“The fairest Cape in all the world” was the description of Sir Francis Drake, and indeed, Cape Town must be a contender for the title of “most beautiful city.” The first people who lived here and hereabouts were the San, hunter-gatherers whose way of life was a wandering one, not compatible with settled farms and villages. They left stone artefacts and a rich and distinctive art culture of paintings and engravings, some of which can be seen in the Cedarberg Mountains to the north of Cape Town. The Khoi were pastoralists and pottery-makers, distinct from the San but not unlike them.
These were the people who greeted passing ships of Portuguese origin, some of which were wrecked on this coast, giving rise to the Cape’s other name, “Cape of Storms.” Table Mountain, 1085m at its highest point, Maclear’s Beacon, dominates the city with its “table top” sandstone formation.
The first Europeans to settle here were the Dutch, initially brought by Jan van Riebeek in three ships, the Dromedaris, Ryger and Goede Hoop which made landfall on 6 April 1652. They built the Castle and made the Company’s Gardens*. They also planted a wild almond hedge to keep out the indigenous people. In 1657, land was granted to the Free Burghers in Rondebosch. In 1679 Stellenbosch was founded by Simon van der Stel 50 kms from Cape Town on the Eerste River. Groot Constantia is a typical Dutch house, now a museum, and still the centre of wine-making in the Constantia Valley.
Cape Town became a thriving port, and the latest development is the V and A Waterfront, popular with tourists. Slaves were imported from the east, and the Cape Malays are descendents of these, some still having as surnames the month in which their forbear was freed such as Judith September and Ricky Januarie. The Bo-Kaap was home to many of these people, and is today a treasured suburb.
During the Napoleonic Wars, the British came twice to the Cape to prevent it from falling into other hands. The First British Occupation was from 1795 to 1802, and the Second from 1806.This century was one of growth and expansion. Cecil John Rhodes, influential political figure and Prime Minister of the Cape, left tracts of land on which stand the University of Cape Town, Kirstenbosch Gardens and Rhodes Memorial*, placed on his favourite spot on the slopes of Devil’s Peak.
After the South African War, the Union of South Africa in 1910 made the Cape one province of the four making up the country within the borders that we know today. Apartheid took its toll, for instance, the forced removals from District Six, but now Cape Town is a vibrant part of the Rainbow Nation.
Museums tell the story of these phases of development: the Heritage Museum at the top of Adderley Street is one, and close by are the South African Museum, the National Art Gallery, the Holocaust Museum, the District Six Museum and many others. Places of worship include St George’s Cathedral (Anglican), St Mary’s Cathedral (RC), die Groote Kerk (Dutch Reformed), the Metropolitan Methodist Church and the Great Synagogue. |
