Friday 13th: an unlucky day for Cape Town?

It’s Black Friday!

We can avoid walking under ladders till we’re blue in the face, but Fridays are not as easily dodged. Who was it that resigned us to thousands of unfortunate Fridays and an irrational phobia of the number 13? A glance at your calendar will reveal these days of doom can happen up to three times a year.

Some believe that having 13 people seated at a table will result in one of the diners being tipped off their chair, through a trap door, and into the bog of eternal stench, whereas Black Friday has been associated with stock market crashes, since the 1800s.The first person to mention it; however, was Chaucer in Canterbury Tales, when he wrote: “and on a Friday fell all this misfortune.” Let’s blame him.

Ghostly ghouls in the Mother City:

City Centre

Cape Town Castle
Known as a harsh disciplinarian, Govenor Noodt overruled a sentence of seven soldiers and condemned them to death for desertion. In a classic tale of what-goes-around-comes-around, one of the soldiers laid a curse on Noodt and he died the same day, sitting in a chair in his office and with a look of horror on his face.

Waterhof
Creaky footsteps of a bearded old man can be heard at night and a phantom dog hunts for buried treasure in the grounds at this stately, Cape Dutch mansion.

Southern Suburbs

The Flying Dutchman
Nothing says “impending doom” quite like a phantom ship. In 1641, the Flying Dutchman was returning home to Holland, after a trip to the Far East. As the ship approached the tip of Africa, Captain Van Decken was too busy writing a telegraph to his girlfriend, to notice that the ship had sailed into a fierce storm. His relationship wasn’t the only thing on the rocks that night.

Mowbray
The suburb was once known as Driekoppen (Three Heads), because the heads of executed slaves were placed on spikes there. You might find an old man, dressed in the height of 18th century couture no less, in a bedroom at 17th century house, Westoe. There’s also a haunted room where slaves were housed at Klein Schuur (Little Barn).

Hiddingh House
The lights are on, but “no bodies” home. At the ex-officer’s mess of a cavalry regiment and the home of famous South African artist Frank Spears, the spirit of a woman is seen and lights seem to flicker, by the hand of no-one. The angry maid has returned for the officers, who pushed her down the stairs during a drunken revel. Perhaps, her cleaning wasn’t up to scratch.

Cape Winelands

Groot Constantia
Above Groot Constantia is an ornamental swimming pool, and Simon van der Stel can sometimes still seen on summer mornings stumbling, with a bottle of 2010 Sauvignon Blanc in hand on his way to do the drunken back stroke.

Leeuwenhof
Children are nice enough, but imagine being stuck with dirty nappies for all eternity. At the late 17th century house and official residence of the Cape Province’s administrators, an apparition held out a screaming brat to the judge, Sir John Kotze. Dressed in white, she had brown hair and blue eyes, and was perched on the staircase. Alarmed, he turned on his heels, only to confront a crazy old lady in the ground floor sitting room.

Atlantic Seaboard

Kronendal
Elsa Cloete has gorgeous dark hair and a long dress. Elsa is waiting by the window of the homestead, Kronendal, for a British soldier who hanged himself after her parents banned him from seeing her. Since she’s been waiting since the 1800s, we reckon she should get over it and move on.

Unlucky things to avoid:

The Tokoloshe
It is said that wizards created Tokoloshes  by taking a corpse, gouging out its eyes, cutting out its tongue and driving a red hot rod down through its skull, whereupon it shrinks to the size of a small child. By blowing magic powder into its mouth, it comes to life for its master’s bidding.

In huts, beds are frequently raised on bricks, out of the Tokoloshe’s reach, and a nighttime knock at the door remains unanswered.

Witches
While witch hunting is a thing of the past in Europe and the entire Western world, it’s an ongoing activity in Africa. Attacks on witches, persecution and killings still take place; most of the victims are women and children.

The Company Gardens
The spirits of beaten slaves are said to roam the Company Gardens at night. So, if you feel a chill, make a run for it.

The Flying Dutchman
The vessel was sighted by a look out man on Royal Navy ship, the Bacchante, in 1881. Soon after, the South Easter “accidentally” flung him off the mast, and to his death.

Cape Guru Tours:
Richard Knetzel’s Friday 13th tour of Cape Town’s paranormal includes Cape Town Castle, The Good Hope Seminary, Westoe House and 99 Milner Road (R300 per person). Discover haunting Cape Town tales, as well as science and imagination explained. Two "unlucky" people could win a spot on this tour. See our Weekly Giveaways.
Porterfield Road | Blaauwberg | Cape Town | +27 (0)81 363 9663

By Lisa Nevitt

For more tales on Cape Town’s history, take a walk on the wild side with a Sex & the Slaves tour.

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