Tucked away in a valley behind Table Mountain, Hout Bay harbour offers a good day out for tourists and locals alike. However, years of neglect have allowed parts of the harbour to fall into disrepair.
Now the department of public works & infrastructure has ambitious plans for the harbour. It plans to turn it into the next V&A Waterfront. Some of the locals, however, are worried they may be left out of any development.
The harbour is a popular spot for diving, fishing and kayaking and famous for its fish and chips. It is also an important place for the communities of Hangberg and Imizamo Yethu. Small-scale fishers use the harbour to catch their share, clean it and sell it to visitors.
When you visit you will find groups of tourists lining up for a boat ride to Seal Island, even on a quiet weekday. There are also craft markets and restaurants as well as sunken vessels and old buildings.
Public works minister Dean Macpherson told MPs recently that the department would “redevelop small harbours, such as Hout Bay, into tourism and economic hubs — building the next V&A Waterfront, which is set to attract tens of billions of rand in investment and can create tens of thousands of jobs”.
The harbour has been the topic of much debate. A site visit last year by government officials, which included the minister and Cape Town mayor Geordin Hill-Lewis, was met with ire by some local residents, who say they are being left out.
At the time, Hill-Lewis said some of the buildings at the harbour were either dilapidated or completely stripped.
“Others are slightly better off. All of them are a long way off from their potential. If you think about the opportunity to incorporate the small-scale fishing community from Hangberg into a wonderful development, it really could be something world class,” he said.
In 2023, then minister Sihle Zikalala announced that R500m would be invested to develop small harbours in the Western Cape. The public works portfolio committee also noted various challenges at the harbour that included security, vandalism of infrastructure and vacant lots.
James de Villiers, spokesperson for the minister, says investing in small harbours is a priority for the department.
He tells the FM that investment in the Hout Bay harbour, particularly in helping businesses to use vacant and abandoned buildings and develop the infrastructure, will stimulate job creation in the area and improve the lives of local people. The minister, he says, plans to release buildings for requests for proposals at harbours to generate income for the department.
“By improving access to processing and retail opportunities and service industries, and entry into adjacent value chains such as aquaculture, boatbuilding and repair, fine food, tourism, crafts and creative industries (including film and performing arts), these harbours can drive local economic growth and diversification,” says De Villiers.
In some cases, he says, fishing remains the dominant sector, while in others, sectors such as fine food or crafts contribute only marginally.
“The scale and growth potential of these sectors vary, and these factors will be carefully considered when assessing the redevelopment and refurbishment potential of each harbour. The redevelopment of small harbours will not only provide greater security of tenure for stakeholders but will also attract additional investment, boost tourism and create thousands of new jobs within surrounding communities,” he says.
De Villiers says the small harbours redevelopment plan will include comprehensive community and stakeholder consultations, conducted in full compliance with all applicable laws. “This process will ensure that local communities have a meaningful opportunity to contribute their insights and ideas on how these assets can be best used for the broader benefit of the community and developed to their full potential.”
While the plan to redevelop the harbour has been welcomed by some, others remain sceptical.
Prof Moenieba Isaacs of the Institute for Poverty, Land & Agrarian Studies at the University of Western Cape tells the FM there is a danger that locals could be squeezed out and it could be “another form of gentrification”.
She says the redevelopment would bring more tourists and could mean that small-scale fishers have less space to clean and sell their catch.
“Jobs [in this development] are not going to go to the community. They will get the menial jobs such as cleaning and being seasonal workers. We really need to move away from this way of doing things,” she says.
She says consultation with the community is crucial but it should not just be a mere box-ticking exercise.
“Consultation needs to be where the community is part of the planning [and] part of the process. We are not doing the groundwork in terms of [understanding] what the communities want. Their vision of Hout Bay might be completely different from how it is portrayed in the development.”
Isaacs says that Hout Bay is “in between a commercial fishing harbour” and also used by small-scale fishers.
A small-scale fisher from Hangberg, Fuad Jacobs, says he is not against development but wants to be included in the planning.
He says the harbour is “very important” for the fishers. “This is our livelihood and it has been for generations. This community is a fishing village.”
Jacobs says his grandfather was a fisherman in the area for more than 40 years. “We need to be a voice in this conversation because we live from this. If you’re going to make a waterfront here, that’s like cutting the throat of the fisherman. We are for development, but let’s have a conversation. They have plans, we also have plans. Maybe there’s a way we can integrate these plans. They can’t just come and decide without speaking to the community.”
Gregg Louw, vice-chair of the Hangberg Peace & Mediation Forum, tells the FM the fishing industry is declining. He says there are not enough resources to sustain the industry. “Hout Bay has got everything to pave the way forward. You’ve got the richest and the poorest people all staying [in one place]. You’ve got a lot of people from all over.”
He says the people in Hangberg contributed to the fishing industry and the building of the harbour.
“The government spent more than R10m on a spatial plan for the harbour. [The] opportunity was given to the community to give input. Things have changed but it was already shifting away from fishing into tourism.”
Louw says there is potential for development but there needs to be a balance. He says it’s important for the government to consult with the recognised bodies at the harbour.
Cape Town city councillor Rob Quintas has welcomed the intention to redevelop the harbour. He says he first tabled a proposed redevelopment of the precinct in 2019.
He says the failure of the department over many years to “safeguard its assets is evident in the decay and wear and tear visible. That, added to illegal and criminal poaching interests in the harbour, has over time created an eyesore, where illegal activities can take place under the cover of night, and even in broad daylight.”
He says local communities need to be the ultimate beneficiaries of the job creation potential of any development in the harbour. “It is important to remember that the harbour belongs to all of Hout Bay, all its diverse communities, and belongs to the greater benefit of Cape Town.”
Quintas says the presence of small-scale fishers adds the “authenticity” of a working harbour and they “would have every right” to be a part of the improvements.
“A mixed-use retail, hospitality, hotel, ocean economy such as boatbuilding, fishing and crafts space that is vibrant, clean, safe, attractive to visitors and which creates hundreds if not thousands of direct and indirect jobs for Hout Bay is what I believe every thinking person should wish to see there. The possibilities are endless and now it seems that there is the political will in Pretoria to take this forward,” he says.
In a letter to the subcouncil in 2019, seen by the FM, Quintas put forward a motion to “reimagine Hout Bay harbour”. In it, he says a mixed-used precinct that allows for a diverse offering of employment would benefit the community.
“Not everyone wishes to work in the maritime and fishing economies, and investment in the form of a hotel, restaurants and retail components would allow for a varied offering of sustainable and resilient economic development, employment and job creation,” he says in the letter.
De Villiers says further announcements about upgrades to the harbour will be made soon.
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