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The Local Board of Milnerton was constituted on 24 December 1925 in terms of Proclamation No 243, 1925 under provision of the Local Board Ordinance No 11, 1921 (Province of the Cape of Good Hope Official Gazette, No 1011, 31 December 1925). The Board ceased to exist at the end of June 1955 when a Municipal Council was established.

The Municipality of Milnerton was constituted on 1 July 1955 in terms of Proclamation No 30 dated 22 February 1955 under provision of Ordinance No 19, 1955 (Province of the Cape of Good Hope Official Gazette No 2746, 11 March 1955).

On 1 February 1995 all local authorities were dissolved and each one was replaced by a Transitional Metropolitan Substructure. The new Cape Metropolitan Council was created which included all the substructures (Province of Western Cape Provincial Gazette, No 4929, Proclamation No 18).

On 28 May 1996 the substructures were dissolved and a new Blaauwberg Substructure was created, remaining part of the Cape Metropolitan Council (Province of Western Cape Provincial Gazette Extraordinary, No 5051, 28 May 1996). Local elections were held for these structures on 29 May.

The Alexandra Institution for the Feebleminded was opened in 1921. It was situated on what was formerly the Nieuwe Molen Estate.

It was decided to erect a hospital on the site to replace the Old Somerset Hospital, and the foundation stone was laid on I3 January 1906 by HRH the Duke of Connaught. Owing to the delays that seem inevitable in the construction of any public building, it was not until 1914 that the buildings were ready for occupation. By that time, the First World War had broken out, and so it was taken over as a military hospital. After the war, the Government decided to open it as South Africa's first institution for mental defectives. Patients were admitted in July 1921.

The first group came from Valkenberg and the Pretoria Mental Hospital, and by September they numbered 153 (all of whom were white females). By the end of the year, the numbers had increased to 245, of whom 92 were males. It had its share of teething troubles, many of which arose because the buildings had not been constructed to house defectives; for example, the admission of males was considerably delayed because the doors had no locks. Despite such handicaps, the development of the institution progressed well, and the numbers of patients and staff increased rapidly. Owing to ignorance of the scope and purpose of the institution, many unsuitable patients were sent there in the early days and had to be returned to tile hospitals from which they had come.

One of the first developments was the opening of a school for the younger defectives. Specially trained teachers from abroad were engaged, and special emphasis was laid on the development of muscular co-ordination and manual skills, rather than on scholastic attainment. There was an early institution of occupational therapy for both sexes, and this was highly developed over the years. Among the activities available for males were boot making, tailoring, painting, upholstery, woodwork, building, and plumbing. The females did laundry, sew, and fancy-work.

A development from 1947 was that the high-grade defectives now did paid work for outside firms. It began with rug-fringing, but in 1949 patients began to make bags for a tobacco firm; they earned 4 shillings for 1 000 bags.

When the institution was opened in 1921, Dr HC Watson was the first medical superintendent. Dr Watson was succeeded in 1923 by Dr RA Forster, who remained in charge until 1940. In addition to its medical staff, it had several psychologists, and several graduate students in psychology, from the University of Cape Town were doing research and practical work there.

In 1902 the Medical Officer of Health, attached to the Local Government and Public Health Branch of the Cape Colonial Office, was charged with administering the Immigration Act, 1902 and subsequently the Chinese Exclusion Act, 1904.

These relevant duties together with that of aided immigration were transferred to a Chief Immigration Officer as from February 1905 when the Immigration and Labour Branch of the Colonial Office was established.

After the formation of the Union of South Africa and as from June 1910 immigration affairs devolved upon the Department of Interior, the responsible officer being the Principal Immigration Officer.

The office of the Prime Minister was created by the Responsible Government Act of 1872 and Sir John Charles Molteno became the first Prime Minister of the Cape (1872 – 1878). Initially the Prime Minister’s department fell under the Ministerial Division of the Colonial Secretary. However, in 1889 a separate ministry was established. In 1891, this office was again placed under the Colonial Secretary but separated later in 1894.

The function of the Prime Minister’s office was to act as a medium of communication between the Governor and the Government. It dealt with despatches between the Colonial and Imperial governments and with correspondence between other British Colonies and dependencies. Communications between the two legislative branches and the government passed through the Prime Minister’s Office, from which emanated all instructions affecting the public service as a whole. In December 1908 the Ministerial Division of the Prime Minister was abolished and the office once again came under the administration of the Colonial Secretary until 1910.

Prime Ministers, 1872 – 1910:
Sir John Charles Molteno, 1 December 1872 – 5 February 1878
Sir John Gordon Sprigg, 6 February 1878 – 8 May 1881
Thomas Charles Scanlen, 9 May 1881 – 12 May 1884
Sir Thomas Upington, 13 May 1884 – 24 November 1886
Sir John Gordon Sprigg, 25 November 1886 – 16 July 1890
Cecil John Rhodes, 17 July 1890 – 12 January 1896
Sir John Gordon Sprigg, 13 January 1896 – 13 October 1898
William Philip Schreiner, 13 October 1898 – 17 June 1900
Sir John Gordon Sprigg, 18 June 1900 – 21 February 1904
Sir Leander Starr Jameson, 22 February 1904 – 2 February 1908
John Xavier Merriman, 3 February 1908 – 31 May 1910

The office of Colonial Veterinary Surgeon was created in consequence of a resolution by the House of Assembly in 1875.

Mr WC Branford, Professor of Veterinary Medicine and Surgery at the Royal Veterinary College, Edinburgh, was appointed, for a period of three years commencing from the date of his embarkation in May 1876, to investigate the causes of the various diseases which prevailed amongst sheep and cattle in the Cape Colony and to report thereon to the Government. He was also to make suggestions regarding the prevention and cure of these diseases. His head office was to be in Cape Town.

Initially this post fell under the supervision of the Colonial Secretary to whom the annual reports for the period 1876 – 1879 were submitted.

Mr D Hutcheon, who succeeded Prof Branford on 22 March 1880, established his headquarters in the Eastern Province where there was a greater demand for his services. Apparently his headquarters were, first, at the government farm Lieuwfontein in the district of Adelaide but were later moved to Port Elizabeth.

From 1880 – 1886 this office was placed under the ministerial department of Crown Lands and Public Works. With the creation of the Department of Agriculture in 1887, the office of the Colonial Veterinary Surgeon functioned as a sub-department.

The increasing duties and activities of the veterinary services, especially in the eastern part of the colony, necessitated the appointment in 1890 of two Assistant Veterinary Surgeons with headquarters at Port Elizabeth and King William’s Town respectively. At the same time the headquarters of the senior Veterinary Surgeon were removed from Port Elizabeth to Cape Town for reasons of departmental convenience.

When the Department of Agriculture ceased to exist on 31 December 1892, on its amalgamation with the Department of Lands, Mines and Agriculture, the office of the Colonial Veterinary Surgeon fell under the supervision of the new department. By Act No 14 of 1893, however, the office of Secretary for Agriculture and consequently the Department of Agriculture, as a separate ministerial division, was created comprising, inter alia the Veterinary Branch.

The activities of this office increased rapidly and more veterinary surgeons were appointed. In 1894 there were, apart from the Colonial Veterinary Surgeon, seven veterinary surgeons stationed at Stellenbosch, Mossel Bay, Beaufort West, Somerset East, Hopetown, King William’s Town and Queenstown respectively.

No detailed description of the powers and functions of the chief of this office prior to 1905 has been traced. It seems that initially he functioned only in an advisory capacity. From annual reports it was gleaned that he had to watch for the outbreak of new diseases, make inspection tours, furnish details of diseases and recommendations for treatment thereof. From 1890 onwards he was also responsible for the administration and control of the veterinary surgeons appointed in the various areas.

From the correspondence and circulars available in this archives group, it was ascertained that he issued instructions and circulars to veterinary surgeons and Resident Magistrates in connection with diseases scheduled under the Animal Diseases Act. Government veterinary surgeons were to report on diseases to the Resident Magistrates of the relevant districts who in turn, were to report to the Chief Veterinary Surgeon. The latter then issued instructions to the veterinary surgeons for the treatment of diseases or any other action necessary.

In 1905 a reorganisation of the Department of Agriculture took place and the various functions thereof were grouped under several officers. A Director of Agriculture was appointed on 1 August 1905 and the Veterinary Branch was one of the offices under his control. At the same time the powers of the Chief Veterinary Surgeon were clearly defined and extended.

During the ensuing years the denomination of the head of this office changed in succession from Colonial Veterinary Surgeon and Chief Veterinary Surgeon, which were both in use until about 1905, to Assistant Principal Veterinary Surgeon (Cape) (March 1911), Senior Veterinary Officer (Cape) (January 1912), Senior Veterinary Surgeon (Cape) (February 1913) and again Senior Veterinary Officer (Cape) (1916 – 1922).

With unification in 1910 a Minister of Agriculture was appointed for the Union with a fully equipped Department of Agriculture. The activities of the department were maintained by a number of divisions and offices i.e. the Veterinary Division with headquarters in Pretoria. For veterinary purposes the Union was initially divided into five areas in charge of Senior Veterinary Surgeons, who were responsible for the control of diseases within those areas.

Reorganisation of several divisions of the Department of Agriculture took place during 1924 following upon an inspection by the Public Service Commission. Thereby the Veterinary Field Division and the Division of Veterinary Research were amalgamated.

Concerning veterinary field work in the Cape Province, it was realised that, owing to the extensive area of the Cape, the work could not be controlled as efficiently by the Senior Veterinary Officer at Cape Town as was desired. It was then decided to divide the province into two sections and another Senior Veterinary Officer was appointed for the eastern section and stationed at Queenstown as from December 1924. The Senior Veterinary Officer, Cape Town retained control of the western portion.

List of Chiefs, Veterinary Services (Cape):
WC Branford, 1876 – 1879
D Hutcheon, 1880 – 1906
JD Borthwick, 1906 – 1911
RW Dixon, 1911 – 1921
J Spreull, 1921 – 1922