Cape Town Sculptor Angela Mac Pherson and her learning journey team has created a sculpture of the Goliath Heron that will be installed this week in the shallows of the Princess Vlei. This project is a collaboration between the Princess vlei forum and KURUfynbos, a creative FybosLIFE project, through which Angela Mac Pherson has run several eco sculpture learning journeys over the last few years.
  The temporary sculpture will stand 4 meters in the water and is constructed with galvanised mild steel, woven with Bullrush reeds from the banks of Princess Vlei and coloured with Zinc based pigments.
    Water holds the memory, and the giant sculpture of the Goliath Heron of the Princess Vlei will call on us to remember ourselves as part of interwoven living web of the Cape ecosystem and all life on earth. 
Humans have had a massive impact on the living system of Earth. We can strengthen or weaken the living web through our actions. We are now being called to consciously choose how we wish to affect it, for the future of us all.
    The Heron adventure team includes Cape Town artist Xolani Bukani and two emerging artists from the surrounding Cape Flats area, Samaa Nordien and Chaylem Swartz. Several other members of the community  have contributed to the process in different ways, including Jeanine Dekker, Delroy Chazika, Etienne de Kock, Sean Mac Pherson, Harry Kentrotas and members of the Princess Vlei Forum team. Love from many local sources has been poured into the Heron Princess.
    During the creative production Angela Mac Pherson guided the team through the creative process and they gained both practical hard skills of drawing, design and form finding, metal work and weaving as well as environmental exploration and research which embeds the Heron sculpture deeply in the place it stands and honours the local ecosystems and waterways which support it.
  

“The moment I saw it that eyes give me wisdom. Their stripes encourage me, the eye colour made me feel strong, smart and intelligent and the eyebrows give me hope and love “- Amy-Lee

I think deers are calm and chilled animals 
They keep to themselves and are not often found with other animals
The mothers are known to be very protective of their children/ calves
The are known to be the teachers when in the wild, leading the animals to food 
They are very big with very big heavy horns  - SIlindokuhle

These learners were reflecting on the experience of looking into a photograph of animal eyes in the third session of Recall the Animals/ healing spirit animal programme.
      This is the part of our Recall The animals Project, which encourages learners to recall the animals which once were found in Cape Town and at Princess Vllei, but which have been driven out by the colonial settlers and later by urbanisation. It is both a call to remember the animals, and to call them back, by making a place for them in the world.
      In this session,  learners  heard how in Nguni and Sesotho culture many clans, such as the Ndlovu clan or Dube Clan,  have totem animals that are significant to them, because of qualities of the animal, or because the animal has played an important role in the clan’s history. Clan members traditionally would protect their totem animals and ensure that they were not harmed. We spoke about how these indigenous ways of knowing and being with animals is so different from the Western and colonial way of relating to wild animals. Within a few decades of the Europeans arriving in South Africa, the wild animal population had been decimated. Yet indigenous people had lived with wild animals for thousands of years. 

Learners looked at cards with pictures of animal’s eyes on them, and were invited to choose the animal whose eyes drew them, and to write what they felt.
     The learners then selected an animal to do a mandala. It was explained that a mandala is a sacred design, representing harmony and balance, and honouring its subject. The learners then created the mandala’s with an animal of their choice, using mixed media - collage, dyes and pastels.
     In the fourth session,learners painted to tshirts depicting their ‘spirit animal’.

In the fifth session, we spoke about the rate of extinction, and how wild animals are being driven out of existence by human activity. Learners read quotes by Native American thinkers framing animals as our ‘older brothers’ with much to teach us.. We spoke about the idea of animals as teachers, and what they could teach humans about how to live in the world. 
     Learners engaged in a guided meditation to invite a message from their spirit animal. They then worked in groups to craft messages from the animals to humanity. This was the message of the Goliath Heron
 Everything takes time so have patience and find balance. It took us time to find this message. It shows that everything takes time so if you have dream never give up because it will come true, but not now. 
      The learners then made paper mache masks, which they finished by painting a week later. 
These will be worn at the parade and celebration on 10 October

‘I felt spiritually connected to the kudu when I held the horns on my head.’ 

This was one of the comments by Lotus High nature guardians taking part in a 6 week programme to connect with the healing power of animals.

The programme is part of the Recall The animals Project. This project encourages learners to recall the animals which once were found in Cape Town and at Princess Vllei, but which were driven out by the colonial settlers and later by urbanisation. It is both a call to remember the animals, and to recall them - call them back, but making a place for them in the world.

The project with with Lotus Learners programme aimed to raise awareness of the threat of extinction: to foster a strong connection to these animals, and to learn from the ancestors who lived in kinship with wild animals before colonisation.

The first two sessions were facilitated by cultural practitioners Shihaam Domingo and Bradley van Sitters, or Danap Bradlox as the learners called him. The Session opened with a circle around the fire.  Danab Bradlox  taught the learners a song in the Nama language - Sida ge ra tsoatsoa/ "We are beginning" and they circled the fire, singing and clapping hands

Learners were invited to wash their hands, and taste the tea of lemon pelargonium and buchu which Shihaam had prepared. Shihaam explained the healing properties and cultural significance  of the fynbos plants  that were in the water,  such as bruin salie and kapok bos.. Learners were urged to be silent as they took these offerings, and to open themselves to what the tea was doing in their bodies. 
     The learners gathered in a circle around the animal skins and artefacts which Bradlox and Shihaam had gathered. Bradlox described how early humans lived in close community with the animals, and learnt everything they knew about edible and medicinal plants from them. He described the animals which used to be present at Princess Vlei, and pointed out landmarks which remembered the animals, such as the two elephants of Constantiaberg and Lion’s head. He said that the animals had followed the eland. 
    Amongst the artefacts were skins, horns and skulls from eland, zebra, kudu and other antelope; a tortoise shell and an ostrich egg. He provided the Khoi names of all the animals, and explained the symbolic significance and use of these by the Khoi.
     The learners handled the horns and the skulls. They tried on the skins. It was clear in the way their bearing changed that something shifted in them when they wore these ancestral skins, they were stepping into an older way of being when humans were more connected with each other and the earth. ‘I felt so different when I wore  the skins…I felt like a king,’ Commented one learner. 
       Shihaam described  the deep relationship between  the Khoi people and plants, and passed around a balm made from healing fynbos plants. The learners were invited to rub the balm on themselves or on each other.

A week later, the learners again gathered to drink tea, and listen to the stories featuring animals  that Bradlox had been told by his grandmother. He explained how his grandmother would use these stories to teach him lessons for life.
    He then introduced the theme of  rock art. He explained that the oldest art in the world was found in South Africa, painted by the San people. He explained the difference between the San art, which depicted more wild animals such as the eland, and used very fine brush strokes from brushes made from animal fur; and Khoi art, which depicted more domestic animals such as the sheep, and featured more marks made by fingers and geometric shapes and spirals. Learners looked at examples of rock art, and Bradlox explained the significance of some of the drawings, in particular the eland which was a highly spiritually significant animal much valued by the San and the Khoi, and frequently depicted in rock art. 
      He also pointed out the Therianthrope figures with human bodies and animal heads. He explained how this indicated a shamanistic state when the shamans transcended their own bodies and merged with the bodies of the animals. Sometimes the eland would be painted with a paint using eland blood. He explained that shamans entered this higher, altered state through dancing. 

Learners walked down to the exterior wall of the Jolly Carp. There were told that the original San and Khoi rock painters would have used coloured clays, ash and blood,  but they would be using acrylic paints, with a similar pallet to the rock art. They were encouraged to paint in the spirit of honouring the animal, not to make pretty pictures, or to worry about whether they were ‘good artists’ or not. Learners took different panels and honoured the animals on their panels, including baboons, elephants, eland, blue buck, leopards, and lions. 
    While they were painting, two green praying mantises jumped onto the wall. This was seen as a good omen, because the mantis was a very spiritually significant animal to the Khoi and San,
   This programme was made possible by Hans Hoheisen Charitable Trust Managed by Nedbank Private Wealth and the City Cape Town’s  Ars and Culture Grant in Aid. 

‘Princess Vlei became a place of safety for many of us who were uprooted from different areas… this was a place in nature where we could gather I remember the baptisms well … the stories of the drownings, the cook cook train; and the ice cream wagon… when we talk about community, this is not just the humans, it really is the spirits of the trees, the amphibian community the spirit of the water, and the sacredness that has always been here for us as indigenous people even long before ships might have come and our lives might have changed… ‘

Ernestine Dean shared these memories and thoughts at the After 8 Sistahood walk which was held at Princess Vlei on 28 August. The Forum had invited the group to walk at Princess Vlei. 
      The After 8 Sistahood is a collective of women and non-binary people who come together once a month to walk through Cape Towns streets and public spaces at night, as a way of reclaiming these spaces after dark.
      Over 100 women came to walk at Princess Vlei. It was a cool night, with clouds covering the moon, but this could not dampen the enthusiasm of the women attending. The vlei looked ethereal in the moonlight. It was easy to imagine the ghost of the Khoi princess walking with us. The chorus of frogs and leopard toads sang from the reeds, competing with the soft voices of the women as they shared stories. 
     Along the way, Bridget Pitt and Luzann Isaacs spoke to the group about the history of Princess Vlei, and the work done by the Forum. ‘There is wounded women energy and angry women energy but also healing women energy here,’ said Bridget. 
      Other women who had grown up in the area shared their childhood memories.
    Everyone was moved by Ernestine’s recollections. They were especially moved by her performance of an ancient Nama song honouring our ancestors, our grandmothers. Even the moon came out from behind the clouds to listen to her song.

The walkers were welcomed at the end by a fire laid by Shihaam Domingo, and her husband  Farraj and sons Abdud-Daiyaan, and Mahdi. Shihaam had prepared warm Roosterbrood on the fire, and a delicious tea made from local fynbos plants. 

These are some of the comments made by women after the walk: 

I.am still trying to find the words for last night. From the first moment, the reflections of lights on the water, the smells of plants, fire, tea, and then the stories, I was transported into a world I want to live in every day. A world of women, resilience, healing, herstory, song, magic, herbs, snakes, laughing, medicine, voices, sharing and hospitality - Megan Choritz

Thank you to the Princess, this special place for women, the ancestors, the Ausis, all the brave sistas that showed up (118+), the custodians of wisdom, the moon, the hadeedahs, the night jars, the river frogs and leopard toads and the many more creatures who joined us for loving connections. It was magical meandering this ancient path and circling the tears of the Princess. - Tania Katzschner

The spirit of the Khoi Princess was strong that night. It felt so fitting that women were reclaiming this space on a moonlit night in the woman’s month of August. Thank you so much to everyone for creating this utterly magical evening. 

“If  there is  danger, run to the safest place to be…” 

This was a message from one of the primary school learners to a porcupine.
Ninety young nature guardians from four primary schools are taking part in our Recall the animals project. This project encourages learners to recall the animals which once were found in Cape Town and at Princess Vllei, but which were driven out by the colonial settlers and later by urbanisation. It is both a call to remember the animals, and to recall them - call them back, but making a place for them in the world.
     The primary schools - Levana, Hillwood, harmony and Rosmead Primaries - came to two events at Princess Vlei to learn about the ‘missing animals’. Luzann Isaacs took them on a journey to imagine what Princess Vlei was like at the time that the legendary Khoi Princess used to visit. Luzann told them about the animals which used to be there  - some driven to extinction by the colonial hunters, like the blue buck and the quagga, and others driven from the western cape. She brought the animals to life by playing the a recording of the sounds they made - the first time a lion's roar has been heard at Princess Vlei for centuries. She also spoke about some, like the rooikat or caracal, and Gennet, who still live in Cape Town but not at Princess Vlei, and about the reasons why these animals have been driven out. She spoke about the need to create safe spaces and homes for wild animals. 
     The learners went on a hunt to find the missing animals - drawings of them were hidden in the bushes around Princess Vlei - and then they drew them and wrote messages and described what they knew about the animal’s behaviour and diet. 
     The learners then created dances to honour the missing animals. These dances will be developed and performed at our Recall the Animals parade and celebration on October 10 

A few weeks after the field trip to find the missing animals, each school had a tshirt workshop where learners chose a species to paint on their t-shirts. Their vibrant, colourful depictions of the animals really bring them to life. These will be worn on October 10, recalling the animals to Princess Vlei. 

• `This project was made possible by the City of Cape Town Arts and culture Grant in Aid Fund and the Hans Hoheisen Charitable Trust Managed by Nedbank Private Wealth. 
  

My Plant is a tiger because it is fierce and brave… my plant looks like a little moonlight… my plant is bravest in the darkness….my plant is majestic  and spiky 

These were some of the descriptions written by primary school learners about the plants they planted on July 30 and 31 this year. 

88 learners - 42 From Lotus High and Floreat Primary and 46 from Levana and Rosmead Primary came to plant in the seasonal pond restoration areas on the northern shore. They planted over 800 plants, including Ehrharta calycina, Oxalis purpurea, Dimorphotheca pluvialis, Ruschia macowanii, Jordaaniella dubia,Pelargonium capitatum, Ruschia macowanii, Tetragonia fruticosa, Juncus effusus, Zantedeschia aethiopicum and Elegia nuda

The learners filled in sheets to tell stories about their plant, and help them identify with it and connect with it. They also wrote messages for their plants and stuck these in the ground with the plants. 

In a message to the Lotus Club team who volunteered for planting, the club organisers said, ‘Your commitment, energy, and care for the environment after school did not go unnoticed. The work you did will make a real difference to Princess Vlei and to our community for years to come.

We are so proud of you for stepping up, getting your hands dirty, and showing what it means to be responsible citizens. You are true environmental champions!’

The Forum endorses this message. Thanks to these learners, 800 new plants are growing in the restoration sites. And, thanks to the plant, a passion for nature is growing in the hearts of each learner who showed up. 

On Mandela Day, the Princess Vlei Forum held a planting event in our restoration site on the Elfindale side of the Vlei. Last year, we cleared the site of invasive vegetation such as kikuyu grass and Brazilian pepper trees, to make space for hundreds of indigenous plants which were planted by school learners and community members. We also created a new seasonal pond. (Read More) The area is thriving, and supporting chameleons, frogs, birds and insects, although low rainfall means that the pond is not as full as last year.
This year, we cleared more ground, and invited community members to devote their '67 minutes' for Mandela Day to putting new plants in the ground. 

About twenty volunteers came to join the planting, and we were joined by several people passing by on the new walkway, who happily paused their walk to put a plant in the ground. These included a few dozen who joined the African Solidarity walk organised
by the Ishraaq Solidarity Forum to show solidarity with people from other parts of Africa. Altogether, over 400 plants were put in of the following species: Searsia angustifolia; Orphium frutescens (Oxalis); Orphium frutescens  (Gladiolus quadrangulus); Elegia nuda (restios); Eriocephalus africanus and Zantedeschia aethiopicum (Arum lilies) 

• Thanks to the Hans Hoheisen Charitable Trust managed by Nedbank Private Wealth, the Kirstenbosch Branch of the Botanical Society South Africa and the Rowland Leta Hill Trust for supporting our restoration programme. 

This planting helps us remember the struggles the youth have had, from fighting against the apartheid regime, til now fighting to get employment…. Planting here helps to celebrate them and to show that they have a purpose in this world.’   Kamva Nose

June 16 2026, the 50th anniversary of the Soweto uprising, was a beautiful day. There was a festive air at Princess Vlei, as scores of community members turned out to enjoy the recently opened walkway. A phalanx of young runners, dog walkers, families with strollers and toddlers, old friends walking together … the whole time we were planting, there was a steady stream of passers by. 
        It was a far cry from the tragic moment in Soweto 50 years ago, when police opened fire on school children and Hector Petersen became  the first of many young people to be sacrificed in the fight for freedom. And yet,  both the act of protesting and planting are acts of hope for a better future. 

The youth of 1976, and those that followed, faced a seemingly insurmountable enemy. Their immediate demands were simple - the refusal to be instructed in Afrikaans. But underlying that was a yearning for freedom, for the right to self governance, the right to dignity, the right to life. While our first democratic elections in 1994 was a significant milestone in this quest for freedom, they did not deliver the society the youth were striving for. Young people all over South Africa still face a bleak future, with few choices and fewer opportunities. The older generation - ironically the ’76 generation - continues to fail them, through greed, or corruption, or lack of imagination. And perhaps the biggest betrayal is the destruction of the planet through climate change, extractivism and pollution. A destruction which threatens all future generations with scarce resources, hunger, and unlivable conditions. 
    As we face so many crises in our country and our world, the act of planting, or restoring one small patch of ground to a place of liveliness and beauty, may seem futile. And yet, every plant we put in the ground is a promise to future generations. A promise that this world is worth saving, That every plant, insect, bird we save is critical for weaving a livable world, a world in which humans and all other species can flourish. 
    About forty people gathered on the southern shore of Princess Vlei, to plant over two hundred seedlings, including Jordaaniellia dubia, Ruschia macowanii, Pelargonium capitatum, Serruria foeniculacea, Helichrysum patulum, Pelargonium capitatum, and Pelargonium triste. Volunteers also pulled out a substantial pile of the highly invasive lupins. Amongst the volunteers were fifteen conservation students from CPUT, future guardians of our natural world. 
    One of the volunteers was Kamva Nose, who interned with the Princess Vlei Forum last year. In his words, ‘Celebrating and remembering our youth is important especially as we feel quite neglected. There are many things that impact the youth, such as the high rate of unemployment, but actions like this actually empower youth, and help them know that they have a purpose. And what a way to give back to mother earth, and to our communities, by ensuring that our natural sites are protected, they are restored, and they are celebrated. This is our heritage. Fynbos is unique to us, we have to own it, be proud of it. 
    ‘Involving the youth shows them that they are the future generation, and this helps them take care of the future. It gives them purpose, takes them away from destruction, gives them a safe haven to feel and connect to themselves again, to touch soil, to smell the grass, to have joyful meeting with other youth. The efforts of the PVF are important to help us remember the struggle the youth had, from fighting against the apartheid regime, til now fighting to get employment…. This helps to celebrate them and to show that they have a purpose in this world.’

• Thank you to everyone who took part, and to the Kirstenbosch Branch of the Botanical Society of South Africa for funding the plants. 

On the night of June 30, vandals made use of the full moon to strip wood from one of the bridges in the Princess Vlei trail. They were interrupted by the City's Quemic rangers before they could make off with the stolen planks, but they managed to evade capture. 
   In the past few weeks, thousands of people have made use of this trail. So many have expressed delight at this community asset, which offers local residents a beautiful walk in nature, and a space to meet and connect with other community members.
 

This is an act of theft and destruction against the community. Those who did this are stealing from the people of Grassy Park, Lotus River, Lavender Hill, Retreat, Elfindale and beyond. Someone must know who did this - it was not a simple operation. We urge anyone with information to come forward.
   The Princess Vlei Forum is in discussion with the City to find solutions, which include  speaking to community forums such as Community Policing Forums, and Neighbourhood Watches, and making the CIty's security measures more effective - including the possible installation of CCV cameras. The City provides Quemic rangers who patrol the site 24/7, but rangers can’t be present everywhere all the time. Community support with security is vital as well.    We need all community members to get involved in helping us to protect this valuable community asset - an asset worth much in monetary terms but worth far more in what it brings to every child, elderly person, youth or adult  (and their dogs) who walk this trail. 
   When Cllr Southgate and City invested in this project there were critics who said, 'it'll just get vandalised', 'Princess Vlei is not worth it.'
  We know that Princess Vlei, and the communities who live around Princess Vlei, are worth this investment. It is even more important to create these spaces for communities who do not have easy access to other natural spaces in Cape Town. We call on all community members to support efforts to protect this trail, and to prove the critics wrong.

On June 10, the City hosted a ribbon cutting ceremony to open the new walkway around Princess Vlei. 
    This came nearly 14 years after community members walked the informal path around  Princess Vlei in protest against the proposed mall in December 2012. That group included two ponies, which offered rides to younger walkers . This walk was not just protest, but also an act of hope, an act of imagining a public space that could serve nature and community. Twelve years later, that community vision has been realised.

There were no ponies on June 10, but plenty of excitement, as few hundred people arrived to celebrate this community victory. Cllr Southgate, who has been instrumental in promoting the development of the walkway, spoke about the legend of the Princess. According to some versions of the legend, the Princess Vlei was formed by the tears of a Khoi 'princess' who had been abused by Portuguese sailors who came with Fransico d’ Almeida in 1510.
   'I believe the Princess would be crying tears of joy today to see this development for the community,’ Cllr Southgate said. 

The City’s Mayco Member for Community Services and Health, Francine Higham, welcomed the initiative. ‘We wanted to create a safe and accessible space where residents can enjoy the beauty of Princess Vlei,’ she said. ‘Communities need dignified space to walk, run, connect with nature and spend time with family and friends.’ 
   Higham said that Princess Vlei was more than just a body of water. It was a place of memory, heritage, biodiversity and deep community meaning. 

Hugo van Niekirk from the City Park’s Planning and Development Department described the opportunity to work on the trail as a privilege, because of the special nature of the site. He remarked that the community ‘fought tooth and nail to save the site from development’, and described the development as an embodiment of what communities can achieve when they work together.
    He spoke about the process of realising the plan for the route of the walk way. ’We wanted to create a pathway that works with nature, and does not cut through it. You need to let the landscape guide you and listen to its story.’
    Speaking on behalf of the Princess Vlei Forum, Bridget Pitt paid homage to the community vision which had driven the development, sometimes against all odds. 
  This walk way is an expression of what can happen when the City and the community work together. The spirit of Princess Vlei, of resistance, reliance and endurance is beautifully expressed in this trail. ’
  The walk way involves two trails, one of 4.2 km and one of 3 km version, with two wooden bridges over the canal and through the wetlands. It connects all the communities surrounding the Vlei, helping to break down some of the barriers that were created by apartheid city planning. Several information boards along the way give information on the natural and cultural heritage of Princess Vlei.
   So many people have been involved in creating this. Those community feet which first felt out the path; the many community members who came to early workshops held by the Forum to create a vision for the Vlei; the creators of the People’s Plan which first guided the struggle against the mall. Forum members  John Prince, an engineer, and Malcom Campbell, a landscape architect, who volunteered hours of their time to assist the city in mapping out the route. 
   In 2013 we ran a campaign called Imagine Princess Vlei, to consolidate the community vision for this space. This trail is a testament to the people’s imagination, and their resolve in manifesting their vision for a better future. The huge numbers of people using the trail since the inauguration affirm what value this has brought to the community.