Kuils River (

Afrikaans Afrikaans is a West Germanic languages, West Germanic language spoken in South Africa, Namibia and to a lesser extent Botswana, Zambia, Zimbabwe and also Argentina where there is a group in Sarmiento, Chubut, Sarmiento that speaks the Pat ...

: Kuilsrivier) is a town in the

Western Cape The Western Cape ( ; , ) is a provinces of South Africa, province of South Africa, situated on the south-western coast of the country. It is the List of South African provinces by area, fourth largest of the nine provinces with an area of , an ...

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 ...

, 25 km (15 miles) east of

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 ...

and 20 km (12 miles) west of

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

at the gateway of the

Cape Winelands The Boland (, meaning "highland") is a region of the Western Cape province of South Africa, situated to the northeast of Cape Town in the middle and upper courses of the Berg and Breede Rivers, around the Boland Mountains of the central Cape ...

. It is also the name of the main tributary of the

Eerste River The Eerste River, located in the Western Cape, South Africa, rises on Dwarsberg 60 km east of Cape Town at the head of Jonkershoek valley. The Eerste River catchment covers the eastern part of the Cape Flats lying to the west of the Hott ...

, and forms part of the Northern Suburbs zone of 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 ...

Origin

Originally named De Boss, Kuils River was a refreshment post of the

Dutch East India Company The United East India Company ( ; VOC ), commonly known as the Dutch East India Company, was a chartered company, chartered trading company and one of the first joint-stock companies in the world. Established on 20 March 1602 by the States Ge ...

in 1680, also known as de Kuijlen. In 1700 the farm Leeuwenhof and other parts of de Kuijlen were sold to Olof Bergh.

Developments during the 19th and 20th century

It started to develop into a village. A church was founded by

Rhenish Missionary Society The Rhenish Missionary Society (''Rhenish'' of the river Rhine; , ''RMG'') was one of the largest Protestant missionary society, missionary societies in Germany. Formed from smaller missions founded as far back as 1799, the Society was amalgamate ...

in 1843 in Sarepta. A proper road was built in 1845, a railway station in 1862 and a school in 1898. In 1898 stands were sold for residential development. On 4 December 1950 it attained municipal status. The town takes its name from the nearby river, in which there are many pools, or (Dutch for dams).

Administration and location

Kuils River is a level two administrative region, and is close to

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

It is located near the intersection of the M12 and the R102. Kuils River is home to the respective Alta du Toit and Jan Kriel Schools, the former, for mentally challenged children and the latter for children with special educational needs. Kuils River is the birthplace of

Herman Charles Bosman Herman Charles Bosman (3 February 1905 – 14 October 1951) was widely regarded as South Africa's greatest short-story writer. He studied the works of Edgar Allan Poe and Mark Twain and developed a style emphasizing the use of satire. His English ...

(3 February 1905); journalist, poet and author. He is regarded as one of South Africa's greatest ever writers (in English). Herman Charles Bosman biography
/ref> The industrial area Blackheath is in Kuils River.

Transport

Roads

Kuilsrivier lies just off the

R300 The R300 GPU, introduced in August 2002 and developed by ATI Technologies, is its third generation of GPU used in ''Radeon'' graphics cards. This GPU features 3D acceleration based upon Direct3D 9.0 and OpenGL 2.0, a major improvement in featur ...

(Kuils River Freeway), running north–south from the N1 in

Brackenfell Brackenfell is a town in the Western Cape province of South Africa, situated on the N1 about 30 km (17 mi) north-east of Cape Town and 35 km (22 mi) south-west of Paarl. Regarded as the “gateway” to the Cape Winelands, the town marks t ...

to the N2 and the M7 in

Mitchells Plain Mitchells Plain is a large census designated sub-place located within the City of Cape Town, Western Cape, South Africa and situated about from the Cape Town city centre. It is one of South Africa's largest residential areas and contains multi ...

. However, the main route through the town is the R102 (Van Riebeeck Road), connecting to Bellville in the west and

Somerset West Somerset West () is a town in the Western Cape, South Africa. Organisationally and administratively it is included in the City of Cape Town metropolitan municipality (South Africa), metropolitan municipality Eastern Suburbs zone (formerly called ...

in the south-east. Kuilsrivier is also served by a network of metropolitan routes such as: the M12 (Stellenbosch Arterial; Polkadraai Road), connecting

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

with the

Cape Town International Airport Cape Town International Airport is the primary international airport serving the city of Cape Town, and is the List of South African airports by passenger movements, second-busiest airport in South Africa and List of busiest airports in Afric ...

and Elsiesrivier; the M23 (Bottelary Road) connecting Stellenbosch with Bellville; the M32 (Nooiensfontein Road) connecting Kuilsrivier with

Blue Downs Blue Downs is a town in the Western Cape, South Africa. It forms part of the Eastern Suburbs Zone of the City of Cape Town situated on the eastern outskirts of the city and is also located on the Cape Flats, a flat expanse of land east of Cape Tow ...

; and the M100 (Saxdowns Road) connecting Kuilsrivier with

Coat of arms

Kuils River was a municipality from 1950 to 1996. The town council assumed a coat of arms, designed by

Ivan Mitford-Barberton Ivan Mitford-Barberton (1896–1976) was a South African sculptor, writer and authority on heraldry. Early life and education Mitford-Barberton was born in Somerset East, in Cape Colony, in 1896. He was a descendant of several 1820 Settler ...

, in 1955 and registered it with the Cape Provincial Administration in January 1956.Cape of Good Hope ''Official Gazette'' 2793 (13 January 1956). The shield was divided into three horizontal sections: (1) a running buck on a silver background, (2) a golden yoke on a red background, and (3) four silver and blue stripes with wavy edges. The crest was a bull's head, and the motto ''Via trita via tuta''.

References

{{Cape Town, communities Suburbs of Cape Town