116-579: Grootrivier Pass , is situated in the Western Cape province of South Africa on the R102 regional road. The Grootrivier ( Afrikaans for "Great River") is one of various mountain streams that over millions of years have cut through the coastal plateau towards the sea. The R102 winds its way from the N2 on the coastal plateau, which is an ancient sea-bed now at 220m above sea-level, through dense coastal forest, down to
232-644: A government, and Morkel remained Premier. In 2000 the DP and the NNP formalised their coalition by forming the Democratic Alliance (DA). In 2001, however, the NNP broke with the DA over the removal of Peter Marais from office as Mayor of Cape Town by DA leader Tony Leon . The NNP instead went into coalition with the ANC; Gerald Morkel, who was opposed to the split, resigned as Premier and
348-455: A lack of fresh water in the region meant that it has only recently been used as a harbour. The province's main harbour was built in Table Bay , which in its natural state was fully exposed to the northwesterly storms that bring rain to the province in winter, as well as the almost uninterrupted dry southeasterly winds in summer. But fresh water coming off Table Mountain and Devil's Peak allowed
464-744: A long tradition of holding liberal values. For example, the Cape Qualified Franchise before the Union of South Africa. The Cape Qualified Franchise was the system of non-racial franchise that was adhered to in the Cape Colony , and in the Cape Province in the early years of the Union of South Africa . Qualifications for the right to vote at parliamentary elections were applied equally to all men, regardless of race. This local system of multi-racial suffrage
580-596: A pair of eagles was seen by at least 7 independent observers during the course of 10 days (27 January – 5 February). Dassies are an important part the Verreaux's eagle's prey on the Peninsula. (See Foot note ) Table Mountain is also home to porcupines , mongooses , snakes , lizards , tortoises , and a rare endemic species of amphibian that is only found on Table Mountain, the Table Mountain ghost frog . The last lion in
696-556: A productive stock of edible bulbs (especially watsonians ) and to facilitate hunting, and later, after the arrival of pastoralists , to provide fresh grazing after the rains. Thus the plants that make up fynbos today are those that have been subjected to a variety of fire regimes over a very long period time, and their preservation now requires regular burning. The frequency of the fires obviously determines precisely which mix of plants will dominate any particular region, but intervals of 10–15 years between fires are considered to promote
812-630: A project was launched by Reinhold Rau to back-breed the quagga, after it had been established, using mitochondrial DNA obtained from museum specimens, that the quagga was closely related to the plains zebra , and on 20 January 2005 a foal considered to be the first quagga-like individual because of a visible reduced striping, was born. These quagga-like zebras are officially known as Rau quaggas, as no one can be certain that they are anything more than quagga look-alikes. The animal camp above Groote Schuur Hospital has several good looking Rau quaggas, but they are unfortunately not easily seen except from within
928-601: A social movement for political consciousness. In December 1968, the South African Student Organization (SASO) was formed at a conference held in Marianhill, Natal. The conference was exclusively attended by Black students. After its launch, SASO became the medium through which black consciousness ideology spread to schools and other university campuses across the country. In 1974, South African Minister of Bantu Education and Development MC Botha, constituted
1044-669: A somewhat lower elevation than the Table Mountain Plateau (at about 1,000 m or 3,300 ft), called the "Back Table". The "Back Table" extends southwards for approximately 6 km to the Constantia Nek - Hout Bay valley. The Atlantic side of the Back Table is known as the Twelve Apostles, which extends from Kloof Nek (the saddle between Table Mountain and Lion's Head ) to Hout Bay . The eastern side of this portion of
1160-428: Is a province of South Africa , situated on the south-western coast of the country. It is the fourth largest of the nine provinces with an area of 129,449 square kilometres (49,981 sq mi), and the third most populous , with an estimated 7 million inhabitants in 2020. About two-thirds of these inhabitants live in the metropolitan area of Cape Town , which is also the provincial capital. The Western Cape
1276-478: Is a fire adapted vegetation, and providing fires are not too frequent, regular or intense, they are important drivers of fynbos diversity. Regular fires have dominated fynbos for at least the past 12 000 years largely as a result of human activity. In 1495 Vasco da Gama named the South African coastline Terra de Fume because of the smoke he saw from numerous fires. This was originally probably to maintain
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#17328589426721392-636: Is a flat-topped mountain forming a prominent landmark overlooking the city of Cape Town in South Africa . It is a significant tourist attraction , with many visitors using the cableway or hiking to the top. Table Mountain National Park is the most visited national park in South Africa, attracting 4.2 million people every year for various activities. The mountain has 8,200 plant species, of which around 80% are fynbos , meaning fine bush. It forms part of
1508-464: Is a popular and straightforward direct ascent to the summit. Par for the course is about 2.5 hours depending on fitness. This route is very hot in summer, as it is located on the north facing slope of the mountain, with almost no shade along the 600 m climb from Tafelberg Road to the Table Mountain plateau. Longer routes to the summit go via the Back Table, a lower area of Table Mountain south of
1624-597: Is bordered on the north by the Northern Cape and on the east by the Eastern Cape . The total land area of the province is 129,462 square kilometres (49,986 sq mi), about 10.6% of the country's total. It is roughly the size of England or the State of Louisiana . Its capital city and largest city is Cape Town , and some other major cities include Stellenbosch , Worcester , Paarl , and George . The Garden Route and
1740-537: Is certain about the exact year or years) their numbers suddenly plummeted for unknown reasons. They used to cluster around the restaurant at the upper cable station, near areas where tourists discarded or (inadvisably) supplied food. The population crash of the dassies may have been responsible for the decline in the Verreaux's eagle population on the Peninsula , which is believed to have consisted of three breeding pairs during
1856-542: Is dominated by Karoo drought-resistant shrubbery . The West Coast and Little Karoo are semi-arid regions and are typified by many species of succulents and drought-resistant shrubs and acacia trees. The Garden Route on the south coast (between the Outeniqua Mountains and the Southern Indian Ocean ) is extremely lush, with temperate rainforest (or Afromontane Forest ) covering many areas adjacent to
1972-482: Is known as at present), which is highly resistant to erosion and forms characteristic steep grey crags. The 70-metre-thick (230 ft) lower layer, known as the "Graafwater Formation", consists of distinctively maroon-colored mudstones, which were laid down in much thinner horizontal strata than the Table Mountain Sandstone strata above it. The Graafwater rocks can best be seen just above the contour path on
2088-492: Is possible on the Peninsula. Up until the late 1990s baboons lived on all the mountains of the Peninsula, including the Back Table immediately behind Table Mountain. Since then they have abandoned Table Mountain and the Back Table, and only occur south of Constantia Nek. They have also abandoned the tops of many of the mountains, in favor of the lower slopes, particularly when these were covered in pine plantations which seemed to provide them with more, or higher quality food than
2204-467: Is the level plateau approximately three kilometres (2 mi) from side to side, edged by steep cliffs. The plateau, flanked by Devil's Peak to the east and by Lion's Head to the west, forms a dramatic backdrop to Cape Town. This broad sweep of mountainous heights, together with Signal Hill , forms the natural amphitheatre of the City Bowl and Table Bay harbour. The highest point on Table Mountain
2320-545: Is the northernmost end of a 50-kilometre-long (30 mi) and roughly six-to-ten-kilometre-wide (4 to 6 mi) Cape Fold Mountain range that forms the backbone of the Cape Peninsula, stretching from the Cape of Good Hope in the south to Table Mountain and its flanking Devil's Peak (to the east) and Lion's Head and Signal Hill (to the west) in the north. Table Mountain forms the highest point of this range. The range runs parallel to
2436-439: Is towards the eastern end of the plateau and is marked by Maclear's Beacon , a stone cairn built in 1865 by Sir Thomas Maclear for trigonometrical survey. It is 1,086 metres (3,563 ft) above sea level, and about 19 metres (62 ft) higher than the cable station at the western end of the plateau. The cliffs of the main plateau are split by Platteklip Gorge ("Flat Stone Gorge"), which provides an easy and direct ascent to
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#17328589426722552-413: The 2004 election , there was again no absolute winner in the provincial parliament; this time the ANC won 19 seats, the DA won 12, and the NNP won 5. The ANC-NNP coalition continued in power, but van Schalkwyk took up a ministerial post in the national cabinet and was replaced as Premier by the ANC's Ebrahim Rasool . The NNP was finally dissolved after the 2005 floor-crossing period and its members joined
2668-511: The Devil and a local pirate called Van Hunks. When the table cloth is seen, it symbolizes the contest. Table Mountain is at the northern end of a sandstone mountain range that forms the spine of the Cape Peninsula that terminates approximately 50 kilometres (30 mi) to the south at the Cape of Good Hope and Cape Point . Immediately to the south of Table Mountain is a rugged "plateau" at
2784-619: The House of Assembly in 1960. Coloured voters similarly followed in 1958 and 1970 , respectively. The Black Consciousness Movement (BCM) was a grassroots anti-Apartheid activist movement that emerged in South Africa in the mid-1960s out of the political vacuum created by the jailing and banning of the African National Congress and Pan Africanist Congress leadership after the Sharpeville Massacre in 1960. The BCM represented
2900-603: The Overberg are popular coastal tourism areas. The Western Cape is the southernmost region of the African continent with Cape Agulhas as its southernmost point, only 3,800 kilometres (2,400 mi) from the Antarctic coastline. The coastline varies from sandy between capes, to rocky to steep and mountainous in places. The only natural harbour is Saldanha Bay on the west coast, about 140 kilometres (90 mi) north of Cape Town. However
3016-554: The Overberg on the south coast have a maritime climate with cool, moist winters and mild, moist summers. Mossel Bay in the Garden Route is considered to have the second mildest climate worldwide after Hawaii. The La Niña phase of the El Niño-Southern Oscillation cycle tends to increase rainfall in this region in the dry season (November to April). The effects of El Niño on rainfall in southern Africa differ between
3132-686: The Referendum Party , Freedom Front Plus and organisations such as the Cape Independence Advocacy Group and CapeXit, wish to bring forth the constitutional and peaceful secession of the Western Cape. Proponents claim substantial support for the idea, with CapeXit having over 800,000 signed mandates in May 2021. Additionally, a poll conducted in 2023 by Victory Research on behalf of the Cape Independence Advocacy Group claimed that 58% of
3248-565: The Table Mountain National Park , and part of the lands formerly ranged by Khoe-speaking clans, such as the !Uriǁʼaes (the "High Clan"). It is home to a large array of mostly endemic fauna and flora. Its top elevates about 1,000 m above the surrounding city, making the popular hike upwards on a large variety of different, often steep and rocky pathways a serious mountain tour which requires fitness , preparation and hiking equipment . The main feature of Table Mountain
3364-516: The University of the Western Cape (UWC) and the University of Cape Town (UCT) organised marches. Poster parades by UWC and Black Power Salute marches by UCT was broken by the police, resulting in 73 students getting arrested and detained at Victor Verster Prison , near Paarl. On 1 September 1976, the unrest spread to the city of Cape Town itself. Approximately 2000 black students from Western Cape townships, namely Langa, Nyanga and Gugulethu, matched
3480-509: The basement consisting of Cape Granite . Devil's Peak , Signal Hill, the City Bowl and much of the "Cape Flats", however, rest on heavily folded and altered phyllites and hornfelses known informally as the Malmesbury shales . The Cape Granite and Malmesbury shales form the lower, gentler slopes of the Table Mountain range on the Cape Peninsula. They are of late Precambrian age, pre-dating
3596-660: The fynbos on the mountain tops. However these new haunts are also within easy reach of Cape Town's suburbs, which brings them into conflict with humans and dogs, and the risk of traffic accidents. There are now (2014) a dozen troops on the Peninsula, varying in size from 7 to over 100 individuals, scattered on the mountains from the Constantiaberg to Cape Point. The baboon troops are the subject of intense research into their physiology, genetics social interactions and habits. In addition, their sleeping sites are noted each evening, so that monitors armed with paint ball guns can stay with
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3712-554: The national constitution ; these responsibilities include agriculture, education, environment, health services, housing, language policies, tourism, trade, and welfare. The provincial parliament also elects the Premier of the Western Cape to lead the provincial executive. Alan Winde , a member of the DA and former Provincial Minister of Community Safety, has served as Premier since the 2019 provincial election . The Premier appoints ten members of
3828-602: The "Graafwater rocks" by at least 40 million years. The basement rocks are not nearly as resistant to weathering as the TMS, but significant outcrops of the Cape Granite are visible on the western side of Lion's Head, and elsewhere on the Peninsula (especially below Chapman's Peak Drive, and The Boulders near Simon's Town ). The weathered granite soil of the lower slopes of the Peninsula Mountain range are more fertile than
3944-553: The "R" roads which connect the smaller towns. All major roads are tarred with major rural gravel roads well maintained. Limited access motorways are limited to the Cape Metropolitan Area, Winelands and Garden Route, however due to the low population density of the remainder of the province, the highways remain efficient and high-speed, except during peak holiday travel seasons, when travel can be slow-going in places due to heavy traffic. The 2022 South African census recorded
4060-491: The 2,285 species on the Peninsula 1,500 occur in the 57 km area comprising Table Mountain and the Back Table, a number at least a large as all the plant species in the whole of the United Kingdom. The Disa uniflora , despite its restricted range within the Western Cape , is relatively common in the perennially wet areas (waterfalls, streamlets and seeps) on Table Mountain and the Back Table, but hardly anywhere else on
4176-499: The ANC, again giving that party an absolute majority of 24 seats. In the 2007 floor-crossing period the ANC gained a further three members of the provincial parliament. In 2008 Rasool resigned as Premier due to internal party politics, and was replaced by Lynne Brown . The 2009 election marked a significant change in Western Cape politics, as the Democratic Alliance won 51% of the votes and an absolute majority of 22 seats in
4292-748: The Back Table, the Orange Kloof Tented Camp, the Slangkop Tented Camp and the Smitswinkel Tented Camp). These camps are "self-catering", each with communal ablution facilities, with large communal kitchen/lounge areas, fully equipped for 12 persons. SANPARKS arranges for luggage and provisions to be transported to the operational cottages and tented camps, so that the hikers can ascend the mountain unencumbered by heavy backpacks. The four Table Mountain Hoerikwaggo hiking trails were called
4408-534: The Block House is a popular route for bike riding. Plum Pudding Hill is the name of a very steep jeep track. Bike riders should follow the directional signs on display for mountain bike riders. Table Mountain is the only terrestrial feature to give its name to a constellation : Mensa , meaning The Table . The constellation is seen in the Southern Hemisphere , below Orion , around midnight in mid-July. It
4524-485: The Cape Peninsula National Park. The park was later renamed to the Table Mountain National Park . Fires are common on the mountain. The most recent major fires include those of January 2006, which burned large amounts of vegetation and resulted in the death of a tourist (a charge of arson and culpable homicide was laid against a British man who was suspected of starting the blaze), and March 2015. There
4640-536: The Cape Peninsula. It is a very showy orchid that blooms from January to March on the Table Mountain Sandstone regions of the mountain . Although they are quite widespread on the Back Table, the best (most certain, and close-up) place to view these beautiful blooms is in the "Aqueduct" off the Smuts Track, halfway between Skeleton Gorge and Maclear's Beacon. Remnant patches of indigenous forest persist in
4756-615: The Cape Town area. According to a report by the Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC), the Western Cape experienced the second highest number of deaths and casualties associated with the 1976 uprising protests. In 1994, at the introduction of the Interim Constitution and the first non-racial election , South Africa's original provinces and bantustans were abolished and nine new provinces were established. The former Cape Province
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4872-460: The Cape Town central business district (CBD). Coloured students also contributed to the protests by peacefully marching to the city, but were blockaded by the police in the CBD. The protests turned violent when coloured students started burning schools, libraries and a magistrate's court in support of the student revolt. Thereafter, 200,000 coloured workers partook in a two-day strike staying away from work in
4988-516: The King's Blockhouse, at the north-east corner of Devil's Peak , immediately below the Mowbray Ridge cliffs, to the front of Devil's Peak and the north face of Table Mountain, ending at the bottom of Kloof Corner Ridge at the western end of the Table Mountain cliffs. It starts at Constantia Nek at 250 m and climbs to around 320 m above Cecilia Park and Kirstenbosch, then climbs to 470 m to
5104-659: The King's blockhouse, Duke of York blockhouse ( later renamed Queen's blockhouse ) and the Prince of Wales blockhouse. Two of these are in ruins today, but the King's blockhouse is still in good condition. and easily accessible from the Rhodes Memorial . Between 1896 and 1907, five dams, the Woodhead, Hely-Hutchinson, De Villiers, Alexandria and Victoria reservoirs, were opened on the Back Table to supply Cape Town's water needs. A ropeway ascending from Camps Bay via Kasteelspoort ravine
5220-636: The Lower Cable Station. From there it is possible, from either contour path, to join up with the "Pipe Track" which starts from Kloof Nek, and then runs at an elevation of about 300 m, below the cliffs of the Twelve Apostles, on the Atlantic side of the mountain range as far as the Oudekraal Ravine, where the path goes up the ravine to join the "Apostles Path" on top of the Back Table at an elevation of 685 m. There are innumerable paths which join
5336-478: The Peninsula's mountain chain, extending from Devil's Peak , the eastern side of Table Mountain (Erica and Fernwood Buttresses), and the Back Table to Constantia Nek , does not have a single name, as on the western side. It is better known by the names of the conservation areas on its lower slopes: Groote Schuur Estate, Newlands Forest , Kirstenbosch Botanical Gardens , Cecilia Park , and Constantia Nek . The upper approximately 600-metre (2,000 ft) portion of
5452-544: The People's Trail, Table Mountain Trail, Orangekloof Hiking Trail and Top to Tip Trail. Rock climbing on Table Mountain is a very popular pastime. There are well-documented climbing routes of varying degrees of difficulty up the many faces of the mountain. The main climbs are located on cliffs below the upper cable station. No bolting can be done here and only traditional climbing is allowed. Commercial groups also offer abseiling from
5568-619: The Province's most inland boundary. The escarpment marks the southwestern edge of South Africa's central plateau (see the middle and bottom diagrams on the left). It runs parallel to the entire South African coastline, except in the very far northeast, where it is interrupted by the Limpopo River valley, and in the far northwest, where it is interrupted by the Orange River valley. The 1,000-kilometre-long (620 mi) northeastern stretch of
5684-500: The Provincial Treasury. Politically, the Western Cape is a stronghold for the Democratic Alliance (DA). The DA has won an absolute majority of the vote in the province in every national, provincial, and municipal election since 2009 . The Western Cape Province is divided into one metropolitan municipality and five district municipalities . The district municipalities are in turn divided into 24 local municipalities . In
5800-800: The Western Cape's GDP. 95% of wine produced in South Africa is produced in the Western Cape. South Africa is the 7th largest wine producing region in the world. The Western Cape has an excellent network of highways comparable with any first-world country. The primary highways are the N1 (from Cape Town to Three Sisters , continuing outside the province towards Bloemfontein and Johannesburg ), N2 (from Cape Town to Bloukrans River, towards Port Elizabeth ), N7 (from Cape Town to Bitterfontein, continuing towards Springbok and Namibia ), N9 (from George to Uniondale, continuing towards Graaff-Reinet and Colesberg ) and N12 (from George to Three Sisters, continuing towards Kimberley and Johannesburg). Other routes are
5916-476: The Western Cape's registered voters would support independence, while 68% would support a referendum on the issue. The provincial government is established under the Constitution of the Western Cape , which was adopted in 1998. The people of the province elect the 42-member Western Cape Provincial Parliament every five years by a system of party-list proportional representation . The sixth provincial parliament
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#17328589426726032-399: The area was shot circa 1802. Leopards persisted on the mountains until perhaps the 1920s but are now extinct locally. Two smaller, secretive, nocturnal carnivores, the rooikat ( caracal ) and the vaalboskat (also called the vaalkat or Southern African wildcat ) were once common in the mountains and the mountain slopes. The rooikat continues to be seen on rare occasions by mountaineers but
6148-449: The biggest sector in the Western Cape's economy is the financial, business services and real estate sector, which constitutes 33.55% of gross value added, followed by manufacturing at 14.26% and wholesale and retail trade, hotels, and restaurants at 13.67%. High-tech industries, international call centres, fashion design, advertising and TV production are niche industries rapidly gaining in importance. Cape Town accounts for roughly 73% of
6264-467: The cable station was abandoned in 2006, leaving only the Noordhoek pair, which continued to fledge chicks reasonably regularly until 2013, at which point one member of the pair disappeared. From 2013 until January 2017 only a single Verreaux's Eagle, presumed to be a female, remained on the Peninsula. She continued to maintain the nest under Noordhoek Peak, but seemed unable to attract a mate. But in early 2017
6380-536: The coast, in the deep river valleys and along the southern slopes of the Outeniqua mountain range. Typical species are hardwoods of exceptional height, such as Yellowwood , Stinkwood and Ironwood trees. The Western Cape is climatologically diverse, with many distinct micro- and macroclimates created by the varied topography and the influence of the surrounding ocean currents. These are the warm Agulhas Current which flows southwards along South Africa's east coast, and
6496-626: The cold Benguela Current which is an upwelling current from the depths of the South Atlantic Ocean along South Africa's west coast. Thus climatic statistics can vary greatly over short distances. Most of the province is considered to have a Mediterranean climate with cool, wet winters and warm, dry summers. Both the Great Karoo and Little Karoo , in the interior, have an arid to semi-arid climate with cold, frosty winters and hot summers with occasional thunderstorms . The Garden Route and
6612-528: The contour path from below (at least five from Kirstenbosch alone), and somewhat fewer that join it from above. On top of the mountain, and particularly on the Back Table, there is an extensive network of well marked hiking paths over a variety of terrains and distances and durations up to several hours or all day. Maps of all the routes are available at bookshops and outdoor recreation stores, which hikers are advised to use, as dense mist and cold weather (or extreme heat) can descend without warning at any time of
6728-538: The dams and they are no longer an important part of the water supply. Arguments for a national park on the Cape Peninsula, centred on Table Mountain, began in earnest in the mid-1930s. Following a big fire in 1986, the Cape Times started a 'save the mountain' campaign, and in 1989 the Cape Peninsula Protected Natural Environment (CPPNE) area was established. However, environmental management
6844-489: The early European settlers to build Cape Town on the shores of this less than satisfactory anchorage. The province is topographically exceptionally diverse. Most of the province falls within the Cape Fold Belt , a set of nearly parallel ranges of sandstone folded mountains of Cambrian - Ordovician age (the age of the rocks is from 510 to about 330 million years ago; their folding into mountains occurred about 350 to about 270 million years ago). The height of
6960-423: The entire United Kingdom. It is characterised by various types of shrubs, thousands of herbaceous flowering plant species and some grasses. With the exception of the Silver tree, Leucadendron argenteum , which only grows on the granite and clay soils of the Cape Peninsula , open fynbos is generally treeless except in the wetter mountain ravines where patches of Afromontane forest persist. The arid interior
7076-416: The escarpment is called the Drakensberg , which is geographically and geologically quite distinct from the Cape Fold Mountains , which originated much earlier and totally independently of the origin of the escarpment. The principal rivers of the province are the Berg and Olifants which drain into the Atlantic Ocean, and the Breede and Gourits which drain into the Indian Ocean. The vegetation of
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#17328589426727192-425: The expected changes. Thunderstorms are generally rare in the province (except in the Karoo ) with most precipitation being of a frontal or orographic nature. Extremes of heat and cold are common inland, but rare near the coast. Snow is a common winter occurrence on the Western Cape Mountains occasionally reaching down into the more inland valleys. Otherwise, frost is relatively rare in coastal areas and many of
7308-417: The following interactive map, the district and metropolitan municipalities are labelled in capital letters and shaded in various different colours. Clicking on the district on the map loads the appropriate article: As of the third quarter of 2023, the Western Cape's total real GDP was R 656.27 billion, which equaled 14.2% of South Africa's total GDP, and real GDP per capita was R90,571. The Western Cape has
7424-410: The front of Table Mountain, and around Devils Peak . They can also been seen in the cutting along Chapman's Peak Drive. These rocks are believed to have originated in shallow tidal flats, in which a few Ordovician fossils, and fossil tracks have been preserved. The overlying TMS probably arose in deeper water, either as a result of subsidence, or a rise in the sea level. The Graafwater rocks rest on
7540-479: The game camp, which is quite large and undulating, and the animals are few. The animal camp is not open to the public. Prehistoric inhabitation of the district is well attested (see for example the article on Fish Hoek ). About 2000 years ago the Khoe -speaking peoples migrated towards the Cape Peninsula from the north. This countryside was before that occupied by nomadic !Ui speakers (who were foragers). The pastoralist influx brought herds of cattle and sheep into
7656-411: The heavily cultivated valleys. The Hon Alan Winde MMP The Seventh Provincial Parliament Speaker Daylin Mitchell MMP Deputy Speaker Reagan Allen MMP Chief Whip of the Majority Party Gillon Bosman MMP Leader of the Opposition Khalid Sayed MMP Chief Whip of the Official Opposition Ayanda Bans MMP Municipal: The Cape has had
7772-444: The imposition of using Afrikaans as a medium of instruction in black schools, effective with students in Grade 7 (Standard 5) upwards. As early as March 1976, students began passive resistance against Afrikaans, fueling the outbreak of the Soweto Uprising on 16 June 1976. Consequently, the student protests spread to other parts of the country, and Cape Town became a pivotal site for Western Cape student revolt. Student leaders at
7888-427: The independence of the "Sovereign State of Good Hope". In the 2019 election , the DA retained their majority in the province, but with a reduction in support. It had won 24 seats with 55%. Helen Zille was term-limited and the DA premier candidate Alan Winde succeeded her. The ANC also lost support. It had received 12 seats with 28% support, its lowest showing since 1994. Veteran politician Peter Marais returned to
8004-413: The lower slopes of Devil's Peak , above Groote Schuur Hospital an animal camp bequeathed to the City of Cape Town by Cecil John Rhodes has been used in recent years as part of the Quagga Project . The quagga used to roam the Cape Peninsula, the Karoo and the Free State in large numbers, but were hunted to extinction during the early 1800s. The last quagga died in an Amsterdam zoo in 1883. In 1987
8120-429: The main plateau which constitutes the flat summit of Table Mountain as seen from the north. From the Southern Suburbs side, the Nursery Ravine and Skeleton Gorge routes start at Kirstenbosch National Botanical Garden . The route via Skeleton Gorge to Maclear's Beacon is known as Smuts Track in memory of Jan Smuts , who was a keen hiker. The Bridle Path, or Jeep Track, makes a more gradual ascent from Constantia Nek along
8236-421: The mountain peaks in the different ranges varies from 1,000 metres (3,300 ft) to 2,300 metres (7,500 ft). The valleys between ranges are generally very fertile, as they contain the weathered loamy soils of the Bokkeveld mudstones (see the diagrams below). The far interior forms part of the Karoo . This region of the province is generally arid and hilly, with a prominent escarpment that runs close to
8352-462: The mountain. Table Mountain's vegetation types form part of the Cape Floral Region protected areas. These protected areas are a World Heritage Site , and an estimated 2,285 species of plants are confined to Table Mountain and the Cape Peninsula range, of which a great proportion, including many species of proteas , are endemic to these mountains and valleys and can be found nowhere else. Of
8468-611: The mountain. As an exotic species, they were almost eradicated through a culling programme initiated by the South African National Parks to make way for the reintroduction of indigenous klipspringers . Until recently there were also small numbers of fallow deer of European origin and sambar deer from southeast Asia. These were mainly in the Rhodes Memorial area but during the 1960s they could be found as far afield as Signal Hill. These animals may still be seen occasionally despite efforts to eliminate or relocate them. On
8584-457: The north, and the Atlantic seaboard to the west and south. The top cable station includes curio shops, a restaurant and walking trails of various lengths. The original cableway construction was awarded to Adolf Bleichert & Co. of Leipzig, Germany, in 1926 and the cableway opened on 4 October 1929. The cableway has been refurbished three times since its inauguration in 1929, with upgrades to
8700-407: The nutrient-poor soils derived from TMS. Most of the vineyards found on the Cape Peninsula are therefore found on these granitic slopes of the Table Mountain range. The mountain owes its table-top flatness to the fact that it is a syncline mountain, meaning that it was once the floor of a valley (see diagram on the right). The anticline , or highest point of the series of folds that Table Mountain
8816-519: The one-kilometre-high (0.62 mi) table-topped mountain, or mesa , consists of 450- to 510-million-year-old ( Ordovician ) rocks belonging to the two lowermost layers of the Cape Fold Mountains . The uppermost, and younger of the two layers, consists of extremely hard quartzitic sandstone , commonly referred to as " Table Mountain Sandstone " (TMS), or " Peninsula Formation Sandstone" (as it
8932-450: The other Cape Fold Mountain ranges on the mainland to the east. Table Mountain and the Back Table have an unusually rich biodiversity. Its vegetation consists predominantly of several different types of the unique and rich Cape fynbos . The main vegetation type is endangered Peninsula Sandstone Fynbos , but critically endangered Peninsula Granite Fynbos , Peninsula Shale Renosterveld and Afromontane forest occur in smaller portions on
9048-541: The period 1950-1990, with only two pairs, maximally, ever having been reported to fledge a chick each in any given year. With the commencement of formal monitoring in 1993, two breeding pairs were recorded on the Cape Peninsula Mountain Chain in 2004: one below the upper cable station at the western end of Table Mountain, in Blinkwater Ravine, the other on the cliffs below Noordhoek Peak. The nest near
9164-524: The population of the Western Cape as 7,433,020 people living in 2,264,032 households. As the province covers an area of 129,462 square kilometres (49,986 sq mi), the population density was 45.0 inhabitants per square kilometre (117/sq mi) and the household density 12.6 per square kilometre (33/sq mi). Table Mountain Table Mountain ( Khoekhoe : Huriǂoaxa , lit. 'sea-emerging'; Afrikaans : Tafelberg )
9280-458: The proliferation of the larger Protea species, a rare local colony of which, the Aulax umbellata (Family: Proteaceae ), was wiped out on the Peninsula by more frequent fires, as have been the silky-haired pincushion, Leucospermum vestitum , the red sugarbush, Protea grandiceps and Burchell's sugarbush, Protea burchellii , although a stand of a dozen or so plants has recently been "rediscovered" in
9396-402: The provincial legislature to serve as a cabinet of ministers, overseeing the departments of the provincial government . These departments are Agriculture, Community Safety , Cultural Affairs and Sport, Economic Development and Tourism, Education , Environmental Affairs and Development Planning, Health , Human Settlements, Local Government, Social Development, Transport and Public Works , and
9512-523: The provincial parliament as the sole representative of the Freedom Front Plus . Patricia de Lille formed another party, Good , and it achieved a seat. The DA continued to win a majority of the votes in the 2021 municipal elections , receiving 54% of the vote province-wide, with support in Cape Town at 58%. Since the late 2000s there has been growing support for Western Cape, or Greater Cape, independence from South Africa. Political parties such as
9628-499: The provincial parliament, while the ANC won 14 seats with 31% of the vote. The DA leader Helen Zille was elected Premier. In 2010 the Independent Democrats , which had won 3 seats with 5% of the vote, merged with the DA. In the 2014 election the DA won 59% of the votes and an absolute majority of 26 seats in the provincial parliament, while the ANC won 14 seats with 32% of the vote. In 2018 King Khoebaha Cornelius III Declared
9744-415: The rapid spread of these invasive alien trees. Other invasive plants include black wattle , blackwood, Port Jackson and rooikrans (All Australian members of the acacia family), as well as several Hakea species and bramble . The most common mammal on the mountain was the dassie (the South African name, from Afrikaans , pronounced "dussy"), or rock hyrax . Between about 2000 and 2004 (no one
9860-587: The region is also extremely diverse, with one of the world's seven floral kingdoms almost exclusively endemic to the province, namely the Cape Floral Kingdom , most of which is covered by Fynbos (from the Afrikaans meaning "Fine Bush" (Dutch: Fijnbos), though precisely how it came to be referred to as such, is uncertain.). These evergreen heathlands are extremely rich in species diversity, with at least as many plant species occurring on Table Mountain as in
9976-662: The region, which then formed part of a larger grazing land that was seasonally rotated. It was the !Uriǁʼaekua ("Highclansmen", often written in Dutch as Goringhaiqua ) who were the dominant local people when the Europeans first sailed into Table Bay. This clan is said to be the ancestral population of the !Ora nations of today (so-called "Korana" people). These original inhabitants of the area so-called " Khoekhoen ", called Table Mountain Huriǂ'oaxa – "ocean-emerging (mountain)". António de Saldanha
10092-571: The resort of Nature's Valley on the Grootrivier and then climbs the opposite slope, back to the plateau. The pass was finished in 1880 by Thomas Bain and major reconstruction was carried out on both sections in 2010. The route from plateau down to sea-level and then back to the plateau, was dictated by the wide and deep gorge carved by the Grootrivier and stretching inland to the Tsitsikamma Mountains . Modern bridge-building techniques spanned
10208-601: The road used to service the dams on Back Table. There are many other paths in popular walking areas on the lower slopes of the mountain accessed from Constantia Nek , Cecilia Park , Kirstenbosch , Newlands Forest and Rhodes Memorial . There are a number of ascents on the Atlantic side of the mountain, the most popular being Kasteelspoort, a ravine overlooking Camps Bay . There is a popular "Contour Path" that runs from Constantia Nek , and then, in succession, above Cecilia Park , Kirstenbosch Botanical Gardens , Newlands Forest , and from there, above Groote Schuur Estate, past
10324-477: The saddle between Table Mountain and Devil's Peak. Some bulbs may similarly have become extinct as a result a too rapid sequence of fires. The fires that occur on the mountains today are still largely due to unregulated human activity. Fire frequency is therefore a matter of chance rather than conservation. Despite intensive conservation efforts the Table Mountain range has the highest concentration of threatened species of any continental area of equivalent size in
10440-455: The scree below the cliffs of Fernwood Buttress. It then descends to 350 m, only to ascend to 400 m 1 km later and remains on this contour until the King's Blockhouse, and from there, eventually, to Tafelberg Road (at 400 m). From the King's Blockhouse it is possible to choose a footpath that will lead to the "upper contour path" which traverses the front (north face) of Devil's Peak and Table Mountain at 500 m, to just beyond
10556-556: The south-easterly winds driving upwelling are weaker which results in warmer coastal waters than normal, while during La Niña the same winds are stronger and cause colder coastal waters. These effects on the winds are part of large scale influences on the tropical Atlantic and the South Atlantic High -pressure system, and changes to the pattern of westerly winds further south. There are other influences not known to be related to ENSO of similar importance. Some ENSO events do not lead to
10672-420: The status of the vaalboskat is uncertain. The mountain cliffs are home to several raptors species, apart from the Verreaux's eagle. They include the jackal buzzard , booted eagle (in summer), African harrier-hawk , peregrine falcon and the rock kestrel . In 2014 there were four pairs of African fish eagles on the Peninsula, but they nest in trees generally as far away from human habitation and activity as
10788-406: The summer and winter rainfall areas. Winter rainfall areas tend to get higher rainfall than normal and summer rainfall areas tend to get less rain. The effect on the summer rainfall areas is stronger and has led to severe drought in strong El Niño events. Sea surface temperatures off the west and south coasts of South Africa are affected by ENSO via changes in surface wind strength. During El Niño
10904-413: The summit and was the route taken by António de Saldanha on the first recorded ascent of the mountain in 1503. The flat top of the mountain is often covered by orographic clouds, formed when a southeasterly wind is directed up the mountain's slopes into colder air, where the moisture condenses to form the so-called "table cloth" of cloud. Legend attributes this phenomenon to a smoking contest between
11020-410: The summit. The gondolas rotate through 360 degrees during the ascent or descent, giving a panoramic view over the city. Hiking on Table Mountain is popular amongst locals and tourists, and a number of trails of varying difficulty are available. Because of the steep cliffs around the summit, direct ascents from the city side are limited. Platteklip Gorge, a prominent gorge up the centre of the main table,
11136-461: The third largest economy of South Africa's nine provinces, behind Gauteng and KwaZulu-Natal . The province's unemployment rate was 20.2%, which is the lowest in South Africa and considerably below the national unemployment rate of 31.9%. As of 2018, the Western Cape's Human Development Index is the highest in South Africa at 0.741 compared to the South African average of 0.705. As of 2023,
11252-586: The three gorges of the Grootrivier, the Bloukrans River and the Storms River , allowing the opening of the freeway in June 1984. The forest is home to a myriad of bird species as well as small antelope, vervet monkeys , baboons and leopards. The road features various viewpoints and picnic spots. Western Cape The Western Cape ( Afrikaans : Wes-Kaap [ˈvɛskɑːp] ; Xhosa : iNtshona-Koloni )
11368-411: The troop all day, to ward them off from wandering into the suburbs. From when this initiative was started in 2009 the number of baboons on the Peninsula has increased from 350 to 450, and the number of baboons killed or injured by residents has decreased. Himalayan tahrs , fugitive descendants of tahrs that escaped from Groote Schuur Zoo in 1936, used to be common on the less accessible upper parts of
11484-447: The upper and lower cable stations and enlarged gondolas. The first refurbishment occurred in 1958, the second in 1974, and the third and most significant reconstruction from 1996 to 1997, introducing a "Rotair" gondola manufactured by the Swiss company Garaventa AG – CWA ( Doppelmayr Garaventa Group ) which increased the capacity from 20 to 65 passengers per trip and provided a faster journey to
11600-539: The upper cable station. Most of the world's important caves occur in limestone but Table Mountain is unusual in having several large cave systems that have developed in sandstone. The biggest systems are the Wynberg Caves, located on the Back Table, not far from the Jeep Track, in ridges overlooking Orange Kloof and Hout Bay . The slopes of Table Mountain have many jeep tracks that allow mountain biking. The route to
11716-620: The very hard, lower layer of the TMS Formation . Originally this was topped by a thin glacial tillite layer, known as the Pakhuis Formation (see the diagram above, left), above which was the upper layer of TMS. Both these layers, but especially the tillite layer, are softer than the lower layer of Table Mountain Sandstone. When these softer layers eroded away, they left a very hard, flat erosion-resistant quartzitic sandstone platform behind which today forms Table Mountain's top. Table Mountain
11832-568: The wetter ravines. However, much of the indigenous forest was felled by the early European settlers for fuel for the lime kilns needed during the construction of the Castle . The exact extent of the original forests is unknown, though most of it was probably along the eastern slopes of Devil's Peak , Table Mountain and the Back Table where names such as Rondebosch, Kirstenbosch, Klassenbosch and Witteboomen survive (in Dutch "bosch" means forest; and "boomen" means trees). Hout Bay (in Dutch "hout" means wood)
11948-439: The world. The non-urban areas of the Cape Peninsula (mainly on the mountains and mountain slopes) have suffered particularly under a massive onslaught of invasive alien plants for well over a century, with perhaps the worst invader being the cluster pine , partly because it was planted in extensive commercial plantations along the eastern slopes of the mountains, north of Muizenberg. Considerable efforts have been made to control
12064-601: The year. The Hoerikwaggo Trails were four hiking trails on the Cape Peninsula Mountain Chain ranging from two to six days, operated by South African National Parks (SANPARKS) between the Victoria & Alfred Waterfront and Cape Point . Today (2017) the trails can no longer be undertaken with an official SANPARKS guide, and only four of the original accommodation facilities are operational (the Overseer's Cottage on
12180-686: Was a major fire in April 2021 that affected the Rhodes Memorial and the University of Cape Town . In November 2011, Table Mountain was named one of the New7Wonders of Nature . The Table Mountain Aerial Cableway takes passengers from the lower cable station on Tafelberg Road, about 302 metres (991 ft) above sea level, to the plateau at the top of the mountain, at 1,067 metres (3,501 ft). The upper cable station offers views overlooking Cape Town , Table Bay , Lion's Head and Robben Island to
12296-406: Was another source of timber and fuel as the name suggests. In the early 1900s commercial pine plantations were planted on these slopes all the way from the Constantiaberg to the front of Devil's Peak, and even on top of the mountains, but these have now been largely cleared allowing fynbos to flourish in the regions where the indigenous Afromontane forests have not survived, or never existed. Fynbos
12412-451: Was created in 1994 from part of the former Cape Province . The two largest cities are Cape Town and George . The Western Cape is roughly L-shaped, extending north and east from the Cape of Good Hope , in the southwestern corner of South Africa. It stretches about 400 kilometres (250 mi) northwards along the Atlantic coast and about 500 kilometres (300 mi) eastwards along the South African south coast ( Southern Indian Ocean ). It
12528-424: Was divided into the Western Cape, Northern Cape , Eastern Cape and part of North West . In the 1994 election, the Western Cape was one of two provinces that did not elect an African National Congress (ANC) provincial government (the other being KwaZulu-Natal ). The National Party (NP) won 53% of the votes and 23 seats in the 42-seat provincial legislature, and Hernus Kriel , a former Minister of Law and Order,
12644-592: Was elected Premier . He resigned in 1998 and was replaced by Gerald Morkel . The 1999 election marked the beginning of a period of great turbulence in Western Cape politics. No party achieved an absolute majority in the provincial parliament, as the ANC won 18 seats while the New National Party (NNP), successor to the NP, won 17. The NNP went into coalition with the Democratic Party (DP), which won 5 seats, to form
12760-680: Was elected in 2024 ; 24 seats are held by the Democratic Alliance , 8 by the African National Congress , 3 by the Patriotic Alliance , 2 by the Economic Freedom Fighters , and 1 each by the African Christian Democratic Party , Al Jama-ah , Good , Freedom Front Plus , and National Coloured Congress . The provincial parliament is responsible for legislating within its responsibilities as set out by
12876-405: Was later gradually restricted, and eventually abolished, under various National Party and United Party governments. In 1930 white women were enfranchised , and in 1931 property qualifications for white voters were removed . In 1936 black voters were then removed from the common voters' rolls and allowed only to elect separate members in 1936, and subsequently denied all representation in
12992-550: Was once part of , lay to the east, but that has been weathered away, together with the underlying softer Malmesbury shale and granite basement, to form the "Cape Flats", the isthmus that connects the Cape Peninsula to the mainland. The fold mountains reappear as the Hottentots-Holland Mountain range on the mainland side of the Cape Flats. What has added to the mountain's table-top flatness is that it consists entirely of
13108-421: Was replaced by Peter Marais. In 2002 Marais resigned as Premier due to a sexual harassment scandal, and was replaced by NNP leader Marthinus van Schalkwyk . During the 2003 floor-crossing period four members of the provincial parliament crossed to the ANC, giving it an absolute majority of 22 seats in the 42-seat house. However, the ANC remained in coalition with the NNP and van Schalkwyk remained as Premier. In
13224-508: Was still bedeviled by the fragmented nature of land ownership on the Peninsula. Following another big fire in 1991, Attorney General Frank Kahn was appointed to reach consensus on a plan for rationalizing management of the CPPNE. In 1995, Prof. Brian Huntley recommended that SANParks be appointed to manage the CPPNE, with an agreement signed in April 1998 to transfer around 39,500 acres to SANParks. On 29 May 1998, then-president Nelson Mandela proclaimed
13340-613: Was the first European to land in Table Bay. He climbed the mighty mountain in 1503 and named it Taboa do Cabo ( Table of the Cape , in his native Portuguese ). The great cross that the Portuguese navigator carved into the rock of Lion's Head is still traceable. In 1796, during the British occupation of the Cape , Major-General Sir James Craig ordered three blockhouses to be built on Table Mountain:
13456-525: Was used to ferry materials and manpower (the anchor points at the old top station can still be seen). There is a well-preserved steam locomotive from this period housed in the Waterworks Museum at the top of the mountain near the Hely-Hutchinson dam. It had been used to haul materials for the dam across the flat top of the mountain. Cape Town's water requirements have since far outpaced the capacity of
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