Colourful friends

A brilliant walking tour of old Cape Town with Sue. The residents of Bo-Kaap are descendants of slaves that were imported by the Dutch from Malaysia, Indonesia, India, Sri Lanka and various African countries during the 16th and 17th centuries. These slaves were called “Cape Malays”, even though not all of them were of Malaysian descent. After the British seized Cape Town from the Dutch in 1795, a series of positive changes happened over the next four decades including religious freedom, the abolition of the slave trade and finally, an end to slavery. The emancipated slaves formed a new community at Bo-Kaap, which even today, is referred to as the Malaya Quarter.