City ropes in students for historical information archiving project

27 February 2025

The City of Cape Town’s Environment and Heritage Resources Information Centre (EHRIC) has recently completed 23 000 scans relating to the history and development of Cape Town. This feat has been accomplished with the assistance of four students who helped with the digitisation of valuation records, historical building plans, road surveys and survey sheets. The work is being done at 44 Wale Street, Cape Town, where these invaluable City maps and documents can be accessed by appointment.

‘Three months ago, the City’s Human Resources department assigned four of its students to form part of this important digitisation project. The team started with historical Valuation Records collected from the City’s Plumstead storeroom and digitised and indexed more than half of these. We have also digitised historical building plans, road surveys and survey sheets. The students, led by Willem Hutten, have been absolutely fantastic and have made excellent progress. To date they have completed 23 000 scans and hope to do many more before the end of their six-month secondment. I wish them all of the best,’ said the City’s Mayoral Committee Member for Corporate Services, Alderman Theresa Uys.

The students hail from Langa, Khayelitsha, Strand and Blackheath. The majority of these students are Human Resource Management graduates, amongst which a holder of a Bachelor of Education Degree.

The City’s Historical Map Collection is maintained and developed as a function of the Environmental Management Department’s Metro Heritage Office. It is housed at their 44 Wale Street offices in the Environmental and Heritage Resources Information Centre (EHRIC). EHRIC was established from the disbanded old municipal reference library for the purposes of giving access to records and facilitating good heritage management.

Since its inception in 2010, EHRIC has grown to include critical resources such as a valuable historical map collection, Mayoral Minutes from 1890, historical photographs and negatives, official Planning Records and other records showing the development of Cape Town.

Researchers, historians, town planners, City staff and interested members of the public can visit EHRIC by appointment via Mr Willem Hutten: willem.hutten@capetown.gov.za
    
Caption 1: The students: Vuyolwethu Mamfenguza, Neziwe Mhlekude, Lauren Steenkamp and Khanyiswa Mahambehlala
Caption 2: Alderman Theresa Uys going through historical maps of Cape Town in the strongroom

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Published by:
City of Cape Town, Media Office