Giving the City back to its People: Car-Free in Cape Town

Posted: 01 Jun 2003

Related to: Promoting Cycling in Africa, Planning & Advocacy for Cycling & Walking, South Africa
Contributed by: Paul White, ITDP

At 9:30am, in the middle of Cape Town's Klipfontein Road, five young girls stood side-by-side and declared the street their own. So began Cape Town's first Vehicle Free Event, an "experiment in social inclusion" that included the celebratory participation of hundreds of cyclists, thousands of pedestrians and dozens of dignitaries, including South Africa's Minister of Transport, Dulah Omar.

Held on Sunday, May 17 along the 23km length of Klipfontein Road, car restriction measures transformed the dual carriageway into a safe stage on which a variety of rare and joyous street scenes were played out: families streaming out of their Guguletu shacks to encourage hundreds of slow-moving passersby; a sixty-two year old Muslim cleric from Athlone sharing a deep laugh with a recently retired civil engineer from Rosebank; a woman on roller skates pushing her wheelchaired friend up a hill.

“Klipfontein Road has always connected Cape Town’s most diverse neighborhoods, but until today it had never actually joined them,” said Andrew Wheeldon, ITDP’s South Africa Director and Managing Director of the local Bicycling Empowerment Network.

The event was held in conjunction with a Public Transport Summit hosted by Tasneem Essop (Provincial Minister of Transport, Public Works and Property Management) and Danile Landingwe (Executive Councilor for Transport and Roads). Minister Essop and Councilor Landingwe have targeted Klipfontein Road as the first Cape Town corridor to receive radical reconstruction to ease the movements of public transport riders, pedestrians, and cyclists.

“We have embarked on a process of social and economic change that will inspire the people of Cape Town and build the desired levels of inclusion and access for everyone,” said Minister Essop. During the event Ms. Essop raised the possibility of the permanent pedestrianization of Adderly Street, a popular thoroughfare in Cape Town’s central business district.

“When is the next one?” several children asked. One idea for future and more frequent Cape Town Car Free Days is to cordon off a large section of downtown Cape Town. Another is to close one side of dual carriageways like Klipfontein Road and change the other side to two-way traffic. With many residents and officials anxiously awaiting the next event, itâs clear that this Car Free Day was only the beginning.