Cape Flats

Description

In the 1840s Dutch settlers brought in alien vegetation from Australia to stabilize the sprawling sand dunes of the Cape Flats. This vegetation, most notably Port Jackson (Acacia saligna), has since become a threat to the local flora. This once desolate plain behind Strandfontein beach is now a densely populated area that lies juxtaposed to the nearby Cape Winelands. Many of its inhabitants were forcibly removed from District Six under the Group Areas Act of 1950, whilst others have migrated from more rural areas of the Eastern Cape seeking work in the city of Cape Town.