Row erupts over Cape Town Christmas lights and Christian symbols

The City of Cape Town has denied allegations that Christian symbols were removed from this year’s Adderley Street festive lights display, insisting that religious elements such as angels, Mary and baby Jesus are still present.

According to the Cape Argus, this follows growing public criticism from political parties and religious groups, who claim the exclusion of Christian imagery reflects a lack of transparency and cultural sensitivity.

In a formal response to media enquiries, the City said the annual festive lights along Adderley Street — a tradition spanning over five decades — continue to feature a blend of symbols celebrating Cape Town’s heritage, landscape, and diverse communities.

“The Festive Lights are themed each year to incorporate various icons representing Cape Town’s unique features, including Table Mountain, penguins, the Klopse, wings, bells, and more,” the statement said.

The City added that in recent years, the display has been centred around themes of “hope”, including the 2025 theme, United in Hope, with annual updates to refresh the visual presentation.

“No decision has been taken to remove any Christian or religious symbolism from the Festive Lights. In fact, angels, Mary and baby Jesus are included among the various elements this year. It must be acknowledged that Cape Town is a cosmopolitan city, home to people from diverse religious and cultural backgrounds,” the City said.

Despite these assurances, the dispute has continued, with differing accounts over what is displayed this year. Faith-based organisations and political parties have called for clarity regarding the design process and decision-making involved.

Freedom Front Plus councillor Paul Jacobson publicly criticised the City, alleging that longstanding Christian imagery had been removed. In a social media post, he questioned who authorised the change, claiming his inquiries across several municipal departments had yielded no answers.

“Despite my efforts as a councillor to discover which City official authorised the removal of Christian symbolism from the Adderley Street Christmas lights, no one has taken responsibility,” he wrote.

Jacobson said Christian organisations and clergy were “deeply disturbed” by the absence of traditional elements and called the alleged move “anti-Christ” and “anti-Christian”. He further called for the dismissal of the official responsible and issued an apology to the Christian community. He later speculated — expressing his personal opinion — that the Mayor might be involved.

The African Christian Democratic Party (ACDP) has also condemned the alleged exclusion. ACDP councillor Mongezi Mabungane said the party was “deeply outraged and profoundly disappointed,” arguing that the removal of Christian symbols disregards the cultural and religious identity of a significant portion of the population.

Mabungane called for the immediate reinstatement of the religious symbols, a public apology from the City, and for the official responsible to be identified and to provide a full explanation of the decision and the department behind it.

While the City maintains that religious elements remain part of the display, the incident has sparked a broader conversation about inclusion, identity, and the role of cultural symbols in public celebrations.

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