Grassy Park | |
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Street map of Grassy Park |
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Grassy Park shown within Western Cape | |
Coordinates: 34°03′S 18°29′E / 34.050°S 18.483°ECoordinates: 34°03′S 18°29′E / 34.050°S 18.483°E | |
Country | South Africa |
Province | Western Cape |
Municipality | City of Cape Town |
Main Place | Grassy Park |
Government | |
• Councillor | Derek Smith (Ward 65) (DA) Basil Lee (Ward 67) (DA) Johannes Burger (Ward 72) (DA) |
Area | |
• Total | 3.24 km2 (1.25 sq mi) |
Population (2011) | |
• Total | 19,212 |
• Density | 5,900/km2 (15,000/sq mi) |
Racial makeup (2011) | |
• Black African | 7.7% |
• Coloured | 88.0% |
• Indian/Asian | 1.9% |
• White | 0.3% |
• Other | 2.2% |
First languages (2011) | |
• English | 75.2% |
• Afrikaans | 21.8% |
• Other | 3.0% |
Postal code (street) | 7888 |
PO box | 7941 |
Grassy Park is home to every single African nationality |
Grassy Park is a suburb in the Western Cape Province of South Africa, situated on the Cape Flats in the 021, also known as the City of Cape Town.
Grassy Park is home to some of the most diverse plant and wildlife as well as being almost completely surrounded by vleis and lakes. The most notable is the Rondevlei Nature Reserve home to a very shy hippopotamus, a few eland and many other smaller animals, who mainly come out at night. Rondevlei is also home to a healthy pelican community. Zeekoevlei is one of the many freshwater lakes in the district and home to a thriving community. A lesser known body of water is the Princess Vlei, which falls within the Ramsar Convention.
Described by some as "apartheid's dumping ground", from the 1950s the area became home to people the apartheid government designated as non-White. Race-based legislation such as the Group Areas Act and pass laws either forced non-white people out of more central urban areas designated for white people and into government-built townships in the Flats, or made living in the area illegal, forcing many people designated as Black and Coloured into informal settlements elsewhere in the Flats. The Flats have since then been home to much of the population of Greater Cape Town.
Grassy Park began to develop in the early 1900s on part of the Montagu's Gift estate north of Zeekoevlei. At that time, the area was rural, under the administration of the Divisional Council of the Cape. By 1920, the estate had 2000 residents. From 1923, it was represented on the Southern Civic Association.