When Jan van Riebeeck was employed by the company to start and manage the refreshment station, many laborers were needed. Initially European laborers were brought over from the Netherlands. The local 'Hottentots' were unused to the type of manual labor required, so slaves were imported from Northern Africa.

In 1654 the first Asians arrived at the Cape, having been banished here by the High Court in Batavia.

Today's large 'Coloured' population in the Cape is descended from the inter-racial relations between these Black, Asian and White communities.

In the 1660's Simon van der Stel arrived to govern the Cape. He was the founding father of the Cape wine industry. The French Huguenots, who arrived in 1688, fleeing from religious persecution via Holland, added to the development of this industry which is still thriving today.

Jumping ahead down the years to the beginnings of legalized apartheid, in 1936 the first series of laws were passed diminishing the voting rights of non-Whites in the Cape. Following World War 2, the National Party won the general election and remained in power until 1994. This party had apartheid as its central theme. From the prohibition of mixed marriages to separate queues and public transport for whites and non-whites, these laws entrenched the division of peoples into 'White', 'Asian' and 'Native' groups.

Off Cape Town's coast, Robben Island was used as a 'maximum security institution' from 1962, and thousands of black political prisoners were sent there, including Nelson Mandela.

In 1966 District Six was declared a "White Group Area". All buildings except religious ones could be demolished under the term 'slum clearance'. About 150 000 people, mostly 'Coloureds' and 'Blacks', were forcibly removed to residential areas on the Cape Flats.

In the 1970's townships such as Crossroads began springing up around Cape Town.

In 1985, the National Party government under PW Botha declared a State of Emergency. This dark period in the country's history saw thousands detained without trial, many tortured and even killed. In the Cape, Coloured schools were closed down.

On a more positive note, in 1989 redevelopment of the historic Cape Town docklands was begun which would become the Victoria and Alfred Waterfront the biggest tourist attraction in SA today.

In 1994 the whole country experienced the first national and provincial democratic elections and the 'New South Africa' was born.

In 1995 Cape Town hosted the opening game of the 1995 Rugby World Cup, with SA playing against Australia. SA won the first "game“ and the series.

In 1999 Thabo Mbeki became the president of South Africa, and the Unicity Commission was established as a temporary political body to ensure a smooth transition from seven municipal councils into one body.

Today Cape Town is a thriving city, with the central business district undergoing phenomenal growth after a period of decline in the 1990's. The city centre is vibrant day and night, clean, well policed and efficiently managed by an award-winning central city improvement district.