Short-term rentals have become a topical and sometimes contentious issue in South Africa, particularly in the City of Cape Town. Media reports show that the number of listings in the Mother City exceeds many international cities, such as San Francisco and Sydney. Inside Airbnb, a non-profit data project, has cited figures around 26,304 active listings in Cape Town as of 25 June 2025. 

The discourse surrounding Airbnb has been further prompted by the introduction of the so-called 'digital nomad visa', derived from the 'visitor visa' for international visitors as listed under regulation 11 of the Immigration Regulations, 2014.  With the boom in the short-term rental economy and immigration laws enabling it, interest has grown in how South Africa regulates this sector. At the heart of the complexity is a balancing act between:

• promoting sustainable tourism;
• the strong entitlements in law for owners to use their properties as they see fit, which is a relevant consideration both locally and for foreign investment;  and
• keeping the rental market affordable for local residents.

The term 'short-term rental' is used widely in policy and media, but it is not defined in South African legislation.  For purposes of this article, we will interpret short-term rental in the tourism context as rental for vacation purposes for a period of less than 90 days. Currently, there is no direct regulation of short-term rentals; the relevant acts discussed below only regulate short-term rentals indirectly. Under sectional title schemes, short-term rentals may be regulated internally by body corporates. With the Community Schemes Ombud Service (CSOS) approval, body corporates may create rules to restrict short-term rentals (for example, a minimum stay policy).

These rules must be reasonable and apply equally to all owners. This reflects the recognition that the short-term rental economy is both profitable for South Africa and a key enabler for broader tourism. Despite this, the Department of Tourism has engaged Airbnb and other platforms and has recently committed to developing a policy to regulate the short-term rental market.

Sectional titles

At a national level, the Sectional Titles Act, 1986 (STA), the Sectional Titles Schemes Management Act, 2011 (STSMA) and the Sectional Titles Schemes Management Regulations, 2016 (STSM Regulations) govern sectional title ownership and management. The STSMA prescribes the duties of sectional title owners. Relevant to short-term rentals, owners must not use their section or exclusive use area, or permit it to be used, in a manner or for a purpose which may cause a nuisance to any occupier of a section and must notify the body corporate forthwith of any change of occupancy in their section.

All sectional title schemes must have conduct rules, as prescribed by the STSM Regulations. These rules bind both owners of sectional titles and occupiers and may be substituted, added to, amended or repealed by special resolution of the body corporate, provided that these changes are not irreconcilable with the prescribed management rule. Key conduct rules require owners or occupiers to:

(i) not create noise likely to interfere with the peaceful enjoyment of another section or another person’s peaceful enjoyment of the common property; and

(ii) take reasonable steps to ensure that the owner or occupier’s visitors do not behave in a way likely to interfere with the peaceful enjoyment of another section or another person’s peaceful enjoyment of the common property.

The STSMA and STSM Regulations do not regulate issues such as (i) the permitted duration (ie minimum stay) of short-term rentals or (ii) whether a sectional title scheme is to allow short-term rentals at all. The more restrictive the rule, the greater the burden will be to justify the reasonableness of the rule.

Rental Housing Act, 1999

This Act regulates the leasing relationship between landlords and tenants in respect of 'dwellings' (flats, rooms, huts, garages, etc) and prescribes the rights and obligations of both parties. The Rental Housing Act is silent on specific provisions for short-term rentals, and this legislation functions more optimally in a longer-lease context. However, certain provisions are still relevant, such as the owner's obligation to attach a copy of the 'house rules' (for example, the body corporate rules) to a copy of a lease agreement.

Since most short-term rentals are managed through platforms such as Airbnb, core functions of the Act are largely not applicable (joint inspections before occupation, the right to request a written lease and receipts, or landlords' rights to require an upfront deposit).  Although there are applicable rights under the Rental Housing Act, given the nature of these transactions, it is unlikely that short-term renters will exercise rights accrued under the Rental Housing Act, which would otherwise be important for local occupiers.

Municipal By-Laws

The City of Cape Town amended its Municipal Planning By-Law in 2019 to enable short-term rentals from a zoning perspective. It made provision for the definition of 'transient guests' to be included in the definition of a 'dwelling unit', which, among other things, captures residential apartments.  A transient guest is someone who is provided temporary accommodation on a land unit that is not their permanent place of residence, for a continuous period not exceeding 30 consecutive days at a time.

The effect of these 2019 amendments was to permit short-term rentals within properties which fall within general residential sub-zoning under Schedule 3 of the Cape Town By-Law. Previously, such rentals required owners to receive consent from the City of Cape Town's development management department to use the property as a "hotel".

Future developments

In 2019, the (then) Minister of Tourism, Derek Hanekom, invited public comments on a proposed Tourism Amendment Bill [B-2019], which would amend certain provisions of the Tourism Act, 2014 (the Tourism Amendment Bill). The Bill proposed defining short-term rentals and granting the Minister of Tourism the power to, subject to a prescribed procedure, determine norms and standards for thresholds with regard to short-term rentals.  Shortly after the Tourism Amendment Bill was published, Minister Hanekom met Airbnb representatives to discuss policy considerations for the short-term rental market arising from the Tourism Amendment Bill. To date, nothing has come from the Tourism Amendment Bill, and it has seemingly been shelved.

On 29 August 2023, the current Minister of Tourism, Patricia de Lille, signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) with Airbnb, to:

• establish a national database for short-term rentals (as implemented in Spain);
• create the 'Airbnb Entrepreneurship Academy'; and
• create an exclusive portal for sharing knowledge between government and tourism organisations which "provides locally specific data and mutual sharing of knowledge and insights".

On 2 October 2024, Airbnb published a report titled "Airbnb's impact on the City of Cape Town" (Airbnb Report) to, among other things, present research on its impact on the local economy and the short-term rental market. The Airbnb Report identifies a sub-category of listings as 'dedicated listings', defined as properties rented out in their entirety for stays of 90 days or more, as being approximately 7,362 listings, or only 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, such as spare bedrooms or houses for a short period of time (for example, whilst travelling). 

The Airbnb Report suggests that, if dedicated listings were added to the long-term rental supply, it would lead to reduced long-term rental costs, not higher. This conclusion is based largely on median rental prices in wealthier areas where Airbnb is more active. We note that Airbnb's definition of 'dedicated listings' falls outside of our definition of 'short-term rental', but we understand that Airbnb is presenting the argument that, when assessing the impact of its short-term rentals in the local rental market, only its listings which would be similar to an ordinary rental property (ie with stays of 90 days or more) must be compared against each other to understand whether Airbnb is in fact adversely affecting the local rental market.

Critics counter that Airbnb rentals are becoming an increasingly commercialised business, with hosts having several properties listed on the site, referred to as 'multi-listings' operated by 'mega-hosts'.  An increase in 'multi-listings' is responsible for depriving the housing market and increasing the neighbourhood's rental prices, pricing out the local communities.  These counterarguments must be weighed against the economic contribution of the short-term rental sector. In 2023, Airbnb welcomed 700 000 guests to Cape Town, supported 42 000 jobs, and contributed ZAR 14.4-billion to GDP.  Both Airbnb and spatial-equality activists agree that short-term rentals need regulation to legitimise operations as a commercialised practice and to create a level playing field for all interested stakeholders.

More recently, on 4 October 2024, the Department of Tourism published the White Paper on the Development and Promotion of Tourism (the Tourism White Paper). It acknowledges that, to unlock South Africa's tourism potential, among other necessary things, "[short-term rentals] will be regulated in such a way that it is brought into the mainstream of tourism economy whilst minimising negative impact to existing businesses and jobs".  Significantly, the Tourism White Paper acknowledges the enabling environment for digital nomads as a key driver for tourism but also highlights concerns such as noise complaints in apartment blocks and competition with short-term rental providers and small accommodation providers.

The Tourism White Paper defines a short-term rental as the renting or leasing, temporarily, of a dwelling to a visitor for a reward and proposes, among other things: differentiated approach for the regulation of short-term rentals;

(i) implementing thresholds on unregulated short-term rentals in line with international best practices; and

(ii) a framework for improved reporting by short-term rentals to understand the supply side (which coincides with the proposed national database mentioned in the MOU signed by the Minister of Tourism and Airbnb), in line with data privacy laws and the Tourism Act.

Historically, legislators have taken a hands-off approach to short-term rental regulation, leaving decisions to body corporates whose rules are approved by CSOS.  This approach is premised on two primary considerations: (1) property owners' strong entitlement to use their property as they see fit, which attracts both foreign and local investment; (2) alignment with South Africa's policymaking in the tourism industry, particularly in enabling digital nomads, a growth opportunity for the country's fiscus.

The Tourism White Paper indicates a commitment from the Department of Tourism to integrate short-term rentals into the mainstream tourism economy, considering the competing interests of driving remote work tourism and protecting small accommodation providers from a saturation of the market.

Written by Gaura Moodley, Candidate Attorney, Lize-Mari Doubell, Associate & Michael Evans, Consultant from Webber Wentzel