Nestled in Tamboerskloof, a stone’s throw away from the bustling city life lies The Blue Cafe, a neighbourhood heirloom boasting a rich and fascinating heritage.
It’s said that for most of the 20th century, The Blue Cafe was referred to as “The Bubby”, but during the 70s, 80s and most of the 90s, it was known as the ‘Die Blou Kafee’ and was painted blue.
It was then renamed by the Daly’s who nurtured it as the “Daily Deli” until mid 2014. Since then, it’s been transformed back to the neighbourhood’s beacon of blue and renamed “The Blue Cafe”.
With the blue comes a strong emphasis on heritage and engaging with the neighbourhood as the cafe buys fresh produce grown by Tamboerskloof residents, trades on account with its patrons and delivers to their doors.
But this 120-year-old sidewalk cafe now finds itself potentially impacted by the stricter rules that have been put in place over the years to regulate trading premises.
To avoid having to shut down, they have applied to change their trading right to business right.
“The City of Cape Town has guided The Blue Cafe to apply for a rezoning, which will change the quaint cafe’s heritage trading right to a business right,” a Facebook post reads.
The updated and more practical business rights will better secure the cafe’s next 120 years of trading, but as part of the process, the public have been invited to support or object.
Murray Von Hirschberg, who’s owned the cafe since 2014, explained to Cape {town} Etc that the cafe’s current trading license is a non-conforming use right, which means that the cafe does not have to conform to the standards of all zoning regulations.
But if they stopped trading, the cafe loses its right and heritage. People in the community were asked for comments and responded positively, viewing the cafe as a part of their heritage.
“We believe we do not provide any inconvenience or noise nuisance – the cafe’s operations are unchanged since being in our ownership” said Von Hirschberg.
The way to safeguard the cafe for the next 120 years is with a business right.
They are now working together with Council to rezone from a ‘non-conforming use right’ to a business license, in order to keep the cafe’s presence alive for many years to come.
Visit The Blue Cafe’s Facebook page for more information.
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Picture: Facebook / The Blue Cafe