Durbanville

Durbanville
—  Suburb  —
Durbanville Location within the Cape Town metropolitan area
Coordinates: 33°49′57″S 18°38′51″E
Country	South Africa
Province	Western Cape
Metropolitan municipality	City of Cape Town
Time zone	South Africa Standard Time (UTC+2)

Durbanville is a former town in the Western Cape province of South Africa, it now forms part of the greater City of Cape Town metropolitan area. Durbanville is a rural residential suburb on the northern outskirts of the metropolis and is surrounded by farms producing wine and wheat.

History

Durbanville was founded in the early 19th century around a fresh water spring and was primarily a watering station for travellers between Cape Town and the interior. Durbanville was originally known as Pampoenkraal (from the Afrikaans words pampoen meaning pumpkin, and kraal meaning corral - an enclosure for livestock).

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 commended 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 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.

Geography

Durbanville is located around 33°49′57″S 18°38′51″E (-33.83056, 18.65056).

Culture

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 (56%) of the town still speak Afrikaans as a first language. The principal religion of the population is Christianity with a wide variety of churches in the community.

Demographics

According to the 2001 Census, the population of Durbanville was 29,626. The following tables show various demographic data about Durbanville from that census.

Gender

Gender	Population	%
Female	15 828	53.43%
Male	13 798	46.57%

Ethnic Group

Group	Population	%
Black African	688	2.32%
Coloured	2 730	9.21%
Indian/Asian	160	0.54%
White	26 047	87.92%

Home Language

Language	Population	%
English	12 322	41.59%
Afrikaans	16 622	56.11%
Xhosa	283	0.96%
Other African languages	123	0.42%
Other languages	276	0.93%

Education

The town has the following public high schools:

• Durbanville High (an Afrikaans medium school),
• Fairmont High (an English medium school),
• Stellenberg High (an Afrikaans and English medium school).

There are numerous primary schools including:

• Durbanville Preparatory,
• Durbanville Primary,
• Eversdal Primary,
• Gene Louw Primary,
• Kenridge Primary.

The area also has a number of private schools:

• Curro,
• Chesterhouse,
• El Shaddai Christian School.

Famous residents

• Mark Shuttleworth, founder of Thawte and second self-funded space tourist.
• Amore Bekker, radio personality, author, MC and columnist.
• Jody Williams, winner of Idols season 4

External links

• CapeTownNorth.com
• Ruslamere Guest House, Spa & Conference Centre - Durbanville
• Durbanville Heritage Society
• Durbanville Craft Market
• Durbanville Directory