Eerste River, Western Cape

Eerste River
Eerste River Show map of Western Cape Eerste River Show map of South Africa Eerste River Show map of Africa  Eerste River shown within Western Cape
Location within Cape Town  Eerste River
Coordinates: 34°0′S 18°43′E / 34.000°S 18.717°E / -34.000; 18.717Coordinates: 34°0′S 18°43′E / 34.000°S 18.717°E / -34.000; 18.717
Country	South Africa
Province	Western Cape
Municipality	City of Cape Town
Area
• Total	5.86 km2 (2.26 sq mi)
Population (2011)
• Total	39,237
• Density	6,700/km2 (17,000/sq mi)
Racial makeup (2011)
• Black African	16.0%
• Coloured	81.7%
• Indian/Asian	0.5%
• White	0.2%
• Other	1.5%
First languages (2011)
• Afrikaans	73.9%
• English	12.9%
• Xhosa	8.9%
• Other	4.3%
Postal code (street)	7100
PO box	7103

Eerste River (Eersterivier in Afrikaans, meaning "first river") is a suburb of the city of Cape Town, South Africa. It forms part of the Oosterberg subregion of the city, situated behind the Stellenbosch/Vlaeberg Hills on the Strand/Van Riebeeck Road. It is about 45 km from Cape Town CBD and 8 km from Cape Town International Airport on the N2 route.

Eerste River started off as many different farms and expanded vastly after the 1980s. It is a diverse town; many of its almost 25,000 residents originally immigrated here from elsewhere. Among its beauty is the area called Penhill, hidden from the town and filled with nature.

Schools in Eerste River include the Afrikaans-medium Eersterivier Secondary School. Other schools in the area include Forest Heights Primary School, Palm Park Primary School, Stratford Primary School, Spurwing Primary School, Tuscany Glen Primary School, Melton Rose Primary School, Helderkruin Primary School, Tuscany High School, Forest Heights High School, and in the surrounding areas Kleinvlei High School and Malibu High School.

Delft, Blackheath, Wesbank and Brentwood Park used to be a part of the town, but as the towns grew, all were given their own municipalities.

Eerste River is home to Teen Challenge International Western Cape centre, the only Teen Challenge centre in South Africa. Teen Challenge is an evangelical Christian recovery program network of Christian social and evangelizing work centers that ministers to addicted populations; it is known for its successful drug rehabilitation programme.