IMMIGRANTS IN CAPE TOWN

Immigrants in Cape Town: What is the importance of migration currents in the cultural development of a city? 

Cape Town is one of the most multicultural cities in the world. In fact, this city has business and career opportunities, so many people have decided to leave their countries of origin to live in the South African city. The presence of immigrants modifies and influences in various sectors, one of the main is the cultural aspect, in addition to the newspaper New York Times assures that South Africa is home to five million immigrants . Most immigrants in South Africa come from other countries in Africa and Europe, however Latins have left their mark, specially in Cape Town, some testimonials show this. In this article we will explore the stories of Latino immigrants who have influenced the Capense cultural sphere.

The Bike Road

First of all, it is important to highlight that one of the cultural consequences of migration most significantly is the exchange of ideas and knowledge. A great example is the story of a Colombian activist in Cape Town. The "Open Streets" initiative was created by Marcela Guerrero. She took Bogota's bike path as inspiration. The Colombian immigrant had participated in the Cape Town Cycle Tour, a massive cycling race to tour the city with Diana, a colombian friend. Marcela thought that would be a good idea to make a bike path in Cape Town, that is to  say, close some roads for that cars do not pass and people can use them with their bicycles.  For Bogota citizens, the bike path is part of their identity. 

The first version of the open street in Cape Town was on May 25, 2013.

With this project Marcela managed to unite a typical Bogota tradition with South African needs : The difficulty in this city to move in bicycle, this allowed the population from Cape Town to know new places of their city. From my perspective it is very interesting that the cultural spaces of one city are implemented in another, showing the positive impact of migration in addition to delegitimizing acts of xenophobia. 

Fact: The Colombian ambassador in South Africa Edgar Perea affirms that Colombians in this country have had a very positive impact since they are doctors, dentists, fashion designers and some students. 

Even footballers like Robinson Renteria and Leonardo Castro have played in South African teams linking the Colombian immigrant identity with South Africa.For some of these reasons, the ambassador mentions that Colombian immigrants have a good image among South African citizens. This is why that migration allows the reproduction of socio-cultural patterns that mix and leave a print  on the cultural history of the countries and cities that have migrants in their social composition.

Environment 

Paul Barrera’s testimony shows that migrants have a positive integration capacity regarding the problems of the receiving country. Paul is a colombian student in Cape Town , this city is on red alert for water shortages, so Paul has taken the initiative to recycle water and he has begun to make people aware of this problem. 

Latin Footprint in Cape Town. 

Meanwhile, other Latins bring some of their cultural identity to South African culture. Such as German de la Melena, a Peruvian businessman. He made the first Peruvian restaurant in South Africa "Keenwa" located in Cape Town, this restaurant brings Peruvian gastronomy  to the Capetonians, it is a very interesting cultural exchange of migration. A very similar example is that of Julian García, who with his family opened a Mexican taqueria in Cape Town. These stories lead me to think that from migration some customs are reconfigured, so the people of Cape Town will get to know other types of gastronomy and integrate it into their social model, thanks to the contributions of migrants.

     San Julian Taco & Tequila. 

Health.

Currently ONE more important contribution of migration in South Africa has been the role of Cuban medics in the covid-19 pandemic, since South Africa was the countries most affected by the virus. They share the preparation of the Cuban health system to be able to act in the face of emergencies of this type. Once again the latin migration in South Africa is special in Cape Town it has allowed to contribute to the system and the population. 

Finally, migration enriches the cultural patterns of societies through different interactions. in such a way that migration contributes values that nurture sociocultural perspectives promoting diversity. 

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