Short-term rentals have become a topical and sometimes contentious issue, particularly in the City of Cape Town. Recent media reports show that listings in Cape Town exceed many international cities, including San Francisco and Sydney. Inside Airbnb, a non-profit data project, reported approximately 26,304 active listings in Cape Town as of 25 June 2025.
The discourse surrounding Airbnb has intensified with the introduction of the “digital nomad visa”. This visa derives from the “visitor visa” for international visitors under regulation 11 of the Immigration Regulations, 2014.
Navigating the short-term rental regulatory landscape
With the boom in the short-term rental economy and new immigration laws enabling it, interest has grown in how South Africa implements short-term rental regulation. At the heart of this complex issue lies a balance between promoting sustainable tourism, respecting property owners’ rights, and keeping the rental market affordable for residents.
The term “short-term rental” is widely used in policy and media. However, South African legislation does not define it. For this article, short-term rentals in the tourism context refer to vacation rentals lasting less than 90 days.
Currently, South Africa has no direct short-term rental regulation. Existing acts only regulate these rentals indirectly.
Under sectional title schemes, body corporates may regulate short-term rentals internally. With approval from the Community Schemes Ombud Service, a body corporate can create rules that restrict short-term rentals, such as a minimum stay policy. These rules must remain reasonable and apply equally to all owners.
This recognition shows that the short-term rental economy is profitable and supports broader tourism. Despite this, the Department of Tourism has engaged Airbnb and other platforms. It has also committed to developing short-term rental regulation policies to govern the market more effectively.
Sectional titles
At the national level, the Sectional Titles Act of 1986, the Sectional Titles Schemes Management Act of 2011, and the Sectional Titles Schemes Management Regulations of 2016 govern sectional title ownership and management.
The Sectional Titles Schemes Management Act (STSMA) sets out the duties of sectional title owners. Regarding short-term rentals, owners must not use their section, or allow it to be used, in a way that causes a nuisance to other occupiers. They must also notify the body corporate immediately when occupancy changes.
All sectional title schemes must include conduct rules prescribed by the Sectional Titles Schemes Management Regulations. These rules bind both owners and occupiers. The body corporate may substitute, add, amend or repeal them through a special resolution. However, such changes must remain consistent with the prescribed management rules.
Key conduct rules require owners and occupiers to avoid creating noise that interferes with another person’s enjoyment. They must also ensure that visitors behave responsibly.
The Acts and Regulations do not regulate issues such as the permitted duration of short-term rentals or whether a sectional title scheme may allow them. More restrictive rules require stronger justification for their reasonableness. These regulatory gaps highlight the need for comprehensive short-term rental regulation that ensures clarity and fairness within residential schemes.
Rental Housing Act, 1999
The Rental Housing Act governs leasing relationships between landlords and tenants and prescribes their rights and obligations. It does not contain specific provisions for short-term rentals. The Act functions best for longer lease contexts.
However, some provisions remain relevant, such as the requirement to attach house rules, including body corporate rules, to the lease agreement.
Most short-term rentals operate through platforms such as Airbnb. As a result, many core functions of the Act, including joint inspections before occupation, written leases, receipts and deposit requirements, rarely apply.
While the Act offers certain rights to renters, short-term renters seldom exercise them. This makes the Act less relevant in these transactions.
Municipal by-laws
In 2019, the City of Cape Town amended its Municipal Planning By-Law to allow short-term rentals from a zoning perspective. The City included “transient guests” in the definition of a “dwelling unit”, which also covers residential apartments.
A transient guest is someone temporarily accommodated on a land unit for no more than 30 consecutive days. These amendments allowed short-term rentals in properties within general residential sub-zoning under Schedule 3 of the Cape Town By-Law.
Previously, such rentals required consent from the City’s development management department to operate as a “hotel”. These changes marked an important step. They represent a local form of short-term rental regulation and give municipalities authority to manage the sector more effectively.
Future developments
In 2019, the Minister of Tourism at the time, Derek Hanekom, invited public comments on a proposed Tourism Amendment Bill [B-2019]. The Bill proposed defining short-term rentals and granting the Minister the power to determine norms and standards for thresholds.
Soon after, Minister Hanekom met Airbnb representatives to discuss policy considerations arising from the Bill. To date, the Bill appears to have been shelved. However, progress continued. On 29 August 2023, the current Minister of Tourism, Patricia de Lille, signed a memorandum of understanding with Airbnb. This agreement aimed to establish a national database for short-term rentals, create the “Airbnb Entrepreneurship Academy”, and launch a dedicated portal for sharing locally specific data and insights between government and tourism organisations. This initiative forms part of a broader plan to regulate short-term rentals.
On 2 October 2024, Airbnb published a report titled “Airbnb’s impact on the City of Cape Town”. The report identified a sub-category of “dedicated listings”. These are properties rented for 90 days or more. Dedicated listings make up 7,362 listings, or 0.9% of all formal housing units in Cape Town.
Airbnb argues that only these dedicated listings should be compared to the long-term rental market when assessing rental impacts. Although this definition differs from our definition of short-term rentals, it supports Airbnb’s argument that longer-term rentals should be evaluated separately.
Critics, however, argue that Airbnb rentals have become increasingly commercialised. They claim that multi-listings run by “mega-hosts” reduce housing availability and drive up rental prices. These counterarguments must be weighed against the significant economic contribution of short-term rentals.
In 2023, Airbnb welcomed 700,000 guests to Cape Town. The platform supported 42,000 jobs and contributed ZAR 14.4 billion to the GDP. Both Airbnb and spatial-equality activists agree that short-term rental regulation is essential to legitimise operations and ensure fair competition.
Tourism White Paper 2024
On 4 October 2024, the Department of Tourism published the White Paper on the Development and Promotion of Tourism. The paper acknowledges that regulating short-term rentals is necessary to integrate them into the mainstream tourism economy. It also aims to minimise negative impacts on existing businesses and jobs.
The White Paper highlights the role of digital nomads as a driver of tourism growth. It also raises concerns, such as noise complaints and competition with small accommodation providers.
The Tourism White Paper defines short-term rentals as the temporary renting or leasing of a dwelling to a visitor for reward. It proposes a differentiated approach to regulation. This includes setting thresholds for unregulated rentals in line with international best practices and improving reporting to understand the supply side, while complying with data privacy laws and the Tourism Act.
Historically, legislators adopted a hands-off approach, leaving regulation to body corporates with CSOS-approved rules. This approach reflects two main considerations. First, property owners’ entitlement to use their property freely attracts investment. Second, it aligns with tourism policy, particularly in enabling digital nomads.
The Tourism White Paper shows a clear commitment from the Department of Tourism to integrate short-term rentals into the broader tourism economy. It seeks to balance the promotion of remote work tourism with the protection of small accommodation providers from market saturation through effective short-term rental regulation.
| Gaura Moodley | Candidate Attorney | mail me | |  |
| Lize-Mari Doubell | Associate | mail me | |  |
| Michael Evans | Consultant | mail me | |  |
| | Webber Wentzel | | |
