Cape Town has had Olympic aspirations. The region can get uncomfortably hot when the Berg Wind, meaning "mountain wind", blows from the Karoo interior. The city center features retail stores, vendors and street markets selling everything from African souvenirs and clothes to accessories. [115][116] Cape Town had the highest murder rate among large South African cities at 77 murders per 100,000 people in the period April 2018 to March 2019, with 3157 murders mostly occurring in poor townships created under the apartheid regime.[117]. Flying to Cape Town during school holidays causes higher prices and a lot more crowds, especially in December and January (this is the South African summer holiday period). Those aged between 18 and 64 were 190% more likely to pursue new business, whilst in Johannesburg, the same demographic group was only 60% more likely than the national average to pursue a new business. The Northern Suburbs is a predominantly Afrikaans-speaking region of the Cape Town Metropolitan area and includes Belhar, Bellville, Blue Downs, Bothasig, Burgundy Estate, Durbanville, Edgemead, Brackenfell, Elsie's River, Eerste River, Kraaifontein, Goodwood, Kensington, Maitland, Monte Vista, Panorama, Parow, Richwood, Kraaifontein and Kuils River. The Atlantic seaboard, known as Cape Town's Riviera, is regarded as one of the most scenic routes in South Africa, along the slopes of the Twelve Apostles to the boulders and white sand beaches of Llandudno, which the route ending in Hout Bay, a diverse bustling suburb with a harbour and a seal island. A significant portion of this water ends up in the Cape Flats Aquifer, which lie beneath the central and southern parts of the Cape Flats. With the majestic Table Mountain nestled in the background and the sea all around, Cape Town is an awe-inspiring city filled with natural beauty. The Cape Town Civic Centre, the central offices of the City of Cape Town. Cape Point is recognised as the dramatic headland at the end of the Cape Peninsula. A thin strip of cloud, known colloquially as the "tablecloth", sometimes forms on top of the mountain. [72] Heart FM (104.9 MHz FM), the former P4 Radio, plays jazz and R&B, while Fine Music Radio (101.3 FM) plays classical music and jazz, and Magic Music Radio[123] (828 kHz MW) plays the best of adult contemporary and classic rock from the 60's, 70's, 80's, 90's and 00's. His speech heralded the beginning of a new era for the country, and the first democratic election, was held four years later, on 27 April 1994. 2006. It has over 21,000 students and has an MBA programme that was ranked 51st by the Financial Times in 2006. It was intended to be the Eastern Boulevard Highway in the city bowl, but is unfinished due to budget constraints. The Cape Town Cycle Tour is the world's largest individually timed cycle race – and the first event outside Europe to be included in the International Cycling Union's Golden Bike Series. Minibus taxis are the standard form of transport for the majority of the population who cannot afford private vehicles. The N2 continues east along the coast, linking Cape Town to the coastal cities of Port Elizabeth, East London and Durban. [132] It is also the top-ranked university in Africa, being the only African university to make the world's Top 200 university list at number 146. [40] These protected areas are a World Heritage Site, and an estimated 2,200 species of plants are confined to Table Mountain – more than exist in the whole of the United Kingdom which has 1200 plant species and 67 endemic plant species. It is notable that this policy was not advocated for by any coloured political group, and its implementation was a unilateral decision by the apartheid government. Flights to and from Cape Town are generally at their most expensive from November through January since this is the city’s peak tourism season. The Victoria & Alfred Waterfront, built on top of part of the docks of the Port of Cape Town, is the city's most visited tourist attraction. The Newlands Cricket Ground regularly hosts international matches. The city is a manufacturing base for several multinational companies including, Johnson & Johnson, GlaxoSmithKline, Levi Strauss & Co., Adidas, Bokomo Foods, Yoco and Nampak. Unlike other parts of the country the city does not have many thunderstorms, and most of those that do occur, happen around October to December and March to April. Cape Town is the origin of three national roads. [93] Boulders Beach near Simon's Town is known for its colony of African penguins. Its vegetation consists predominantly of several different types of the unique and rich Cape Fynbos. There was a severe water shortage from 2015 to 2018. If you have time to do the research, the tourism center offers shuttle buses to popular tourist attractions like the Table Mountain Cableway. The Cape Winelands and in particular the towns of Stellenbosch, Paarl and Franschhoek are popular day trips from the city for sightseeing and wine tasting. It consists of Somerset West, Strand, Gordons Bay and a few other suburbs which were previously towns in the Helderberg district. Two clubs from Cape Town play in the Premier Soccer League (PSL), South Africa's premier league. Cape Town may the oldest city in South Africa, but its beauty reigns on. [72]:83, Cape Town is the economic hub of the Western Cape province, South Africa's second main economic centre and Africa's third main economic hub city. [22] In 1859 the first railway line was built by the Cape Government Railways and a system of railways rapidly expanded in the 1870s. The new university offers education primarily in English, although one may take courses in any of South Africa's official languages. As a proportion of GDP, the agriculture and manufacturing sectors have declined whilst finance, business services, transport and logistics have grown reflecting the growth in specialised services sectors of the local economy. There are about one thousand meter taxis in Cape Town. Camps Bay is home to the highest concentration of multimillionaires in Cape Town and has the highest number of high-priced mansions in South Africa with more than 155 residential units exceeding R20 million (or $US1.8 million).[when?][56]. Cape Town International Airport recently opened a brand new central terminal building that was developed to handle an expected increase in air traffic as tourism numbers increased in the lead-up to the tournament of the 2010 FIFA World Cup. The N7 originates from the N1 at Wingfield Interchange near Edgemead. Heroin: Cape Cod, USA (2015) - insightful into how opioids and heroin addiction has affected the small tourist town of Cape Cod. Some of these, including grapes, cereals, ground nuts, potatoes, apples and citrus, had an important and lasting influence on the societies and economies of the region. There are also a number of regional routes linking Cape Town with surrounding areas. Book a flight to Cape Town, and return with a new sense of wonder. The Absa Cape Epic is the largest full-service mountain bike stage race in the world. Or, find cheap flights to Cape Town and spend your days lazy on the beach. This wind is caused by a persistent high-pressure system over the South Atlantic to the west of Cape Town, known as the South Atlantic High, which shifts latitude seasonally, following the sun, and influencing the strength of the fronts and their northward reach. Table Mountain has an unusually rich biodiversity. Award-winning wine and South African architecture grace the vineyards, making them a must-see tourist spot for anyone aboard flights to Cape Town. In cricket, the Cape Cobras represent Cape Town at the Newlands Cricket Ground. The ferries depart from the Nelson Mandela Gateway at the V&A Waterfront. Until recently, this region was quite rural, however the population of the area is growing quickly as new coastal developments proliferate and larger plots are subdivided to provide more compact housing. Beaches located on the Atlantic Coast tend to have very cold water due to the Benguela current which originates from the Southern Ocean, whilst the water at False Bay beaches may be warmer by up to 10 °C (18 °F) at the same moment due to the influence of the warm Agulhas current. Travelers who are symptomatic or been in contact with an infected person, they will be required to take a mandatory COVID-19 test, at their own expense. From top, left to right: Cape Town at the foot of, CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (. [137] Other renovations include several large new parking garages, a revamped domestic departure terminal, a new Bus Rapid Transit system station and a new double-decker road system. Conflicts between the Boer republics in the interior and the British colonial government resulted in the Second Boer War of 1899–1902, which Britain won. [clarification needed], UNESCO declared Robben Island in the Western Cape a World Heritage Site in 1999. 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