A common heritage

Rondebosch Common with the University of Cape Town at the foot of Devil's Peak in the background. The common is an open space in the centre of Cape Town suburbia - its history stretching back into the dim and distant past when Khoe herders grazed their sheep and cattle there. During the Dutch and English colonial periods it was used as a military encampment but also as common grazing land. Botanically it has become of great importance as it harbours two patches of almost extinct vegetation types - Sand Plain Fynbos and Renosterveld.