Strandfontein, Cape Town

Not to be confused with Strandfontein, West Coast District.

Strandfontein is a seaside resort 8 km east of Muizenberg and just west of Michells Plain, on the northern shore of False Bay in the City of Cape Town municipality in the Western Cape province of South Africa.

Strandfontein The Village
Strandfontein Show map of Western Cape Strandfontein Show map of South Africa Strandfontein Show map of Africa
Coordinates: 34.076°S 18.573°E / -34.076; 18.573
Country	South Africa
Province	Western Cape
Municipality	City of Cape Town
Main Place	Cape Town
Area [1]
• Total	8.22 km2 (3.17 sq mi)
Population  (2011)[1]
• Total	758
• Density	92/km2 (240/sq mi)
Racial makeup (2011) [1]
• Black African	7.7%
• Coloured	88.4%
• White	1.6%
• Other	2.4%
First languages (2011) [1]
• Afrikaans	69.5%
• English	21.9%
• Xhosa	4.7%
• Other	4.0%
Time zone	UTC+2 (SAST)
Postal code (street)	7798
PO box	7788

It was laid out in 1962. The name is Afrikaans for ‘beach fountain’.^[2]

9 miles Surfing Club

During the Apartheid, only white surfers were allowed to use Muizenberg beach, the colored surfers were chased off the beach. They then had to walk nine miles from there to Strandfontein Pavilion where they could enjoy surfing and where they started the 9 Miles Surfing Club Project.^{[citation needed]}

Homeless camp during COVID-19 Lockdown

The beach town is best known as the location of the camp where the City of Cape Town interned homeless people for over a month during the COVID-19 pandemic lockdown. It has been controversial because of claims that the City forced people into these camps and because of the lack of physical distancing and the failure of the camp to address the basic needs of people held at the camp.^[3][4] Its existence has also been heavily criticised by independent monitors linked to the South African Human Rights Commission.^[5]

References

1. "Sub Place Strandfontein". Census 2011.
2. "Dictionary of Southern African Place Names (Public Domain)". Human Science Research Council. p. 419.
3. "Strandfontein homeless site more a prison than a place of safety — Human rights report". Retrieved 17 May 2020.
4. "Blindness: How the Strandfontein camp was set up to fail". Retrieved 17 May 2020.
5. "Independent Report submitted to the South African Human Rights Commission concerning the City of Cape Town's COVID-19 Shelter For Street-based People — Strandfontein, Cape Town" (PDF). Retrieved 17 May 2020.