Durbanville, Cape Town

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Durbanville is a residential suburb and wine producing area in the northern suburbs of Cape Town, South Africa.

Durbanville was originally known as Pampoenkraal (from the native Afrikaans language, pampoen meaning pumpkin, and kraal meaning an enclosure for cattle/livestock). It was founded in 1806 around a fountain and was primarily a watering station for travellers between Cape Town and the interior. Its name was later changed to d'Urban in honour of the then governor of the Cape Colony, Benjamin d'Urban in 1834. This name was later changed to Durbanville in order to avoid confusion with Durban - a major port city in KwaZulu-Natal in the east of South Africa.

Durbanville Hills is one of the cellars that produce the wines of the region. It forms part of the Durbanville wine route. Other wine cellars are Altydgedacht, Bloemendal, D’Aria (Poplars), De Grendel, Diemersdal, Hillcrest, Nitida and Meerendal. The soil has a high clay content and is particularly suited to Sauvignon Blanc.

The past 10 years has seen rapid expansion of Durbanville, mainly to the North, with areas like Uitzicht showing lots of building activity.

Afrikaans is the main language spoken in Durbanville. The main language has moved from Afrikaans to English in recent years as more English speaking people visit and decide to make Durbanville their home, as the traditional English southern suburbs have become too expensive.

The town has various sporting activities including a superb 18 hole golf course, soccer, rugby and cricket fields. The community has taken a keen interest in developing these sports. Durbanville Rugby Club - DBRugby

As the area has a very low crime rate it has become very popular and the price of residential property has increased over 400% in the last five years and is still growing. The town has various schools namely Durbanville Preparatory, Durbanville Primary and Durbanville High. Stellenberg High and Fairmont High are the Senior schools within the Durbanville vicinity. A few other Primary schools are Eversdal Primary, Gene Louw Primary and Kenridge Primary.