The Cape Chronicle

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Staff Writer20 October 2026

The Cape Chronicle has been a struggling newspaper since its inception in 1860. With over 12000 readers, we are in dire need for fresh content to keep the paper relevant…

Cape Heritage Education Environment

From Butterflies to a Home for the Unwanted

Staff Writer20 October 2026

Heritage Article | Exotic Animal World, Klapmuts, Western Cape Butterfly World opened on Route 44 near Klapmuts in November 1996, as the largest free-flying butterfly park in Southern Africa. It…

Business & Economy

The Cape has become a SPAM Culture

Staff Writer18 October 2026

Ask anyone in Cape Town what they did with their inbox this morning and you’ll hear the same thing: they deleted, ignored, blocked and reported. Somewhere in that pile there…

Culture & Traditions

Looking for the Perfect Dress?

Staff Writer15 October 202618 October 2026

PretPakkie is one of many South African clothing shops selling everyday dresses that are easy to wear and doesn’t look like Temu had a Black Friday Sale. Whatever you’re dressing…

Community News & Events Northern Suburbs

Ouma se Winkel: where the pies come first, and the customer comes before that

Staff Writer8 October 20268 October 2026

Some shops sell products. Others sell the feeling of being looked after. Ouma se Winkel manages both, and people travel a long way for it. The pies that travel Ouma…

Business

Rate Card

Staff Writer7 October 20267 October 2026

Advertise with us The Cape Chronicle Rate Card Put your business in front of readers who care about the history, heritage and stories of the Cape. All prices in South…

Uncategorized

Cape Chronicle launches R75 Classified Ads

Staff Writer3 October 20265 October 2026

Cape Town small businesses deserve attention! And we are delivering! For only R75, you can get an “Old School Display Advert linked to your website, shop or Whatsapp Business Catalogue.…

Sponsored Content

Classified Ads – 1861

Staff Writer2 October 202614 October 2026

Merchants and Shopkeepers are invited to place a commercial message in our Classified Section and reach our 10 000 active users. The current rate for 1861 is 1¾ pence once-off…

Creative Work

What to Do When Your Hosting Provider Doesn’t Understand the Difference Between a Domain and a Hosting Account

Staff Writer30 September 202630 September 2026

A case study in how a two-minute request turned into a week of damage control, and how to protect yourself when it happens to you. The request The setup was…

Agriculture Environment

Meet South Africa’s Caracal Killer!

Staff Writer22 September 2026

The Silent War on South Africa’s Farms: How the Caracal is Pushing Small Stock Farmers to the Brink A professional trapper’s frontline account sheds light on one of agriculture’s most…

Environment

Caged, Culled or Coexisted With? Inside the Western Cape’s Baboon Crisis

Staff Writer22 September 2026

By Driko Maritz | September 2026 They raid kitchens in Simon’s Town. They terrify tourists in Kommetjie. They have made international headlines from Reuters to CNN. And now, Cape Town’s…

Uncategorized

A focus on the Southern Suburbs

Staff Writer22 September 202620 October 2026

October’s issue of the Cape Chronicle has been made possible by Oggi in Harfield Village and we will therefore be focusing on the Southern Suburbs during October. If you want…

Cape Heritage Culture & Traditions

Why Cape Town Prefers “Braai Day” to Heritage Day

Staff Writer22 September 202622 September 2026

On coals, culture, and a government that keeps forgetting there are other people here Every year on the 24th of September, South Africa’s government reminds its citizens to celebrate Heritage…

Culture & Traditions

Spring Has Sprung: What to Expect in the Cape’s Oceans This Season

Staff Writer22 September 202622 September 2026

23 September marks the official arrival of spring along the Western Cape coast — and the ocean is already stirring back to life. Whether you’re a surfer, freediver, spearfisher, rock…

Sponsored Content

30 Years of Stitches, Swims & Soul: The Oggi Story

Staff Writer22 September 202622 September 2026

How a little shop on 2nd Avenue became Cape Town’s most beloved swimwear institution There are businesses, and then there are landmarks. Oggi Swim & Gymwear — tucked away on 2nd…

Featured

Found by Accident: How a 198-Year-Old Law Firm Became Invisible in Its Own City

Staff Writer21 September 2026

A Cape Chronicle Editorial The Cape Chronicle exists to tell the stories of this city. Its history, its institutions, its people, its landmarks. We seek out the threads that connect…

Politics & Provincial Government

Cape Town’s Draft Animal Keeping By-law: What Could Change for Pet Owners, Breeders and Animal Businesses

Staff Writer11 September 2026

Cape Town’s proposed Animal Keeping By-law, 2026 would retain many of the rules in the current 2021 by-law, but it would make the system more detailed, more welfare-driven and more explicit about…

Business & Economy Opinion

After Every Collapse, We Regulate the Wrong People

William Foster9 September 20269 September 2026

South Africa’s construction regulations only ever seem to move after the rubble is cleared. But look closely at what each revision actually does, and a pattern emerges: the more people…

Paid Promotion

Why More South Africans Are Ditching Flat-Pack for Furniture Made to Last a Lifetime

Staff Writer8 September 2026

There’s a quiet shift happening in South African homes. After years of replacing wobbly veneer units and sagging particleboard beds every few seasons, more homeowners, designers and hospitality businesses are…

Featured

The Story of Sonstraal Dam

Staff Writer27 August 202618 October 2026

Tucked into the suburb of Vygeboom in Durbanville, Sonstraal Dam is one of those quiet Cape Town landmarks that most Northern Suburbs residents have a childhood memory of — feeding…

Culture & Traditions Featured Tourism

THE PROMENADE OR THE DANGER ZONE?

Staff Writer27 August 202627 August 2026

Cape Town’s reckless experiment with e-scooters and e-bikes must end before a pedestrian is killed By the Cape Chronicle Investigative Desk There is something profoundly wrong with the idea of…

Cape Heritage Special Historical Feature

From Pumpkin Patch to Parish: The Making of Durbanville

Staff Writer20 August 2026

A Cape Chronicle Heritage Feature Long before it had a name that would fit on a signpost, the place we now call Durbanville was simply somewhere to stop. In the…

Environment

THE BIG CAT BATTLE

Staff Writer17 August 2026

FOUR PAWS, captive lion breeding and the uncomfortable gap between campaigning and evidence INVESTIGATIVE FEATURE South Africa’s captive big-cat industry is one of the country’s most controversial wildlife stories. It…

Agriculture Cape History Featured People

Evert van Guinea: From Enslavement to Pioneer of Cape Agriculture

Staff Writer14 August 202617 August 2026

Long before the Cape’s vineyards became synonymous with wealth, prestige and international trade, its agricultural economy was being shaped by people whose names were seldom given prominence in the histories…

Education Featured

The Great Name Change That Didn’t Change the Name

Staff Writer14 August 202617 August 2026

DF Malan High School became DF Akademie — but the initials of the man it supposedly wanted to leave behind remain firmly above the door There is something deeply ironic…

Cape History People

Maria Everts: The Woman Who Rose from Slavery to the Cape Wine Trade

Staff Writer12 August 2026

Born into slavery, Maria Everts became a prosperous landowner and wine producer whose family would later be closely associated with Constantia. Her remarkable rise, however, carries a darker truth: she…

Business Featured Transport

Coca-Cola Silent as Questions Grow Over Truck Overtaking Video

Staff Writer12 August 202617 August 2026

A video circulating on Facebook appears to show one Coca-Cola truck overtaking another Coca-Cola truck on a blind rising — a manoeuvre that raises obvious questions about road safety and…

Cape History People

Johannes Colijn: The Forgotten Father of Constantia — and the Slave Empire Behind the Wine

Staff Writer12 August 202612 August 2026

He helped put Constantia wine on the world stage, but the empire behind his success was built within a society sustained by slavery. There is a familiar story about the…

Community News & Events

Become a Guardian of History

Staff Writer11 August 202611 August 2026

At a certain point in your life, you will come to realise that everything and everyone you grew up with has been reduced to your own memories. As the publisher…

Office of the Editor

Calls for Nominations for the Cape Chronicle Heritage Award Certificate

Staff Writer10 August 2026

Businesses, institutions and individuals whose contribution has shaped the Cape are being invited to take their place in history CAPE TOWN — The Cape has been built over generations by…

Cape History Special Historical Feature

THE LITTLE TRIANGLE THAT PUT THE CAPE ON THE POSTAL MAP

Staff Writer10 August 202610 August 2026

How a curious three-cornered stamp issued in Cape Town in 1853 became one of the world’s most famous pieces of postal history CAPE TOWN, 1853 — There was nothing particularly…

Courts & Crime

Coca-Cola Responds to Video on Social Media

Staff Writer8 August 2026

See it here Response from Coca-Cola >>

Culture & Traditions Featured

Chappies: The Little Piece of Bubble Gum That Changed Cape Culture

Staff Writer7 August 202617 August 2026

From a Johannesburg sweet factory to a familiar name in generations of South African childhood It was small enough to disappear into a child’s pocket, cheap enough to buy with…

Northern Suburbs

The Legacy of the Hansa Clinic

Staff Writer7 August 20267 August 2026

The little Bellville clinic where a blue or pink flag announced a new life — decades before Mediclinic claimed the tradition By Cape Chronicle Historical Desk There was a time…

Community News & Events Northern Suburbs Office of the Editor

Notice to Advertisers – Northern Suburbs

Staff Writer7 August 20267 August 2026

During the month of September, we will focus on Durbanville and everything it has to offer. If you want to become part of the Cape Chronicle’s history, we invite you…

Business Northern Suburbs

Bugsy’s Wooden Pet Structures Builds Quality Homes for Cape Town’s Beloved Pets

Staff Writer6 August 2026

DURBANVILLE — A comfortable home is something every family values, and at Bugsy’s Wooden Pet Structures, that same principle extends to the four-legged, feathered and furry members of the household.…

Sponsored Content

KFC and Defence Department Unveil “Umkhonto-we-Fly” — South Africa’s First Finger-Lickin’ Attack Helicopter

Staff Writer3 August 202629 August 2026

By Victor Achebe | Special Satirical Correspondent Cape Chronicle — 3 August 2026 PRETORIA — In what military analysts have already described as “the boldest defence strategy since someone suggested…

Cape Heritage

THE LOST GARDENS OF SCHOONSPRUIT

Staff Writer3 August 2026

Malmesbury’s Forgotten Estate Where Trains Slowed to Admire a Garden Paradise An investigation into the history, legend and heritage of one of the Swartland’s most enchanting properties By Victor Achebe…

1860 to 1872 Cape History

The Great Fire of 1869

Staff Writer3 August 20263 August 2026

Origins and spread The fire was first spotted on 1 February 1869 burning in the Meiringspoort area of the Swartberg Mountains, in the Klein Karoo. The whole subcontinent had been…

Sponsored Content

Four Decades of Protecting Lives: How Phambili Penn Fire Services Built a Reputation on Reliability

Sponsored Content3 August 20268 August 2026

PAROW — Fire protection is one of those industries that receives little attention until the moment it is needed. When emergencies strike, however, the quality of the equipment and the…

Cape Heritage Tourism Towns

The Mystery of the Paternoster Hotel: History, Heritage or Local Legend?

Staff Writer1 August 20261 August 2026

An Investigative Historical Feature For generations, visitors arriving in the picturesque fishing village of Paternoster have been greeted by one of the West Coast’s most recognisable landmarks—the Paternoster Hotel. Whitewashed…

Business People

The Carosinis of the West Coast: An Italian Family’s Century of Enterprise, Fishing, Hospitality and Heritage

Staff Writer1 August 20261 August 2026

By the Cape Chronicle Historical Desk Along the windswept coastline between Saldanha Bay and the mouth of the Berg River lies a remarkable story of migration, enterprise and survival. It…

Agriculture

Riebeek Cellars—A Testament to the Enduring Spirit of the Swartland

Staff Writer1 August 2026

Editorial “The strength of a nation is found not only within its cities, but among the vineyards, wheat lands and farming communities that nourish them.” There are institutions whose histories…

Business Cape Heritage

From a Bicycle and a Dream: The Enduring Legacy of Friedman & Cohen

Staff Writer1 August 20263 August 2026

By the Cape Chronicle Historical Desk There are few businesses in the Western Cape that can claim to have witnessed more than a century of South African history. Fewer still…

Cape Heritage Community News & Events Culture & Traditions Politics & Provincial Government Special Historical Feature Tourism

If Dagbreek Cottage Falls, Another Piece of the Cape Falls With It

Staff Writer30 July 202617 August 2026

The City of Cape Town never tires of marketing itself as a world-class city. It boasts about tourism, celebrates its historic precincts, and proudly sells visitors a destination rich in…

1962 to 1984 Courts & Crime

The Scissors Murder: The Bellville Crime That Shocked a Nation

Staff Writer30 July 202630 July 2026

A reconstruction of the murder of Susanna Magdalena van der Linde, the trial of Marlene Lehnberg and Marthinus Choegoe, and the tragedy that followed By The Cape Chronicle Investigative Desk…

Cape History People

From Durbanville to Zion: The Untold Journey of a Cape Colony Blacksmith

Staff Writer30 July 2026

The story of David Samuel Sampson traces one family’s passage across continents, faiths, and the shifting boundaries of race in the early twentieth century DURBANVILLE, Cape Colony — 1872. In…

Special Historical Feature

The Springs That Built a Town: The Story of Aliwal North’s Hot Pool

Staff Writer30 July 2026

By Staff Reporter | Eastern Cape Bureau ALIWAL NORTH — Long before this quiet town on the banks of the Orange River carried the name of a battlefield in Punjab,…

Special Historical Feature

The Horseless Carriage That Changed a Nation: South Africa’s First Motor Car

Staff Writer28 July 202628 July 2026

A look back at the 1896 Benz Velo, the vehicle that put the country on wheels PRETORIA/PORT ELIZABETH — Long before the Cape’s highways carried a single bakkie or sedan,…

Health Senior Adults

The Science Behind Active Ageing: How SASFA Fitness Programmes Help Older Adults Stay Healthier for Longer

Sponsored Content28 July 202628 July 2026

By Juliana Le Roux, fitness instructor at Seniorfit60Plus Growing older no longer means slowing down. Across the world, scientific research continues to show that regular physical activity is one of…

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