Melkbosstrand Melkbos | |
|---|---|
 Beach at Melkbosstrand | |
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| Coordinates:33°43′52″S18°26′31″E / 33.73111°S 18.44194°E /-33.73111; 18.44194 | |
| Country | South Africa |
| Province | Western Cape |
| Municipality | City of Cape Town |
| Government | |
| • Councillor | Magrieta Jansen van Vuuren[1] (DA) |
| Area | |
• Total | 35.64 km2 (13.76 sq mi) |
| Population (2011)[2] | |
• Total | 11,586 |
| • Density | 325.1/km2 (842.0/sq mi) |
| Racial makeup (2011) | |
| • Black African | 7.8% |
| • Coloured | 10.0% |
| • Indian/Asian | 0.6% |
| • White | 80.5% |
| • Other | 1.0% |
| First languages (2011) | |
| • Afrikaans | 51.5% |
| • English | 43.4% |
| • Xhosa | 1.4% |
| • Other | 3.8% |
| Time zone | UTC+2 (SAST) |
| Postal code (street) | 7441 |
| PO box | 7437 |
| Area code | 021 |
Melkbosstrand (Afrikaans for "Milkbush beach") is a coastal town located on the South West Coast ofSouth Africa, 30 km north ofCape Town. It forms part of theCity of Cape Town Metropolitan Municipality, the municipality governingCape Town and its greatermetropolitan area.
Named after the species ofEuphorbiaceae bushes which grow on the dunes and give off a milky latexlike substance, it is commonly referred to simply asMelkbos. The town and its 7 kilometre stretch of white sand beach is situated on the Atlantic coast with the Blouberg mountain to the east. The beach is popular with surfers.[citation needed] It is one of the landing points for theSouth Africa-Far East,South Atlantic/West Africa and Equinao submarine cable systems.
Melkbosstrand is along the Blaauwberg region of theCity of Cape Town within which it became incorporated when metropolitan boundaries were redrawn, following the advent of democracy in 1994. Its nearest neighbouring towns areBlouberg to the south andAtlantis to the north-east. Melkbos is protected from urban development owing to its location in an expansive nature conservation zone to the South, insulating it from the Blouberg sprawl, and the security buffer zones ofKoeberg nuclear power station to the North and today it remains a pristine seaside resort.[3]
Melkbosstrand (previously known as Lospers Bay (the surname Losper, a variant of Laubscher, seehttps://forebears.io/surnames/losper), or Losperd's Bay (meaning, in old Dutch: the Bay of Loose or Lost Horses) is the site of theBattle of Blaauwberg (1806) whereby the Cape ceased to be occupied by French-Batavian troops and became a Colony of the British Crown.[4] The French had occupied the Cape from 1781 to 1783, after a fleet under the flag of celebrated admiralBailli de Suffren anchored just north of Melkbosstrand.[5] A cannon set on Melkbosstrand foreshore commemorates the battle itself. Numerous shipwrecks, some dating back to the Portuguese Discoverers of the Early Renaissance, are strewn along the coast of Melkbosstrand.[6]
AncientKhoi-San middens and stone-age archeological findings have provided research with numerous artifacts.[7]
In terms of Colonial, Dutch vernacular architecture, the area boasts several fine examples. The farmhouse Melkbosch, the first established by theDutch East India Company outside Cape Town, is still extant albeit in a rather poor condition following a fire. On Melkbos bay itself, much favored by the surfing community for its good swell and warmer currents, stands theDamhuis cottage (now a beach restaurant), a late 18th-century fisherman house and the last one of its kind in the area (apart from Ons Huisie, atBlouberg Beach, some five kilometres away).[8]
In 1961, Melkbosstrand became the end point for the SAT-1 Copper cable between South Africa andSesimbra, Portugal. In 1992, the cable was replaced by the SAT-2 fiber optic cable. Today, Melkbosstrand is still the landing point for theSAT-3/WASS undersea cable system.
It owes much of its present-day infrastructure to two significant South African apartheid government developments in the late seventies. The first,Koeberg nuclear power station, constructed with the help of the British and French some 6 km north of Melkbosstrand, necessitated the creation of high quality housing for the foreign contractors. The second, the government subsidised creation ofAtlantis Diesel Engines (ADE), a joint venture between the British Perkins-Elmer and GermanDaimler AG brands, to bypass international sanctions imposed byUnited Nations Security Council Resolution 418.
Although ADE was in the industrial park of Atlantis, some 50 km north of Cape Town, subsidised housing was established in Melkbosstrand to help attract and retain the many German, British, and even South African, engineers, managers, and technicians. These houses, both for Koeberg and ADE, have long since been sold off to the public and form an interesting housing development with paved lanes, quaint housing, a club and a library, not un-reminiscent of the famed British seriesThe Prisoner.
Melkbos features inDeon Meyer's best-selling crime novel7 Days (7 Dae in Afrikaans original) (2012) as the place where mad sniper, cop-killer, Solomon buys spray paint for camouflage.
For many years Melkbosstrand has been called the "rich man's town" by its neighbouring suburbs and towns, such as Atlantis and Table View.[citation needed] This labelling remark is probably because Melkbosstrand is home to a host of South African celebrities (retired rugby players, actors, writers, visiting members of theHouse of Lords), which is mainly due to its location and its views of Table Mountain. International best-selling novelistDeon Meyer was a long time resident of Melkbosstrand as well as South-African French philosopherPhilippe-Joseph Salazar.
Wild life on Melkbos beaches has always been abundant: "The most unusual scene," writesLawrence G. Green inSouth African Beachcomber,[9] " came about when greedy seals chased thousands upon thousands ofmaasbankers into rocky pools on the coast to the north of Melkbosch Strand. Everyone in that village turned out with baskets, caught the fish by the hundred and carried them home alive". Crayfish orCape lobster is plentiful although fishing is strictly regulated. Fishbraais (barbecues) remain a favourite pastime among locals.
