Editing Cape Town (section)

== History ==
{{Main|History of Cape Town|Timeline of Cape Town}}
{{external media
| float = right
| video1 = [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h1stIhiV5L0 "Khoisan group renames the cape"]— 2012 news report by [[Eyewitness News (South Africa)|Eyewitness News]] on the official Khoekhoe naming of Cape Town as "ǁHuiǃgaeb" and how it is pronounced
}}

=== Early period ===
[[File:F. Benda-The planting of cross by Bartholomew Dias in 1488-0681 (cropped).jpg|thumb|Portuguese explorer [[Bartolomeu Dias]] planting the cross at [[Cape Point]], 1488.]]
The earliest known remnants of human occupation in the region were found at Peers Cave in [[Fish Hoek]] and have been dated to between 15,000 and 12,000 years old.<ref>{{Cite web |title=The Antiquity of man |url=http://www.antiquityofman.com/Peers_Cave.html |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090301174424/http://www.antiquityofman.com/Peers_Cave.html |archive-date=1 March 2009 |access-date=15 June 2009 |publisher=SouthAfrica.info}}</ref>{{Better source needed|date=December 2024}}

[[Bartolomeu Dias]], the first European to reach the area, arrived in 1488 and named it "Cape of Storms" ({{Lang|pt|Cabo das Tormentas}}). It was later renamed by [[John II of Portugal]] as "[[Cape of Good Hope]]" ({{Lang|pt|Cabo da Boa Esperança}}) because of the great optimism engendered by the opening of a sea route to the [[Indian subcontinent]] and [[East Indies]].

In 1497, Portuguese explorer [[Vasco da Gama]] recorded a sighting of the Cape of Good Hope.

In 1510, at the [[Battle of Salt River]], the Portuguese admiral [[Francisco de Almeida]] and sixty-four of his men were killed and his party was defeated<ref>{{Cite book |title=The Cambridge history of South Africa: 1885–1994 |date=2011 |publisher=Cambridge University Press |isbn=9780521517942 |editor-last=Hamilton, Carolyn |volume=1 |pages=168–173 |chapter=Khoesan and Immigrants |oclc=778617810 |editor-last2=Mbenga, Bernard |editor-last3=Ross, Robert}}</ref> by the "Goringhaiqua" in Dutch approximate spelling) using cattle that were specially trained to respond to whistles and shouts.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Steenkamp |first=Willem |title=Assegais, drums and dragoons: a military and social history of the Cape, 1510–1806 |date=2012 |publisher=Jonathan Ball Publishers |isbn=9781868424795 |location=Johannesburg}}</ref> The Gorinaiqua were one of the [[Khoikhoi]] clans who inhabited 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 [[Khoikhoi language|Khoikhoi]] clans of the region in exchange for fresh meat and other essential traveling provisions.

=== Dutch period ===
{{multiple image
| header = Dutch period
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| image1 = Charles Bell - Jan van Riebeeck se aankoms aan die Kaap.jpg
| caption1 = [[Jan van Riebeeck]] and Dutch colonists arriving in [[Table Bay]] in 1652.
| image2 = Cape Town in 1800.jpg
| caption2 = A diorama of Cape Town as it would have appeared in 1800 at the end of Dutch rule by the VOC.
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{{See also|Dutch Cape Colony}}
In 1652, [[Jan van Riebeeck]] and other employees of the [[Dutch East India Company|United East India Company]] ({{langx|nl|Verenigde Oost-indische Compagnie}}, VOC) were sent to the Cape Colony 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 local authorities to import enslaved people from [[Indonesia]] and [[Madagascar]]. Many of these people are ancestors of modern-day [[Cape Coloureds|Cape Coloured]] and [[Cape Malays|Cape Malay]] communities.<ref>{{Cite web |date=1 May 2009 |title=Cape-Slavery-Heritage " Coloured People of the Western Cape have the most Diverse Ancestry in the World :: iBlog |url=http://cape-slavery-heritage.iblog.co.za/2009/05/01/coloured-people-of-the-western-cape-have-the-most-diverse-ancestry-in-the-world/ |access-date=17 March 2011 |publisher=Cape-slavery-heritage.iblog.co.za}} {{dead link|date=July 2017 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |date=22 September 1927 |title=Slavery and early colonisation, South African History Online |url=http://www.sahistory.org.za/pages/governence-projects/slavery/slavery.htm |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110109130722/http://www.sahistory.org.za/pages/governence-projects/slavery/slavery.htm |archive-date=9 January 2011 |access-date=17 March 2011 |publisher=Sahistory.org.za}}</ref>

Under Van Riebeeck and his successors, as VOC commanders and later governors at the Cape, a wide range of agricultural plants were introduced to the Cape. Some of these, including grapes, cereals, ground nuts, potatoes, apples and citrus, had a large and lasting influence on the societies and economies of the region.<ref>Pooley, S. 'Jan van Riebeeck as Pioneering Explorer and Conservator of Natural Resources at the Cape of Good Hope (1652–62),' Environment and History 15 (2009): 3–33. {{doi|10.3197/096734009X404644}}</ref>

=== British period ===
{{See also|Cape Colony}}[[File:Adderley Street, Cape Town, looking NE - ca. 1897.jpg|thumb|[[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.]]

With the [[Dutch Republic]] being transformed into [[First French Republic|Revolutionary France]]'s vassal [[Batavian Republic]], Great Britain moved to take control of Dutch colonies, including the colonial possessions of the VOC.

Britain [[Invasion of the Cape Colony|captured Cape Town in 1795]], but it was returned to the Dutch by treaty in 1803. British forces occupied the Cape again in 1806 following the [[Battle of Blaauwberg]] when the Batavian Republic allied with Britain's rival, France, during the [[Napoleonic Wars]]. Following the conclusion of the war Cape Town was permanently ceded to the United Kingdom in the [[Anglo-Dutch Treaty of 1814]].

The city became the capital of the newly formed [[British Cape Colony|Cape Colony]], whose territory expanded very substantially through the 1800s, partially as a result of [[Xhosa Wars|numerous wars]] with the [[Xhosa people|amaXhosa]] on the colony's eastern frontier. In 1833 slavery was [[Slavery in South Africa#Abolition|abolished in the colony]] freeing over 5500 slaves in the city, almost a third of the city's population at the time.<ref name="Martin 1836 113">{{Cite book |last=Martin |first=Robert Montgomery |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ifk9AAAAcAAJ&pg=PA112 |title=The British Colonial Library: In 12 volumes |date=1836 |publisher=Mortimer |pages=113 |language=en}}</ref> The [[Convict Crisis]] of 1849, marked by substantial civil upheaval, bolstered the push for self-governance in the Cape.<ref name=":7">{{Cite journal |last=Anderson |first=Clare |date=3 May 2016 |title=Convicts, Carcerality and Cape Colony Connections in the 19th Century |journal=Journal of Southern African Studies |language=en |volume=42 |issue=3 |pages=429–442 |doi=10.1080/03057070.2016.1175128 |issn=0305-7070 |doi-access=free}}</ref><ref name=":8">RFM Immelman: ''Men of Good Hope, 1804-1954''. CTCC: Cape Town, 1955. Chapter 6 ''The Anti-convict Agitation''. p.154.</ref>

With expansion came calls for greater independence from the UK, with the Cape attaining [[Parliament of the Cape of Good Hope|its own parliament]] (1854) and a [[Responsible government#Cape Colony|locally accountable]] Prime Minister (1872). Suffrage was established according to the non-racial [[Cape Qualified Franchise]].<ref>{{Cite web |last=Bell |first=Charles |title=A painting of the arrival of Jan van Riebeeck in Table Bay |url=http://www.rosebuds.co.za/Toere/Cape%20Town.htm |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111230184319/http://www.rosebuds.co.za/Toere/Cape%20Town.htm |archive-date=30 December 2011 |access-date=11 April 2011}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |last=McCracken |first=J.L. |url=https://archive.org/details/capeparliament180000mccr |title=The Cape Parliament, 1854–1910 |publisher=Clarendon Press, Oxford, 1967 |year=1967 |url-access=registration}}</ref>

During the 1850s and 1860s, additional plant species were introduced from Australia by the British authorities. Notably [[Acacia cyclops|rooikrans]] was introduced to stabilise the sand of the [[Cape Flats]] to allow for a road connecting the peninsula with the rest of the African continent<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Carruthers |first=Jane |last2=Robin |first2=Libby |date=23 March 2010 |title=Taxonomic imperialism in the battles for Acacia:Identity and science in South Africa and Australia |journal=Transactions of the Royal Society of South Africa |volume=65 |issue=1 |pages=60 |bibcode=2010TRSSA..65...48C |doi=10.1080/00359191003652066 |s2cid=83630585 |doi-access=free}}</ref> and [[eucalyptus]] was used to drain marshes.<ref>{{Cite web |title=A Contested Past and Present: Australian Trees in South Africa |url=https://www.ssrc.org/pages/A-Contested-Past-and-Present-Australian-Trees-in-South-Africa/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200727072156/https://www.ssrc.org/pages/A-Contested-Past-and-Present-Australian-Trees-in-South-Africa/ |archive-date=27 July 2020 |access-date=12 February 2020 |website=Social Science Research Council}}</ref>

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 immigration into South Africa.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Mbenga |first=Bernard |title=New History of South Africa |url=http://www.tafelberg.com/Books/2652 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140422132145/http://www.tafelberg.com/Books/2652 |archive-date=22 April 2014 |access-date=18 January 2013 |publisher=Tafelberg, South Africa, 2007}}</ref> 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. Britain's victory in this war led to the formation of a united South Africa. From 1891 to 1901, the city's population more than doubled from 67,000 to 171,000.<ref name="C1875">{{Cite book |last=Worden, Nigel |title=Cape Town: The Making of a City |last2=van Hyningen, Elizabeth |last3=Bickford-Smith, Vivian |publisher=David Philip Publishers |year=1998 |isbn=0-86486-435-3 |location=Claremont, Cape Town, South Africa |pages=212}}</ref>

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 give way to the dominance of Johannesburg and Pretoria in the 20th century.<ref name="AMad">{{Cite book |last=Mabin, Alan |title=The Angry Divide-The underdevelopment of the Western Cape, 1850–1900 |publisher=David Philip |year=1989 |isbn=0-86486-116-8 |location=Cape Town |pages=82–94}}</ref>

=== South African period ===
[[File:Cape Town foreshore 1946.jpg|thumb|An aerial photograph of the newly completed [[Foreshore, Cape Town|Cape Town foreshore]] in 1945. Visible in this photograph as the large area of empty land between the City Centre and the newly constructed harbour out of reclaimed land from [[Table Bay]].<ref name="sahris_sahra_org_za">{{Cite web |last=Halkett |first=D.J. |date=October 2012 |title=Archaeological Assessment of the Proposed Cape Town International Convention Centre 2 on Erwen 192, 245, 246 and the Remainder of Erf 192, "Salazar Square", Roggebaai, Cape Town Foreshore |url=https://sahris.sahra.org.za/sites/default/files/heritagereports/CTICC%20AIA%2025_10_2012.pdf |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210529140706/https://sahris.sahra.org.za/sites/default/files/heritagereports/CTICC%20AIA%2025_10_2012.pdf |archive-date=29 May 2021 |access-date=26 August 2019 |website=sahra.org.za |page=18}}</ref> |alt=]]
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 [[South African National Census of 1936|1936 census]], Johannesburg had overtaken Cape Town as the largest city in the country.

In 1945 the expansion of the [[Foreshore, Cape Town|Cape Town foreshore]] was completed adding an additional {{cvt|194|ha}} to the [[City Bowl]] area to the city centre.<ref name="sahris_sahra_org_za" />

==== Apartheid era ====
Prior to the mid-twentieth century, Cape Town was one of the most racially integrated cities in South Africa.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Bickford-Smith |first=Vivian |date=1995 |title=South African Urban History, Racial Segregation and the Unique Case of Cape Town? |journal=Journal of Southern African Studies |volume=21 |issue=1 |pages=63–78 |doi=10.1080/03057079508708433 |issn=0305-7070 |jstor=2637331}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |last=Adhikari |first=Mohamed |url=https://www.oapen.org/download?type=document&docid=628130#page=82 |title=Burdened by race: Coloured identities in southern Africa |publisher=UCT Press |year=2009 |isbn=978-1-92051-660-4 |location=Cape Town |pages=51 |access-date=26 August 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180720174913/http://oapen.org/download?type=document&docid=628130#page=82 |archive-date=20 July 2018 |url-status=live}}</ref> In the [[1948 South African general election|1948 national elections]], the [[National Party (South Africa)|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 Qualified Franchise|Cape's multiracial franchise]].

In 1950, the apartheid government first introduced the [[Group Areas Act]], which classified and segregated urban 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 the suburb of [[District Six, Cape Town|District Six]]. After it was declared a whites-only area in 1965, all housing there was demolished and over 60,000 residents were forcibly removed.<ref>{{Cite web |date=19 August 2003 |title=Recalling District Six |url=http://www.southafrica.info/ess_info/sa_glance/history/districtsix.htm |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120206234327/http://www.southafrica.info/ess_info/sa_glance/history/districtsix.htm |archive-date=6 February 2012 |access-date=13 June 2006 |publisher=SouthAfrica.info}}</ref> Many of these residents were relocated to the [[Cape Flats]].

The earliest of the Cape Flats forced removals saw the expulsion of Black South Africans to [[Langa, South Africa|Langa]], Cape Town's first and oldest township, in line with the 1923 [[Natives Urban Areas Act|Native Urban Areas Act]].

Under apartheid, the Cape was considered a "[[Coloured]] labour preference area", to the exclusion of "[[Bantu-speaking peoples of South Africa|Bantus]]", i.e. Black 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.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Sash |first=Black |date=3 November 1983 |title="The Coloured Labour Preference Area Policy"- Paper Presented by Cape Western Region to National Conference 1983 |url=https://digitalcollections.lib.uct.ac.za/coloured-labour-preference-area-policy-paper-presented-cape-western-region-national-conference-1983 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191216183957/https://digitalcollections.lib.uct.ac.za/coloured-labour-preference-area-policy-paper-presented-cape-western-region-national-conference-1983 |archive-date=16 December 2019 |access-date=16 December 2019 |website=National texts, 1955–1994}}</ref>

During the student-led [[Soweto Uprising]] of June 1976, school students from [[Langa, South Africa|Langa]], [[Gugulethu]] and [[Nyanga, Western Cape|Nyanga]] in Cape Town reacted to the news of the protests against Bantu Education by organising gatherings and marches of their own. A number of school buildings were burnt down and the protest action was met with forceful resistance from the police.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Cape Schools Join the Revolt – South African History Online |url=http://www.sahistory.org.za/article/cape-schools-join-revolt |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140714145633/http://www.sahistory.org.za/article/cape-schools-join-revolt |archive-date=14 July 2014 |access-date=16 June 2014}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=Western Cape Youth Uprising timeline 1976 – South African History Online |url=http://www.sahistory.org.za/topic/western-cape-youth-uprising-timeline-1976 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140804024701/http://www.sahistory.org.za/topic/western-cape-youth-uprising-timeline-1976 |archive-date=4 August 2014 |access-date=16 June 2014}}</ref>

Cape Town has been home to many leaders of the [[Internal resistance to apartheid|anti-apartheid movement]]. In [[Table Bay]], {{cvt|10|km|0|abbr=off}} from the city is [[Robben Island]]. This [[Maximum Security Prison, Robben Island|penitentiary island]] was the site of a maximum security prison where many famous apartheird-era political prisoners served long prison sentences. Famous prisoners include activist, lawyer and future president [[Nelson Mandela]] who served 18 of his 27 years of imprisonment on the island, as well as two other future presidents, [[Kgalema Motlanthe]] and [[Jacob Zuma]].<ref>{{Cite web |date=30 June 2013 |title=FLOTUS Travel Journal: Robben Island, An Experience We Will Never Forget |url=https://obamawhitehouse.archives.gov/blog/2013/06/30/flotus-travel-journal-robben-island-experience-we-will-never-forget |access-date=10 April 2024 |website=whitehouse.gov |language=en}}</ref>

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. The [[South African general election, 1994|first democratic election]], was held four years later, on 27 April 1994.<ref>{{Cite web |title=South Africa: Overcoming Apartheid |url=https://overcomingapartheid.msu.edu/multimedia.php?kid=163-582-10 |access-date=18 March 2024 |website=overcomingapartheid.msu.edu}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=The South African general elections: 1994 {{!}} South African History Online |url=https://www.sahistory.org.za/article/south-african-general-elections-1994 |access-date=18 March 2024 |website=www.sahistory.org.za}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |last=Johnson |first=R.W. |title=Launching Democracy in South Africa: The First Open Election, April 1994 |publisher=Yale University Press |year=1996 |isbn=978-0300063912 |location=New Haven}}</ref>

[[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]].{{Relevance inline|discuss=Is this relevant to the history section?|date=September 2023}}

==== Post-apartheid era ====
Cape Town has undergone significant changes in the years since Apartheid. Cape Town has experienced economic growth and development in the post-apartheid era. The city has become a major economic hub in South Africa, attracting international investment and tourism. The [[Democratic Alliance (South Africa)|Democratic Alliance]] (DA), a [[Liberalism|liberal]] political party which came to power in Cape Town in 2006, has been credited with improving bureaucratic efficiency, public safety and fostering economic development.<ref name=":0">{{Cite web |last=Parker |first=Alexander |date=12 October 2023 |title=Cape Town Is Making South Africa's ANC Look Worse and Worse |url=https://www.bloomberg.com/opinion/articles/2023-10-12/cape-town-is-making-south-africa-s-anc-look-worse-and-worse |access-date=4 June 2024 |website=[[Bloomberg L.P.|Bloomberg]]}}</ref><ref name=":1">{{Cite web |last=Pilling |first=David |date=13 January 2024 |title=South African opposition seeks to build on Cape Town success |url=https://www.ft.com/content/7acd9224-c5b1-4024-bc21-b3cc22b522c5 |access-date=4 June 2024 |website=[[The Financial Times]]}}</ref>

Opinion polls show that South Africans see it as the best governed province and city in the country.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Bavier |first=Joe |date=30 May 2024 |title=John Steenhuisen: The DA leader eyeing power in pivotal South Africa election |url=https://www.reuters.com/world/africa/south-africas-steenhuisen-wages-mission-stop-doomsday-coalition-2024-05-27/ |access-date=4 June 2024 |work=[[Reuters]]}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |date=25 April 2024 |title=How race and politics interact in modern South Africa |url=https://www.economist.com/middle-east-and-africa/2024/04/25/how-race-and-politics-interact-in-modern-south-africa |access-date=4 June 2024 |work=[[The Economist]] |issn=0013-0613}}</ref> Of South Africa's 257 municipalities, only 38 received a clean financial audit in 2022 from the [[Auditor-General (South Africa)|Auditor-General]]. Of those, 21 were in the Western Cape.<ref name=":0" />

The city's economy has diversified, with growth in sectors such as finance, real estate, and tourism. The establishment of the City Centre Improvement District (CCID) has been particularly successful in revitalizing the city center, bringing businesses and people back into the area. This initiative has transformed public spaces such as [[Greenmarket Square]], [[Company's Garden]], and St George's Mall, attracting both locals and tourists.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Lowton |first=Zubeida |date=15 May 2020 |title=A Tale of Two Cities: Socio-Spatial Transformations of Post-Apartheid South African Cities – Part 2, Cape Town |url=https://www.centreforsustainablecities.ac.uk/news/a-tale-of-two-cities-socio-spatial-transformations-of-post-apartheid-south-african-cities-part-2-capetown/ |access-date=4 June 2024 |website=Centre for Sustainable, Healthy and Learning Cities and Neighbourhoods |language=en-US}}</ref>

In 2014, Cape Town was named [[World Design Capital]] of the Year.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Post |first=Lucia van der |date=28 March 2014 |title=Cape Town: World Design Capital 2014 |url=https://www.ft.com/content/e8abc21c-b371-11e3-bc21-00144feabdc0 |access-date=4 June 2024 |work=[[The Financial Times]]}}</ref> Cape Town was voted the best tourist destination in Africa at the 2023 World Travel Awards in [[Dubai]] and continues to be the most important tourist destination in the country.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Holmes |first=Richard |date=19 October 2023 |title=Cape Town was just voted the best destination in Africa |url=https://www.timeout.com/cape-town/news/cape-town-has-been-voted-the-best-african-destination-to-visit-101923 |access-date=4 June 2024 |website=Time Out Cape Town |language=en-GB}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last=Magubane |first=Khulekani |date=4 February 2024 |title=Cape Town leads resurgent tourism sector |url=https://www.businesslive.co.za/bt/business-and-economy/2024-02-04-cape-town-leads-resurgent-tourism-sector/ |access-date=4 June 2024 |website=[[Business Day (South Africa)|BusinessLIVE]] |language=en-ZA}}</ref> Cape Town has been named the best travel city in the world every year since 2013 in the [[The Daily Telegraph|Telegraph]] Travel Awards.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Leadbeater |first=Chris |date=12 July 2023 |title=The 10 best cities on Earth (according to you) |url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/travel/telegraph-travel-awards-2023-best-cities/ |access-date=4 June 2024 |work=The Telegraph |language=en-GB |issn=0307-1235}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |last=Blanco |first=Evie |date=25 July 2023 |title=Cape Town has been awarded the best travel city in the world for 2023 |url=https://www.miamiherald.com/detour/article277646203.html |access-date=4 June 2024 |work=[[Miami Herald]]}}</ref>

The legacy of apartheid's spatial planning is still evident, with significant disparities between affluent areas and impoverished [[township]]s.<ref name=":2">{{Cite web |last=Orderson |first=Crystal |date=28 May 2024 |title=Cape Town's poor 'neglected' in South Africa's only opposition-run province |url=https://www.aljazeera.com/features/2024/5/28/cape-towns-poor-neglected-in-south-africas-only-opposition-run-province |access-date=4 June 2024 |website=[[Al Jazeera]] |language=en}}</ref> 60% of the city's population live in townships and informal settlements far from the city centre.<ref>{{Cite magazine |last=Baker |first=Aryn |date=2 May 2019 |title=Inequality Is Widening Around the World. Here's What We Can Learn From the World's Most Unequal Country |url=https://time.com/longform/south-africa-unequal-country/ |access-date=4 June 2024 |magazine=[[Time (magazine)|Time]] |language=en}}</ref> The legacy of Apartheid means Cape Town remains one of the most racially segregated cities in South Africa.<ref>{{Citation |last=Solomon |first=Jean-Paul |title=A neo-apartheid city? Labour market inequalities and residential segregation in Cape Town, South Africa |date=13 September 2023 |url=https://advance.sagepub.com/doi/full/10.31124/advance.24124851.v2 |access-date=4 June 2024 |doi=10.31124/advance.24124851.v2}}</ref> Many Black South Africans continue to live in informal settlements with limited access to basic services such as healthcare, education, and sanitation.<ref name=":2" /><ref name=":3">{{Cite news |last=Grill |first=Bartholomäus |last2=Schaap |first2=Fritz |date=8 September 2023 |title=Gangs, Corruption and Collapse: The Slow and Steady Demise of South Africa |url=https://www.spiegel.de/international/world/gangs-corruption-and-collapse-the-slow-and-steady-demise-of-south-africa-a-7ed1fcd1-a2e8-446a-9ff9-074718215281 |access-date=4 June 2024 |work=[[Der Spiegel]] |language=en |issn=2195-1349}}</ref> The unemployment rate remains high at 23% (though nearly 10 points lower than the nationwide average), particularly among historically disadvantaged groups, and economic opportunities are unevenly distributed.<ref name=":1" />

Cape Town faced a [[Cape Town water crisis|severe water shortage]] from 2015 to 2018.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Cassim |first=Zaheer |title=Cape Town could be the first major city in the world to run out of water |url=https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/world/2018/01/19/cape-town-could-first-major-city-run-out-water/1047237001/ |access-date=28 March 2023 |website=USA TODAY |language=en-US}}</ref> According to [[Oxfam]], "in the face of an imminent water shortage, the city of Cape Town in South Africa successfully reduced its water use by more than half in three years, cutting it from 1.2bn litres per day in February 2015 to 516m litres per day in 2018."<ref>{{Cite book |last=Wallace |first=Bryony |url=https://policy-practice.oxfam.org/resources/avoiding-day-zero-how-cape-town-cut-its-water-usage-by-50-in-three-years-621115/ |title=Avoiding Day Zero: How Cape Town cut its water usage by 50% in three years |date=7 January 2021 |publisher=[[Oxfam]] |isbn=978-1-78748-577-8 |series=Inspiring Better Futures |doi=10.21201/2020.5778 |doi-broken-date=1 November 2024}}</ref>

In 2021 Cape Town also experienced a [[2021 Cape Town taxi conflict|violent turf war]] between [[Taxi wars in South Africa|rival mini-bus taxi firms]] which led to the deaths of 83 people. Two years later [[2023 Cape Town taxi strike|a strike by the mini-bus taxi firms]] resulted in 5 deaths.

Since the 2010s, Cape Town and the wider Western Cape province have seen the rise of a small [[Cape Independence|secessionist movement]].<ref>{{Cite web |last=Charles |first=Marvin |title=Cape Independence: Lobby group says recent survey 'places intense pressure' on DA to hold referendum |url=https://www.news24.com/news24/southafrica/news/cape-independence-lobby-group-says-recent-survey-places-intense-pressure-on-da-to-hold-referendum-20210813 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211005185704/https://www.news24.com/news24/southafrica/news/cape-independence-lobby-group-says-recent-survey-places-intense-pressure-on-da-to-hold-referendum-20210813 |archive-date=5 October 2021 |access-date=12 October 2021 |website=News24 |language=en-US}}</ref> Support for parties "which have formally adopted Cape independence" was around 5% in the [[2021 South African municipal elections|2021 municipal elections]].<ref>{{Cite news |last=Githahu |first=Mwangi |title=Parties which supported Western Cape independence from SA reap rewards in local government elections |url=https://www.iol.co.za/capeargus/news/parties-which-supported-western-cape-independence-from-sa-reap-rewards-in-local-government-elections-e96b30e7-834d-4e7f-8dd9-99268088892b |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211115210230/https://www.iol.co.za/capeargus/news/parties-which-supported-western-cape-independence-from-sa-reap-rewards-in-local-government-elections-e96b30e7-834d-4e7f-8dd9-99268088892b |archive-date=15 November 2021 |access-date=15 November 2021 |work=iol.co.za |language=en}}</ref>