The first cable-car ran to the summit in 1929 and since that day there has been no accident of a serious nature on the cableway. In recent years the Cableway has become increasingly popular both to South Africans and foreign tourists. The two cabins counterbalance each other and take less than five minutes to do the journey which seems much longer to the visitor as views of towering precipices and vast views of the ocean and city below unfold. Table Mountain and The Cape Floral Kingdom Table Mountain was proclaimed a Natural and Historic Monument in 1951 and is now applying for recognition as a World Heritage Site. This means that for Capetonians and visitors a huge recreation ground in the middle of the city will be kept in perpetuity for their use.
Many plants are unique to the mountain.
About 1470 of the Western Cape's 8550 species of plants grow on Table Mountain and some of them occur nowhere else. These include the beautiful silver tree and many species of orchid. The flora of the south of the Western Cape Province of South Africa is so rich that this small area on its own constitutes one of the world's six Floral Kingdoms- the Cape Kingdom. Despite the infertility of the Cape's sandy soils, fynbos is uniquely rich in orchids, gladiola, irises and many other beautiful plants. The Cape restios make up 90 percent of the vegetation of the Front Table facing Cape Town.