Zandvlei Trust

ZIMP - Aerial Photos of Zandvlei

From the City of Cape Town archives. The drawing is referenced as 1951 of the Muizenberg area (It may be eariler). These copies of the Zandvlei drawing and photos below were supplied by Martin Thompson.

Some very interesting things are visible in the drawing. Look at the location of the Sand River in the area
of Prince George Drive. Note that it crossed the Prince George Drive to the east and back again on the western side. Note that the road south from Military Road was called Margate Road.
Also note that the Sand River did not join into Little Pincessvlei at all. Little Princess is not linked to Princessvlei either.

This photo is the oldest known aerial survey photo taken in 1935
of Zandvlei and part of Muizenberg with Thesens bridge.
Note there was a boat house with a small sheltered bay for the launching
and landing near the bridge.

This photo gives one an idea of what the mouth looked like in 1935,
with the pavillion and the walkway. Note the lack of vegetation to the
east of the mouth. Also note how far inland the dune system extended
across Royal Road in the Bokmakierie Park area and where the 
Burger Strandhuis is today.

These pictures are from Lara van Niekerk's presentation she gave the members in March 2003.

1944 – All dried out.

1954 – Notice the coffer dam wall built across Zandvlei in the middle. These years were the engineering manipulation of the edges for residential suburbs to be built around Zandvlei.

1977 – The Marina da Gama canals have been dredged and the land levelled for building. Also see how much deep water is in the Westlake Wetlands with the lack of reeds.

1987 – At the upper right hand corner the area has been cleared for the beginning of Coniston Park.