Melkbosstrand

Melkbosstrand (Afrikaans for "Milkwood beach") is a coastal village and beach located on the South West Coast of South Africa, 35 km north of Cape Town.

Named after the species of Euphorbiaceae bushes which grow on the dunes and give off a milky latex like substance, it is commonly referred to simply as Melkbos. The town and its 7 km stretch of white sand beach is situated on the Atlantic coast with the Blouberg mountain to the east. The beach is popular with surfers. It is notable for being one of the landing points for the South Africa-Far East and South Atlantic/West Africa submarine cable systems.

Melkbosstrand falls under the City of Cape Town metropolitan municipality, and its nearest neighbouring towns are Bloubergstrand and Atlantis.

For many years Melkbosstrand has been called the "rich man's town" by its neighboring suburbs and towns, such as Atlantis and Table View. This labeling remark is probably due to the fact that Melkbosstrand is home to a few South African celebrities (retired rugby players, actors etc.), and some higher class citizens, which is mainly due to its location and its beautiful view of Table Mountain. Melkbosstrand owes much of its present day infrastructure to two significant South African apartheid government developments in the late seventies. The first, Koeberg nuclear power station, constructed with the help of the British and French some 6 km north of Melkbosstrand, necessitated the creation of high quality housing for the foreign contractors. The second, the government subsidized creation of Atlantis Diesel Engines (ADE), a joint venture between the British Perkins-Elmer and German Daimler AG, to bypass international sanctions imposed by United Nations Security Council Resolution 418. Although ADE was in the industrial park of Atlantis, some 50 km north of Cape Town, subsidized housing was established in Melkbosstrand to help attract and retain the many German, British, and even South African, engineers, managers, and technicians. These houses, both for Koeberg and ADE, have long since been sold off to the public.