Driven by a tourism boom and the rapid growth of short-term rentals like Airbnb, central Cape Town is becoming increasingly unaffordable for the people who work there — forcing many low-income families to occupy empty buildings in the city centre.
Property values and rents in the central business district (CBD) have surged over the past decade as Cape Town has marketed itself as a global tourism and digital-nomad hub. The number of active short-term listings in the metro has climbed into the tens of thousands, concentrating especially in central and seaside neighbourhoods and tightening the supply of long-term rentals.
With formal housing out of reach, both privately owned and city-owned vacant blocks are increasingly being taken over by people who say they have nowhere else to go.
For resident Fundisa Loza, living in the CBD is not a lifestyle choice but a survival strategy. She says unreliable trains and expensive taxis from distant townships make it almost impossible to keep a job. “We want to be in the city so we don’t pay transport,” she explains, adding that repeated lateness can mean warnings or dismissal at work. “We don’t have any other place to go. This is our home.”
Parents argue that remaining close to the centre is also about giving their children a better shot at the future. Access to clinics, schools and basic services is far better in the CBD than in many outlying settlements, says Nelisa Zokoza, who wants her children “to grow up where there is proper service delivery”.
Housing activists say the occupations are a symptom of a deeper failure to build well-located, affordable housing at scale, despite years of promises. Rights groups have long warned that exclusionary development in the inner city is entrenching apartheid-era spatial inequality, while social housing projects move too slowly to match demand.
“If the city will build houses near where we work, it will be better,” says Zukiswa Nomlungisi Qezo, noting that transport often swallows a third or more of household income.
The City of Cape Town says it has approved several social-housing schemes in or near the CBD and is pressing national government to release well-located public land for as many as 100,000 affordable units across the metro, but for families already sleeping in derelict offices and warehouses, those plans feel distant.
As Cape Town’s global popularity rises, residents and campaigners warn that — without urgent, large-scale investment in affordable homes close to jobs — the city’s spectacular success story will be built on deepening inequality.
