City of Cape Town defends festive lights featuring Christian symbols amid public backlash

The City of Cape Town has denied claims that Christian symbols were removed from this year’s Adderley Street festive lights, saying no decision was taken to exclude religious imagery and that elements such as angels, Mary and baby Jesus are included in the current display.

The City’s response follows public backlash from political parties and religious leaders over what they allege is the removal of Christian symbolism from the iconic festive lights, with renewed calls for transparency and accountability within the municipality.

In response to media enquiries, the City said the festive lights have, for more than five decades, been a “beloved annual tradition”, with thousands of people gathering to witness Adderley Street transformed into a display of lights and decorations.

“Each year, the Festive Lights are themed to incorporate different elements and icons that represent Cape Town and its iconic landscapes and distinguishing features (mountain, penguins, Klopse, wings, bells etc),” the City said.

The City added that the theme in recent years has emphasised “hope”, including this year’s theme, “United in Hope”, with annual adjustments made to refresh the display.

“No decision has been taken to remove any Christian or religious symbolism from the Festive Lights; in fact, angels, Mary and baby Jesus feature as part of the different elements this year, noting also that the City of Cape Town is a cosmopolitan city made up of people from different religions and backgrounds,” the statement said.

The differing accounts have left questions around the design and interpretation of this year’s festive lights, with faith-based groups and political parties calling for clarity, while the City maintains that religious elements remain part of the display.

Freedom Front Plus councillor Paul Jacobson raised the issue in a social media post, questioning who authorised what he described as the removal of Christian symbolism and saying repeated efforts to identify the responsible City official had failed.

“Despite my efforts as a City of Cape Town Councillor to discover which City official gave the instruction to remove Christian symbolism from the traditional Christmas Lights celebration in Adderley Street, no answer has been forthcoming,” Jacobson wrote.

He said Cape Town Tourism, the City’s Events directorate, the Gatherings department and his own Economic Growth portfolio were not responsible. “Strangely, none from the above knows who the guilty official is,” he added.

Jacobson said Christian organisations and clergy were “extremely disturbed” by what he described as the removal of symbols such as Mary, baby Jesus and angels, which he said had featured in the display for decades. He said the move was viewed by some as “anti-Christ” and “anti-Christian”, and called for the responsible official to be removed from their position and to apologise to the Christian community. Jacobson later alleged that the Mayor may be responsible, framing this as his personal opinion.

The African Christian Democratic Party (ACDP) has also condemned the alleged decision. Councillor Mongezi Mabungane said the party was “deeply outraged and profoundly disappointed”, arguing that removing Christian symbols undermines the cultural and religious heritage of the majority of South Africans.

Mabungane called for the immediate restoration of the symbols, an apology from the City of Cape Town, and for the official who authorised the decision to come forward and explain which directorate approved it and why.

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