Durbanville

Durbanville, previously called Pampoenkraal, is a town in the Western Cape province of South Africa, part of the greater Cape Town metropolitan area. It is a semi-rural residential suburb on the north-eastern outskirts of the metropolis surrounded by farms producing wine and wheat.

Durbanville has rapidly developed during the past years into one of the most sought-after northern suburbs of Cape Town. Although gated developments such as Pinehurst, Graanendal and Clara Anna Fontein may have expanded its boundaries, the town still retains its small-town atmosphere given that it is still mostly surrounded by farmland.

History
Precolonial period (before 1652)

The first modern humans indigenous to the Cape area included the Khoina and the Khoisan tribes. 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 the 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 travellers 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.

Post-Apartheid (1994-)

In 1996, Durbanville lost its municipal status and was dissolved into the Tygerberg Municipality along with Bellville, Parow and Goodwood as part of the transition in local government. As of 2000, Durbanville was amalgamated into the City of Cape Town Metropolitan Municipality and is effectively a suburb of the City of Cape Town. Although Durbanville is now part of the City of Cape Town it is still a town in its own right.

Geography
Durbanville is situated in the northern suburbs of Cape Town, approximately 28 kilometres (17.4 mi) north-east of the city, bordered by Bellville to the south, Brackenfell to the south-east and Kraaifontein to the east. It lies at an altitude of between 100 m (328 ft) to 240 m (787 ft), in the vast rolling hills of Tygerberg and Koeberg.

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)
 * Langeberg Glen (Residential)
 * Langeberg Heights (Residential)
 * Morningstar (Residential)
 * Nerina (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)

Viticulture
Durbanville is a wine-producing region forming part of the Durbanville Wine Valley, home to thirteen wine estates set on the Tygerberg Hills with many of the wine estates offering wine tastings and fine dining restaurants.

Durbanville is also well-known as the "Sauvignon Blanc Country" owing to the amount of sauvignon blanc produced in the wine valley which is favoured by winemakers for its cooler climate (by comparison to the Boland wine region) influenced by the winds of Table and False bays resulting in a different style of wine produced within the valley.

The picturesque hilly landscape of the Durbanville wine valley and its close proximity to Cape Town (roughly a 30 minute-drive) by comparison to the Paarl, Stellenbosch and Franschhoek winelands have made it an increasingly popular tourist destination among local residents and visitors.

Dairy
Durbanville is home to the dairy farm ("Welgegund") of Fair Cape, one of the Western Cape's largest dairy producers, situated just north of Durbanville along Malanshoogte Road.

Central Business District
The historical town centre, the Durbanville CBD remains the traditional commercial centre of the town with shops, bars, cafés, boutiques and restaurants along the main high street of Wellington Road and many more tucked away down the side streets.

Shopping centres
Sources:

There are three major shopping malls in the town centre serving Durbanville including: De Ville Centre, Durbanville Town Centre and The Village Square. A number of smaller suburban shopping centres in Durbanville are also within easy access such as Clara Anna Square, Cobble Walk, Graanendal Shopping Centre, Ipic Shopping Centre Aurora, Ipic Shopping Centre Kenridge, Ipic Shopping Centre Sonstraal and Pinehurst Centre.

Mining and Industries
Durbanville is surrounded by a number of stoning quarries on the Tygerberg Hills with companies such as Afrimat, Portland and Ciolli Bros operating in the area.

Although mostly a residential area, Durbanville has a small area of light industry located just outside the town named Durbanville Industrial Park.

Major companies
Durbanville is home to the headquarters of a few companies, most notably, Curro, which is the largest independent education provider in Southern Africa; Stadio Holdings, which is an independent higher education provider in South Africa; and Xneelo, which is a South African web hosting company.

Languages
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

Historical attractions


Owing to the rich history and heritage of the town, Durbanville boasts its fair share of historical features and attractions largely situated in the CBD and its immediate surroundings including:


 * Rust-en-Vrede Art Gallery on Wellington Road (built in the 1840s and was originally used as a prison and police headquarters, then a magistrate’s court)
 * Onze Molen Windmill
 * Durbanville Synagogue
 * Durbanville Dutch Reformed Church
 * Original Cape Dutch houses on historical streets such as Church Street, Gladstone Street, Main Street, Oxford Street, Queen Street and Scher Street

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 (a dual-medium school) - although it is located in Bellville, it falls under Durbanville’s feeder area.

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

Private healthcare
Mediclinic Durbanville is the sole hospital serving the town of Durbanville. Owned by Mediclinic International, it is a private hospital operating 24-hour emergency services. The hospital is located in the heart of the town on Wellington Road.

Public healthcare
A short distance from Mediclinic Durbanville, the Durbanville Community Day Centre is a government-funded clinic operated by the Western Cape Department of Health and Wellness.

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 Centre and Aerosport Training. The Fighting on Fire organisation 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.

Bus and taxi transit
Durbanville is served by Golden Arrow Bus Services which operates daily commuter bus services across the Cape Metropole. Minibus taxis are also a major form of public transportation in Durbanville with the majority of minibus taxis terminating at the Durbanville Public Transport Interchange in the town centre.

Rail
Durbanville is one of the few areas in the Greater Cape Town metropolitan area that do not have a railway passing through, however the nearest railway stations are located within a 10 kilometre radius including Kraaifontein, Bellville, and Brackenfell railway stations.

Roads
The main route through Durbanville is the R302, which is formed by three roads (Durbanville Avenue, Main Street and Wellington Road). It connects the town with Klipheuwel and Malmesbury to the north-east and with Bellville to the south. The R312 (Lichtenburg Road) starts from the R302 in the north-east of the town, running towards Fisantekraal and Wellington.

The town is also situated along a number of metropolitan routes connecting it to surrounding towns and villages including: the M13 (Tygerberg Valley Road) to Milnerton; the M16 (Jip de Jager Drive), M31 (Tygerberg Valley Road) and the M124 (Eversdal Road) to Bellville; the M48 (Vissershok Road) to Visserhok; the M58 (Koeberg Road; Adderley Road) to Philadelphia; the M73 (De Bron Road), the M100 (Brackenfell Boulevard) and the M137 (Okavango Road) to Brackenfell and the M15 (Langeberg Road) and the M137 (Okavango Road) to Kraaifontein.

Nature Reserves
The two nature reserves in Durbanville include the Durbanville Nature Reserve situated adjacent the racecourse along Race Course Road and the Uitkamp Wetland Nature Reserve situated in D'Urbanvale, north of Durbanville.

Golf
Affectionately known as the "Jewel of the North", the Durbanville Golf Club is a large 18-hole golf course that was opened in 1967 and is located south of the Durbanville CBD.

Horse Racing


One of the main attractions which draws visitors to Durbanville is the Hollywoodbets Durbanville Racecourse, established in 1922 and is one of the only two horse race courses in the Western Cape along with Kenilworth in the Southern Suburbs. Situated just south-west of the CBD, it has a left-handed oval course with a circumference of around 2200m and a home straight of roughly 600m.

In August 2022, Cape Racing announced Hollywoodbets as the naming rights sponsor for the Durbanville and Kenilworth racecourses, and as a result the Durbanville Racecourse is now known as the Hollywoodbets Durbanville Racecourse.

Notable people

 * Mark Shuttleworth — founder of Thawte; second self-funded space tourist
 * Amore Bekker — radio personality, author, MC and columnist
 * Jody Williams — winner of Idols season 4
 * Annelisa Weiland — actress; played Hilda de Kock on popular South African soapie 7de Laan
 * 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, and registered them at the Bureau of Heraldry in February 1981.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.