gay Dam
• Molteno Dam
• Silvermine Dam
• Steenbras Dam
• Theewaterskloof Dam
• Victoria Dam
• Voëlvlei Dam
• Wemmershoek Dam
• Woodhead Dam

The Western Cape is an important tourist region in South Africa; the tourism industry accounts for 9.8% of the GDP of the province and employs 9.6% of the province's workforce. In 2010, over 1.5 million international tourists visited the area.[169]

Cape Town is not only a popular international tourist destination in South Africa, but Africa as a whole. This is due to its mild climate, natural setting, and well-developed infrastructure. The city has several well-known natural features that attract tourists, most notably Table Mountain,[170] which forms a large part of the Table Mountain National Park and is the back end of the City Bowl. Reaching the top of the mountain can be achieved either by hiking up, or by taking the Table Mountain Cableway. Cape Point is the dramatic headland at the end of the Cape Peninsula.[171] Many tourists also drive along Chapman's Peak Drive, a narrow road that links Noordhoek with Hout Bay, for the views of the Atlantic Ocean and nearby mountains. It is possible to either drive or hike up Signal Hill for closer views of the City Bowl and Table Mountain.[172]

Clifton Beach is one of Cape Town's most famous beaches and is a significant tourist destination in its own right.

Many tourists also visit Cape Town's beaches, which are popular with local residents.[173] It is possible to visit several different beaches in the same day, each with a different setting and atmosphere.

It is a common misconception that False Bay is part of the Indian Ocean, with Cape Point being both the meeting point of the Indian and Atlantic Oceans, and the southernmost tip of Africa. The oceans in fact meet by definition at the actual southernmost tip, Cape Agulhas, which lies approximately 150 kilometres (93 miles) to the south-east. The misconception is fueled by the relative warmth of the False Bay water to the Atlantic Seaboard water, and the many confusing instances of "Two Oceans" in names associated with Cape Town, such as the Two Oceans Marathon and the Two Oceans Aquarium.

African penguins at Boulders Penguin Colony

Both coasts are popular, although the beaches in affluent Clifton and elsewhere on the Atlantic Coast are better developed with restaurants and cafés, with a strip of restaurants and bars accessible to the beach at Camps Bay. The Atlantic seaboard, known as Cape Town's Riviera, is regarded as one of the most scenic routes in South Africa, along the slopes of the Twelve Apostles to the boulders and white sand beaches of Llandudno, with the route ending in Hout Bay, a diverse suburb with a fishing and recreational boating harbour near a small island with a breeding colony of African fur seals. This suburb is also accessible by road from the Constantia valley over the mountains to the northeast, and via the picturesque Chapman's Peak drive from the residential suburb Noordhoek in the Fish Hoek valley to the south-east.[174] Boulders Beach near Simon's Town is known for its colony of African penguins.[175] Surfing is popular and the city hosts the Red Bull Big Wave Africa surfing competition every year, and there is some local and international recreational scuba tourism.

The city has several notable cultural attractions. The Victoria & Alfred Waterfront, built on top of part of the docks of the Port of Cape Town, is the city's most visited tourist attraction. It is also one of the city's most popular shopping venues, with several hundred shops as well as the Two Oceans Aquarium.[176][177] The V&A also hosts the Nelson Mandela Gateway, through which ferries depart for Robben Island.[178] It is possible to take a ferry from the V&A to Hout Bay, Simon's Town and the Cape fur seal colonies on Seal and Duiker Islands. Several companies offer tours of the Cape Flats, a region of mostly Coloured townships, and Khayelitsha, a mostly black township.[179]

The most popular areas for visitors to stay include Camps Bay, Sea Point, the V&A Waterfront, the City Bowl, Hout Bay, Constantia, Rondebosch, Newlands, and Somerset West.[181]

In November 2013, Cape Town was voted the best global city in The Daily Telegraph's annual Travel Awards.[182]

Cape Town offers tourists a range of air, land and sea-based adventure activities, including helicopter rides, paragliding and skydiving, snorkelling and scuba diving, boat trips, game-fishing, hiking, mountain biking and rock climbing.[183]

The City of Cape Town works closely with Cape Town Tourism to promote the city both locally and internationally. The primary focus of Cape Town Tourism is to represent Cape Town as a tourist destination.[184][185] Cape Town Tourism receives a portion of its funding from the City of Cape Town while the remainder is made up of membership fees and own-generated funds.[186]

The Tristan da Cunha government owns and operates a lodging facility in Cape Town which charges discounted rates to Tristan da Cunha residents and non-resident natives.[187]

Cape Town's transport system links it to the rest of South Africa; it serves as the gateway to other destinations within the province. The Cape Winelands and in particular the towns of Stellenbosch, Paarl and Franschhoek are popular day trips from the city for sightseeing and wine tasting.[188][189]

• 
  Cape of Good Hope
• 
  Clifton's 4th Beach
• 
  Panoramic view across the Victoria Basin at the Victoria & Alfred Waterfront, with Table Mountain in the background
• 
  Kirstenbosch National Botanical Garden
• 
  View over the City Bowl toward the Northern Suburbs

Cape Town International Airport

Cape Town International Airport serves both domestic and international flights. It is the second-largest airport in South Africa and serves as a major gateway for travelers to the Cape region. Cape Town has regularly scheduled services to Southern Africa, East Africa, Mauritius, Middle East, Far East, Europe and the United States as well as eleven domestic destinations.[190]

Cape Town International Airport opened a brand new central terminal building that was developed to handle an expected increase in air traffic as tourism numbers increased in the lead-up to the tournament of the 2010 FIFA World Cup.[191] Other renovations include several large new parking garages, a revamped domestic departure terminal, a new Bus Rapid Transit system station and a new double-decker road system. The airport's cargo facilities are also being expanded and several large empty lots are being developed into office space and hotels.

Cape Town is one of five internationally recognised Antarctic gateway cities with transportation connections. Since 2021, commercial flights have operated from Cape Town to Wolf's Fang Runway, Antarctica.[192]

The Cape Town International Airport was among the winners of the World Travel Awards for being Africa's leading airport.[193]

Cape Town International Airport is located 18 km from the Central Business District[194]

The Port of Cape Town is a major transport node in southern Africa. In addition to moving freight it also serves as a major repair site for ships and oil rigs.

Cape Town has a long tradition as a port city. The Port of Cape Town, the city's main port, is in Table Bay directly to the north of the CBD. The port is a hub for ships in the southern Atlantic: it is located along one of the busiest shipping corridors in the world, and acts as a stopover point for goods en route to or from Latin America and Asia. It is also an entry point into the South African market.[195] It is the second-busiest container port in South Africa after Durban. In 2004, it handled 3,161 ships and 9.2 million tonnes of cargo.[196]

Simon's Town Harbour on the False Bay coast of the Cape Peninsula is the main operational base of the South African Navy.

Until the 1970s the city was served by the Union Castle Line with service to the United Kingdom and St Helena.[197] The RMS St Helena provided passenger and cargo service between Cape Town and St Helena until the opening of St Helena Airport.[198]

The cargo vessel M/V Helena, under AW Shipping Management, takes a limited number of passengers,[199] between Cape Town and St Helena and Ascension Island on its voyages.[200] Multiple vessels also take passengers to and from Tristan da Cunha, inaccessible by aircraft, to and from Cape Town.[201] In addition NSB Niederelbe Schiffahrtsgesellschaft takes passengers on its cargo service to the Canary Islands and Hamburg, Germany.[199]

The Shosholoza Meyl is the passenger rail operations of Spoornet and operates two long-distance passenger rail services from Cape Town: a daily service to and from Johannesburg via Kimberley and a weekly service to and from Durban via Kimberley, Bloemfontein and Pietermaritzburg. These trains terminate at Cape Town railway station and make a brief stop at Bellville. Cape Town is also one terminus of the luxury tourist-oriented Blue Train as well as the five-star Rovos Rail.

Metrorail operates a commuter rail service in Cape Town and the surrounding area. The Metrorail network consists of 96 stations throughout the suburbs and outskirts of Cape Town.

The N2 as it enters the city centre.

Cape Town is the origin of three national roads. The N1 and N2 begin in the foreshore area near the City Centre and the N7, which runs North toward Namibia. The N1 runs East-North-East through Edgemead, Parow, Bellville, and Brackenfell. It connects Cape Town to major cities further inland, namely Bloemfontein, Johannesburg, and Pretoria An older at-grade road, the R101, runs parallel to the N1 from Bellville. The N2 runs East-South-East through Rondebosch, Guguletu, Khayelitsha, Macassar to Somerset West. It becomes a multiple-carriageway, at-grade road from the intersection with the R44 onward. The N2 continues east along the coast, linking Cape Town to the coastal cities of Mossel Bay, George, Port Elizabeth, East London and Durban. An older at-grade road, the R101, runs parallel to the N1 initially, before veering south at Bellville, to join the N2 at Somerset West via the suburbs of Kuils River and Eerste River.

The N7 originates from the N1 at Wingfield Interchange near Edgemead. It begins, initially as a highway, but becoming an at-grade road from the intersection with the M5 onward.

There are also a number of regional routes linking Cape Town with surrounding areas. The R27 originates from the N1 near the Foreshore and runs north parallel to the N7, but nearer to the coast. It passes through the suburbs of Milnerton, Table View and Bloubergstrand and links the city to the West Coast, ending at the town of Velddrif. The R44 enters the east of the metro from the north, from Stellenbosch. It connects Stellenbosch to Somerset West, then crosses the N2 to Strand and Gordon's Bay. It exits the metro heading south hugging the coast, leading to the towns of Betty's Bay and Kleinmond.

Of the three-digit routes, the R300 is an expressway linking the N1 at Brackenfell to the N2 near Mitchells Plain and the Cape Town International Airport. The R302 runs from the R102 in Bellville, heading north across the N1 through Durbanville leaving the metro to Malmesbury. The R304 enters the northern limits of the metro from Stellenbosch, running NNW before veering west to cross the N7 at Philadelphia to end at Atlantis at a junction with the R307. This R307 starts north of Koeberg from the R27 and, after meeting the R304, continues north to Darling. The R310 originates from Muizenberg and runs along the coast, to the south of Mitchell's Plain and Khayelitsha, before veering north-east, crossing the N2 west of Macassar, and exiting the metro heading to Stellenbosch.

Cape Town, like most South African cities, uses Metropolitan or "M" routes for important intra-city routes, a layer below National (N) roads and Regional (R) routes. Each city's M roads are independently numbered. Most are at-grade roads. The M3 splits from the N2 and runs to the south along the eastern slopes of Table Mountain, connecting the City Bowl with Muizenberg. Except for a section between Rondebosch and Newlands that has at-grade intersections, this route is a highway. The M5 splits from the N1 further east than the M3, and links the Cape Flats to the CBD. It is a highway as far as the interchange with the M68 at Ottery, before continuing as an at-grade road.

Cape Town has the worst traffic congestion in South Africa.[202][203]

Golden Arrow Bus Services operates scheduled bus services in the Cape Town metropolitan area. Several companies run long-distance bus services from Cape Town to the other cities in South Africa.

Cape Town has a public transport system in about 10% of the city, running north to south along the west coastline of the city, comprising Phase 1 of the IRT system. This is known as the MyCiTi service.[204]

MyCiTi Phase 1 includes services linking the Airport to the Cape Town inner city, as well as the following areas: Blouberg / Table View, Dunoon, Atlantis and Melkbosstrand, Milnerton, Paarden Eiland, Century City, Salt River and Walmer Estate, and all suburbs of the City Bowl and Atlantic Seaboard all the way to Llandudno and Hout Bay.

The MyCiTi N2 Express service consists of two routes each linking the Cape Town inner city and Khayelitsha and Mitchells Plain on the Cape Flats.

The service use high floor articulated and standard size buses in dedicated busways, low floor articulated and standard size buses on the N2 Express service, and smaller 9-metre (30-foot) Optare buses in suburban and inner city areas. It offers universal access through level boarding and numerous other measures, and requires cashless fare payment using the EMV compliant smart card system, called myconnect. Headway of services (i.e. the time between buses on the same route) range from three to twenty minutes in peak times to an hour in off-peak times.

Cape Town has two kinds of taxis: metered taxis and minibus taxis. Unlike many cities, metered taxis are not allowed to drive around the city to solicit fares and instead must be called to a specific location.

Cape Town metered taxi cabs mostly operate in the city bowl, suburbs and Cape Town International Airport areas. Large companies that operate fleets of cabs can be reached by phone and are cheaper than the single operators that apply for hire from taxi ranks and Victoria and Alfred Waterfront. There are about one thousand meter taxis in Cape Town. Their rates vary from R8 per kilometre to about R15 per kilometre. The larger taxi companies in Cape Town are Excite Taxis, Cabnet and Intercab and single operators are reachable by cellular phone. The seven seated Toyota Avanza are the most popular with larger Taxi companies. Meter cabs are mostly used by tourists and are safer to use than minibus taxis.

Minibus taxis are the standard form of transport for the majority of the population who cannot afford private vehicles.[205] Although essential, these taxis are often poorly maintained and are frequently not road-worthy. These taxis make frequent unscheduled stops to pick up passengers, which can cause accidents.[206][207] With the high demand for transport by the working class of South Africa, minibus taxis are often filled over their legal passenger allowance. Minibuses are generally owned and operated in fleets.[208]

• 
  Table Mountain from the harbour
• 
  Metrorail train leaving Kalk Bay station
• 
  N2 highway, entering the City Bowl
• 
  Taxi rank above Cape Town railway station
• 
  Cape Town City Sight Seeing Bus

The city of Cape Town has vast experience in hosting major national and international sports events.

The Cape Town Cycle Tour is the world's largest individually timed road cycling race – and the first event outside Europe to be included in the International Cycling Union's Golden Bike series. It sees over 35,000 cyclists tackling a 109 km (68 mi) route around Cape Town. The Absa Cape Epic is the largest full-service mountain bike stage race in the world.

Some notable events hosted by Cape Town have included the 1995 Rugby World Cup, 2003 ICC Cricket World Cup, and World Championships in various sports such as athletics, fencing, weightlifting, hockey, cycling, canoeing, gymnastics and others.

Cape Town was also a host city to the 2010 FIFA World Cup from 11 June to 11 July 2010, further enhancing its profile as a major events city. It was also one of the host cities of the 2009 Indian Premier League cricket tournament.

The Mother City has also played host to the Africa leg of the annual World Rugby 7s event since 2015; for nine seasons, from 2002 until 2010, the event was staged in George in the Western Cape, before moving to Port Elizabeth for the 2011 edition, and then to Cape Town in 2015. The event usually takes place in mid-December, and is hosted at the iconic Cape Town Stadium in Green Point,[214] perfectly set against the backdrop of the Atlantic Ocean and the unmistakable silhouette of Table Mountain.

There are several golf courses in Cape Town. The Clovelly Country Club and Metropolitan Golf Club are two of the best Golf Courses in Cape Town both offering superb views while playing the 18 holes.[215]

The coastline of Cape Town is relatively long, and the varied exposure to weather conditions makes it fairly common for water conditions to be conducive to recreational scuba diving at some part of the city's coast. There is considerable variation in the underwater environment and regional ecology as there are dive sites on reefs and wrecks on both sides of the Cape Peninsula and False Bay, split between two coastal marine ecoregions by the Cape Peninsula, and also variable by depth zone.

False Bay is open to the south, and the prevailing open ocean swell arrives from the southwest, so the exposure varies considerably around the coastline. The inshore bathymetry near Cape Point is shallow enough for a moderate amount of refraction of long period swell, but deep enough to have less effect on short period swell, and acts as a filter to pass mainly the longer swell components to the Western shores, although they are significantly attenuated. The eastern shores get more of the open ocean spectrum, and this results in very different swell conditions between the two sides at any given time.

The fetch is generally too short for southeasterly winds to produce good surf. There are more than 20 named breaks in False Bay.

The north-wester can have a long fetch and can produce large waves, but they may also be associated with local wind and be very poorly sorted.

The Atlantic coast is exposed to the full power of the South-westerly swell produced by the westerly winds of the southern ocean, often a long way away, so the swell has time to separate into similar wavelengths, and there are some world class big wave breaks among the named breaks of the Atlantic shore:

Melkbosstrand to Mouille Point:[216]

• Van Riebeeckstrand: Beach break in Melkbos
• Tubewave, also called Beach Road: Right-hand sandbar point break in Melkbos.
• Shark Bay, also called Captains: Combination reef and sand break in Melkbos area.
• Holbaai: Between Haakgat and Melkbos, sandbar break in small groundswell.
• Haakgat: A powerful left point break, that works only at high tide.
• Kreefte Reef: A right-hand breaks on the outside when big and at low tide. with inside left-hand break on smaller swell.
• Derde Steen: A hollow beach break near Blouberg on two- to five-foot west swell.
• Tweede Steen: Nearby, not as good.
• Eerste Steen: A hollow beach break between Melkbos and Blouberg.
• Horse Trails: A break on sand in small swell.
• Kamer van Sewentien: Sandy left point break beyond the rocks at the end of Big Bay.
• Big Bay: Beach break popular with sailboarders.
• Little Bay: Marginal beach break.
• Tableview: Outer sandbars break in large swell, shore break on the reform or small swell.
• Sunset Beach: Scattered beach breaks
• Milnerton: Works in a large groundswell
• Dumps: At the mouth of the Milnerton lagoon works in big west swell and light offshore winds.
• The Wedge: At the foot of the harbour breakwater, with difficult access. needs a huge swell refract into the corner.
• Madiba's Left: Left-hand reef break on the west side of Robben Island.

Mouille Point to Sandy Bay:[217]

• Thermopylae: North facing left hand point break over the wreck of the Thermopylae. Near a sewage outfall
• Off The Wall: Hollow reef break with small take-off zone
• Rocklands: Left reef break, best inlarge southwest swell and pushing high tide.
• Milton Pool Left: Left break that needs a big west swell.
• Solly's: Can break left or right depending on swell direction.
• Boat Bay: A small right break
• Queens: Left reef break
• Gasworks: Bombora reef in Bantry Bay
• Moses Beach: Seldom works.
• Clifton First Beach: Right break on sandbar that forms after winter storms
• Cherry Rock: Small break off Second Beach, occasionally good
• Clifton Third Beach: Occasional sandbar break between Second and Third Beach
• Glen Beach: Hollow right hand break along a sand bar
• Camps Bay: Variable sandbar break, can be good.
• Barley Bay: Right break that works in westerly swell, closes out in big swell
• Bakoven: Rare reef break on very high tide and big west swell
• The Bluff Left: Short sharp left reef break
• Cannonball Reef: Right break on round white boulders. A well formed break indicates good conditions further south
• Llandudno: Can be very good or bad – right break near big boulders, sandbar in the middle right and sometimes left breaks
• Sections: Small right hand break into a small bay.
• Sandy Bay: Works when Llandudno is closing out in big waves and south-easterly wind. Popular for bodyboards

Sandy Bay to Cape Point:[218]

• Dungeons: Big right-hand reef break of the Sentinel at Hout Bay, usually surfed by tow-in. Starts breaking at eight to ten ft. Best at low tide for waves less than 20 ft. Venue for Red Bull Big Wave Africa.
• Hout Bay: Breaks off the harbour wall and beach in huge southwest swells which make it round the harbour.
• The Hoek: Breaks over a shallow sandbar, with good tube on low tide and four to six ft swell.
• Noordhoek Beach: Variable quality breaks, best at high tide.
• Dunes: Incoming long period swell refracted by offshore reef at the "mound", breaks on low tide sandbars and can produce good tubes.
• Kakapo: Shore break near the wreck
• Sunset: Powerful big wave right break on deep-water reef, suitable for tow-in
• Crons: Fast and hollow shore break at Long Beach, popular with bodyboarders.
• Long Beach: Left break at the south end of Noordhoek beach, facing north, and can work in a southwesterly wind, Closes out near the beach.
• Boneyards: Right hand break over kelp, best at high tide
• Baby Pipe: Right hand break. Can close out dangerously in big swell.
• Inner Kom: Left break in the kelp.
• The Ledge: High tide break on 3 to 5 ft westerly swell
• Outer Kom: Left hand point break
• The Boiler: Fast right break, often closes out
• Battery: Hollow right break to the left of the lighthouse. Needs clean west swell, not bigger than 7 feet (2.1 m) or it closes out.
• 365: Inner or outer reef break depending on wave size, Round barrel, lots of kelp which can be a problem at the inner ledge.
• 364: Left break towards 365 on the other side of a channel. Popular with bodyboarders
• I&J's: inside reef at Soetwater
• Mysto Freight Trains: Big waves, sometimes closes out dangerously.
• Conveyor Belts: Works on clean west swell at high tide
• Crayfish Factory: Heavy right break on big waves. Risky take-off.
• Witsands: Not a great wave
• Misty Cliffs: Only works in a clean swell.
• Scarborough: Various breaks, left and right.
• Scarborough Point: Left break that works well on large west swell, pushing tide, and light easterly winds.
• Underwater Point: Right break on a rocky reef.
• Extensions: Right break, often a bit mushy
• Paranoia: Needs a clean west swell on spring high tide
• Olifantsbos: Hollow right break on rocky reef. Needs large west swell and south-easterly wind on incoming high tide
• Platboom: Left break in kelp along rocky ledge
• Dias Beach: Right break that closes out a lot. Best for bodyboarders.
• Southwest Reef: Breaks a few hundred metres off Cape Point.

• False Bay Yacht Club, Simon's Bay, Simon's Town.
• Gordon's Bay Yacht Club, Old harbour, Gordon's Bay.
• Royal Cape Yacht Club, Duncan Dock, Table Bay.

Recreational fishing is the largest and most economically important fishery in the bay. It includes boat based angling and shore angling both from the rocky coast and from sandy beaches, and angling in estuaries, spearfishing and cast netting. In the first part of the 20th century most shore angling was for reef fish from the rocky east and west coasts of the bay, but a decline in the targeted species on the shoreline reefs and availability of four-wheel drive vehicles led to a move towards beach angling from the northern shore and targeting kob, white steenbras and slender bellman . Catches have declined and elasmobranchs are increasingly targeted by sports fishers. There has also been a move towards catch and release, and recent limitations on catch and closed areas in marine protected areas have slightly relieved the pressure, but stock of the top five target species have continued to diminish.[48]

Boat fishing clubs with slipway:

• Oceana Power Boat Club, Granger Bay,
• Cape Boat and Ski-Boat Club, Rumbly Bay, Miller's Point

• Cape Winelands Airport (Fisantekraal)

University of Cape Town's main campus

Cape Town has a well-developed higher system of public universities. Cape Town is served by three public universities: the University of Cape Town (UCT), the University of the Western Cape (UWC) and the Cape Peninsula University of Technology (CPUT). Stellenbosch University, while not based in the city itself, has its main campus and administrative section 50 kilometres from the City Bowl and has additional campuses, such as the Tygerberg Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences and the Bellville Business Park within the city.

Both the University of Cape Town and Stellenbosch University are leading universities in South Africa. This is due in large part to substantial financial contributions made to these institutions by both the public and private sector. UCT is an English-language tuition institution. It has over 21,000 students and has an MBA programme that was ranked 51st by the Financial Times in 2006.[221] It is also the top-ranked university in Africa, being the only African university to make the world's Top 200 university list at number 146.[222] Since the African National Congress has become the country's ruling party, some restructuring of Western Cape universities has taken place and as such, traditionally non-white universities have seen increased financing, which has evidently benefitted the University of the Western Cape.[223][224]

The Cape Peninsula University of Technology was formed on 1 January 2005, when two separate institutions – Cape Technikon and Peninsula Technikon – were merged. The new university offers education primarily in English, although one may take courses in any of South Africa's official languages. The institution generally awards the National Diploma.

Students from the universities and high schools are involved in the South African SEDS, Students for the Exploration and Development of Space. This is the South African SEDS, and there are many SEDS branches in other countries, preparing enthusiastic students and young professionals for the growing Space industry.

As well as the Universities, there are also several colleges in and around Cape Town. Including the College of Cape Town, False Bay College and Northlink College. Many students use NSFAS funding to help pay for tertiary education at these TVET colleges.[225]

Cape Town has also become a popular study abroad destination for many international college students. Many study abroad providers offer semester, summer, short-term, and internship programs in partnership with Cape Town universities as a chance for international students to gain intercultural understanding.