Cape Town Minstrels Carnival Association protest march

Cape Town, South Africa - 3 January 2026: Hundreds of Cape Minstrels troupe members marched through the Cape Town CBD from Hanover Street to the Western Cape Legislature to hand over a memorandum of grievances. The march comes days after the City of Cape Town suffered several legal losses and setbacks in legal action initiated by the Cape Town Minstrels Carnival Association (CMCA) in relation to the City not providing venues to the association on the dates they required. CMCA has objected to the annual minstrels parade march being moved to 5 January by its rival organisation, the Kaapse Klopse Karnival Association (KKKA), which has also changed the marching route of the historic festival. Instead of starting in District Six and ending in Bo Kaap the KKKA has altered the route to start at the Green Point fan walk and end at the DHL Stadium. Footage by Wesley Fester/Getty Images.