Page 88 - Bulletin 20 2016

85

Getting started

th
At the special Divisional Council meeting on April 11 (in addition to the decision to
purchase Smith’s Farm) a number of pressing matters pursuant to this were also addressed.
As the Cape Argus reported that same day:

“It was further unanimously decided “that immediate representation be made to the
Lands Department for the Crown land adjoining the nature reserve to be granted to
Council”, and that the Works Committee by instructed to ascertain the terms and
conditions under which the property owned by Hare Brothers can be acquired as an
addition to the nature reserve.”

Further, Councilor C. Pearce moved that the reserve be officially named the Cape of Good
Hope Nature Reserve while Mr. S. M. Loubser M.P. suggested the name, “Van der Stel
Park”. To ensure the general goodwill in evidence that day was not displaced by a
disagreement, Councilor C. Stark diplomatically recommended that the selecting of a name
be postponed and referred to a special committee for further deliberation.

In the end, even the public was invited through the press to make suggestions for a name.
Many suggestions, such as, Van der Stel Park, were in reference to historical figures
associated with the Cape, including, Dias, Da Gama and Sir Francis Drake, while others were
clearly nonsensical including, “Pixie Point”, “Sea-Girt Zoo”, “Bok-bok land” and ”Elf Land”
(113) th
. In the end saner heads prevailed and on May 18 , the ‘Special Committee’ concluded
that the reserve should be called the Cape of Good Hope Nature Reserve. This makes all the
sense in the world and was the correct decision given the global significance the Cape of
Good Hope is imbued with – making it one of the most internationally famous landmarks in
the world – with the justifiable claim to being not only the most famous promontory in the
world but one of the proverbial, ‘four corners of the world’ for reasons outlined in this paper.
Indeed, South African National Parks should well have considered this reality before
changing the name of the Cape Peninsula National Park to Table Mountain National Park in
2004.

th
The next order of business to be addressed was on June 20 , when a temporary Advisory
Board of ten members was appointed to address pressing matters, while awaiting legislation
“relating to the control, management and general welfare of any nature reserve” yet to be

85