Paarden Eiland (island of horses) is a light industrial area of Cape Town, South Africa. It is located on the Table Bay coast about from the city centre.
The area which is now Paarden Eiland is located at the mouth of the Salt River and Black River and was originally inhabited by the indigenous ǃUriǁʼaekua people ("Goringhaiqua" in Dutch approximate spelling).It was the approximate location of the Battle of Salt River in 1510, the first military encounter between Europeans and indigenous people in what would later become South Africa.[1]
Jan van Riebeeck referred to game hunting game in the area, and the rivers were inhabited by hippopotamus.
In 1773, the Dutch ship De Jonge Thomas dragged anchor and sank on a sandbank in the area, and event made famous by the heroic rescue of 14 sailors by Wolraad Woltemade, who drowned along with his horse in the rescue.
Paarden Eiland was declared an industrial area in 1935 and was heavily developed after World War II.[2]