Paardevlei social history tour
Our guide, Dr Tim Visser, explores Paardevlei’s lesser-known heritage within a rapidly developing precinct beside Somerset West. It’s a place shaped by contrast: one section carefully restored, the next left unused and overgrown.
Dr Visser has studied the site for years, having lived nearby his entire life. His commentary places Paardevlei within South Africa’s broader shift from an agricultural economy to an industrial and now post-industrial landscape.
Today, the precinct is sought-after residential land with lakeside and mountain views, where stretches of once-empty veld are giving way to multi-storey apartment blocks. A new Checkers Hyper opened in May 2024 near the private hospital. One part of the site features architecture by Herbert Baker and Francis Masey, while another contains derelict former hostels. In December 2024, Alderman James Vos, the City’s Mayco Member for Economic Growth, announced a R900 million film facility planned for the area.
Come and see it before there are too many more changes.
Date: Saturday 23 May 2026
Time: 9h30 to 12h30
Cost: R375 early payment received by 13 May (ten days in advance) | R500 thereafter
Venue: The Rhodes Room at Baker Square, a short walk from Lorenzo Marx Cafe, where it is best to park.
Do join us for lunch afterwards at Lorenzo Marx Cafe; menu here
Available as a private tour, just let me know dates
To book: kate@cultureconnectsa.com WhatsApp/phone +27 (0)72 377 8014
Images: Admin Block ex AECI (De Beers Explosive Works) Baker & Masey 1900 || Ex AECI Power Station 1903 || Culture Connectors 2022 || Old labour compound
