Works of Art Collection

Kopano Residence

Previously known as Driekoppen (Driekoppen came from '3 heads' which was the result of three runaway slaves murdering the family of the owner of the Welgelegen farm, save for one child, who was hidden in an oven by a nurse. These slaves were later apprehended, whereupon they were hung, drawn and quartered and their heads were impaled outside the tavern as a warning to other slaves). Occupation officially took place in September 1964 however, the residence was created for students returning from war, erected in 1945 near Driekoppen Inn on De Waal Drive, which the Government gave to UCT as a "temporary" students residence for about 300 male ex-servicemen. They were dismayed by the similarities between the accommodation that they were given and the kind of quarters at the war front of which they did not want to be reminded. It has been said "the austere bungalows surrounded by barren and dusty earth and barbed wire fencing, took their minds back to infamous prisoner-of -war camps in Germany". As a result, the residence earned itself the name Belsen, a concentration camp in Germany, a name that stuck, despite objections by UCT authorities. Due to public outcry, the name was changed from Belsen to Driekoppen and later to Kopano, meaning unity. Source: Origins of Names of Buildings at the University of Cape Town, Mr M. Musemwa (Department of History UCT, 1993). Miles, A. History
of Rhodes Avenue.

Middle

-33.954643

18.467252

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8040

Owned