Fancy a bit of ‘wild swimming’ in a refreshing Table Bay tidal pool? Perhaps a sunset stroll on your way to dinner in Mouille Point? Sunrise watersports in a sheltered bay?
While the V&A Waterfront is already one of Cape Town’s top attractions, locals this week have a glimpse of plans for expanding the Granger Bay precinct, with calls for public comment on an ambitious plan to ‘reclaim’ land for mixed-use developments.
The expansion into Granger Bay is part of a R20-billion development pipeline for the Waterfront, which is set to unfold over the next two decades.
“The V&A Waterfront’s ultimate vision for Granger Bay is opening up public access to a new protected area,” V&A Waterfront spokesperson Donald Kau told Engineering News earlier this year. “Our design approach will strengthen the shoreline and protect the bay, at the same time as creating a new leisure destination for swimming, walking and water-based activities.”
At the heart of the plan is the reclamation of roughly 290 000 square metres of land from Table Bay: that’s about 35 rugby fields of new space for the planned mixed‑use development combining residential units, hotels, offices and retail spaces, along with public amenities.
And it’s the public spaces that will be of most benefit to Capetonians, who can look forward to easy access to even more urban coastline. While the plans – now out for public comment – are scant when it comes to detail, they include two new breakwaters forming a sheltered bay, coastal promenades to linking up with Mouille Point, as well as a network of tidal pools.
Whatever shape the expansion takes, it’s also set to include long‑standing local institutions such as the Oranjezicht City Farm Market and Oceana Power Boat Club, which will both be relocated and woven into the new layout.
It’ll be a long time until the new precinct is completed, and the first step begins this month with a pre-application public participation process that runs until 1 September 2025. The Draft Scoping Report already highlights concerns over impact on local kelp forests, dolphin populations and rock lobster marine protected areas, and there are bound to be some objections.
The Scoping Report is now available for review and comment. A public Open Day is planned for 3pm to 7pm on 13 August 2025 (roof level of the Breakwater Garage Parking, next to the Cape Wheel), where you can view poster displays and talk to the project team.
It’s exciting times for the Waterfront, and the public, but don’t get your cozzie out just yet. The paperwork won’t be done for at least another two years.
Until then: try one of Cape Town's best tidal pools for wild swimming!