Maitland is a suburb of

Cape Town Cape Town ( af, Kaapstad; , xh, iKapa) is one of South Africa's three capital cities, serving as the seat of the Parliament of South Africa. It is the legislative capital of the country, the oldest city in the country, and the second largest ...

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the southernmost country in Africa. It is bounded to the south by of coastline that stretch along the South Atlantic and Indian Oceans; to the north by the neighbouring countri ...

. Maitland is situated along a number of important transport networks connecting the Cape Town

city bowl The City Bowl is a part of Cape Town in South Africa. It is a natural amphitheatre-shaped area bordered by Table Bay and defined by the mountains of Signal Hill, Lion's Head, Table Mountain and Devil's Peak. The area includes the central bu ...

to the rest of the city. The most important being the

railway line Rail terminology is a form of technical terminology. The difference between the American term ''railroad'' and the international term ''railway'' (used by the International Union of Railways and English-speaking countries outside the United Sta ...

that runs through the middle of the suburb and the N1 that is situated on its northern boundary. The area has always been an important transport hub for the city. In 1845 one of the first roads from

Stellenbosch Stellenbosch (; )A Universal Pronounc ...

through the Maitland area was completed. This effectively connected Cape Town to the rest of Africa as at the time the dunes of the Cape Flats prevented much traffic between the two locations. The suburb is named after

Sir Peregrine Maitland General Sir Peregrine Maitland, GCB (6 July 1777 – 30 May 1854) was a British soldier and colonial administrator. He also was a first-class cricketer from 1798 to 1808 and an early advocate for the establishment of what would become the Canadi ...

who was governor of the Cape in the mid 1840s.

Geography

Maitland lies to the north of Pinelands, south of

Brooklyn Brooklyn () is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Kings County, in the U.S. state of New York. Kings County is the most populous county in the State of New York, and the second-most densely populated county in the United States, be ...

, east of Salt River

History

During the

Second Anglo-Boer War The Second Boer War ( af, Tweede Vryheidsoorlog, , 11 October 189931 May 1902), also known as the Boer War, the Anglo–Boer War, or the South African War, was a conflict fought between the British Empire and the two Boer Republics (the South ...

Maitland was the site of a major British cavalry camp, where troops and horses recovered from the voyage from Britain.

Demography

The 2011 census recorded the population of Maitland as consisting of 9,782 people. 49.9% described themselves as "Coloured", 1.9% as "Indian or Asian", 41.1% as "Black African", 2.6% as "White" and 4.0% as "Other". 58.0% spoke English as their first language, 16.5% spoke Afrikaans, 3.8% spoke Xhosa, 1.0% spoke Zulu and 20.7% .

Local schools

* Maitland High School * Holy Cross High School * Koeberg Primary school

In popular culture

The

Standard Hotel Standard Hotels is a group of seven boutique hotels in New York City (Meatpacking District and East Village), Miami Beach, London, Maldives, Ibiza, and Hua Hin, Thailand. The hotels are operated by Standard International Management. The two origi ...

located in Maitland was featured in the 2012 film

Safe House A safe house (also spelled safehouse) is, in a generic sense, a secret place for sanctuary or suitable to hide people from the law, hostile actors or actions, or from retribution, threats or perceived danger. It may also be a metaphor. Histori ...

. It features as one of the "seedy hotels" that the main protagonists seek refuge in. The shrine of a well known Muslim Sufi saint i.e. Hazarat Khawaja Sayed Mehboob Ali Sha (R.A) is situated at the maitland Cemetery gate 4A is also a source of blessings and unity of many communities. The shrine that still attracts thousands of devotees from all around the world. Chapel at Maitland Crematorium, Cape Town, South Africa

Chapel at Maitland Crematorium, Cape Town, South Africa

References

{{Cape Town suburbs Suburbs of Cape Town