Helderberg, Somerset West

The district takes its name from the mountain of the same name, which is Afrikaans for: "clear mountain". This is referring to the way in which the western side of the mountain is illuminated in the evenings and which culminates at a height of 1137 metres, at The Dome. The Helderberg Mountain is part of the Hottentots-Holland mountain range, in the Western Cape, South Africa. The Helderberg Nature Reserve is situated on the slopes, of the beautiful Helderberg Mountain. This is overlooking the towns of Somerset West and False Bay. There are numerous hiking trails on the Helderberg mountain.

The Helderberg Nature Reserve is located in Somerset West. It is owned and managed by the City of Cape Town with the support of the Friends of the Helderberg Nature Reserve. The Reserve reaches up as far as the cliff faces and peaks and is managed by CapeNature.
The Friends of the Helderberg Nature Reserve is a community-based organisation which helps in many ways to promote education, supply information, raise funds, maintain the area and embark on promotional projects aimed at helping the public to enjoy and benefit from the Helderberg Nature Reserve.
Helderberg is a wine-producing area in the Western Cape Province, it is also the name of a census sub-place within Somerset West, a small residential area on both sides of Sir Lowry's Pass. (Sir Lowry's Pass was named after Sir Galbraith Lowry Cole, Governor of the Cape in 1828. "Today's modern, cantilevered four-lane highway is a far cry from the original pass, which was recklessly dangerous and steep!") The Helderberg planning district of the City of Cape Town includes subsections: 'Macassar; Somerset West; Strand; Gordon's Bay; Sir Lowry's Pass; Stellenbosch Farms, and the Steenbras River Valley'.

The district boundaries are along Baden Powell Drive to the north-west, and boundaries of the jurisdictional area of the City of Cape Town. In 2011, the population of Helderberg Planning District was 222 817 an increase of 48% since 2001, and the number of households was 68 744, an increase of 48% since 2001.