Oranjezicht | |
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 Part of Oranjezicht from the summit ofTable Mountain.Molteno Dam and De Waal Park centre left. | |
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| Country | South Africa |
| Province | Western Cape |
| Municipality | City of Cape Town |
| Main Place | Cape Town |
| Government | |
| • Councillor | Vivienne Walker (DA) |
| Area | |
• Total | 1.13 km2 (0.44 sq mi) |
| Population (2011)[1] | |
• Total | 3,580 |
| • Density | 3,170/km2 (8,210/sq mi) |
| Racial makeup (2011) | |
| • Black African | 13.3% |
| • Coloured | 5.2% |
| • Indian/Asian | 2.2% |
| • White | 74.6% |
| • Other | 4.7% |
| First languages (2011) | |
| • English | 65.6% |
| • Afrikaans | 22.6% |
| • Xhosa | 1.7% |
| • Other | 10.2% |
| Time zone | UTC+2 (SAST) |
| Postal code (street) | 8001 |
Oranjezicht (Dutch:orange view) is a suburb in theCity Bowl area ofCape Town, South Africa. It was built on the site of the old Oranjezicht farm, which used to stretch at least as far as theMount Nelson Hotel and supplied theCastle of Good Hope with fresh produce.
In 1708, Nicolaus Laubscher (1651–1721), who had immigrated in the 1670s from the Swiss canton of Fribourg, bought a property on the slopes of Table Mountain that he called "Oranjezicht" because of the good view from there of the Oranje (Orange) bastion of the Castle.[2] Subsequent to his death, the farm was evidently acquired by Pieter van Breda (1696–1759), who arrived at the Cape in 1719 from the Netherlands.[3] "Oranjezicht" was a farm for the next two centuries.Some of the buildings of the farm as well as the oldslave bell are still at the location where the farm once stood. The farmhouse was on the property directly to the east of what is now a public park and playground. It was torn down in the 1960s to make way for a bowling green, which was later replaced by the Oranjezicht City Farm, a non-profit community farm project celebrating local food, culture and community through urban farming in Cape Town, in 2013.
TheMolteno Dam was built in 1877, to provide water for Cape Town by storing natural spring water fromTable Mountain. At the time it was located on the mountain slopes above the infant city, but the city grew around it and it is now in the middle of the Oranjezicht suburbs. It is still in operation today.[4] TheGraaff Electric Lighting Works, commissioned in 1895, is located next to the Molteno Dam and was Cape Town's first municipal electrical power plant and the second power plant in South Africa.
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