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Cape Town
Welcome to Cape Town, Mother City of
Africa, and the Western Cape, an area which is regarded as one
of the most beautiful regions in the world. The City is a rare
cultural gem, resulting from the amalgamation of Indonesian,
French, Dutch, British and German settlers, the local Bushman
and Hottentot tribes and the Bantu tribes from the north. The
impressive presence of Table Mountain, flanked by the
legendary Devil's Peak and historical Signal Hill, stands
proudly above the city. Beautiful white sandy beaches along a
peaceful coastline frame the Cape Peninsula, which is famed
for its unique floral kingdom, bountiful rivers, vleis and
dams and magnificent countryside.
Cape Town boasts a multitude
of entertainment, ranging from outdoor activities
and adventures in the sun to a roaring night life
under neon signs. The vast range of shopping
opportunities includes haggling with shopholders
at Greenmarket Square Flea Market, as well as
breezing through sophisticated and stylish
shopping malls. The huge variety of restaurants
reflects the multicultured history of the Cape and
caters for everyone's taste, from fast-food
outlets and casual to the chic to the very
elegant. |
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The surrounding area extends
far into the winelands, green in summer and
red-gold in autumn. Hardly a week goes by in Cape
Town without some event or celebration happening
somewhere in the city and its immediate
surroundings, from outdoor arts performances in
January to Carols by Candlelight in the Company's
Gardens in time for Christmas. Cape Town provides
a setting for many scenic wonders, magnificent
seascapes and panoramic vistas. The beautiful
coastal areas of Camps Bay, Clifton, Llandudno,
Bantry Bay, Hout Bay and Blouberg surround the
breathtaking tranquility of the winelands,
Constantia, Stellenbosch, Paarl and Franshhoek. | |
The weather is not really a
critical factor in deciding when to visit Cape
Town. Great extremes of temperature are unknown,
although it can be relatively cold and wet for a
few months in winter. One of the Cape's most
characteristic phenomena is the famous Cape
Doctor, a southeasterly wind that buffets the Cape
and lays Table Mountain's famous 'tablecloth' (a
layer of cloud that covers the City Bowl). It can
be a welcome breeze in summer, but it can also be
a wild gale, particularly in spring. When it
really blows you know you're clinging to a
peninsula at the southern end of Africa, and
there's nothing between you and Antarctica. |
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Cape Town in particular and being the
principal hub of the The Western Cape Tourism Industry is now
comparable to established tourism destinations of the World
with regards to service and quality. Where else in the World
can you find fantastic climatic conditions coupled with
magnificent scenery and accommodation facilities second to
none! Cape Town International airport facilities have been
upgraded to full International standards where a warm welcome
is guaranteed. Car hire and rental services, tour operators or
hotel and accommodation establishment courtesy vehicles are
immediately available. Cape Town is a city of culture, built
on a history that reflects in the architecture, cuisine, music
and dance. Together with a warm summer and temperate winter
climate and a friendly community, the Western Cape and the
Mother City are an ideal holiday destination throughout the
year.
Cape Town is the third most populous
city in South Africa, forming part of the metropolitan
municipality of the City of Cape Town. It is the provincial
capital of the Western Cape, as well as the legislative
capital of South Africa, where the National Parliament and
many government offices are located. Cape Town is famous for
its harbour as well as its natural setting in the Cape floral
kingdom, including such well-known landmarks as Table Mountain
and Cape Point. Often regarded as one of the world's most
beautiful cities because of its geography, Cape Town is the
most popular South African destination for tourism. Cape Town
originally developed as a victualling station for Dutch ships
sailing to Eastern Africa, India, and Asia. Jan van Riebeeck's
arrival on 6 April 1652 established the first permanent
European settlement in sub-Saharan Africa. Cape Town quickly
outgrew its original purpose as the first European outpost at
the Castle of Good Hope. It was the largest city in South
Africa until the growth of Johannesburg and Durban. According
to the 2001 Census, the city has a population of
2.9 million. Cape Town's land area of 2,499 square
kilometres (965 sq mi) is larger than other South
African cities, resulting in a comparatively lower population
density of 1,158 people per square kilometre
(2,999/sq mi). Cape Town is town twinned with Nice in
France.
History of Cape Town
The first known people of the Western
Cape area arrived from the north around 100,000
B.C.[citation needed] Little is known of the history of
the region's first residents, as there is no written history
of the area before it was first mentioned by Portuguese
explorer Bartolomeu Dias in 1486. Vasco da Gama recorded a
sighting of the Cape of Good Hope in 1497, but the area did
not have regular contact with Europeans until 1652, when the
Netherlands' Jan van Riebeeck and other employees of the Dutch
East India Company (Dutch: Verenigde Oost-indische Compagnie,
VOC) were sent to the Cape to establish a way-station for
ships travelling to the Dutch East Indies. The city grew
slowly during this period, as it was hard to find adequate
labourers. This labour shortage prompted the city to import
slaves from Indonesia and Madagascar; many of whom would come
to form the first of the Cape Coloured communities. The
British successfully gained outright control of Cape Town in
1795, during the Battle of Muizenberg. Under the terms of a
peace agreement negotiated after the war, the Cape was
returned to the Dutch in 1803. The war resumed later that
year, and British forces re-occupied the Cape, after winning
the Battle of Blaauwberg in 1806. In the 1814 peace treaty
which ended the war in Europe, the Cape was permanently
incorporated into the British Empire. As the territory under
British control grew even larger outward from the city, it
became the capital of the newly formed Cape Colony.
A painting of the arrival of Jan van
Riebeeck in Table Bay The discovery of diamonds in Griqualand
West in 1869, and gold on the Witwatersrand in 1886, near the
present-day city of Johannesburg prompted a massive gold rush.
Johannesburg grew rapidly as the country was flooded with
immigrants. Tensions also emerged between the Boers, who had
taken part in the Great Trek and established republics in the
centre of the country; the new migrants, known as uitlanders;
and the British colonial government. This conflict resulted in
the Second Anglo-Boer War. After the British won this war and
acquired control of the gold and diamond industries, they
unified the Cape Colony with the two defeated Boer Republics
(the South African Republic and the Orange Free State) and the
British colony of Natal to form the Union of South Africa,
which was proclaimed in 1910 with Cape Town as its legislative
capital, a function it has continued to serve for the Republic
of South Africa from 1961 to the present. In 1948, the
National Party was elected on election promises of racial
segregation laws, collectively known by the Afrikaans word
apartheid. As a consequence of the Group Areas Act, which
classified all areas of the country and city according to
race, formerly multi-racial suburbs were either purged of
unlawful residents or demolished. The most infamous example of
this in Cape Town is District Six, which was demolished in
1965, prompting the forced removal of over 60,000 residents
after it was declared a whites-only region. Many of these
residents were relocated to the Cape Flats. Under apartheid,
the Cape was considered a "Coloured labour preference area",
to the exclusion of Black Africans. Cape Town was home to many
leaders of the anti-apartheid movement, despite many of the
group's leaders' internment on Robben Island, a penitentiary
island 10 kilometres out to sea from the city, where many
famous political prisoners were held for many years. In one of
the most famous moments marking the end of apartheid, Nelson
Mandela made his first public speech in decades on 11 February
1990 from the balcony of Cape Town City Hall hours after being
released. His speech heralded the beginning of a new era for
the country, and the first democratic election was held four
years later, on 27 April 1994. Since 1994, the city has
struggled with major problems such as HIV/AIDS, tuberculosis,
and a surge in violent drug-related crime. At the same time,
the economy has surged to unprecedented levels due to the boom
in the tourism and the real estate industries.
Geography of Cape Town
A NASA satellite image of Cape Town
and its environment taken by a Landsat satellite in February
2000 The centre of Cape Town is located at the northern end of
the Cape Peninsula. Table Mountain forms a dramatic backdrop
to the city bowl, with its plateau well over one kilometre
(3,300 ft) high; it is surrounded by near-vertical
cliffs, Devil's Peak and Lion's Head. Sometimes a thin strip
of cloud forms over the mountain, and owing to its appearance,
it is affectionately known as the "tablecloth". The peninsula
consists of a dramatic mountainous spine jutting southwards
into the Atlantic Ocean, ending at Cape Point. There are over
70 peaks above 1,000 feet (304.8 m) (the American
definition of a mountain) within Cape Town's official city
limits. Many of the suburbs of Cape Town are on the large
plain of the Cape Flats, which joins the peninsula to the
mainland. The Cape Flats lie on what is known as a rising
marine plain, consisting mostly of sandy geology which shows
that at one point Table Mountain itself was an island.
Cape Town Climate
The Cape Peninsula has a Mediterranean
climate with well-defined seasons. In winter, which lasts from
May to August, large cold fronts come across from the Atlantic
Ocean with heavy precipitation and strong north-westerly
winds. The winter months are cool, with an average minimum
temperature of 7 �C (45 �F). Most of the city's
annual rainfall occurs in wintertime, but due to the
mountainous topography of the city, rainfall amounts for
specific areas can vary dramatically. The suburb of Newlands
which is to the south of the city is the wettest place in
South Africa. The valleys and coastal plains average
515 millimetres (20 in) of rain per annum, while
mountain areas can average as much as 1,500 millimetres
(60 in) per annum. Summer, which lasts from November to
February, is warm and dry. The Peninsula gets frequent strong
winds from the south-east, known locally as the Cape Doctor,
because it blows away pollution and cleans the air. The
south-easterly wind is caused by a high-pressure system which
sits in the South Atlantic to the west of Cape Town, known as
the South-Atlantic High. Summer temperatures are mild, with an
average maximum of 26 �C (79 �F).
Cape Town Government
The Cape Town City Hall, located in the City Bowl Cape
Town's local government is the City of Cape Town, which is a
metropolitan municipality. Cape Town is governed by a
210-member city council, which reports to a 28-member
executive council. The executive council, in turn, is presided
over by a city manager and an executive mayor. The city is
divided into 105 electoral wards; each ward directly elects
one member of the council, whilst the other 105 councillors
are elected by a party-list proportional representation
system. The mayor is chosen by the city council. The current
mayor is Helen Zille of the Democratic Alliance. In the most
recent local government elections, the Democratic Alliance was
the largest single party with 90 of the 210 seats on the
council, ahead of the African National Congress's 81 seats,
but with no party holding a majority. A subsequent by-election
has increased the DA's seats to 91. Before the unification
of Cape Town's local government into the so-called "Unicity",
it was divided into six regional "Administrations"; many
functions of the Unicity are still divided according to the
old Administrations. The administrations include Cape Town,
which has the regions of City Bowl, the Atlantic Seaboard, the
southern suburbs, Pinelands, Langa and Mitchell's Plain. The
South Peninsula includes Hout Bay, Wynberg, Constantia, Fish
Hoek, Kommetjie, Noordhoek and Simon's Town. The Blaauwberg
region includes Milnerton, Tableview, and Bloubergstrand.
Tygerberg has its own region, with Durbanville, Bellville, and
Khayelitsha added to it. Oostenberg includes Kraaifontein,
Brackenfell, Kuilsrivier, Blue Downs, and Eerste Rivier. The
last administration, Helderberg, includes Somerset West,
Strand, and Gordon's Bay.
Demographics of Cape Town
Geographical distribution of home languages in
Cape Town According to the South African National Census of
2001, the population of Cape Town is 2,893,251 people. There
are 759,767 formal households, of which 87.4% have a flush
or chemical toilet, and 94.4% have refuse removed by the
municipality at least once a week. 80.1% of households use electricity
as the main source of energy. 16.1% of households are headed
by one person. Coloured people account for 48.13%
of the population, followed by Black Africans at 31%,
Whites at 18.75%, and Asians at 1.43%. 46.6% of the population
is under the age of 24, whilst 5% are over the age of 65.
The median age in the city is 26 years old, and for every
100 females, there are 92.4 males. 19.4% of city residents
are unemployed; 58.3% of the unemployed are black, 38.1% are
Coloured, 3.1% are White and 0.5% are Asian. 41.4% of Cape
Town residents speak Afrikaans at home, 28.7% speak Xhosa,
27.9% speak English, 0.7% speak Sesotho, 0.3% speak Zulu,
0.1% speak Setswana and 0.7% of the population speaks
a non-official language at home. 76.6% of residents are Christian,
10.7% have no religion, 9.7% are Muslim, 0.5% are Jewish and
0.2% are Hindu. 2.3% have other or undetermined beliefs.
4.2% of residents aged 20 and over have received no
schooling; 11.8% have had some primary school; 7.1% have completed
only primary school; 38.9% have had some high school education;
25.4% have finished only high school and 12.6% have an
education higher than the high school level. Overall, 38.0% of
residents have completed high school. The median annual income
of working adults aged 15-65 is ZAR 25 774. Males have a
median annual income of ZAR 28 406 versus ZAR 22 265 for
females. Crime There has been a number of robberies and
murders targeting Somali shopkeepers. Many believe the reasons are
xenophobic. A notable robbery was in Masiphumelele when 200 to
300 residents attacked a Somali shop. Crime has become a hotly
debated topic. Most tourist areas are as safe as their
counterparts anywhere in the world. The highest crime areas are
mostly often the poorer suburbs.
Cape Town Economy
The main entrance to the Cape Town
International Convention Centre Cape Town is the economic
centre of the Western Cape and serves as the regional
manufacturing centre. It is also has the primary harbour and
airport in the Western Cape. The large government presence in
the city, both as the capital of the Western Cape and the seat
of the National Parliament, has led to increased revenue and
growth in industries that serve the government. Cape Town
hosts many conferences, particularly in the new Cape Town
International Convention Centre, which opened in June 2003.
The city has recently enjoyed a booming real estate and
construction market, with many people buying summer homes in
the city as well as relocating there permanently. The central
business district is under an extensive urban renewal
programme, with numerous new buildings and renovations taking
place under the guidance of the Cape Town Partnership. High
school attendance rates and the city's well-established higher
education infrastructure have helped Cape Town to attract
foreign investors, as there are more people with
internationally recognised certification and diplomas. The
Western Cape also generates a quarter of the South African
agricultural sector's total gross income and more than half of
South Africa's exports. Much of the produce is handled through
the Port of Cape Town or Cape Town International Airport. Most
major ship-building companies have offices and manufacturing
locations in Cape Town. The Province is also a centre of
energy development for the country, with the existing Koeberg
nuclear power station providing energy for the majority of
Cape Town's needs. Recently, scientists have discovered oil
and natural gas off of the coast in the Atlantic Ocean. The
Western Cape is an important tourist region in South Africa;
the tourism industry accounts for 9.8% of the GDP of the
province and employs 9.6% of the province's workforce. In
2004, over 1.5 million international tourists visited the
area.
Cape Town Tourism
The distinctive Cape Malay Bo-Kaap is
one of the most visited areas in Cape Town. Cape Town is one
of the most popular tourist destinations in South Africa due
to its good climate, natural setting, and relatively
well-developed infrastructure. The city has several well-known
natural features that attract tourists, most notably Table
Mountain, which forms the majority of Table Mountain National
Park and is the back end of the City Bowl. Reaching the top of
the mountain can be achieved either by hiking up, or by taking
the Table Mountain Cableway. Cape Point is recognised as the
dramatic headland at the end of the Cape Peninsula. Many
tourists also drive along Chapman's Peak Drive, a narrow road
that links Noordhoek with Hout Bay, for the views of the
Atlantic Ocean and nearby mountains. It is possible to either
drive or hike up Signal Hill for closer views of the City Bowl
and Table Mountain. Many tourists also visit Cape Town's
beaches, which are popular with local residents. Due to the
city's unique geography, it is possible to visit several
different beaches in the same day, each with a different
setting and atmosphere. Beaches located on the Atlantic Coast
tend to have very cold water as the water is mostly glacial
melt from Antarctica. The water at False Bay beaches is often
warmer by up to 10 �C (18 �F). Both coasts are equally
popular, although the beaches in affluent Clifton and
elsewhere on the Atlantic Coast are better developed with
restaurants and caf�s. The most famous beach in Cape Town,
Boulders Beach, is known for its colony of African penguins.
Surfing is also popular and the city hosts the Red Bull Big
Wave Africa surfing competition every year. The city also has
several notable cultural attractions. The Victoria &
Alfred Waterfront, built on top of part of the docks of the
Port of Cape Town, is now one of the city's most popular
shopping venues, with several hundred shops and the Two Oceans
Aquarium. Part of the V&A's charm, as it is locally known,
is that the Port continues to operate and visitors can watch
ships enter and leave. The V&A also hosts the Nelson
Mandela Gateway, through which ferries depart for Robben
Island. It is possible to take a ferry from the V&A to
Hout Bay, Simon's Town and the Cape Fur Seal colonies on Seal
and Duiker Islands. Several companies offer tours of the Cape
Flats, a mostly Coloured township, and Khayelitsha, a mostly
black township. It is also possible to sleep overnight in Cape
Town's townships. There are several B&B's where you can
spend a safe and real African night . Cape Town is also noted
for its architectural heritage, with the highest density of
Cape Dutch style buildings in the world. Cape Dutch style,
which combines the architectural traditions of France, the
Netherlands, and Germany, is most visible in Constantia, the
old government buildings in the Central Business District, and
along Long Street. The annual Cape Town Minstrel Carnival,
also known by its Afrikaans name of Kaapse Klopse, is a large
minstrel festival held annually on January 2 or "Tweede Nuwe
Jaar" (Afrikaans: Second New Year). Competing teams of
minstrels parade in brightly coloured costumes, either
carrying colourful umbrellas or playing an array of musical
instruments. The Artscape Theatre Centre is the main
performing arts venue in Cape Town. Cape Town's transport
system links it to the rest of South Africa; it serves as the
gateway to other destinations within the province. The Cape
Winelands and in particular the towns of Stellenbosch, Paarl
and Franschhoek are popular day trips from the city for
sightseeing and wine tasting. Whale watching is popular
amongst tourists: Southern Right Whales can be found off the
coast during the breeding season (August to November) and
Bryde's Whales can be seen any time of the year. The nearby
town of Hermanus is known for its Whale Festival, but whales
can also be seen in False Bay. Heaviside's dolphins are
endemic to the area and can be seen from the coast north of
Cape Town; dusky dolphins live along the same coast and can
occasionally be seen from the ferry to Robben Island.
Approximately 1.5 million tourists visited in Cape Town during
2004, bringing in a total of R10 billion in revenue. The
forecasts for 2006 anticipate 1.6 million tourists spending a
total of R12 billion. The most popular areas for visitors to
stay include Camps Bay, Sea Point, V & A Waterfront, Hout
Bay, Rondebosch, Hermanus, Constantia, City Bowl, Somerset
West and Newlands.
Cape Town Communications and media
The Naspers Building, which is the headquarters of Naspers
and Media24, the largest media companies in Cape Town Several
newspapers, magazines and printing facilities have their
offices in the city. Independent News and Media publishes the
major English language papers in the city, the Cape Argus and
the Cape Times. Naspers, the largest media conglomerate in
South Africa, publishes Die Burger, the major Afrikaans
language paper. Cape Town has many local community
newspapers. Some of the largest community newspapers in
English are the Athlone News from Athlone, the Atlantic Sun,
the Constantiaberg Bulletin from Constantiaberg, the City
Vision from Bellville, the False Bay Echo from False Bay, the
Helderberg Sun from Helderberg, the Plainsman from Michells
Plain, the Sentinel News from Hout Bay, the Southern Mail from
the Southern Peninsula, the Southern Suburbs Tatler from the
Southern Suburbs, Table Talk from Table View and Tygertalk
from Tygervalley/Durbanville. Afrikaans language community
newspapers include the Landbou-Burger and the Tygerburger.
Vukani, based in the Cape Flats, is published in Xhosa.
Cape Town is also a centre for broadcast media and has several
radio stations that only broadcast within the city. Good Hope
FM (94-97 MHz FM) and KFM (94.5 MHz FM) mostly play pop music,
while Fine Music Radio (101.3 FM) plays fine classical music
and jazz. Heart FM (104.9 MHz FM),the former P4 Radio, plays
Jazz and R&B. Bush Radio is a community radio station
(89.5 MHz FM). The Voice of the Cape (95.8 MHz FM) and Cape
Talk (567 kHz MW) are the major talk radio stations in the
city. Sports teams and stadia Cape Town's most popular
sports by participation are cricket, association football,
swimming, and rugby. The Stormers represent Western
Province and Boland in the Southern Hemisphere's Super 14
rugby union competition. Cape Town is the home of the Western
Province Rugby Union, who play at Newlands Stadium and compete
in the Currie Cup. Cape Town also regularly hosts the national
team, the Springboks, and hosted matches during the 1995 Rugby
World Cup, including a semi-final. Football, which is better
known as soccer in South Africa, is also popular. Two clubs
from Cape Town play in the Premier Soccer League (PSL), South
Africa's premier league. These teams are Ajax Cape Town, which
formed as a result of the 1999 amalgamation of the Seven Stars
and the Cape Town Spurs; and Santos. Cape Town will also be
the location of several of the matches of the FIFA 2010 World
Cup, which is to be held in South Africa. The Mother City is
planning a new 70.000 seat stadium in the Greenpoint area. In
cricket, the Cape Cobras represent Cape Town at the Newlands
Cricket Ground. The team is the result of an amalgamation of
the Western Province Cricket and Boland Cricket teams. They
take part in the Supersport and Standard Bank Cup Series. Cape
Town also has Olympic aspirations: in 1996, Cape Town was one
of the five candidate cities shortlisted by the IOC to launch
official candidatures to host the 2004 Summer Olympics.
Although the games ultimately went to Athens, Cape Town came
in an impressive third place, edging out Stockholm and Buenos
Aires in the first three rounds of voting. There has been some
speculation that Cape Town is seeking the South African
Olympic Committee's nomination to be South Africa's bid city
for either the 2016 or the 2020 Summer Olympic Games.
Transport in Cape Town
The N2, also known as the Eastern Boulevard, as it enters
the City Bowl and ends in the Central Business District
Cape Town by Air
Cape Town International Airport serves both domestic and
international flights. It is the second-largest airport in
South Africa and serves as a major gateway for travellers to
the Cape region. Cape Town has direct flights to most cities
in South Africa as well as a number of international
destinations. As of June 2006, Cape Town International
Airport is being upgraded to handle an expected increase in
air traffic as tourism numbers will increase in the lead-up to
the 2010 FIFA World Cup. The renovations include several
large new parking garages, a revamped domestic departure
terminal and a new international terminal. The airport's cargo
facilities are also being expanded and several large empty
lots are being developed into office space and hotels.
Cape Town by Sea
Cape Town has a long tradition as a port city. The Port of
Cape Town, the city's main port, is located in Table Bay
directly to the north of the central business district. The
port is a hub for ships in the southern Atlantic: it is
located along one of the busiest shipping corridors in the
world. It is also a busy container port, second in South
Africa only to Durban. In 2004, it handled 3,161 ships and 9.2
million tonnes of cargo. Simon's Town Harbour on the False
Bay coast of the Cape Peninsula is the main base of the South
African Navy.
Cape Town by Rail
The interior of Cape Town Railway Station The Shosholoza
Meyl is the passenger rail operations of Spoornet and operates
two long-distance passenger rail services from Cape Town: a
daily service to and from Johannesburg via Kimberley and a
weekly service to and from Durban via Kimberley, Bloemfontein
and Pietermaritzburg. These trains terminate at Cape Town
Railway Station and make a brief stop at Bellville. Cape Town
is also one terminus of the luxury tourist-oriented Blue
Train. Metrorail operates a commuter rail service in Cape Town
and the surrounding area. The Metrorail network consists of 96
stations throughout the suburbs and outskirts of Cape Town.
Cape Town Roads
The M3 as it passes the University of Cape Town. The M3 is
the major link between the City Bowl and the southern suburbs.
Three national roads start in Cape Town: the N1 which links
Cape Town with Bloemfontein, Johannesburg, Pretoria and
Zimbabwe; the N2 which links Cape Town with Port Elizabeth,
East London and Durban; and the N7 which links Cape Town with
the Northern Cape Province and Namibia. The N1 and N2 both
start in the Central Business District, and split to the east
of the CBD, with the N1 continuing to the north east and the
N2 heading south east past Cape Town International Airport.
The N7 starts in Mitchells Plain and runs north, intersecting
with the N1 and the N2 before leaving the city. Cape Town also
has a system of freeway and dual carriageway M-roads, which
connect different parts of the city. The M3 splits from the N2
and runs to the south along the eastern slopes of Table
Mountain, connecting the City Bowl with Muizenberg. The M5
splits from the N1 further east than the M3, and links the
Cape Flats to the CBD. The R300, which is informally known as
the Cape Flats Freeway, links Mitchells Plain with Bellville,
the N1 and the N2. Buses Golden Arrow Bus Services operates
scheduled bus services throughout the Cape Town metropolitan
area. Several companies run long-distance bus services from
Cape Town to the other cities in South Africa.
Taxis in Cape Town
Cape Town taxi rank above train station Cape Town has two
kinds of taxis: metered taxis and minibus taxis. Unlike many
cities, metered taxis are not allowed to drive around the city
to solicit fares and instead must be called to a specific
location. Minibus taxis are the standard form of transport for
the majority of the population who cannot afford private
vehicles. Although essential, these taxis are often poorly
maintained and are frequently not road-worthy. These taxis
make frequent unscheduled stops to pick up passengers, which
causes accidents when drivers to the rear are unable to stop
in time. With the high demand for transport by the
working class of South Africa, minibus taxis are often filled
over their legal passenger allowance, making for high casualty
rates when minibuses are involved in accidents. Minibuses are
generally owned and operated in fleets, and inter-operator
violence flares up from time to time, especially as turf wars
occur over lucrative taxi routes.
Universities in Cape Town
The University of Cape Town's main campus with Devil's Peak
behind it Cape Town has a well-developed higher education
system of public universities. Cape Town is served by two
public universities: the University of Cape Town (UCT) and the
University of the Western Cape (UWC). Stellenbosch University,
while not in the city itself, is 50 kilometres from the City
Bowl and has additional campuses, such as the Tygerberg
Faculty of Health Sciences and the Bellville Business Park
closer to the City. Both the University of Cape Town and
Stellenbosch University are leading universities in South
Africa. This is due in large part to substantial financial
contributions made to these institutions by both the public
and private sector. Since the African National Congress
has come into governmental power, some restructuring of
Western Cape universities has taken place and as such,
traditionally non-white universities have seen increased
financing, which has benefitted the University of the Western
Cape. The public Cape Peninsula University of
Technology was formed on January 1, 2005, when two separate
institutions� Cape Technikon and Peninsula Technikon� were
merged together. The new university offers education primarily
in English, although one may take courses in any of South
Africa's official languages. The institution generally awards
the National Diploma.
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