BELLVILLE

town, Western Cape province, South Africa. It lies east of Cape Town within the Cape Peninsula urban area. Originally a village called Twelfth Mile Stone, Bellville was established by proclamation in 1861 and named after Charles D. Bell, surveyor general of the Cape. It became a town in 1940. The town is built on the slopes of the Tygerberg (1,362 feet ). The Elsies River runs through Bellville, and there is a park in the river's valley. Bellville South, an industrial zone of Bellville, produces paper and food products, bricks and tiles, and fertilizers. Bellville is located on the main railway from Cape Town to Johannesburg, and Bellville South has the largest marshaling yard in the Cape provinces. The University of the Western Cape was founded in Bellville in 1960. A gravel track from the suburb of Welgemoed leads to the Tygerberg summit, giving magnificent views of Cape Flats and the interior mountains. D.F. Malan (international) Airport is 5 miles (8 km) southwest. Pop. (1985) 68,915.