The Steenbras River is a small river in the Western Cape province of South Africa between the Hottentots Holland and Kogelberg mountains, draining into False Bay south of Gordon's Bay . It has been dammed in two places and provides water to the city of Cape Town. The upper dam also serves as a reservoir for the Steenbras pumped-storage hydroelectricity scheme which supplements Cape Town's electricity supply during periods of peak demand.
31-783: The main catchment has an area of approximately 70 km, including the dams, and lies between the Hottentots Holland Mountains to the northwest and the Kogelberg to the southeast, in the Cape Fold Belt . The valley upstream of the lower dam was a fairly broad, open valley. Downstream of the dam, the river flows through a steep-sided rocky valley to the narrow coastal plain on the eastern shore of False Bay at Steenbras River mouth, 34°11.671′S 18°49.194′E / 34.194517°S 18.819900°E / -34.194517; 18.819900 . The river mouth
62-565: Is a World Heritage Site with an area of 70,000 hectares from Elgin to north of Villiersdorp , between the Stellenbosch Mountains and the Groenland mountains . The reserve functions as a conservation area for mountain fynbos, with about 1300 plant species, of which some are rare and endemic. About 110 species of bird have been recorded, and a variety of indigenous animals, some of which have been reintroduced. Altitude in
93-511: Is a small valley cut into the narrow coastal strip, with steep rock shores near the mouth and wave-rounded boulder beaches further inshore, and waves reach all the way up the tidal part of the river, which faces directly into the prevailing south-westerly swell. This section of coastline is considered high-energy coast. The length of the main stream including the dams is about 17 km. The dams are now fed mainly by short, steeply graded mountain streams with waterfalls and gorges. The geology of
124-550: Is a town in the Western Cape , South Africa. Organisationally and administratively it is included in the City of Cape Town metropolitan municipality Eastern Suburbs zone (formerly called Helderberg Basin). The vehicle registration code for Somerset West is CFM and the post code is 7130 for street addresses, and 7129 for post office boxes. A cattle post was established here by Dutch soldiers in 1672. A town developed around
155-733: Is also intersected by four metropolitan routes connecting it to surrounding suburbs such as the M9 (Main Road; Sir Lowry's Pass Village Road) connecting to Macassar in the west and Sir Lowry's Pass Village in the east, the M149 (Victoria Street) connecting to Strand, the M153 (Main Road) connecting to Strand and the M156 (Irene Avenue; Steynsrust Road) connecting to Firgrove . Municipality (1) — Somerset West
186-663: Is conveniently located for Cape Town (45 kilometres (28 mi) away on the N2 motorway ), the beaches at the Strand and Gordon's Bay , and the Western Cape's numerous wine farms. In recent years, there has been a population boom in Somerset West with various secure or gated estates such as Sitari Country Estate, Croydon Vineyard and Olive Estates and Kelderhof Country Village being built on previously undeveloped land west of
217-531: Is not unusual on the higher peaks, like Verkykerkop, Somerset Sneeukop ( Afrikaans : Snow Peak ) at 1590 m high and The Triplets in the northern section of the range. This area and the other ranges to the south are considered the hub of the Cape floristic region with the most biodiversity in the entire fynbos biome. The surrounding lowlands have rich alluvial soils supporting viticulture and other deciduous fruit farms. The Hottentots Holland Nature Reserve
248-573: Is overlooked by the Helderberg Mountain (meaning "clear mountain"), a part of the Hottentots-Holland range of mountains. The Hottentots-Holland mountains surround Somerset West in an amphitheatre shape. Somerset West includes more than 65 suburbs covering a large area of 61.37 square kilometres within its administrative boundaries, extending from the satellite areas of Firgrove to the west and Sir Lowry's Pass Village to
279-616: The College of Arms on 25 November 1953. They were registered at the Bureau of Heraldry in June 1994. The arms were: Azure, a portcullis chained Or; on a chief of the last a setting sun Gules (i.e. a blue shield displaying a red setting sun on a golden stripe across the top, and a golden portcullis with chains below it). The crest was a golden demi-lion holding a vine, issuing from a red mural crown charged with three golden rings. The motto
310-521: The N2 motorway. The Steenbras Dam , one of Cape Town 's main supply dams, is located in the Elgin valley south of the town of Grabouw due to the abundant rainfall normally experienced in the uplands of the catchment area. The Gantouw (Eland Pass) ceased to be used by wagons on 6 July 1830, when the new Sir Lowry's Pass road was opened. Wagons of the Great Trek beginning 1835, did not actually use
341-566: The Western Cape , South Africa . The mountain range forms a barrier between the Cape Town metropolitan area and the southern Overberg coast. The range is primarily composed of Table Mountain Sandstone , and lies between the eastern Cape Town suburbs of Somerset West and Gordon's Bay to the west, and the Elgin valley to the east. Sir Lowry's Pass is the only crossing, in the form of
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#1732772568816372-567: The Western Cape Water Supply System (WCWSS), which is system of interconnected system of six main dams, pipelines, tunnels and distribution networks, and several minor dams in the Western Cape . Some are owned and operated by the Department of Water and Sanitation and some by the City of Cape Town . Hottentots Holland Mountains The Hottentots Holland Mountains are part of the Cape Fold Belt in
403-918: The Hottentots-Holland mountains and between the Cape Winelands and the nearby beaches of Strand and Gordon's Bay . Somerset West forms part of the Helderberg Wine Region which is a wine-producing sub-region of the greater Stellenbosch Wine Region . Helderberg includes wine estates such as include 96 Winery, Alto, Audacia, Annandale, Cavalli, Ernie Els, Grangehurst, Guardian Peak, Haskell, Hidden Valley, Idiom, Ken Forrester, Klein Welmoed, Le Riche, Longridge, Lourensford, Lyngrove, Miravel, Morgenster, Peter Falke, Post House, Somerbosch, Uva Mira, Vergelegen, Vergenoegd and Waterkloof. The most popular and nearest wine estates amongst
434-535: The Lourens River (originally "Tweederivier", which means "Second River"; "Eersterivier", meaning "First River" passes through Stellenbosch , some 16 km (9.9 mi) to the north) and the farm of Vergelegen (Dutch: "remotely situated"), an 18th-century farmhouse built in the historic Cape Dutch style by Willem Adriaan van der Stel , governor of the Cape and son of Simon van der Stel , who gave his name to
465-595: The R102 on the outskirts of the town runs as a dual-carriage freeway while the N2 E (in the direction of George) runs as an at-grade road. Running north-west to Kuilsrivier , the R102 (Strand Road) is an older section of the N2 and the old main road between Cape Town and Somerset West. The R44 (Broadway Boulevard) connects to Stellenbosch in the north and Kleinmond in the south-east (via Strand and Gordon's Bay ). The town
496-532: The Strand Line (a branch line of the Northern Line ), connecting its two railway stations: Somerset West and Van der Stel. The Strand service operated by Metrorail runs westwards to Cape Town (via Kuilsrivier and Bellville ) and eastwards to Strand . The N2 is the main route through Somerset West connecting Cape Town with Grabouw and George . The N2 W (in the direction of Cape Town) from
527-496: The catchment is mostly quartzitic sandstone with thin layers of shale and conglomerate of the Table Mountain Sandstone . The long-term average runoff of the catchment was estimated as 50 x 10m per annum Most of the catchment is within the City of Cape Town boundaries Mean annual rainfall for the dam between 1963 and 1981 was reported as 984 mm, but is higher, in the order of 2000 mm p.a., in
558-455: The catchment. The R44 provincial coastal highway from Gordon's Bay to Hermanus crosses the river about 200 m inshore of the mouth. The N2 national highway crosses the river a few kilometres east of Sir Lowry's Pass , First crossed by European explorers from the Cape settlement circa mid 17th century. Original Dutch name was Steenbrazans rivier , assumed to be named after the red steenbras Petrus rupestris which could be caught from
589-805: The east. It includes the following suburbs: Owing to its regional status and central location, Somerset West has become the major retail hub for the Helderberg , Stellenbosch and the Overberg regions. Somerset Mall , situated alongside the N2 freeway serves as the largest shopping centre in the Helderberg region. A number of other local retail shopping centres can be found in the town's suburban areas such as Helderberg Mall, Somerset Value Centre, The Sanctuary, Waterstone Village Shopping Centre, Vergelegen Plein and Sitari Village Mall. Somerset West offers several tourist attractions due to its position on
620-406: The higher reaches. The water is generally slightly acid and naturally stained brown by tannins from the fynbos. It has good taste and low suspended solids, but is treated to neutralise the pH and remove the colour, partly for cosmetic reasons and partly to reduce corrosion in pipes. Terrestrial vegetation types recorded from the lower reaches include: Kogelberg Sandstone Fynbos is also found in
651-676: The many surrounding Somerset West are Vergelegen and Lourensford. The Vergelegen Wine Estate lies on the border of Somerset West, spanning into the Hottentots Holland Nature Reserve. The buildings on the estate constitute fine examples of Cape Dutch architecture . The Lourensford Wine Estate which neighbours the Vergelegen Wine Estate features the Lourensford Market and a Sports car museum known as MOTOR Studio. Every December,
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#1732772568816682-414: The nearby town of Stellenbosch . Willem Adriaan was later sent back to Holland after being charged with corruption and cruelty towards local Dutch farmers. The farm is now owned by a subsidiary of the large mining company Anglo American , who have restored the farmhouse to its original magnificence and continue to produce some of South Africa's best wines there. The farm is open to tourists. Somerset West
713-467: The old pass, instead they used the new road. When previous migrants decided to leave the Cape Town area, or Cape Colony as it was then known, this was the first mountain range they crossed. Cuts and wheel markings from their ox wagons can still be seen in rock formations of the old Gantouw pass which lies slightly north of the new Sir Lowry's Pass, and are a national monument. This route still serves as
744-464: The primary route out of the Cape Town area for travellers heading east along the coast of South Africa. The climate is typically Mediterranean ; however, it is generally much cooler and more verdant than other areas in the Western Cape , with annual precipitation exceeding 1500 mm (as high as 3300 mm on the Dwarsberg plateau ) and summer temperature maxima rarely exceeding 25 °C. Snow
775-623: The reserve varies from 500m to 1590m. Weather conditions can be unpredictable, and bad weather can make conditions dangerous. The entrance to the reserve is at Nuweberg, in Viljoen's Pass (R321) between Villiersdorp and Grabouw. An additional 7000 hectares of state and privale land adjacent to the reserve is co-managed by the Theewaterskloof Conservancy , which includes CapeNature and private landowners. Somerset West Somerset West ( Afrikaans : Somerset-Wes )
806-661: The rocky coastline near the river mouth. The river was dammed in the early 20th century as a water supply for Cape Town. The Steenbras Dam originally had a capacity of 2.9 x 10m and was completes in 1921. It was extended by raiding the wall in 1928 and 1952, to a capacity of 34.3 x 10m In 1977 the Steenbras Upper Dam was constructed directly upstream. It is used for the Steenbras pumped-storage hydroelectricity scheme which supplements Cape Town's electricity supply during periods of peak demand. The dams are part of
837-668: The town has a display of Christmas lights erected atop the street lights of the Main Road. The Helderberg Lights Festival (aka the Strawberry Festival), a flea market and parade, normally complements these lights. The Helderberg Nature Reserve , a 363 hectare natural wildlife preserve opened in 1964, contains a wide variety of smaller fauna (small antelope, tortoises and other reptiles) and indigenous flora such as Protea and fynbos . In recent years many guest houses and B&Bs have opened up in Somerset West, since it
868-459: The town with outposts further east over the Hottentots-Holland mountains. In the 1960s, the AECI factory between Somerset West and Strand was the second largest dynamite factory in the world. Somerset West is located on the N2 about 45 kilometres (30 mi) east of Cape Town and 20 kilometres (10 mi) kilometres south of Stellenbosch . The town borders Strand and Gordon's Bay and
899-513: The town, gradually closing the little break isolating Somerset West from the rest of the metropolitan area. Paardevlei, south of the town, is an emerging mixed-use development comprising gated residential complexes and the Busamed Paardevlei Private Hospital. The town has a range of primary and secondary educational facilities. Primary schools High schools Higher Education Somerset West lies on
930-451: Was a municipality in its own right from 1904 to 1996. The council approved its first coat of arms on 23 April 1935. Municipality (2) — In 1953, the council approved a new design, by Ivan Mitford-Barberton and H. Ellis Tomlinson . This was in response to a Cape Provincial Administration circular calling on municipalities to have their arms checked and, if necessary, re-designed to make them heraldically correct. The arms were granted by
961-538: Was founded in 1822 on part of the historic farm, Vergelegen. The town was named Somerset after a British governor of the Cape Colony during the 1800s, Lord Charles Somerset , with the suffix 'West' being added after 1825 to differentiate it from Somerset East , another South African town in the Eastern Cape. In the 1830s, Sir Lowry's Pass , named after later governor Sir Lowry Cole , was constructed to link