The Duke and Duchess of Sussex — Prince Harry and Meghan — and their son Archie arrived in South Africa on Monday for their 10-day visit to Africa.
Cape Town, South Africa – After months of planning, Their Royal Highnesses, The Duke and Duchess of Sussex arrived in South Africa for their official Royal Tour of Southern Africa – focusing on community, grassroots leadership, women’s and girls’ rights, mental health, HIV/AIDS and the environment.
As the Royal Tour moves on from Cape Town to its next destination, Cape Town Tourism has put together a shortlist of some of the gems the Sussexes got to enjoy in Cape Town, the first stop in their 10-day tour of Africa.
Nyanga & Monwabisi Beach
As living jazz legend Abdullah Ibrahim proclaimed in his 1974 anthem, Manenberg, this “is where it’s happening”. This large area is primarily residential, and rich in political history as most of the families involved in forced removals during the apartheid era were relocated here. ‘The Flats’, as they are commonly known by locals, consist of township areas such as Bishop Lavis, Hanover Park, Langa, Khayelitsha, Manenberg and Nyanga which the Duke and Duchess visited on their first day in Cape Town. There is a rich struggle history in these areas, and as such, this is reflected in their cultural offerings and stories. The Gugulethu 7 Memorial and Langa Heritage Museum are both dedicated to remembering the turbulent history of this area.
Harry & Meghan also stopped by Monwabisi Beach, Khayelitsha’s local beach.
For those interested in checking out this part of the city, the Cape Town Tourism website has information on its recently launched Khayelitsha Curated Routes initiative which takes a new immersive approach to cultural tourism, looking to showcase all that Cape Town’s largest township has to offer.
District Six Museum
Before the apartheid era, District Six was a vibrant mixed community of freed slaves, merchants, artisans, labourers and immigrants. When the apartheid government declared it a white area under the Group Areas Act of 1950, it was systematically bulldozed. Over 60,000 people were forcibly removed from the area. Today, much of the land is still vacant as there are disputes over what should be done with it. The District Six Museum, which Meghan and Harry also visited on their first day of the tour has amazing displays and relics of what life was like and is a moving experience.
Bo-Kaap
In the 18th century, the Dutch brought slaves to the Cape from India, Sri Lanka, Malaysia, and the Indonesian Archipelago. These individuals and their descendants largely built the city, and once they were freed, many settled in the Bo-Kaap. It may be one of the most photographed areas of the Mother City, but brightly painted houses and quaint cobbled streets aren’t the only reasons to visit the Bo-Kaap.
This part of Cape Town is packed full of history and culture which explains why Harry and Meghan spent their Heritage Day here.
Construction on the Auwal Mosque, which was a key stop for Harry & Meghan in the Bo-Kaap, began in 1794, making it the oldest mosque in South Africa. The mosque was built on land belonging to a freed slave called Coridon van Ceylon, whose daughter, Saartjie van den Caap, inherited and donated the land. Abdullah Kadi Abdus Salaam, also known as Tuan Guru, was the mosque’s first imam. Tuan Guru was imprisoned on Robben Island off the Cape Town coast for political reasons. While he was there, he wrote an entire Quran from memory. This Quran is available for viewing at the mosque.
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