Kraaifontein is a town in the

Western Cape province The Western Cape ( ; , ) 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 , and the third most populous, with an estimated 7 million inhabi ...

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the Southern Africa, southernmost country in Africa. Its Provinces of South Africa, nine provinces are bounded to the south by of coastline that stretches along the Atlantic O ...

and is located on the north-eastern outskirts of the City of Cape Town Metropolitan Municipality. The name originated from the large number of crows (''Kraai'' in Afrikaans) that nest in the region. The name is derived from the , Xam word ''!gauru'', ‘crow, white crow’, and ''kamma,'' therefore its ǀXam name was ''!gaurukamma.''

Beginnings

In 1869 sub-division of farm land started in the area. A railway station was formed in 1876 called "Kraaifontein Junction", followed by formal town development in 1877. The first school was established on 20 January 1908. The Dutch Reformed Church was founded in 1948. In the same year Kraaifontein got its own local authority. In 1954 the "Volkskerk van Afrika (Translated- The nation's church of Africa)" was founded with BJE Appollis being the first preacher. On 16 September 1957, it became a municipality under the first mayor, JP Rossouw.

Today

Today, Kraaifontein has been incorporated into the Greater Cape Town metropolitan area and is located in

Cape Town Cape Town is the legislature, legislative capital city, capital of South Africa. It is the country's oldest city and the seat of the Parliament of South Africa. Cape Town is the country's List of municipalities in South Africa, second-largest ...

's northern suburbs flanking the N1 towards

Paarl Paarl (; ; derived from ''parel'', meaning "pearl" in Dutch) is a city with 294,457 inhabitants in the Western Cape province of South Africa. It is the largest city in the Boland, Western Cape, Cape Winelands. Due to the growth of the Mbekweni ...

and Worcester to the east. Although being part of the City of Cape Town Metropolitan Municipality, Kraaifontein is still considered a town with its own

central business district A central business district (CBD) is the Commerce, commercial and business center of a city. It contains commercial space and offices, and in larger cities will often be described as a financial district. Geographically, it often coincides wit ...

. It comprises several residential areas, namely Windsor Park, Scottsville, Peerless Park, Eikendal, Scottsdene, Bloekombos, Wallacedene, Belmont Park, Bonny Brook, and Uitzicht. Libraries are funded and owned by the

City of Cape Town The City of Cape Town (; ) is a Metropolitan municipality (South Africa), metropolitan municipality that forms the metropolitan municipality (South Africa), local government of Cape Town and surrounding areas. As of 2022 it has a population of ...

. These libraries are Kraaifontein Public Library, Scottsdene Public Library, and Eikendal Public Library. High Schools in the area are Monument Park, Eben Dönges, Bloekombos, Masibambane Secondary School, Simonsberg Primary School, Scottsdene High School, Scottsville High School and Bernadino Heights High School.

Geography

Strategically located at the gateway to the Cape Winelands, Kraaifontein is exactly halfway between

(31 km) and

(29 km) along the N1 highway and is flanked by

Durbanville Durbanville, previously called Pampoenkraal, is a town in the Western Cape province of South Africa, part of the greater City of Cape Town, Cape Town metropolitan area. It is a semi-rural residential suburb on the north-eastern outskirts of the ...

to the north-west and Brackenfell to the west. Kraaifontein, encompassing the areas of Bernardino Heights, Scottsdene, Scottsville, Wallacedene, Eikendal and Bloekombos, was once a separate municipality before the restructuring of all South African municipalities during the late '90s. These areas, however, are listed as separate suburbs by the City of Cape Town for planning and statistical purposes. Forming part of the

Metropolitan Municipality, it is located in its Subcouncil 2 Area, Bergdal.

Suburban Areas

* Belmont Park *Bernadino Heights *Bloekombos *Bonnie Brae *Bonnie Brook *Buh-Rein Estate *Eikendal *Joostenberg Vlakte *Klein Begin *Kraaifontein Agricultural Holdings *Kraaifontein East *Kraaifontein Industrial *Langeberg Glen *Langeberg Heights *Langeberg Ridge *Peerless Park East *Peerless Park North *Peerless Park West *Scottsdene *Scottsville *Summerville *Uitzicht * Wallacedene *Windsor Park *Windsor Park Estate *Viking Village *Zoo Park

Transport

Rail

Kraaifontein lies at a railway junction (historically known as "Kraaifontein Junction"), situated on the main commuter line between

and

Wellington Wellington is the capital city of New Zealand. It is located at the south-western tip of the North Island, between Cook Strait and the Remutaka Range. Wellington is the third-largest city in New Zealand (second largest in the North Island ...

(

Northern Line The Northern line is a London Underground line that runs between North London and South London. It is printed in black on the Tube map. It carries more passengers per year than any other Underground linearound 340million in 2019making it the bu ...

) and the branch line to

Malmesbury Malmesbury () is a town and civil parish in north Wiltshire, England, which lies approximately west of Swindon, northeast of Bristol, and north of Chippenham. The older part of the town is on a hilltop which is almost surrounded by the upp ...

, both operated by

Metrorail METRORail is the light rail system in Houston, Texas (United States). In , the system had a ridership of , or about per weekday as of . METRORail ranks as the second most-traveled light rail system in the Southern United States and the List ...

. Metrorail currently operates commuter railway services in Kraaifontein from the Kraaifontein Railway Station (north of the town centre) to

, Bellville, Brackenfell,

and

on the Northern Line and to Fisantekraal, Klipheuwel and

on the Malmesbury branch line.

Road

The N1 is the major freeway that runs through Kraaifontein, routing traffic heading north-west from

towards

. It enters the town from Brackenfell, bisecting the town and passing through the M15 and M167 before heading towards the Cape Winelands. The

R101 R101 was one of a pair of British rigid airships completed in 1929 as part of the Imperial Airship Scheme, a British government programme to develop civil airships capable of service on long-distance routes within the British Empire. It was d ...

is the original N1, and served the same function before the construction of the freeway. It enters Kraaifontein from Brackenfell as Old Paarl Road, runs through the

as Voortrekker Road and leaves Kraaifontein towards Klapmuts and

as Old Paarl Road again. Kraaifontein is also served by many metropolitan routes. The M15 connects to

and

Stellenbosch Stellenbosch (; )A Universal Pronouncing Gazetteer.
Thomas Baldwin ...

(via the M23). The M23 connects to Bellville and

Stellenbosch Stellenbosch (; )A Universal Pronouncing Gazetteer.
Thomas Baldwin ...

, and barely by-passes Kraaifontein to the south. The M25 connects to Brackenfell and Bellville. The M73 connects to Brackenfell and Durbanville. The M137 runs north–south from Brackenfell to Durbanville and by-passes Kraaifontein to the west. Kraaifontein is also served internally by the M167 which links the eastern suburbs, namely Joostenberg Vlakte, Kraaifontein Industria and Bloekombos.

Coat of arms

The Kraaifontein municipal council assumed a coat of arms, registered it with the Cape Provincial Administration in June 1964,Cape of Good Hope ''Official Gazette'' 3245 (26 June 1964). had it granted by the provincial administrator in March 1967,Cape of Good Hope ''Official Gazette'' 3391 (3 March 1967). and registered it at the Bureau of Heraldry in September 1969.
/ref> The arms, designed by Schalk Pienaar, were: ''Argent, a chevron Gules between in chief two heraldic fountains and in base a bunch of grapes leaved proper'' (in layman's terms: a silver shield displaying, from top to bottom, two discs divided into wavy white and blue stripes, a red chevron, and a

bunch of grapes In viticulture, the grape cluster (also bunch of grapes) is a fertilized inflorescence of the grapevine, the primary part of this plant used for food (grape leaves are also used in some culinary traditions). The size of the grape bunch greatly va ...

). The crest was a parson-crow, and the motto ''Non auro sed virtute''. Together the crow (''kraai'') and the fountains (''fonteine'') were a pun on the name of the town.

Notable residents

* Adrian Jacobs, rugby union player * Cheslin Kolbe, rugby union player,

2019 This was the year in which the first known human case of COVID-19 was documented, preceding COVID-19 pandemic, the pandemic which was declared by the World Health Organization the following year. Up to that point, 2019 had been described as ...

and

2023 Catastrophic natural disasters in 2023 included the Lists of 21st-century earthquakes, 5th-deadliest earthquake of the 21st century 2023 Turkey–Syria earthquakes, striking Turkey and Syria, leaving up to 62,000 people dead; Cyclone Freddy ...

World Cup winner * Dann-Jacques Mouton, actor * Carmen Solomons, model * Wayde Van Niekerk, track and field sprinter, current world and Olympic record holder, and Olympic champion

References

{{City of Cape Town Metropolitan Municipality Populated places in the City of Cape Town