Signal Hill Kramats
The Kramats, also called Mazaars, represents a burial place or shrine of an Islamic saint. They are considered to be highly sacred places that represent the advent of Islam to southern Africa. Furthermore, these Kramats are considered to be symbolic of the resistance by the slaves against religious, social, and political oppression that was unleashed on them by the Dutch and the British. The Saints who are buried in these Kramats were subjected to cruelty and torture for resisting oppression.
The one kramat located on Signal Hill forms part of what is known as the Circle of Tombs. This Circle of Tombs is a shrine to Muslim holy men buried in Cape Town. Their positions in and around Cape Town are said to fulfil a 250–year old prophecy foretelling a ‘Circle of Islam’ around the Mother City. The circle begins at Signal Hill, extends around Oudekraal to Constantia, and then further to the eminent kramat of Sheikh Yusuf in Faure, also known as the father of Islam in southern Africa. Legend has it that those living within the circle are protected from natural disasters such as fire, famine, plague, and earthquakes.
The ten Kramats – representing the ‘Circle of Tombs’ – were declared as a National Heritage Site in 2021, with intentions to declare the additional seven. These shrines symbolise the resistance of enslaved people against social, political, and religious oppression under Dutch and British rule.
GPS Waypoints: 33°55'42.6"S 18°23'40.8"E