Sectional title properties grew even faster, from R2 million to R5 million, a 150% jump. Other False Bay towns, such as Fish Hoek, Simonstown, Glencairn, Marina Da Gama, and Lakeside, have experienced similar growth.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
For residents like Traci Kwaai, a community activist and sixth-generation Kalk Bay resident, the rapid changes threaten<\/a> the town\u2019s heritage.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cThe Kalk Bay community has lived here for 300 years. We have never owned land, and we still don\u2019t,\u201d she said. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Most long-time residents live in council flats built in 1947, which they only began owning in 1995. Kwaai stressed that these homes were not given away for free; families paid for them and hold title deeds as proof.<\/p>\n\n\n\n However, rising municipal rates and property valuations are putting these families under pressure. <\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cAll of a sudden, property in Kalk Bay has gone up, and because we live in flats, the city is applying values that don\u2019t make sense,\u201d Kwaai said. <\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cPeople who don\u2019t own land are paying the same water and rates charges as people living in large houses across the road.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n New water tariffs, which took effect in July, have worsened the problem. Bills that were around R224 have jumped to R7,686. <\/p>\n\n\n\n For a block of eight families sharing a building, each household, often living on pensions, now pays about R600 a month. \u201cIt\u2019s just unaffordable,\u201d Kwaai said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Kwaai emphasised that Kalk Bay\u2019s true value lies in its community rather than its boutique shops or tourism appeal. <\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cKalk Bay\u2019s charm isn\u2019t about the shops, it\u2019s about the people who have been here for generations, working at the harbour and keeping the culture alive,\u201d she said. <\/p>\n\n\n\n However, as outsiders increasingly buy property, long-time residents are being priced out. One flat has already been sold to a high bidder despite community pleas to keep it local. <\/p>\n\n\n\n The new owner made structural changes that disregarded heritage rules and converted a public passageway.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Everyday life is becoming harder for older residents. \u201cPeople can\u2019t afford to buy a loaf of bread or a cup of coffee here,\u201d Kwaai said. <\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cSome pensioners walk to Fish Hoek once a week to buy groceries because there\u2019s no affordable shop nearby.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n The town\u2019s growing popularity has only intensified the pressure. \u201cForbes once called it the coolest neighbourhood in the world. Since then, more people want to live here, but that demand is displacing the families who\u2019ve been here the longest.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Kwaai noted that similar pressures affect other parts of Cape Town, including Sea Point, where residents face higher living costs. But she said the situations differ. <\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cIn Sea Point, there\u2019s a range of incomes\u2014from rich to richest. In Kalk Bay, it\u2019s just the poor and the wealthy.\u201d <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Residents of this fishing village feel the town is under siege by wealthy buyers who are pushing long-time residents out while also pushing tariffs up.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":92,"featured_media":823569,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[9876],"tags":[22494,853],"class_list":["post-839180","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-lifestyle","tag-kalk-bay","tag-south-africa"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/839180","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/92"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=839180"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/839180\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":839544,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/839180\/revisions\/839544"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/823569"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=839180"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=839180"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=839180"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}Families under pressure <\/h2>\n\n\n\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/Kalk-Bay7-1024x576.jpg\")
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