The Cape Flats (Afrikaans : Die Kaapse Vlakte) is an expansive, low-lying, flat area situated to the southeast of the central business district of Cape Town. The Cape Flats is also the name of an administrative region of the City of Cape Town, which lies within the larger geographical area.
In geological terms, the area that makes up The Cape Flats is a vast sheet of aeolian sand, ultimately of marine origin, which has blown up from the adjacent beaches over a period of a hundred thousand years. Below the sand, the bedrock is in general alternating layers of dark grey shale, siltstone and minor sandstone from a late-Precambrian rock formation called the Malmesbury Group. [1] [2] This is except on part of the western margin between Zeekoevlei to the south and Claremont and Wetton to the north, where an intrusive mass of Cape granite is to be found. Most of the sand is unconsolidated; however, in some places near the False Bay coast the oldest sand dunes have been cemented into a soft sandstone (calcrete), and form low cliffs at the edge of the beach. These formations contain important fossils of animals such as the extinct Cape lion and also provide evidence that stone-age people hunted here tens of thousands of years ago.
To the west the expanse of the Cape Flats is limited by rising ground that slopes up to the steep cliffs of the Cape Peninsula mountain chain, while in the east the land rises gradually towards the equally rugged cliffs of Hottentots Holland mountains and other elevated regions of the interior of the Boland.
The area has a Mediterranean climate, with warm dry summers and cool, damp winters. It is generally exposed to the wind, both from the northwest (winter) and southeast (summer). Flooding can be a problem, especially in July and August. Cold wet spells, especially in August and September, can make life very difficult for those living in sub-standard housing.
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Historically the Cape Flats was partly covered in wetlands, particularly during winter. Many of these have been destroyed by canalisation and infilling to provide residential space. Many of the remaining perennial vleis such as Zeekoevlei, Rondevlei and Zandvlei are at the southwest side of the region.
The noted English naturalist, William John Burchell, remarked in 1811 that the deep sand of the Flats made travel by cart or wagon extremely difficult. The situation was aggravated by a widespread shortage of firewood, causing fuel collectors to cut the relatively few indigenous shrubs and trees that stabilised the sand. [5]
During the second half of the 19th century, the area was completely overrun by alien vegetation, mainly of Australian origin. [6] The plants included hakeas and especially wattles (genus Acacia). The principal reason for this infestation lay in decisions made by the colonial authorities. It was an era before the advent of modern technological methods for the construction of permanent roads and in those days the Cape Flats was a massive sea of unstabilised sand dunes that moved with the winds. This made travel between Cape Town and the interior very difficult, particularly for the large ox-drawn wagons of the time. The authorities decided to try to stabilise the sand with plants native to the British colonies of New South Wales and Western Australia.
The earliest importation of wattles was in 1827. Massive plantings were established in the 1840s and 1850s and the work continued until well after 1875. At the time, the plan worked well enough: the march of the dunes was arrested. The price paid, in ecological terms, was that the Cape Flats was carpeted by invasive species. Serious efforts have in recent years been made to roll back this alien scourge.
The Cape Flats has undergone dramatic change in the past half a century. In 1950 the area was practically uninhabited. There was a single, narrow road across the Flats from Cape Town to The Strand that ran between walls of alien rooikrans bushes and one could travel for miles without seeing any sign of habitation other than a few fences and a handful of farmhouses. Native antelope roamed at will between the dense thickets of wattles. The army used the area for military exercises and the few farmers who inhabited the Flats eked out a living by growing vegetables in pockets of relatively poor soil between the barren dunes. Modern amenities were unknown; telephones were unknown, drinking water was collected in tanks from roofs and at night the rooms were lit by oil lamps.
The era of sand and antelopes vanished completely in little more than a generation. Vegetable farming persisted, but to a much lesser extent, because urbanisation enveloped vast tracts of land in short order.
The first use of the Cape Flats to remove people of colour from the more central urban areas was the township of Langa, which saw large scale removal after the Natives (Urban Areas) Act of 1923. It is the oldest township in Cape Town and was the location of much resistance to apartheid. Its origins go back to the 19th century.
During the apartheid era, race-based legislation such as the Group Areas Act and pass laws either forced non-white people out of more central urban areas designated for white people and into government-built townships in the Cape Flats, or made living in the area illegal, forcing many people into informal settlements elsewhere in the Cape Flats. Large housing projects were built here, mostly as part of the Nationalist government's larger effort to force the so-called Coloured communities and other people of Colour (mostly Xhosa) out of the central and western areas of Cape Town, which were designated as white areas under the Group Areas Act.
This meant that only white people could reside there permanently, as under the apartheid system black Africans were officially made citizens of native reserves (called "homelands"), therefore having resident worker status, despite often never having been there & having spent their entire lives in the now "designated white" regions.
Since many of the mostly Xhosa workers and their families, were designated under apartheid as citizens of assigned native reserves/homelands, many who were out of formal work were obliged to live in the area illegally, further contributing to the growth of informal settlements.
In addition to the extant townships of the mid-century, other large townships (such as Mitchell's Plain & Khayelitsha across the road) were created on the flats in the 1970s and 1980s. Both have become among the largest residential areas in Cape Town and some of the largest in the country at large.
Large scale rural-urban migration has rapidly increased the population, putting strain on housing with major increases in informal shack settlement, including in areas that were originally created on a planned basis, for example, Khayelitsha.
One of the major priorities of the RDP (Reconstruction & Development Programme) is to build houses. [7]
Since the end of apartheid, these communities are no longer legally bound by racial restrictions; but history, language, economics and ethnic politics still contribute to homogeneity of local areas. So, for example, most residents of Mitchell's Plain likely still speak a locally inflected version of Afrikaans, along with English and either they or their parents were designated as Coloured by apartheid; most residents of Khayelitsha still speak Xhosa and English and either they or their parents were designated as Black by apartheid. Nonetheless, some areas of the Cape Flats have an increasing diversity of residents, with Xhosa-speaking people an increasingly noticeable presence in some previously mainly Afrikaans-speaking areas.
Popular musicians from the area include pop singer Brenda Fassie and jazz artists Abdullah Ibrahim and Basil Coetzee, who named their song "Mannenberg" after a Cape Flats township. There is an active hip hop movement. [8] [9]
Its religious communities include (to name only a few) Afrikaans-speaking congregations of the Dutch Reformed Church, Rastafarian communities, people who engage only in traditional Xhosa practices, syncretic Xhosa Christian churches, evangelical Christian churches, and southern Africa's largest Muslim community (drawing its oldest roots from the historic Cape Malay community, which dates to the 17th century).
In the 1940s, a type of dental modification known as a passion gap became fashionable and remains popular today. The modification involves the removal of a person's top front teeth. [10]
The Cape Flats' political history is complex and sometimes baffling even to insiders: for instance, the politics of the Coloured communities of the Cape Flats have included Trotskyist activism in earlier years, and mobilisation for the ANC's United Democratic Front in the 80s; and then, widespread support for the historically white National Party (which had presided over apartheid) in the early post-apartheid elections. More recently, the area has seen an expansion of African National Congress strength from its base in the Black townships and into historically Coloured areas, as well as a particularly strong local growth of left-wing social movements like the Treatment Action Campaign which offer a critique of government policies.[ citation needed ]
The Cape Flats is sometimes considered dangerous, although most communities are tight-knit, diverse and tolerant with vibrant cultures and traditions. [11] [12]
Almost all of the communities of the Cape Flats remain, to one degree or another, poverty-stricken.[ citation needed ] Serious social problems include a high rate of unemployment and high levels of gang activity.[ citation needed ] During the late 1990s and early 2000s, there was significant armed conflict between various gangs and PAGAD (People Against Gangsterism and Drugs), a vigilante organisation.[ citation needed ] Post-apartheid development projects, such as the Reconstruction & Development Programme, have also led to violent conflicts within communities. [13] As of 2014, efforts to combat gangs include Hanover Park's Ceasefire programme, where former gang members "use their experiences to mediate gang disputes and help young men and women quit gang life. [14] The gang violence escalated to the point where the South African National Defence Force had to be deployed to the gang-impacted areas of the Cape Flats to help the provincial police force deal with the increasing gang violence. [15]
Some well-known criminal organisations based in the Cape Flats include:
A wide range of community empowerment organisations work non-violently to combat the poverty, crime and health problems, and the role of civil society in many parts of the area is relatively strong.[ citation needed ] In late 2019, South African political group, the TRAKboys began enforcing a ceasefire between the gangs in Cape Flats. Citing the repeated failure of government initiatives aimed at curbing gun violence in Cape Flats, the TRAKboys created a system of community justice and enacted harsh punishments on any gang members found to be plotting violence on any members of a rival gang or a fellow Cape Flats resident. [20]
The Cape Flats is a low-lying area situated to the southeast of Cape Town's central business district. It is known for its rich cultural history and diverse communities. Below is a list of notable suburbs on the Cape Flats:
The Cape Flats remains a vibrant and dynamic region with ongoing efforts to address socio-economic challenges and preserve its rich heritage.
District Six is a former inner-city residential area in Cape Town, South Africa. In 1966, the apartheid government announced that the area would be razed and rebuilt as a "whites only" neighbourhood under the Group Areas Act. Over the course of a decade, over 60,000 of its inhabitants were forcibly removed and in 1970 the area was renamed Zonnebloem, a name that makes reference to an 18th century colonial farm. At the time of the proclamation, 56% of the district’s property was White-owned, 26% Coloured-owned and 18% Indian-owned. Most of the residents were Cape Coloureds and they were resettled in the Cape Flats. The vision of a new white neighbourhood was not realised and the land has mostly remained barren and unoccupied. The original area of District Six is now partly divided between the suburbs of Walmer Estate, Zonnebloem, and Lower Vrede, while the rest is generally undeveloped land.
Breede Valley Municipality is a local municipality located within the Cape Winelands District Municipality, in the Western Cape province of South Africa. As of 2007, it had a population of 166,825. Its municipality code is WC025.
Khayelitsha is a township in Western Cape, South Africa, on the Cape Flats in the City of Cape Town Metropolitan Municipality. The name is Xhosa for New Home. It is reputed to be one of the largest and fastest-growing townships in South Africa.
The City of Cape Town is a metropolitan municipality that forms the local government of Cape Town and surrounding areas. As of 2022 it has a population of 4,772,846.
Gugulethu is a township in Western Cape, South Africa and is around 20km from Cape Town. Its name is a contraction of igugu lethu, which is Xhosa for our pride / our hope. The township was established along with Nyanga in the 1960s.
Mitchells Plain is a large census designated sub-place located within the City of Cape Town, Western Cape, South Africa and situated about 28 km (17 mi) from the Cape Town city centre. It is one of South Africa's largest residential areas and contains multiple smaller suburbs. It is located on the Cape Flats on the False Bay coast between Muizenberg and Khayelitsha. Conceived of as a "model suburb" by the apartheid government, it was built during the 1970s to provide housing for Coloured victims of forced removal due to the implementation of the Group Areas Act.
Helderberg refers to a planning district of the City of Cape Town metropolitan municipality, the mountain after which it is named, a wine-producing area in the Western Cape province of South Africa, or a small census area in Somerset West.
The Vukani is a local weekly newspaper distributed to the township areas of Cape Town, Western Cape, South Africa. It is written in Xhosa and English. Vukani means "Wake up" in both the isiZulu and isiXhosa languages. The newspaper covers items of interest to large communities in Khayelitsha, Langa, Nyanga and Gugulethu.
Nyanga is a township in the Western Cape, South Africa. Its name in Xhosa means "moon" and it is one of the oldest black townships in Cape Town. It was established as a result of the migrant labour system. In 1948 black migrants were forced to settle in Nyanga as Langa had become too small. Nyanga was one of the poorest places in Cape Town and is still one of the most peaceful parts of Cape Town. In 2001 its unemployment rate was estimated at being approximately 56% and HIV/AIDS is a huge community issue.
Lwandle/Nomzamo is a small township in the Helderberg basin just outside Strand in the Western Cape of South Africa. Both names are sometimes used interchangeably referring to both places. This may be attributed to the fact that Nomzamo was born as a result of overpopulation in Lwandle area which initially designed as a cheap accommodation for "single male workers" during the apartheid years.
Crossroads is a high-density township in the Western Cape, South Africa.
Manenberg is a township of Cape Town, South Africa, that was created by the apartheid government for low-income Coloured families in the Cape Flats in 1966 as a result of the forced removal campaign by the National Party. It has an estimated population of 52,000 residents. The area consists of rows of semi-detached houses and project-like flats, known as "korre". The township is located about 20 km away from the city centre of Cape Town. It is separated from neighbouring Nyanga and Gugulethu townships by a railway line and Nyanga Junction to the east and from Hanover Park by the Sand Industria industrial park to the west and Heideveld to the north. The northern part of Manenberg, is known as Sherwood Park, here, in the past live many wealthy people of both Christian and Muslims descent, sadly all this changed. The middle and lower class live in Manenberg. Poverty, unemployment, lack of education and motivation,coupled with drug abuse/addiction, gang activities, social injustice and racial profiling are some of the major issues people in Manenberg suffer under.
The Western Cape Anti-Eviction Campaign was a non-racial popular movement made up of poor and oppressed communities in Cape Town, South Africa. It was formed in November 2000 with the aim of fighting evictions, water cut-offs and poor health services, obtaining free electricity, securing decent housing, and opposing police brutality.
Delft is a township on the outskirts of Cape Town, South Africa. It is situated next to the Cape Town International Airport, Belhar, Blue Downs, Ikwezi Park, Mandalay, Luzuko, Phillipi East, and Site C, Khayelitsha. It is known for its recreational events, youth empowerment organizations such as Enkosi Foundation and the community has establish a motherbody organisation, the Delft Community Development Forum. Delft is a community that consists of numerous government built housing projects such as the N2 Gateway. In 2022 Delft was the fastest growing community in Cape Town.
Philippi is a large urban and semi-rural area in Cape Town's Cape Flats region, in the Western Cape, South Africa.
The Eerste River, located in the Western Cape, South Africa, rises on Dwarsberg 60 km east of Cape Town at the head of Jonkershoek valley. The Eerste River catchment covers the eastern part of the Cape Flats lying to the west of the Hottentots Holland Mountains and south of the Tygerberg where the Kuils River tributary rises east of Kanonkop. The Eerste River is a short river; its length has been given as 40 km. The major tributary, Kuils River, is approximately 30 km long to its point of confluence with the Eerste River.
Founded in 2008, the Social Justice Coalition (SJC) is a membership-based social movement made up of 12 branches, located mainly in informal settlements across Khayelitsha, Cape Town. Since its formation, the SJC has worked to advance the constitutional rights to life, dignity, equality, freedom and safety for all people, but especially those living in informal settlements across South Africa. Their campaigns are based on ongoing research, education, and advocacy and divided across two programs. The Local Government Program leads the work on sanitation, budgets, and urban land. The Safety and Justice Program is focused on policing and the criminal justice system.
Magnet Theatre is an independent physical theatre company based in Cape Town, South Africa. It was formed in 1987 by Mark Fleishman and Jennie Reznek who have since been the company's artistic directors. Besides creating original theatre productions, Magnet Theatre is actively engaged in youth development work in the Cape Town area as well as in the Cederberg Municipality.
Fezeka High School is a public high school located in Gugulethu, Western Cape, South Africa. It is one of the high schools in the City of Cape Town Metropolitan Municipality.
The M9 is a long metropolitan route in the City of Cape Town, South Africa. It connects Sir Lowry's Pass Village with Wynberg via Somerset West, Firgrove, Macassar, Khayelitsha and Nyanga.
