Cable to keepsake: How Table Mountain turns its waste into wonder

Every year, the Table Mountain Cableway pauses operations for its annual maintenance period, a time to fine-tune machinery and replace parts that keep every ascent and descent safe.

But in 2024, one vital piece of equipment found a second life beyond the workshop.

When the steel track rope cable, the same one that safely carried thousands of visitors up and down the mountain, was retired, it didn’t end up as scrap metal. Instead, it began a new chapter as a symbol of renewal, collaboration, and Cape Town creativity.

How Table Mountain recycles old cables

The Cableway partnered with The Ark City of Refuge, a local organisation that supports people affected by homelessness and unemployment.

Residents of The Ark took on the task of cutting the cable into small, circular discs, giving this industrial material a completely new identity.

These discs aren’t just recycled steel, they’re reimagined stories. Each one represents resilience and the power of community.

Now, the transformed discs have found their way into the hands of visitors from around the world. They’ve been crafted into fridge magnets, available for purchase at the Shop at the Top and other Cableway retail spaces.

Every magnet carries not only a piece of mountain history, but also a piece of the project’s deeper purpose, turning waste into opportunity.

The upcycled discs have also been repurposed as medals for participants in the Cableway Charity Challenge, a fundraising event that benefits a range of local causes. It’s a fitting transformation: what once carried people up the mountain now celebrates those who climb it for a greater good.