Cape Town
31 MAY 2023
It's been pouring with rain today and I've felt the heavy weight which comes with thoughts of the imminent end of my travels. I've tried to remain distracted by visiting the sights in this fascinating city which oozes with history and vibrance:
The Castle of Good Hope:
Built by the Dutch between 1666 and 1679 to defend Cape Town, this stone-walled pentagonal castle remains the headquarters for the Western Cape military command. When I visited, it was being used as the backdrop for a film set and numerous people were running around with cameras and lighting equipment. It's an impressive compound with plenty of evidence of the Dutch era including fully furnished accommodation and a military museum. I was interested to note the remark at the beginning of the route round the William Fehr Collection reminding viewers to consider the exhibition in the social context of the time and to consider the people and events that were not represented in the pictures and artefacts ie. the craftsmen, the labourers and housekeeping staff. There was also the work shown of a Scottish woman called Lady Anne Bernett, who painted and wrote about her life in Cape Town. She later found out her husband had fathered a daughter by another women and took this daughter in as her own.
The District 6 museum:
This museum made a huge impression on me. It is full of social and oral history about the 60,000 person community which once occupied the District 6 area of Cape Town and who were systematically relocated to areas further afield during the apartheid planning policies of the 1960s and 1970s.
Within the interior of the original Methodist Mission Church, home interiors have been recreated, alongside photographs, recordings and testimonials. They portray a shattered but not altogether broken community. Elders, who experienced the relocation first hand, are on hand to tell their compelling stories too. It was another powerful example of how it is almost impossible to break the human collective spirit and demonstrates the strength of community spirit when under pressure.
Houses of Parliament:
I was unable to get a tour of this impressive 1885 building but was able to see where the British Prime Minister , Harold Macmillan made his 'Winds of Change' speech in 1960 and where President Hendrick Verwoerd was stabbed to death in 1966.
Company Gardens:
Based around a statue of Cecil Rhodes is an expansive garden, started as the vegetable garden for the Dutch East India Company. It is now the home to a range of botanical specimens from S Africa and around the world including frangipanis, flame trees, aloes and roses.
South African National Gallery:
This expansive collection of art work includes pieces from all eras. I found it quite over powering as the walls are full of pieces mounted next to each. The works are arranged in themes and it is possible to spot some impressive newly acquired pieces.
The Slave Lodge:
This building is one of the oldest in the city dating from 1660. It was here that I was able to gain the most accessible information about the slave movements of the Cape particularly from Mozambique and Madagascar. The information available also explains the arrival of migrant forced labour from Asia and as far away as Japan. It was good to see an introductory display on slavery as it exists today and the need to continue to work to eradicate this for ever.
St George's Church:
This is a beautiful church hosting a photographic exhibition of life for Palestinians in exile - exemplified as another form of apartheid by the photographer. There are quotes from Archbishop Desmond Tutu on the walls as you enter.