Brackenfell

The earliest activity on what today is known as Brackenfell was when the "de Clapmuts" was a refreshment post. Brackenfell specifically form part of Klapmutsberg, better known as de Bottelarij. In 1712 the area known as "Kruispad" was transferred to Selie, J. Kruispad was owned by Brink, A. and in 1901 he sold it to a Scottish Immigrant Walton, G.H. The flora on this farm reminded him of the same in Scotland. He call it Brackenfell (Bracken means fern; Fell means hill). The richness of granite in the area let to the farm being sold to a Brick company in 1903 and a granite quarry was established. Activity here stopped in 1948. In 1904 a railway station was established.[5][6][7]

Brackenfell used to be a major road crossing during the earlier days of Cape Town, but today it is a well-known suburb located behind the 'boerewors gordyn’ which translates to sausage curtain, meaning; people living in this area, braai (barbecue) boerewors very often. "Gordyn" curtain is just by figure of speech. It's all said tongue-in-the-cheek.

A view of the Vredekloof neighbourhood of Brackenfell and the N1 in the foreground and Table Mountain in the background.

Brackenfell is located on the north-eastsern outskirts of the Cape Metropole (Cape Town metropolitan area). Being on the outskirts of the city and at the gateway of the Cape Winelands means that Stellenbosch, Paarl and Durbanville's wine farms are in easy access.[8]

Located more or less halfway between the Cape Town and Paarl, Brackenfell is approximately 30 km north-east of Cape Town and 35 km south-west of Paarl.[9][10]

The town is bordered by Kraaifontein in the north-east, Kuilsrivier in the south, Durbanville in the north-west and Bellville in the west.

• Bastion Primary School
• Brackenfell High School
• Brackenfell Primary School
• Brooklands Primary School
• Curro Brackenfell (private primary school)
• Curro Castle (private nursery / pre-primary school)
• Destinatus Private School
• Northpine Primary School
• Northpine Technical High School
• Paarl School
• Protea Heights Academy (high school)
• Vredekloof Primary School

Brackenfell is home to many retail companies' head offices such as Shoprite, Checkers (falls under Shoprite) as well as Food Lover's Market. Shoprite-Checkers have a new distribution centre which was completed in 2019 in the Brackengate 2 Business Park named the Cilmore Distribution Centre.[11][12][13]

Due to the rising numbers of COVID-19 cases in the Western Cape, the Western Cape Health Department constructed a field hospital in the Brackengate industrial area. It opened on 20 July 2020 with 10 patients. The field hospital has capacity 300 beds for Covid-19 patients from hospitals struggling with capacity.[14][15][16]

The field hospital became the central Covid-19 dedicated hospital for the Western Cape in September as the Cape Town International Convention Centre's field hospital which was the central Covid-19 dedicated hospital was decommissioned in September due to declining Covid-19 cases in the City of Cape Town.[17][18]

Brackenfell was a municipality from 1970 to 1996. In November 1971, the council registered a coat of arms at the Bureau of Heraldry.[19]

The arms, designed by Cornelis Pama, were Per chevron embowed Or and Vert, three shot balls counterchanged, i.e. a shield divided by a curved chevron-shaped line into gold and green, with two green balls at the top and a golden ball at the bottom. The crest was three ferns with the motto Tenax in fide.

• Currently, Brackenfell (together with Kuilsriver) uses the prefix "CFR-" in their registered motor vehicles (since approximately 2000 the prefix "CF-" which had formerly been allocated to Grahamstown has also been allocated to these suburbs).
• Kanonkop (directly translated to cannon head) Brackenfell's highest point in Ruwari, was used as a signal point with its signal cannons in the 1700s. Cannons can be seen at Brackenfell High School and Bastion Primary School.
• In Vredekloof Street in Vredekloof (a residential area of Brackenfell) the bird, the Cape Robin nest and is commonly known as Jan Frederik.
• The popular cooking and grill sauce Jimmy's Sauces CC is produced in Brackenfell and is sold not only in South Africa but also all over the world.

• Brackenfell Directory