Helderberg | |
|---|---|
 Helderberg Mountain seen more or less from the west | |
  Helderberg  Helderberg | |
| Coordinates:34°5′00″S18°55′00″E / 34.08333°S 18.91667°E /-34.08333; 18.91667 | |
| Country | South Africa |
| Province | Western Cape |
| Municipality | City of Cape Town |
| Time zone | UTC+2 (SAST) |
| Postal code (street) | 7130 |
| PO box | 7135 |
Helderberg refers to a planning district of theCity of Cape Town metropolitan municipality, the mountain after which it is named, a wine-producing area in theWestern Cape province ofSouth Africa, or a small census area in Somerset West.
Originally known as the "Hottentots-Holland" area, it was renamed "Helderberg" by theCity of Cape Town following concerns about possibleracistconnotations in the name (seeHottentot). However, many people who live there still refer to it by its former name.
The Helderberg consists ofSomerset West,Strand,Gordons Bay,Macassar and a few other towns. The district takes its name from themountain of the same name, which isAfrikaans for "clear mountain", referring to the way in which the western side of the mountain is illuminated in the evenings,[citation needed] and which culminates at a height of 1137 m at The Dome.
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The Helderberg region is the area between the watershed of the Helderberg and Hottentots Holland mountains and False Bay.The Helderberg planning district of the City of Cape Town includes subsections Macassar, Somerset West, Strand, Gordon's Bay, Sir Lowry's Pass, Stellenbosch Farms, and the Steenbras River valley.[1]
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TheHelderberg is a mountain of theCape Fold Belt, east of the main range of theHottentots Holland Mountains, and south of theStellenbosch Mountains. The upper parts areTable Mountain Sandstone, on a base ofTygerberg formation rocks and part of theStellenbosch granite pluton.[2]
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Peaks:
TheHottentots Holland Mountains are part of theCape Fold Belt. The range forms a barrier between theCape Town metropolitan area and the southernOverberg coast. The range is primarily composed ofTable Mountain Sandstone, and forms a large range between the Cape Town outlying suburbs ofSomerset West andGordon's Bay to the west, and the largeElgin valley to the east.Sir Lowry's Pass is the only crossing, in the form of theN2 motorway, which is the primary route out of the Cape Town area for travellers heading east along the coast of South Africa.
Peaks:
Schapenberg is a foothill of the Hottentots Holland Mountains that separates the catchments of the Lourens River and the SirLowry’s River.[3]: Ch19 The rocks are of the Tygerberg formation with granite of the Stellembosch pluton.[2]
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Strand and Gordon's Bay are known for the strength and persistence of the South-easterly winds in summer, while Somerset West has areas that are sheltered from the South-easter.
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Rivers:
Paardevlei
There are several conservation areas in the Helderberg region:
Dick Dent Bird Sanctuary is an isolated 10-hectare (25-acre) bird sanctuary in the Lourens River Protected Natural Environment near the estuary of the Lourens River in Strand.[4]
Harmony Flats Nature Reserve is a 9-hectare (22-acre) enclave of protected land between Strand and Gordon's Bay, which protects a surviving fragment ofcritically endangeredLourensford Alluvium Fynbos vegetation.[4] Harmony Flats was originally established to preserve a habitat for the rare and declininggeometric tortoise (Psammobates geometricus), which is now locally extinct, but the reserve still protects about 220 species of plants, many of themendangered,[5] as well as a range of animal species, such as the tinyparrot-beaked tortoise (Homopus areolatus), various snakes and a large variety of birds.[6]
Helderberg Nature Reserve is anature reserve in Somerset West.[4] on the southern slopes of the Helderberg mountain. Its 398 ha consist mostly ofKogelberg Sandstone Fynbos (a highly species-richvegetation type) with smaller patches ofBoland Granite Fynbos andSouthern Afrotemperate Forest. Altogether about 600 species of plant have been recorded here, including a wide range ofproteas. Particularly prominent plants include thepincushion proteas (Leucospermum sp.),cone bushes (Leucadendron sp.),sugar bushes (Protea sp.),heaths (Erica sp.) and thewaboom tree (Protea nitida).[7] Animals that can be found there include the Capeleopard,caracal,grey duiker,Cape grysbok,steenbok,mongoose,angulate andpadloper tortoises and over 170 species ofbird.
Part of theHottentots Holland Nature Reserve lies within the boundaries of the City of Cape Town above Somerset West.[4]
Kogelberg Nature Reserve is a nature reserve of 3,000 hectares (12 sq mi) in theKogelberg Mountain Range, to the east and south of Gordon's Bay. It protects a large portion ofKogelberg Sandstone Fynbos and about 1600 plant species, giving it a floral diversity per unit area that is greater than anywhere else in the world.[4] Part of it is in the Helderberg region.
Lourens River Protected Natural Environment is a section of protected land along the Lourens River. Its upper reaches are relatively undisturbed and are privately owned. However, the lower part of the river flows through developed areas as well as pastfynbos and plantations of invasive alien trees. This natural area is threatened by pollution and by invasive alien weeds.[6] The Dick Dent Bird Sanctuary is contained within the protected area. Beside the protected area is theVergelegen Nature Reserve.[8][4]
Macassar Dunes Conservation Area is a 1,116-hectare (4.31 sq mi) coastal nature reserve in Macassar,[4] which protects the unique localCape Flats Dune Strandveld vegetation with its dense evergreen thickets, flowers, shrubs and trees. The last remaining forest of the endangered White Milkwood tree (Sideroxylon inerme) on the Cape Flats is found on this reserve. 178 plant species are recorded from the area. Animal species found here include small antelope, tortoises, porcupine, hares, mongoose and a variety of birds.[9]
Silwerboomkloof Natural Heritage Site is a small, protected valley (“kloof”), near the Helderberg Nature Reserve, conserving an isolated forest of the rareSilvertree (Leucadendron argenteum), a striking, silver-coloured tree of theProtea family, which is actually indigenous to the eastern slopes ofTable Mountain, making the population at Silwerboomkloof an isolated anomaly. This 4.9-hectare (12-acre) reserve encloses a section ofBoland Granite Fynbos andRenosterveld and a total of around 220 species of plant have been recorded.[7][6][4]
TheHelderberg Marine Protected Area is a small marine conservation area on the north-eastern side ofFalse Bay, the mouths of the Lourens River in the Strand, and theEerste River in Macassar. The MPA is in the warm temperate Agulhas bioregion. The shoreline is sandy beach with mobile dunes, and the seabed is low sandstone reef with kelp beds and sand sediments. The areas nearest to the river mouths are in relatively poor condition due to pollution of the river water. The beach inside the MPA is the most pristine part of the north shore of False Bay.[10]
Van Riebeeck’s outriders found a fertile valley with adequate water in what they named the Tweede Rivier, (now the Lourens River), inhabited by the Khoikhoi Chief Sousoa and his family. They called the valley Hottentot’s Holland and established a company outpost there.[3]
In 1671, the Tweede Rivier was renamed the Breitenbach River, after Lieutenant Coenraad Breitenbach, but the name did not last long, as in 1673, after Laurens Visser, the commander of the outpost, reputedly drowned in the river, it was renamed the Laurens River in his memory, and over time the spelling changed to the Lourens River.[3]
A town developed around the Lourens River and the farm ofVergelegen (Dutch: "remotely situated"), an 18th-century farmhouse built in the historicCape Dutch style byWillem Adriaan van der Stel, governor of the Cape and son ofSimon van der Stel, who gave his name to the nearby town ofStellenbosch. Willem Adriaan was later sent back to Holland after being charged with corruption and cruelty towards local Dutch farmers.
The farm is now owned by a subsidiary of the large mining companyAnglo American, who have restored the farmhouse and continue to produce wines.
Somerset West was founded in 1822 on part of the historic farm, Vergelegen.[14] The town was originally named Somerset after the British governor of theCape Colony during the 1800s,Lord Charles Somerset, with the suffix 'West' being added after 1825 to differentiate it fromSomerset East, a town in the Eastern Cape.
Strand was established as a holiday and fishing resort in 1714.[15] Before being known as Strand, the settlement was known as Mostert's Bay. In 1970, during theApartheid era, all black, coloured and Asian people were forcefully removed when the town was classified as a white-only resort.[citation needed] Included in the communities forced to leave at this time were the descendants ofCape Malay slaves, who had escaped from Cape Town over 100 years earlier.[16] They lost their homes, but their mosque still stands.
Recent expansion and development of Somerset West, Strand and Gordon's Bay has resulted in them now being adjacent to each other.[12]
Strand also used to accommodate one of the largest dynamite factories inSouth Africa, owned by theAECI group. This area is being redeveloped into a large new mixed-use urban development,Paardevlei, and current tenants include Cheetah Outreach.[citation needed]
The mountain crossing of the Hottentots Holland range was known by the indigenousKhoi people as theGantouw orEland's Pass, and was used as a stock route. The Dutch and British settlers at the Cape built a rough pass called the Hottentots Holland Kloof Pass following the Gantouw route. The first recorded crossing was in 1664,[17] and by 1821 the pass was seeing 4500ox-wagons per year crossing into the interior, but the route was so severe that more than 20% of them were damaged.[18] The ruts left by these wagons being dragged over the mountains can still be seen, and were declared a National Monument in 1958.[17][19][20]
Starting in 1828, a new pass was constructed on the current route that would allow ox wagons to navigate the pass without difficulty. Construction began at a site about 2 km to the south of the Hottentots Holland Kloof, by the engineerCharles Michell using convict labour. The new pass was opened on 6 July 1830, and named afterSir Lowry Cole, the Governor of theCape Colony at the time.
Local media in the region include theDistrict Mail, a local newspaper, andRadio Helderberg.
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Helderberg is also the name of a census sub-place within Somerset West, a small residential area on both sides of Sir Lowry's Pass road on the east side of the town.[21]
