Brackenfell

Brackenfell
Brackenfell Brackenfell Brackenfell  Brackenfell shown within Western Cape
Location within Cape Town  Brackenfell
Coordinates: 33°52′00″S 18°41′00″E
Country	South Africa
Province	Western Cape
Municipality	City of Cape Town
Established	1913
Area
• Total	25.27 km2 (9.76 sq mi)
Population (2011)
• Total	44,842
• Density	1,800/km2 (4,600/sq mi)
Racial makeup (2011)
• Black African	9.8%
• Coloured	9.0%
• Indian/Asian	0.8%
• White	79.0%
• Other	1.4%
First languages (2011)
• Afrikaans	71.1%
• English	20.8%
• Xhosa	3.4%
• Other	4.7%
Postal code (street)	7560, 7561
PO box	7561
Area code	021

Brackenfell is a northern suburb of Cape Town situated within the Western Cape province of South Africa at the gateway to the winelands. The local government services are provided by the City of Cape Town Municipality. In Brackenfell a variety of property situated on the foothills of Cape Town can be found.

The Bracken Nature Reserve, situated in the Ruwari suburban area, was once a quarry site and was later declared a nature reserve after some negotiations between the Cape Town City Council and the Stellenbosch Divisional Council.

Brackenfell offers schools, shopping malls and medical services, and many different sporting facilities. Brackenfell has several major access roads including the N1, R300, Old Paarl Road and Bottelary Road.

The suburb is bordered by Kraaifontein in the northeast, Kuilsrivier in the southwest and Durbanville in the northwest.

History

The suburb of Brackenfell was established in 1913 (the name "Bracken" refers to an indigenous fern). Brackenfell used to be a major road crossing during the earlier days of Cape Town, but today it is a well-known suburb located behind the 'boerewors curtain', which is a local colloquial term meaning an invisible curtain that basically divides the city's English and Afrikaans speaking people.

Schools

• Bastion Primary School
• Brackenfell High School
• Brackenfell Primary School
• Brooklands Primary School
• Curro (private primary school)
• Curro Castle (private nursery / pre-primary school)
• Destinatus Private School
• Northpine Primary School
• Northpine Technical High School
• Paarl School
• Protea Heights Academy (high school)

Suburban areas

• Arauna (residential)
• Bracken Heights (residential)
• Brackenfell Industria (industrial)
• Brackenfell North (residential)
• Burgundy (residential)
• Cape Gate (residential)
• De Oude Spruit (residential)
• De Tuin (residential)
• Edenpark (residential)
• Everite (industrial)
• Ferndale (residential)
• Morgenster (residential)
• Morgenster Hoogtes (residential)
• Normande (residential)
• Northpine (residential)
• Protea Heights (residential)
• Protea Village (residential)
• Ruwari (residential)
• Sonkring (residential)
• Springbokpark (residential)
• Vredekloof (residential)
• Vredekloof Heights (residential)
• Vredekloof Rand (residential)
• Welgeleë (residential)

Coat of arms

Brackenfell was a municipality from 1970 to 1996. In November 1971, the council registered a coat of arms at the Bureau of Heraldry.

The arms, designed by Cornelis Pama, were Per chevron embowed Or and Vert, three shot balls counterchanged, i.e. a shield divided by a curved chevron-shaped line into gold and green, with two green balls at the top and a golden ball at the bottom. The crest was three ferns with the motto Tenax in fide.

Trivia

• Currently, Brackenfell (together with Kuilsriver) uses the prefix "CFR-" in their registered motor vehicles (since approximately 2000 the prefix "CF-" which had formerly been allocated to Grahamstown has also been allocated to these suburbs).
• Protea Hill, Brackenfell's heighest point in Ruwari, was used as a signal point with its signal cannons in the 1700s. Cannons can be seen at Brackenfell High School and Bastion Primary School.

External links

• Brackenfell Directory