Visiting City Hall in Cape Town

One of the places that I really wanted to visit on this trip to Cape Town was the City Hall. 

Mostly,  this was because it is one of the few buildings which I specifically remember in the early years of my interest in South Africa. At that time,  of course, the anti-apartheid struggle was still going on. In February of 1990,  President FW DeKlerk announced that major reforms would be undertaken in the country. Among those reforms, the ban on all political organizations would be lifted, and poltical prisoners would be set free.

This of course included the most famous political prisoner of them all, Nelson Mandela. 

When he was released, the entire world was watching. Naturally, that included me. I also remember the rest of my family watching,  as well. It dominated the news.

He walked out of Pollsmoor Prison, with every major news media outlet in the world present.

One of the first places which he went to was Cape Town's City Hall. There, he gave a famous speech as the day began to turn to night. My eyes were glued to the television. 

At that time, of course, I was a naive kid. It seemed to me that the world was finally getting better. The Berlin Wall had just fallen three months earlier, and the Cold War was basically over. The Soviet Union under Gorbachev was undergoing reform. Dictatorships in Latin America had fallen. Now in South Africa, it appeared that apartheid was finally ending. 

The world generally seemed to legitimately be well into the process of becoming a better place. 

Again, it should be reiterated that I was still quite young and,  yes,  obviously naive. 

But that was how I saw it at the time. 

Now, it kind of makes me feel a bit foolish, remembering that this was my interpretation of these massive changes going on literally all around the world. 

Yet,  perhaps paradoxically, I still enjoy remembering those times. Even if it was naive to think the way that I did, it does not really feel like a betrayal or anything like that. If anything, it was youthful idealism. Misplaced, perhaps.  But well-meaning and innocent. 

And remember, all of those seismic shifts occurring all around the world, and seemingly all at once, could easily have felt dizzying to anyone.

Anyway,the images of Mandela finally being freed resonated,  to the point that I can still recall them quite vividly right to the present day. That includes Mandela's now famous speech at the Cape Town City Hall. 

That is why I wanted to see this place with my own eyes. Especially since they have since put up a realistic looking statue of Mandela standing on the balcony where he gave his famous speech. It really felt like something worth seeing. 

So I went. Took a taxi after my late afternoon/early evening visit to Table Mountain. I had just missed the last hop on hop off bus departure from Table Mountain, and decided to take a taxi. But instead of heading back to the hotel, I thought better of it,  and opted instead to head to City Hall while there was still some daylight left. Now,  I am glad that I did.

Anyway,  below are the pictures which I took during this visit, which includes close ups of the Mandela statue.

Enjoy.