Bellville, Western Cape Province, South Africa

🇿🇦 Bellville is a town in the Western Cape province of South Africa. It is situated adjacent to the Koelberg Mountains and also the University of Western Cape where it has its own campus.

The town is an industrial and commercial node, a university town, and a major transportation hub within the Greater Cape Town metropolitan area.

The residential suburb of Bellville lies approximately 23 km (14.3 mi) north-east of Cape Town and 38 km (23.6 mi) south-west of Paarl set amongst the Tygerberg Hills with views over the Cape Fold Mountains. Vehicle registrations in Bellville start with CY which also covers the Tygerberg areas of Durbanville, Parow and Goodwood.

Established It was founded as "12 Mile Post" ("12-Myl-Pos") because it is located 12 miles (20 km) from Cape Town city centre. It was first known as "Hardekraaltjie". Founded as a railway station on the line from Cape Town to Stellenbosch and Strand, it was renamed Bellville in 1861 after the surveyor-general Charles Bell.

Hospitals and educational institutes The Karl Bremer Hospital functioned as the Academic Hospital for the University of Stellenbosch Medical School, but now the adjacent Tygerberg Hospital houses the medical school. Other hospitals in Bellville are: Mediclinic International Louis Leipoldt and Melomed. The Cape Peninsula University of Technology, University of the Western Cape, University of Stellenbosch Business School and Northlink College are also situated in Bellville. D.F. Malan High School, Bellville High School, Westcliff School of Skills, The Settlers High School and Stellenberg High School are located in the area. Primary Schools are: Bellpark, Bellville, Bellville-North, Boston, Eversdal, Excelsior, Kenridge, Mimosa, Totius, Belville Islamic Primary School, Vredelust and Welgemoed.

Other places of interest The Bellville Velodrome is located in the Tyger Valley area of Bellville. The Bellville Velodrome has an indoor cycling track and is next to the Bellville athletics track that used to host the annual MTBS athletics competition. Bellville Mall, Tygervalley Shopping centre and Willow Bridge are shopping centres in Bellville. The last two shopping centres were built on the grounds that used to be a quarry and a jail.

Other sports an entertainment includes Bellville library, Bellville swimming pool, Cool Runnings, and PP Smit Sport fields

Economy Bellville is one of the main business nodes in the Greater Cape Town metropolitan area, home to the headquarters of major corporations such as insurance giant, Sanlam and its subsidiary Santam, Metropolitan, Pioneer Foods, Cipla South Africa, Medi-Rite, Footgear, Afrimat and the Bible Society of South, with most of these companies headquartered in the Tyger Valley commercial node.

Many provincial and local government departments maintain regional branches or other offices in Bellville such as Eskom, Department of Water and Sanitation (Western Cape), Water and Sanitation Department (City of Cape Town) and Electricity Services (City of Cape Town).

Geography Bellville is situated in the northern suburbs of Cape Town, forming the central part of the suburban region, between the low-lying Cape Flats to the south and the rolling hills of Tygerberg to the north. It lies at an average altitude of about 80 m (262 ft) above sea level, with the altitude gradually rising towards the north where the suburb of Welgemoed on the slopes of the Tygerberg Hill lies at the highest altitude of 310 m (1017 ft). The town borders Durbanville to the north, Parow to the west, Brackenfell to the east, Kuilsrivier to the south-east and Belhar to the south.

Suburbs The central business district of Bellville, also known as Bellville Central, situated along Voortrekker Road, is the traditional commercial hub of the town and contains several high-rise buildings and structures, with the Telkom communications tower dominating the skyline. The suburbs north of the N1 highway include the most wealthy and developed parts of the town, spreading north to the border with Durbanville and up the Tygerberg Hill which overlooks the Cape Town metropolitan area. The suburbs south of the CBD tend to be either solely industrial or solely residential and are included in one of Bellville’s lowest income brackets. The suburbs east and west of Bellville tend to be mostly quiet and established residential areas, with the exception of Stikland, an industrial area situated in the far east of Bellville.

The 2011 census listed the following areas as suburbs under the main place of Bellville: East • Avondstil • Belgravia • Bellair • Blommendal • Blomtuin • Chrismar • Groenvallei • Harry de Villiers • Heemstede • Hillrise • Joubertsingel • Kempenville • Kingston • Labiance • La Rochelle • Laurindale • Loumar • Manieoord • Meyerhof • Oakdale • Oakglen • Runkel • Shirley Park • Stikland • Sunkist • Sunray • Thalmen • Vosfontein • Vredenburg; North • Amanda Glen • Bellville Park • Bethanie • Bloemhof • Blomvlei • Bo-Oakdale • Danena • De Bron • Door de Kraal • East Rock • Eversdal • Glen Ive • Hoheizen • Kanonberg • Kenridge • Loevenstein • Oude Westhof • O’Kennedyville • Pascall • Protea Valley • Ridgeworth • Rosendal • Rosenpark • Selborne • Silverstream • Stellenberg • Stellenridge • Stellenryk • Van Riebeeckshof • Welgedacht • Welgemoed • Welgemoed Greens; South • Bellville South • Bellville South Industrial • Belrail • Blanc Kelly • Glenhaven • Mimosa • Sacks Circle Industrial • Triangle Farm; West • Bellville West • Bosbell • Boston • Grahamdale • Joostenville • Vredelust.

Transport: Rail Bellville is a subhub for the Metrorail Western Cape with the Northern Line (Cape Town-Wellington) trains serving Bellville, Parow, Goodwood, Cape Town, Brackenfell, Kraaifontein, Paarl and Wellington. The smaller Bellville-Strand Line branches off from the Northern Line, serving Bellville, Kuilsrivier, Eersterivier, Stellenbosch (via Stellenbosch branch line), Somerset West and Strand.

Bellville is also a major hub for Transnet Freight Rail containing a major container terminal, Belcon, directly south of the CBD, officially opened by Transnet in 2010. The container terminal, which serves as a dry port is connected to the Port of Cape Town via rail, as well as the rest of South Africa by road and rail and acts as a break-of-bulk point for container trucks transporting goods to and from the Port of Cape Town.

Transport: Road The N1 is the major freeway that runs through Bellville, roughly running SW to NE from Cape Town to Paarl, separating Bellville Central from Bellville’s northern suburbs. The R300 (Kuils River Freeway) is a freeway in the east of Bellville starting at an interchange with the N1, heading south towards Mitchells Plain.

The R101 starts at the intersection with the M30 and runs north-east towards Brackenfell as Old Paarl Road. The R102 runs through the centre of Bellville from Parow in the west to Kuilsrivier in the south-east as Voortrekker Road (in Bellville Central) and Strand Road. The R302 is a major artery between Bellville and Durbanville, running north from Bellville Central as Durban Road, Willie van Schoor Avenue and Durbanville Avenue.

Bellville is also served by a network of metropolitan routes linking it to surrounding suburbs including the M10 to Cape Town International Airport in the south, M16 to Durbanville in the north and Tygerberg Hospital in the south, M23 to Stellenbosch in the south-east, M25 to Brackenfell in the east, M31 to Durbanville, M73 to Brackenfell, M124 to Durbanville and the M171 to Delft in the south. The town is also served internally by metropolitan routes including the M11 (provides a bypass to the south of Bellville Central), M30, M121 and M189.

Parks and Recreation Bellville contains several public parks and recreational dams within its neighbourhoods most notably Jack Muller Danie Uys Park in Boston, north of the town centre where the Parkrun Bellville takes place every Saturday, Majik Forest on the northern outskirts of Bellville, Door de Kraal Dam in the north of Bellville and Rosendal Dam in the north of Bellville. In addition, the Tygerberg Nature Reserve is set above Bellville on the Tygerberg Hills to the north-west and offers scenic views across the Greater Cape Town metropolitan area.

Golf is also one of the main recreational activities performed in Bellville with the Bellville Golf Club being the main golf course in the town, lying on the slopes of the northern suburb of Welgemoed and the Golf Village Tygervalley, a driving range in Tyger Valley.

Constituency The town was a constituency in the Cape Peninsula, Cape Town, Cape Province in the South African House of Assembly starting in 1933. The first elected member was FHP Creswell (b. 13 November 1866, d. 28 August 1948). In 1939 it was not a constituency any more. In 1953 it regained constituency status and JFW Haak won. Haak retained this until 1970, when Louis Pienaar took over from him. In 1975 AT van der Merwe took over from him.

Municipality Bellville was a municipality from 1940 to 1996, and was given the status of a city on 7 September 1979.