This article needs additional citations for verification .(September 2010) |
Brackenfell | |
---|---|
Coordinates: 33°52′00″S18°41′00″E / 33.86667°S 18.68333°E | |
Country | South Africa |
Province | Western Cape |
Municipality | City of Cape Town |
Main Place | Cape Town |
Established | 1913 |
Area | |
• Total | 25.27 km2 (9.76 sq mi) |
Population (2011) [1] | |
• Total | 44,842 |
• Density | 1,800/km2 (4,600/sq mi) |
Racial makeup (2011) | |
• Black African | 9.8% |
• Coloured | 9.0% |
• Indian/Asian | 0.8% |
• White | 79.0% |
• Other | 1.4% |
First languages (2011) | |
• Afrikaans | 71.1% |
• English | 20.8% |
• Xhosa | 3.4% |
• Other | 4.7% |
Time zone | UTC+2 (SAST) |
Postal code (street) | 7560, 7561, 7562 |
PO box | 7561 |
Area code | 021 |
Brackenfell is a town in the Western Cape province of South Africa and a northern suburb of Cape Town, situated about 30 km (17 mi) north-east of the city.
Regarded as the gateway to the Cape Winelands, Brackenfell is situated approximately 22 km (14 mi) north-west of Stellenbosch and 35 km (22 mi) south-west of Paarl and lies at the start of the Bottelary Hills Wine Route which follows the scenic and winding Bottelary Road towards Stellenbosch. [2] [3]
The earliest activity on what today is known as Brackenfell was when the "de Clapmuts" was a refreshment post. Brackenfell specifically form part of Klapmutsberg, better known as de Bottelarij. In 1712 the area known as "Kruispad" was transferred to Selie, J. Kruispad was owned by Brink, A. and in 1901 he sold it to a Scottish Immigrant Walton, G.H. The flora on this farm reminded him of the same in Scotland. He called it Brackenfell (Bracken means fern; Fell means hill). The richness of granite in the area let to the farm being sold to a Brick company in 1903 and a granite quarry was established. Activity here stopped in 1948. In 1904 a railway station was established. [4] [5] [6]
Brackenfell used to be a rural area centred on a major road crossing during the earlier days of Cape Town, but today it is a well-known suburb located behind the 'boerewors gordyn' which translates to sausage curtain, meaning; people living in this area, braai (barbecue) boerewors very often. "Gordyn" curtain is just by figure of speech. It is all said tongue-in-the-cheek.
In 1976, a large investment was made by retail giant, PicknPay when it opened a Hypermarket opened in Brackenfell which still stands till today. At the time, the Hypermarket was regarded as an ultra-modern decentralised shopping centre which had a crucial role in the development of then small town of Brackenfell, lying just outside Cape Town. [7]
In 1996, Brackenfell lost its municipal status and was dissolved into the Oostenberg Municipality along with Kraaifontein, Kuilsrivier and Blue Downs/Eersterivier as part of the transition in local government. As of 2000, Brackenfell was integrated into the City of Cape Town Metropolitan Municipality, or the Greater Cape Town area and is effectively a suburb of the City of Cape Town.
Due to the rising numbers of COVID-19 cases in the Western Cape, the Western Cape Health Department constructed a field hospital in the Brackengate industrial area. It opened on 20 July 2020 with 10 patients. The field hospital has capacity 300 beds for COVID-19 patients from hospitals struggling with capacity. [8] [9] [10]
The field hospital became the central COVID-19 dedicated hospital for the Western Cape in September as the Cape Town International Convention Centre's field hospital which was the central COVID-19 dedicated hospital was decommissioned in September due to declining COVID-19 cases in the City of Cape Town. [11] [12]
Brackenfell is situated on the eastern boundary of the City of Cape Town, bordering the Stellenbosch Local Municipality and is neighboured by Bellville to the west, Kraaifontein to the east, Durbanville to the north and Kuilsrivier to the south. It is flanked by the Bottelary Hills to the south-east, with Kanonkop (“Cannon Hill”) being the highest point in Brackenfell at 177 m (580 ft). [13]
There are three main suburban areas in Brackenfell: Brackenfell Central, Brackenfell North and Brackenfell South. [14]
Brackenfell has come a long way from being a small town between Cape Town and Paarl, with smallholdings and large open spaces. Having experienced growth since 1994, like the rest of urban South Africa, many businesses have relocated and set up here and gated communities have expanded the town’s borders to the north and south. Most of the older large properties along the service roads of Brackenfell Boulevard, such as Sonnet Crescent, Fontein Road and Jeanette Street, have been converted into offices and businesses.
Brackenfell has now developed into a sought-after area to live in Cape Town’s northern suburbs and is made up of mainly middle-class residential areas. Its proximity to Cape Town, Bellville and the Boland towns of Paarl and Stellenbosch make it an extremely popular area to live and commute from.
Most companies headquartered in Brackenfell are retail groups, including Shoprite-Checkers, which is Africa’s largest supermarket retail chain, OK Foods (a subsidiary of Shoprite-Checkers), Food Lover's Market and Montagu Snacks. [15] [16]
Brackenfell is a fast-growing industrial centre in the Greater Cape Town metropolitan area and is sought-after particularly by businesses involved in warehousing and distribution due its proximity to major freeways and the city centre. Situated in the east of Brackenfell are the established industrial areas of Brackenfell Industria and Okavango Park, while in the west of Brackenfell is the newer industrial area of Brackengate, also known as Morgan Industrial.
In the realm of retail, Brackenfell exhibits a range of shopping centres. To the northern extent of the town lies the Cape Gate Regional Shopping Centre, one of the largest shopping malls in the northern suburbs of Cape Town.
To the north of Brackenfell, on Okavango Road, lies Cape Gate, a retail development anchored by two shopping centres, namely; the larger Cape Gate Regional Shopping Centre and the smaller Cape Gate Lifestyle Precinct. The area also includes car delearships and three warehouse retail outlets including Makro, Builders Warehouse and Giant Hyper. The only non-retail component of Cape Gate is Mediclinic Cape Gate (a private hospital). [17] [18]
Brackenfell is served by the Brackenfell Railway Station situated on the main commuter line between Cape Town and Wellington (Northern Line) and is operated by Metrorail with the Northern Line trains serving Cape Town, Goodwood, Parow, Bellville, Kraaifontein, Paarl and Wellington.
Brackenfell mainly lies on the N1 national highway between Cape Town and Paarl. The Stellenberg Interchange on the N1, west of Brackenfell is the northern end of the R300 regional highway, which runs south to Mitchells Plain. The older section of the N1, running somewhat parallel to the current N1 is now redesignated as the R101 (Old Paarl Road) and passes through Brackenfell Central, connecting to Bellville in the west and Kraaifontein in the east.
Brackenfell is also intersected by metropolitan routes such as the M23 (Bottelary Road) connecting to Bellville and Stellenbosch, the M25 (Frans Conradie Drive) connecting to Bellville and Kraaifontein, the M73 (De Bron Road) connecting to Durbanville and Kraaifontein, the M100 (Brackenfell Boulevard) connecting to Durbanville and Kuilsrivier and the M137(Okavango Road) connecting to Durbanville and Kraaifontein.
The Bracken Nature Reserve, situated in the Ruwari suburban area, was once a quarry site and was later declared a nature reserve after some negotiations between the Cape Town City Council and the Stellenbosch Divisional Council.
Brackenfell was a municipality from 1970 to 1996. In November 1971, the council registered a coat of arms at the Bureau of Heraldry. [19]
The arms, designed by Cornelis Pama, were Per chevron embowed Or and Vert, three shot balls counterchanged, i.e. a shield divided by a curved chevron-shaped line into gold and green, with two green balls at the top and a golden ball at the bottom. The crest was three ferns with the motto Tenax in fide.
Cape Town is the legislative capital of South Africa. It is the country's oldest city and the seat of the Parliament of South Africa. It is the country's second-largest city, after Johannesburg, and the largest in the Western Cape. The city is part of the City of Cape Town metropolitan municipality.
Paarl is a town with 285,574 inhabitants in the Western Cape province of South Africa. It is the third-oldest European settlement in the Republic of South Africa and the largest town in the Cape Winelands. Due to the growth of the Mbekweni township, it is now a de facto urban unit with Wellington. It is situated about 60 kilometres (37 mi) northeast of Cape Town in the Western Cape Province and is known for its scenic environment and viticulture and fruit-growing heritage.
Stellenbosch is a town in the Western Cape province of South Africa, situated about 50 kilometres east of Cape Town, along the banks of the Eerste River at the foot of the Stellenbosch Mountain. The town became known as the City of Oaks or Eikestad in Afrikaans and Dutch due to the large number of oak trees that were planted by its founder, Simon van der Stel, to grace the streets and homesteads.
Bellville is a town and former independent city that is now incorporated into the City of Cape Town Metropolitan Municipality in the Western Cape province of South Africa. The town is an industrial and commercial node, a university town, and a major transportation hub within the Greater Cape Town metropolitan area.
.
Somerset West is a town in the Western Cape, South Africa. Organisationally and administratively it is included in the City of Cape Town metropolitan municipality Eastern Suburbs zone . The vehicle registration code for Somerset West is CFM and the post code is 7130 for street addresses, and 7129 for post office boxes.
Kuils River is a town in the Western Cape, South Africa, 25 km east of Cape Town CBD at the gateway of the Cape Winelands. It is also the name of the main tributary of the Eerste River, and forms part of the Eastern Suburbs zone of the City of Cape Town.
Kraaifontein is a town in the Western Cape province of South Africa and is located on the north-eastern outskirts of the City of Cape Town Metropolitan Municipality.
The City of Cape Town is a metropolitan municipality that forms the local government of Cape Town and surrounding areas. As of the 2016 community survey, it had a population of 4,005,016.
Tygerberg is a district in the northern suburbs of Cape Town in South Africa. It is also the name of the range of hills in the area. The main Tygerberg farms were Pampoenkraal, Stellenburgh, Evertsdal, De Grendel, Lebenstijn, Blommensteijn, Door de Kraal, Vissershok and Clara Anna Fontein. It also contains the Tygerberg Nature Reserve.
Durbanville, previously called Pampoenkraal, is a town in the Western Cape province of South Africa, part of the greater Cape Town metropolitan area. Durbanville is a semi-rural residential suburb on the north-eastern outskirts of the metropolis surrounded by farms producing wine and wheat.
Metrorail Western Cape is a network of commuter and suburban rail services in the City of Cape Town Metropolitan Municipality and in the surrounding towns of Malmesbury, Paarl, Stellenbosch and Wellington in the Western Cape province of South Africa.
The Northern Line is a commuter rail service in South Africa that in the Cape Town metropolitan area and its surroundings and is operated by Metrorail Western Cape. Northern Line services operate from central Cape Town to Bellville, and then from Bellville along three different routes. The first route runs along the main Cape Town–De Aar railway line to Paarl and Wellington. The second route passes through Stellenbosch to terminate at Muldersvlei station on the main line, while the third also passes through Somerset West to terminate in Strand.
The R101 is a Regional Route in South Africa that is the designation for some of the old sections of roads that were previously the N1, prior to upgrading. It only has 2 sections, from Bellville to Worcester and from Johannesburg to Polokwane.
Stellenberg is a suburb in Bellville, Western Cape South Africa.
The following outline is provided as an overview of and topical guide to Cape Town:
The Northern Suburbs is a major urban and rural region located in the City of Cape Town Metropolitan Municipality in the Western Cape province of South Africa. It is the urban north-eastern part of the Greater Cape Town metropolitan area that is functionally merged with Cape Town.