Where Constantia is, and why the name matters

Constantia lies on the southern slopes of Table Mountain, between the M3 highway and the mountain ridge that runs towards Hout Bay and Muizenberg. Officially it’s one of Cape Town’s oldest districts and today covers around 24 km², with a population just over 12,000 people—over three quarters of them classified as white in the 2011 census.

This quiet valley is far more than just another leafy suburb. It’s widely recognised as the cradle of South African wine, anchored by Groot Constantia, the estate founded in 1685 by Simon van der Stel on land granted to him by the Dutch East India Company (VOC).

Over the centuries, the name “Constantia” has stretched from that single farm to:

• a family of wine estates (Groot Constantia, Klein Constantia, Buitenverwachting, Constantia Uitsig, Steenberg, Constantia Glen),
• a suburb defined—at different times—by orchards, smallholdings, forced-removal scars and gated mansions,
• and a global brand associated with legendary dessert wines poured for European royal courts.

Understanding where the name comes from is more than trivia; it’s a shortcut into the power politics, marketing myths and memory battles that shaped the valley.

The name “Constantia”: three competing stories

When Simon van der Stel was officially granted about 760 hectares on the eastern side of Table Mountain in 1685, he named the farm Constantia. That much everyone agrees on. What historians still argue about is why.

1. Constantia van Goens — the patron’s daughter

One of the oldest theories says Van der Stel named the farm after Constantia van Goens, daughter of VOC Commissioner Rijckloff van Goens. Van Goens had influence over land grants at the Cape and is thought to have supported Van der Stel’s application—so naming the farm after his daughter would have been a neat piece of seventeenth-century flattery.

South African historian A.J. Boeseken, writing in the twentieth century, considered this the most probable explanation, and later studies of VOC records have tended to treat it as the leading candidate—though never quite beyond doubt.

2. A VOC ship called “Constantia”

Another story points to a VOC ship named “Constantia” that was at one stage anchored in Table Bay. In this version, Van der Stel simply borrowed the ship’s name, perhaps because it symbolised the Company’s power or his own maritime career. Some modern Constantia estate histories list this as a plausible second theory.

3. Latin “constantia” — constancy and steadfastness

A third explanation is more symbolic. In Latin, constantia means “constancy” or “steadfastness”. Several wine-industry histories note that these were virtues Van der Stel is said to have admired—especially in himself—and suggest that the name might have been chosen to broadcast those ideals.

Allegorical farm names were fashionable among VOC officials at the time, so a moralising Latin name would not have been out of place.

So which story is right?

With the surviving VOC paperwork, we can’t be 100% sure. But weighing up the evidence:

• Conservative historians tend to treat Constantia van Goens as the most likely inspiration, given Van Goens’s role in land grants.
• The ship story is possible but less directly documented.
• The Latin “virtue” reading is almost certainly a later embellishment—or at best, an extra layer of meaning added on top of a political name-choice.

In other words: Constantia is probably named after a powerful man’s daughter, with a side order of Latin virtue signalling and VOC self-mythologising.

From VOC wine farm to leafy suburb: a short timeline

The name “Constantia” has travelled a long way in three centuries. Here’s a simplified timeline.

Sweet wine, Napoleon & global fame

For many people outside South Africa, “Constantia” still means a style of wine rather than a place. In the 18th and early 19th centuries, Vin de Constance—a luscious dessert wine from the Constantia valley—became one of the southern hemisphere’s most famous wines.

Export records and letters show it being drunk by Frederick the Great of Prussia, Louis XVI and Marie Antoinette, British prime minister William Pitt the Younger and Napoleon, who reportedly requested Constantia wine during his exile on St Helena.

The phylloxera epidemic of the late 1800s devastated vineyards around the Cape, and production of classic Constantia dessert wine died out for nearly a century. It was revived in the 1980s and 2000s by estates such as Klein Constantia, Groot Constantia and Buitenverwachting, who explicitly tie their brands back to the historic name.

All of this means that when you say “Constantia” today, you’re invoking both a physical valley and a centuries-old marketing story—one that has sometimes glossed over the labour of enslaved people, tenant farmers and later displaced communities who made that wine possible.

Layers of meaning: Constantia’s name today

Walk or drive through Constantia and the name pops up everywhere: Constantia Main Road, Constantia Village, Constantia Glen, Constantia Uitsig. But beneath the branding there are deeper layers.

All of which makes the name “Constantia” slightly ironic. A word tied to steadiness and constancy has in fact been attached to a place marked by constant change: in who owns land, who may live there, and who is invited into its stories.

Crime & safety: how safe is Constantia really?

On the face of it, Constantia feels like one of the safest parts of Cape Town: quiet streets, high walls, cameras at every intersection, and a strong presence of private security and neighbourhood watches. That impression is partly accurate—but it doesn’t mean the valley is crime-free.

How Constantia fits into Cape Town’s crime picture

• Official SAPS crime statistics are reported by police station, not suburb. Constantia falls mainly under the Wynberg and nearby precincts, with additional support from city-wide units. Province-level data for the Western Cape show persistently high rates of violent crime overall, but Wynberg does not appear among the province’s worst-affected stations.
• Lists of Cape Town’s most dangerous areas are dominated by parts of the Cape Flats—Nyanga, Philippi and similar neighbourhoods with entrenched gang violence—rather than southern suburbs like Constantia.
• A few years ago, local media highlighted a dramatic drop in reported crime at Wynberg station during the COVID-19 lockdown period, though analysts noted that restrictions on movement likely played a big role.

In short: Constantia sits inside a high-crime city, but as an affluent residential pocket it typically experiences lower levels of violent crime than many Cape Town precincts. That doesn’t mean risk is negligible.

What kinds of crime happen in Constantia?

Local neighbourhood watch feeds paint a picture of “suburban” crime more than daily gang warfare:

• Residential burglaries and attempted break-ins.
• Theft out of or from motor vehicles, especially at shopping centres and trailheads.
• Occasional armed or aggravated robberies in homes or driveways.
• Petty theft, trespassing and malicious damage to property around greenbelts.

There have also been headline-grabbing incidents that remind residents that serious violence can spill into even wealthy areas:

• In 2023, four Bulgarian nationals were shot dead at a Constantia property in what police described as a suspected gang-related hit—an unusually high-profile multiple murder for the suburb.
• In 2023, worshippers at a Constantia church endured an armed robbery after suspects gained entry by pretending one of them was ill.

How residents and police respond

• Constantia has an active neighbourhood watch ecosystem, including Constantia Watch and Nova Constantia Crime Watch, with licence-plate-recognition (LPR) cameras at main entrances, shared databases of suspicious vehicles and rapid coordination with private security firms and SAPS.
• Wynberg SAPS runs sector policing; one sector patrol vehicle is dedicated specifically to Constantia, with a named sector commander and direct contact numbers circulated by local watches.
• Community-police forums and watches encourage residents to report all incidents, differentiate between emergencies and non-urgent calls, and support prosecutions where possible.

If you’re a visitor, what does this mean?

For most travellers and day-trippers, Constantia feels substantially safer than many urban parts of Cape Town—but it’s still vital to use big-city common sense:

• Don’t leave valuables visible in parked cars, even on quiet lanes or at wine farms.
• Be cautious about walking or running alone on greenbelts at dawn, dusk or after dark.
• At accommodation, lock doors and windows, use alarms if provided, and ask hosts about any local patterns.
• On hiking routes from Constantia Nek, follow the same safety advice you’d use elsewhere on Table Mountain: hike in a group, carry a charged phone and stick to popular paths.

Practical tips if you stay in Constantia

Beyond the name story, Constantia is simply a lovely base if you want leafy calm within easy reach of the city. A few practical notes:

Constantia: quick facts

Legal disclaimer

This article is general information. It is not a legal opinion, safety certificate, travel guarantee or professional security assessment.

Crime levels, policing capacity, trail access, business operations and social conditions in Constantia and wider Cape Town can change quickly. Official SAPS statistics, Western Cape crime data and local watch reports may use different boundaries and categories, and are often published with a delay.

By using this guide you accept that:

• You are responsible for judging your own risk tolerance, health, fitness and security needs.
• You will check up-to-date information from SAPS, the City of Cape Town, neighbourhood watches and trusted local sources before acting.
• You will comply with all laws, park rules, property rules and safety instructions.
• You will obtain any insurance (medical, travel, property, evacuation) you consider necessary.

The author and publisher accept no liability for any loss, injury, damage or other consequence arising from your use of this information. If you are unsure about the safety or legality of any activity or area, get advice from qualified local professionals and official channels before you proceed.