Durbanville

Durbanville 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 and is surrounded by farms producing wine and wheat.

History

Precolonial period (before 1652)

The first modern humans indigenous to the Cape area included the Khoina and the Khoisan tribe. The indigenous people lived in the Cape and its surrounding coastal areas dating as far back as 60 000 years ago. They migrated from the interior of the country, what is today the Northern Cape province, and from Botswana and Namibia to the Cape.

Dutch colonial period (1652-1795)

Durbanville's inception can be traced to a fresh water spring located in the town. The spring is currently situated behind th
Durbanville Children's Home
The spring was designated by the VOC (Dutch East India Company, Dutch: ''Vereenigde Oostindische Compagnie)'' in the mid-1600s to be used as a water replenishment station for travelers on their way from Cape Town to the interior of southern Africa. In 1661 rhinoceros and ostrich were known to inhabit the area. Durbanville was originally known as Pampoenkraal (from the Afrikaans words ''pampoen'' meaning pumpkin, and '' kraal'' meaning corral - an enclosure for livestock). This name was attributed to the town because of a pumpkin patch which grew alongside a dam located behind the current Town Hall. Due to the natural spring, Pampoenkraal became a preferred resting place for travelers before continuing on their journey into the interior.

During the late 1600s, the VOC allocated farms to free burghers situated around the town. Some of those farms are still in existence today, many of which are renowned for their wine production. These include Bloemendal, Meerendal, Diemersdal and Altydgedacht.

British colonial period (1795-1902)

The first portions of land were earmarked as residential properties and allocated in 1806, signifying the start and development of Durbanville.

In 1825 a group of local farmers requested permission from Lord Charles Somerset (governor of the Cape Colony at that time) to build their own church. The Dutch Reformed Church was commenced in 1825 and inaugurated a year later on 6 August 1826. A small village grew between the church and the outspan (overnight stop). During 1836 the inhabitants of Pampoenkraal petitioned the Governor of the Cape Colony, Sir Benjamin d'Urban, for permission to rename the village D'Urban in his honour. Permission was duly granted and the new name persisted until 1886 when it was renamed to Durbanville in order to avoid confusion with Durban - a major port city in the east of South Africa.

Durbanville had its own court house, jail and magistrate from the 1870s and became a Magisterial District of Bellville. The court house complex still exists in altered form within the Rust-en-Vrede complex, originally erected in 1850. A village management board was established in 1897 and a municipality in 1901. The first mayor elected was John King.

The village grew rapidly after the turn of the 19th century and a local wagon industry developed. The King Brothers Wagon Works' used to be South Africa's biggest wagon works. At the turn of the century, it employed more than 200 men, which just about accounted for the entire village.

Geography

Durbanville lies on the Tygerberg Hills (a range of hills between Durbanville and Bellville) approximately 28 km north-east of Cape Town by road and 47 km south-west of Malmesbury by road. Organisationally and administratively it is included in the City of Cape Town Metropolitan Municipality as a Northern Suburb.

The town is bordered by the towns of Brackenfell and Kraaifontein in the south-east and the town of Bellville in the south.

Suburban Areas

*Amanda Glen ''(Residential)''
*Aurora ''(Residential)''
*Avalon Estate ''(Residential)''
*Bergsig ''(Residential)''
*Brentwood Park ''(Residential)''
*Country Places ''(Residential)''
*D'urbanvale ''(Residential)''
*Durbanville Hills ''(Residential)''
*Durbell ''(Residential)''
*Durmonte ''(Residential)''
*Everglen ''(Residential)''
*Eversdal ''(Residential)''
*Eversdal Heights ''(Residential)''
*Goedemoed ''(Residential)''
*Graanendal ''(Residential)''
*Halali ''(Residential)''
*Kenridge ''(Residential)''
*Kenridge Heights ''(Residential)''
*Klein Nederburg ''(Residential)''
*Langeberg Village ''(Residential)''
*Morningstar ''(Residential)''
*Pinehurst ''(Residential)''
*Proteaville ''(Residential)''
*Rosedale ''(Residential)''
*Schoongezicht ''(Residential)''
*Sonstraal ''(Residential)''
*Sonstraal Heights ''(Residential)''
*Tara ''(Residential)''
*The Crest ''(Residential)''
*Uitzicht ''(Residential)''
*Valmary Park ''(Residential)''
*Vergesig ''(Residential)''
*Vierlanden ''(Residential)''
*Vygeboom ''(Residential)''
*Welgevonden Estate ''(Residential)''
*Wellway Park ''(Residential)''
*Wellway Park East ''(Residential)''

Culture

Afrikaans and English are the main languages spoken in Durbanville. In the past Afrikaans predominated culturally, but this has changed with the rapid development of the town. However the majority (59%) of the town still speaks Afrikaans as a first language. The principal religion of the population is Christianity with a wide variety of churches in the community.

Demographics

According to the 2011 Census, the population of Durbanville was 54,286. The following tables show various demographic data about Durbanville from that census.

;Gender

;Racial Makeup

;Home Language

Education

The town has the following public high schools:
* Durbanville High School (an Afrikaans-medium school)
* Fairmont High School (an English-medium school)
* Stellenberg High School (an Afrikaans and English-medium school)

There are numerous primary schools, including:

Durbanville Preparatory

Durbanville Primary


Eversdal Primary

Gene Louw Primary

Kenridge Primary
* The Valley Primary

The area also has a number of private schools:

Curro Durbanville

El Shaddai Christian School


Meridian Pinehurst

Reddam House Durbanville

Transport

Air

Cape Winelands Airport is located approximately 13 km NE of Durbanville. Located in the Western Cape winelands, Cape Winelands Airport (formerly Fisantekraal Airfield) is an ex-South African Airforce airfield now operating privately as a general flying airfield and used for aviation training. Of the four original runways, two remain operational while the other two are used for film production. It has been in private ownership since 2021. Operators at the airfield are Cape Town Flight Training Center and Aerosport Training. The Fighting on Fire organization also has a summer base at Cape Winelands Airport. The ICAO designator is FAWN. Located on a 150ha site, Cape Winelands Airport has a number of aircraft hangars for the storage and maintenance of private aircraft and helicopters.

However the nearest international airport with scheduled flights to Durbanville is the Cape Town International Airport located 19 km south-west of Durbanville by road in Matroosfontein on the Cape Flats. Cape Town International Airport offers several flights to towns and cities domestically in South Africa as well as regionally in Africa and internationally in Asia, Europe and North America.

Bus

Durbanville is serviced by the commuter bus service of  Golden Arrow which services the Cape Metropole. Due to Durbanville's considerable far distance from Cape Town and other suburbs in the metropole, Durbanville is linked by several bus routes, with the most popular being the Bellville and the City (Cape Town) routes.

Golden Arrow links Durbanville with Cape Town, Atlantis, Bellville, Bishop Lavis, Blue Downs, Delft, Fisantekraal, Hanover Park, Khayelitsha, Killarney Gardens, Langa, Mitchells Plain, Nyanga, Philippi and Scottsdene (Kraaifontein).

Currently, Durbanville as well as the other Northern Suburbs of Cape Town are not served by the MyCiTi commuter bus service which is currently serving other suburbs nearer to Cape Town as well as Mitchells Plain and Khayelitsha.

Rail

Durbanville is one of the very few areas in the Cape Metropole that is not served by the commuter rail system of Metrorail with the nearest railway stations in Bellville, Brackenfell and Kraaifontein.

Roads

Durbanville's main road is the R302 regional route and its main street is ''Wellington Road'', a segment of the R302. The R302 links Durbanville to Bellville in the south as ''Main Road'' and ''Durbanville Avenue'' and to Fisantekraal and Klipheuwel in the north-east and Malmesbury in the north as ''Wellington Road'' and ''Klipheuwel Road''.

Durbanville does not have direct access to a freeway but is indirectly connected to two freeways (N1 and N7) through various arterial routes. Durbanville is connected to the N1 freeway (to Cape Town and Paarl) through the R302, M16, M31, M100, M137 and is connected to the N7 freeway (to Cape Town and Malmesbury) via the M13 and M48.

Durbanville is mostly served by metropolitan routes which link the town to nearby towns, suburbs and villages in the Cape Metropole and include the M13 ''Church Street/Tygerberg Valley Road'' to Milnerton, M15 ''Langeberg Road'' to Kraaifontein, M16 ''Jip de Jager Avenue'' to Bellville, M31 ''Tygerberg Valley Road'' to Bellville, M48 ''Visserhok Road'' to Visserhok, M58 ''Koeberg/Adderley Road'' to Philadelphia, M73 ''Eversdal Road'' to Brackenfell and Kraaifontein, M100 ''Brackenfell Boulevard'' to Brackenfell and Kuilsrivier, M124 ''Fairtrees Road'' to Bellville and the M137 ''Okavango Road'' to Brackenfell.

Taxis

Durbanville is also served two kinds of taxis: metered taxis and minibus taxis. Unlike many cities and towns in South Africa, metered taxis are not allowed to drive around the town to solicit fares and instead must be called to a specific location. Metered taxi companies operating in Durbanville include Uber, Bolt, InDriver and DiDi.

Minibus taxis are a major form of public transportation in Durbanville and the majority of minibus taxis terminate at the Durbanville Interchange/Terminus in the CBD.

Nature Reserves

There are two nature reserves in Durbanville which are the Durbanville and Uitkamp Wetland Nature Reserve. Durbanville Nature Reserve is adjacent to the racecourse and along Race Course Road ( M13). Uitkamp Wetland Nature Reserve is located in D'Urbanvale, a northern suburb of Durbanville.

Wine

The Durbanville Wine Valley is a collection of 13 wine farms located on the Tygerberg Hills surrounding Durbanville stretching from De Grendel and Durbanville Hills on the far west to Meerendal and Diemersdal on the far north and Groot Phesantekraal in the far north-east. The wine valley forms part of the Coastal Wine Region of the Western Cape.

Durbanville is popularly known as the "Sauvignon Blanc Country” because of the amount of sauvignon blanc produced in the wine valley. This is further due to the fact that this area is favoured by winemakers for its cooler climate (compared to further inland wine regions such as Stellenbosch) influenced by the winds of Table and False bays resulting in a different style of wine produced on the wine farms within the valley.

Notable people

* Mark Shuttleworth, founder of Thawte and second self-funded space tourist.
* Amore Bekker, radio personality, author, MC and columnist.
* Jody Williams, winner of Idols season 4

Daniele Pascal
French Chanteuse, Actor and Playwright, and owner o
Villa Pascal
Guest House (B+B) and Theatre
* Annelisa Weiland, actress. Played Hilda de Kock on popular South African soapie 7de Laan for almost 20 years.
* Duane Vermeulen, rugby union player for Western Province, Stormers and the Springboks.
*Jack Parow, Afrikaans rapper.
* Zanne Stapelberg, international operatic soprano.

Coat of arms

The Durbanville municipal council assumed a coat of arms, designed by Ivan Mitford-Barberton and H. Ellis Tomlinson, in April 1948,Western Cape Archives : Durbanville Municipal Minutes (12 April 1948). and registered them at the Bureau of Heraldry in February 198
The National Archives and Records Service of South Africa (NARSSA)

The arms, derived from those of Sir Benjamin d'Urban, were : ''Or, on a chevron between in chief two six-pointed stars Sable and in base a bunch of grapes proper, three garbs Or''. In layman's term, the shield is gold and depicts, from top to bottom, two black six-pointed stars, a blue chevron bearing three golden sheaves of wheat, and a bunch of grapes.

The crest was a red sphinx charged with three golden rings, and the motto ''Sit nomine digna''.

References

{{Authority control

Suburbs of Cape Town
Populated places established in 1825