11 August 2025
The Browns Farm library in Philippi was closed in 2023 after it was ransacked and vandalised during protests in the community. It will remain closed until the City of Cape Town has sufficient funds to complete the renovations. Photo: Sandiso Phaliso
Plans to refurbish and open the Browns Farm library in Philippi have been held up for two years by red tape and budgetary constraints.
At this stage, it is unclear when the City of Cape Town’s assessments will be done, leaving the only library in the Browns Farm community closed indefinitely.
The library was used by learners, job seekers and community groups. But it was closed after being badly vandalised and looted on 7 August 2023 during destructive protests sparked by a city-wide taxi strike that month.
Looters stole and damaged books, computers, ceilings and electrical infrastructure in the buildings. Doors and windows were also smashed.
The City said in 2024 that it had no budget to fix the library but committed to restoring the facility. The cost of repairing the facility is estimated to be millions of rand.
But this wasn’t the first time the library needed to close due to criminal incidents. It was closed for a couple of days in February 2023 after staff were robbed, and again in May following another incident.
The lengthy closure and lack of any progress are causing frustration among residents who regularly used the library. The nearest library is a few kilometres away in Crossroads, which by taxi, costs about R20 for a round trip.
“It is taking too long to fix the library. We believed that by now the library would be fixed but there is no timeframe as to when the service is going to come back. It seems fixing the library is not getting the urgency it deserves,” said resident Mpumzi Sishuba.
Francine Higham, the City’s mayco member for community services, told GroundUp on Thursday that funds need to be allocated to repair the library. Also, a team of experts has to be appointed to oversee the repairs.
The City, according to Higham, “has no plans to relocate the library to another area” but rather “restore the facility and upgrade its security features”.
The City again appealed to residents to help law enforcement protect facilities in their communities, like libraries, to avoid lengthy closures like this.