Milnerton's Neighbours to the North, East and West

 

Tijgerhof/Tygerhof

The area now known as Tygerhof once formed part of the extensive property owned by Sir David Pieter de Villiers Graaff of De Grendel. It was he who sold Tijgerhof (as it was then known) to Milnerton Estates when the new township of Milnerton was being developed in the early years of the 20^th Century. The township of Tijgerhof was laid out soon after the early part of Milnerton, with properties selling for slightly less than those to the west of Koeberg Road. De Grendel Road commemorates the connection with the Graaff family. The township originally stopped at Daniell Road, but in May 1967, the Cape Town City Council announced plans to develop a further portion of Tygerhof for housing. As a result, the area to the east of Daniell Road was developed, with this new portion also making provision for a primary school.

Tijgerhof/Tygerhof is the marked area to the east of Koeberg Road, Milnerton

Table View, Flamingo Vlei, Parklands and Sunningdale

In 1917, discussions began with the Surveyor-General on the possible development of housing on the northern shore of Rietvlei, but this was destined to hang fire for the next 60 years. About the same time too (1920), Sir David Graaff agreed to sell Groot Rietvlei to the Milnerton Estates for £1,437 7s. 6d., to round off their holdings. During the late 1930s, development to the north of Rietvlei was once again proposed, this time by Porterfield Estates Ltd. This housing development, to be called Table View Township, covered many hundreds of hectares, which a land surveyor had divided into several thousand plots. Once again, however, the plans came to nothing.

Unfortunately, Porterfield Estates found themselves in financial difficulties, and were placed in liquidation. On 22 June 1959, Milnerton Estates learnt that Table View Township, originally registered on 3 October 1942, together with its several extensions, covering altogether 1,860 morgen, was shortly to be disposed of. Since this directly adjoined its own property, Milnerton Estates felt a keen interest in the outcome of the auction sale on 5 August. Such was the slump in values that one block of 350 morgen was provisionally disposed of to them for £17,500, a figure which, owing to the receipt of a rival offer from another source, was then raised to £22,500, duly accepted by the liquidators.

In 1962, Table View was incorporated into the Milnerton Municipal Area. The Municipality immediately began tarring roads in Table View. Once this had been completed, residents in the portion of Table View between Gill Road and Schreiner Road had a ring road, giving them access in and out of the township.

Though still thinly-populated, sufficient population had accumulated in the area to warrant a Table View Ratepayers’ Association, a deputation from which met with the Mayor on 5 May 1964. While acknowledging that they could not expect the Council to supply them with all the services enjoyed by the Milnerton ratepayers, such as water-borne sewerage and storm-water drainage, they pointed out that people had initially been prepared to build at Table View because it would be cheaper to live there. Unfortunately, this had not proved to be the case: no regular bus service was available; there were no schools; and there were no doctors. Consequently, residents had to do a great deal of travelling. They therefore asked for Differential Rating, but the Mayor felt that this would not be feasible.

For some years, Table View continued to be a drain on the finances of the Municipality. Although an average of six to seven plans for new buildings were being handed in monthly by 1969, these were spread over the entire estate, and it was not easy for the Municipality to service about 250 buildings scattered across an area of 2,300 plots, only 12 per cent of which were developed. Nonetheless, the Council set about installing services, wherever possible providing leads to water mains.

In order to finance the expensive services still required in Table View, as well as to meet a substantial demand for land in those parts, it was decided to subdivide the commonage of the township into an extra 160 plots. Despite opposition from certain quarters, the scheme not only went through, but the profits helped to pay for other development, including storm water drainage, sewerage, and improved water reticulation. That much of the area was still fairly wild was shown when, at the end of 1969, W. Adams, a woodcutter, undertook to clear plots at R10 a plot.

In 1967, approval was given for the incorporation into the Municipality of 1,610 morgen of land, which was not yet subdivided, owned by Milnerton Estates to the north of Table View, which became the suburbs of Parklands and Sunningdale. The area of Table View bordering Rietvlei is now known as Flamingo Vlei.

An indication of how slowly Table View developed is that by September 1974, there were still 4,134 vacant plots out of 4,894, although many of the vacant plots had been purchased.

It was only during the 1980s that property sales and construction really took off and Table View grew rapidly, becoming the most populous suburb in the Milnerton Municipal Area.

Bosmansdam/Bothasig  

The Cape Times of 29 July 1964 reported that, in view of the fact that the new township of Bosmansdam would come into being in January 1965, tenders were already being called for 300 wooden houses, as part of the first stage of a plan to accommodate 4,000 families.

In 1965, Bosmansdam was incorporated into the Milnerton Municipal Area. Thye sub-economic housing attracted many Afrikaans working-class families to the new township, which was subsequently renamed Bothasig, after Mr PW Botha, then Minister of Community Development.

By the end of the decade, 1,000 houses had been erected, with the prospect of at least 300 more being added yearly. The township’s ultimate size was envisaged as 3,200 houses, with a total population of around 15,000. There were also plans for the construction of a Civic Hall, costing approximately R100,000, for which tenders were already being called.

As with Table View, many plots in Bothasig initially remained undeveloped after being sold. By September 1974, 2,000 of the original 3,400 plots still awaited the builders.

The proximity of industrial sites such as the refinery and fertilizer plant has resulted in health risks to those living in Bothasig. Studies have shown that children have a significantly greater chance of developing asthma and other respiratory problems due to air pollution in the suburb.

Recent low-cost housing developments have increased the population of this suburb.

Woodbridge Island

Woodbridge Island is not actually an island, but rather the area south of Milnerton Golf Club on the peninsula separating the lagoon from the ocean. Two bridges join Woodbridge Island to the mainland of Milnerton proper. The wooden bridge is now a national heritage site and has recently been extensively restored. A newer concrete bridge allows cars to cross to the island.

Woodbridge Island is an upmarket, 24-hour high security complex, established in 1988.  The lagoon was dredged and excavated, while the banks were reinforced with concrete before construction began.  All properties were built at least 1,5 m above the 50-year flood line, so there is very low risk of flooding or rising damp.  The water level is also controlled at the lagoon mouth as an additional precaution.  Great care was taken to preserve the surrounding dune belt, and efforts continue today to prevent erosion and keep the beach in pristine condition.

One of the major selling points of the estate is the high level of security enjoyed by the island’s residents. The single gated access barrier is manned 24-hours a day, and with no other exit point from the island, criminals find it hard to come and go undetected. Added measures include residential access tags, while visitors must sign in and call ahead before entering the estate.

The development consists of 2-, 3- and 4-bedroom townhouses. Each home comes with a single garage and parking bay, although some have double garages. There are four residential areas available to buyers: Middle of Island, Pond Views, Lagoon Views, and Beachfront. There are also three swimming pools, for the use of residents only.

Cleared for development in 1988

Milnerton Ridge, Sunset Beach and Sunset Links Golf Estate

Milnerton Ridge, Sunset Beach and Sunset Links Golf Estate were all developed by the Aska Property Group during the late 1980s and 1990s. All three suburbs have spectacular views, depending upon the location of the property. Sunset Links Golf Estate is a secure complex and all houses are built according to a selection of architect-designed styles, as were the first houses in Milnerton Ridge. In 2012, Sunset Links was named the most popular suburb in South Africa by estate agents, based on market prices and demand.

Milnerton Ridge (left), Sunset Beach (right) and Sunset Links Golf Estate (arrowed). Rietvlei Nature Reserve is in the foreground.

Lagoon Beach

Situated to the south of the lagoon mouth, Lagoon Beach consists of the Lagoon Beach Hotel and Apartments. The Milnerton Municipality consolidated the land in the 1990s and sold it for R12 million. Half of the proceeds were spent on improving the living conditions of underprivileged communities in the area. The land was sold to the Three Cities Hotel Group with a stipulation that a walkway be built for the public and that minimum harm be done to the environment. The beach area – still open to the public – had to be maintained and kept clean. The hotel group invested R320 million in the project.

The hotel offers over 200 en-suite bedrooms and suites. There are also numerous holiday apartments. The self-catering apartments include a fully-equipped kitchen, and a lounge with satellite TV and a DVD player. Outdoor seating can be found on the balcony. The bathroom comes with a shower. There is 24-hour building security as well as free secure parking on site.

Montague Gardens

On 11 August 1966, Milnerton Estates announced plans to lay out a new industrial area to be known as Montague Gardens Industrial Township. Already several leading organisations had staked their claims, among them, Caltex, two other oil companies, BP and Esso, and in another field, the FCU (Farmers’ Co-operative Union). The S.A.R. decided to provide a railway for the convenience of factories, warehouses, etc. In May 1967, the Cape Town City Council approved the development of the whole of Montague Gardens Residential Township.

Coinciding with the introduction of containerisation in South African ports, one of the largest cargo depots in the country, ranking only after Johannesburg, Durban and Port Elizabeth, was erected in Montague Gardens, complete with bonded stores and full customs facilities, and put into use in 1977. The site covered seven hectares, with ample provision for expansion.

Milnerton’s Black Neighbours

 

Marconi Beam, Joe Slovo Park and Phoenix

Sir David Graaff of De Grendel was linked through governmental channels to another project in the Milnerton area, the establishment of a huge international wireless receiving and transmitting installation by the Marconi Company of South Africa. Discussions began in May 1923 about a 10-morgen site near Ascot Station and the Ascot Racecourse and here presently arose the famous Klipheuwel Beam Station, for many years South Africa’s major link with Europe. With changing radio techniques, however, the beam system was ultimately replaced by other methods, and the huge masts, after many years of service, were ultimately demolished.

Squatters began erecting shacks at Marconi Beam from the 1960s, but the informal settlement really began to spread from the mid-1980s. Drawn by the prospects of employment at Ascot Racecourse, families of Xhosa-speaking South Africans from Ciskei and Transkei migrated to Milnerton and settled on the private land illegally. In 1990, a strike of workers at the racecourse pushed many groomsmen to move into Marconi Beam.

At the beginning of 1995, after years of negotiations, the Milnerton Municipality and the Marconi Beam Civic Association agreed to a substantial upgrading project that was intended to provide formal housing for the bulk of the present households at Marconi Beam (although not on the presently occupied portion of the site), with the remainder of the residents moving to a new settlement further to the north at Du Noon.

The township which was designed to replace the shack settlement of Marconi Beam is called Joe Slovo Park. It was named after Joe Slovo, the anti-apartheid activist and former South African Minister of Housing. Although intended as an orderly working-class suburb, it is now barely distinguishable from the informal settlement it was meant to replace. The rows of RDP houses built are surrounded by shacks. According to the 2011 census, Joe Slovo Park had a population of 12,629 and was 95% black African. 66% of the population spoke isiXhosa.

Phoenix, comprising brick houses, borders on Joe Slovo Park. According to the 2011 census, Phoenix had a population of 4,219, was 56% black African and 36% ‘coloured’. 32% of the community spoke English and 24% isiXhosa.

In addition to this ‘return to informality’, the planners’ utopian vision of an harmonious ‘multicultural’, multi-class and non-racial housing scheme is contradicted by the tensions that have emerged between the mostly Xhosa-speaking working-class Joe Slovo Park residents and the predominantly ‘coloured’ and white residents of the middle-income Phoenix housing development. Although Phoenix was planned as an integral part of the upgrading scheme, tensions along racial, ethnic and class lines culminated in the erection of high concrete walls between Joe Slovo Park and Phoenix.

One section of Joe Slovo Park is known as Mshini Wam, named after the struggle song Umshini wami (“Bring me my machine gun”) which was often sung by Jacob Zuma in the run-up to his election as president. It was founded in 2006 when it was erected in an open space ringed by formal RDP (Reconstruction and Development Programme). Mshini Wam has been plagued by fire and flooding. A re-blocking process was started in October 2012 to provide access to emergency services, but this led to protests when the City’s Land Anti-Invasion Unit arrived to pull down structures built on city owned land.

In March 2014, residents of Joe Slovo Park started building an informal settlement on an open piece of land on Freedom Way in front of the Assemblies of God church and Sinenjongo High School. The City of Cape Town applied for and obtained an interdict to prevent further structures being built on this land, and when people refused to move, the police arrived and dismantled the structures. Later that day, the affected community gathered and anger boiled over. The Assemblies of God church was petrol bombed. Threats were also made against the principal of Sinenjongo High School, Mrs Nopote. A series of meetings was subsequently held to clarify and defuse the situation. Structures have subsequently been rebuilt and this piece of land is now fully occupied by shacks.

Joe Slovo Park has two schools, the secondary school Sinenjongo High School and the primary school Marconi Beam Primary. Both were severely damaged by arsonists during protests earlier this year. There is also a community hall, which was extensively damaged after being set on fire during violent protests in June 2017. No room within this facility was spared. The protest, which followed the removal of some 20 shacks by the City’s Anti-Land Invasion Unit, led to more than 500 people going on a rampage, setting fire to the community hall, which also houses a mobile clinic. The Department of Recreation and Parks had only the previous day finished extensive repairs to all ceiling boards and doors in this hall after years of motivating for the funding for these repairs. Over 2,000 children a week visit the centre to take part in recreational activities, including aerobics, basketball, drama and crèche programmes. The centre also has a very popular gym. The protesters had torched a MiCiTi bus the previous day.

A play park in Joe Slovo Park. Note the mix of formal and informal housing.

Du Noon and Doornbach

Du Noon is situated to the east of Table View, and north of Killarney Gardens. The first erf was surveyed in 1996. As the formal housing was built, shacks mushroomed in the area. By 2011, the official population of Du Noon was 31,133, with the number of households being recorded as 11,496. It has three schools: Dunoon Primary, Sophakama Primary and Inkwenkwezi High School. In 2016, the City of Cape Town opened a day hospital there.

On 11 November 2005, a blaze at the Thembani informal settlement in Du Noon razed 300 shacks. While there were no injuries, 1,500 people were left homeless. Another fire one month later destroyed 750 homes.

By 2000, a number of Angolan and Namibian ‘foreigners’ were living in Du Noon. The local population felt that the ‘foreigners’ were taking their jobs and their women, and alleged that an Angolan operating a shebeen had refused to extend credit to South Africans. The situation came to a head when fighting broke out between the two groups on the night of 4-5 January 2001 and a local resident was killed. In response, residents drove about 50 ‘foreigners’ from their homes, with property being destroyed and possessions stolen. The foreigners first sought refuge with the Milnerton/Table View South African Police Services, who initially refused to become involved. Eventually, the Blaauwberg administration of the City of Cape Town provided temporary shelter in Atlantis but, after complaints that the accommodation was too far from Cape Town, the displaced people were relocated to a sports field closer to Du Noon, where they were housed in tents. The majority of these people were thereafter repatriated to Namibia. Those remaining found alternative accommodation of their own in settlements in the area. Some of the foreigners were married to South Africans and it was therefore the responsibility of the local authority to provide housing to these families.

Du Noon, with its combination of formal and informal housing

On the opposite side of Potsdam Road from Du Noon is an informal settlement, which was originally called Site 5, but is now known as Doornbach. At the end of July 2017, residents were overjoyed at hearing that the City of Cape Town had bought the land they had occupied for 18 years. Residents of the approximately 15,000-strong settlement situated adjacent to the Killarney industrial area regularly protested over a lack of service delivery, but the city was unable to provide basic services as the land was privately owned. As a result, the sprawl of 3,500 shacks was serviced only by communal water standpipes and rows of portable toilets. The web of wires from illegal connections run from formal houses in Du Noon hang so low over the busy Potsdam road that they are sometimes snapped as they catch on passing trucks.

Previous owner of the land, Rubin Morris of Cape Killarney Investment, said the city paid him R9 million for the 12-hectare property. Morris said that he had lost a lot of money on the land as he could have sold it for close to R60 million had he been able to service it and divide it into industrial plots.

Up until shortly before the land was invaded in 1994, it had been a functioning dairy farm, but it was invaded shortly after farming stopped following the death of Morris’s father. He said he fought for over ten years to get the squatters off the land, including going to the High Court and then the Supreme Court of Appeal, but lost on the grounds that he could not provide alternative land for the squatters.

“I eventually gave up,” he said, although as landowner he had to keep paying rates to the city.

It was a hollow victory for the squatters, though, as the city could not provide services on land they did not own. But now that the way for service delivery to take place has been cleared, residents are hopeful that their lives will improve.

Doornbach informal settlement, situated opposite Du Noon