Camissa: The Place of Sweet Waters

We can’t understand why Cape Town is the lively and bustling city it is today without a very brief geography and history lesson.  And of course the story begins with our iconic Table Mountain.

When cold weather systems roll in from over the cold Atlantic ocean, it comes into contact with the mountain’s sandstone folds. Rainwater seeps into the porous rock and slowly makes its way downward through natural aquifers and fissures. This filtration journey can take decades, making the water mineral-rich, cool, and incredibly pure by the time it reaches the surface. These underground streams emerge in various places across table valley basin, most notably as natural springs at its base. Long before taps and water tanks, these springs were the lifeblood of the Cape.

It was the Gorinhaiqua pastoralists, who had migrated into the Cape region around 2,000 years ago, who realised the value of these natural springs.  

They established self sustaining communities, planting crops and grazing cattle along the fertile pastures at the base of the mountain. It is so easy to forget that such settlement wouldn’t have been possible without the abundance of fresh water and fertile valleys. In fact, the name “Camissa” an original Khoi name for Cape Town translates to “place of sweet waters,” paying tribute to the mountain’s prolific springs.

From the mid-1600s onwards ships from the Dutch East India Company stopped in Table Bay specifically to refill their water barrels with this sweet mountain spring water. It was known across the seas as some of the best-tasting water in the world. Naturally, the established the Company’s Gardens so they too could make the most of the fertile land and grow fresh produce for passing ships.

To facilitate the collection of water from the mountain, the Dutch built canals called ‘grachte’ which carried the water to the sea. By the 1800’s, however, the canals had become the dumping place for the city’s rubbish. When the Bubonic Plague hit, fears about the spread of the disease led to water being directed into underground underground systems and the canals becoming redundant.

As Cape Town’s population expanded over the years and water demand surged, the city turned to more distant catchment areas, building dams that now form the backbone of its modern water supply system. Today, Table Mountain’s once-crucial springs provide less than 2% of the city’s overall water needs

So, in an age where most people get their water from plastic bottles, there’s something beautifully grounding about filling your own container from a mountain-fed spring.

It's a reminder that Cape Town’s natural gifts aren’t just scenic, they’re life- sustaining, and they need to be protected.

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