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Information on the Cape Town region of Western Cape, South Africa

Cape Town is the provincial capital of the Western Cape province and the legislative capital of South Africa. The National Parliament and government offices are located in Cape Town and this region is the economic centre of the Western Cape. The Cape Town region is one of the most popular tourist destination in South Africa and the city of Cape Town is regarded by many as one of the most beautiful cites in the world.

The Cape Town region of the Western Cape has a multitude of entertainment, ranging from outdoor activities and adventures in the sun to a vibrant night life. There is a vast range of shopping centres and restaurants in Cape Town reflecting the rich cultural history of the Cape. Cape Town is a city of culture, built on a history that reflects in the architecture, cuisine, music and dance.

The first regular contact with Europeans in the region where Cape Town is now situated occurred in 1652 when Jan Van Riebeeck and other employees of the East India Company were sent from Holland to establish a way-station for ships travelling to the Dutch East indies. Labourers where imported from Indonesia and Madagaskar to help with labour shortage in the area. In 1795 the British gained outright control of the Cape but it was returned to the Dutch in 1803. The British won back the Cape in 1806 and in 1814 the Cape was permanently incorporated into the British Empire. As the territory under British control grew even larger outward from the city, Cape Town became the capital of the newly formed Cape Colony. After the Second Anglo-Boer War the British unified the Cape Colony with the two defeated Boer Republics and Natal to form the Union of South Africa with Cape Town as the legislative capital.

Cape Town has a mediterranean climate with large cold fronts coming from the Atlantic Ocean over the winter period that ranges from May to August. The Cape Town winters are cool and most of Cape Town's rainfall occurs in winter. Cape Town summers which last from November to February are warm and dry.

Information on Cape Town Suburbs
Bantry Bay, Bellville, Bloubergrant, Bloubergstrand, Brackenfell, Camps Bay, Cape Town, Claremont, Constantia, Durbanville, Fish Hoek, Fresnaye, Gordons Bay, Green Point, Hout Bay, Kenilworth, Lakeside, Melkbosstrand, Milnerton, Muizenberg, Newlands, Noordhoek, Observatory, Parow, Pinelands, Rondebosch, Sea Point, Simons Town, Sir Lowry's Pass, Somerset West, Strand, Table View, Tokai

Cape Town History

The first European settlement in the Cape Town area was in the form of a supply station established in1652 by the Dutch East India Company at the newly christened Cape of Good Hope. This supply station quickly evolved into a colonial settlement. With the growth of the settlement the Khoi-San was driven away and slaves had to be imported from Madagascar, India, Ceylon, Malaya, and Indonesia to help build the colonial settlement.

By the early 18th century the Western Cape Khoikhoi population had completely disintegrated and the influx of German and French religious refugees swelled the European population. At that time slavery had become the economic backbone of the colony. By 1750 Cape Town had become a town with over 1000 buildings and 2500 inhabitants.

In order to secure this strategic sea route to the east, Britain quickly grabbed Cape Town in 1795. This was not welcomed by the Calvinist Dutch Burghers but for the substantial Muslim Slave population this was good news as the British soon ordered the abolition of slavery. The British also allowed freedom of religion resulting in the first Mosque built in Dorp Street in the Bo-Kaap.

By the 19th century Cape Town had a Seaport of major significance and department stores, banks and insurance company buildings became evident everywhere. Victoria road was built from City to Sea Point and a Suburban railway line to Wynberg laid. As slavery was abolished convict labor had to be imported from the colonial frontier in the Eastern Cape to build the city.

Cape Town became the legislative capital of the union in1910. By 1945 the increasing industrialization had attracted an influx of black workers which were housed in the locations of Guguletu and Nyanga. Three years later the National Party came to power and they introduced a policy that favored coloureds over blacks for employment.

The Langa township of Cape Town became a stronghold of the Pan Africanist Congress (PAC) . On April8,1960 the PAC organized a peaceful anti-pass demonstration in Cape Town. The police opposed the demonstration killing three demonstrators and wounding many. As a result of this incident the government declared a state of emergency and consequently anti-apartheid groups such as the PAC & ANC was banned. In 1966 the government introduced the group areas act. As a result of this act coloured communities were removed from district six to the desolate Cape Flats. Here gangsterism took root which is still prelevant today in the Cape Flats.

In 1986 the government scrapped influx control and blacks poured into Cape Town seeking work and erecting shanty towns. The influx was so great that Cape Town soon became one of the fasting growing cities in the world. In 1990 Mandela was released and soon a non-racial democracy was established in South Africa.