The Mountain Club of South Africa (MCSA) is an organisation of people who love mountaineering, rock climbing, bouldering, hiking, international expeditions, search and rescue, training and conservation. A large part of what we do concerns procurement of access for mountaineering. The MCSA national body comprises 15 geographically based sections and owns a multitude of beautiful mountain huts and wilderness properties across South Africa. The Cape Town Section alone organises over 200 meets every year, with something for everyone. The MCSA is a Public Benefit Organisation (PBO No. 930013449).
The MCSA was founded in Cape Town in 1891, so the Cape Town Section is the oldest of the Club’s sections. It is based at 97 Hatfield Street, where it has an administrative office and a Clubhouse, including a hall for socials and slideshows, kitchen facilities, a bouldering wall and a library with an extensive collection of mountaineering-related literature.
The MCSA (Cape Town Section) is registered with the Department of Social Development as a non-profit organisation (No. 159-867 NPO).
Watch our trailer here, for a taste of why you should join the MCSA (Cape Town Section).
The other 14 sections of the MCSA are:
Extensive records documenting the MCSA’s history and the activities of its members are archived in the University of Cape Town Libraries Special Collections at BC1421. You can access or download the archives catalogue here.
Members who wish to consult the archives must please ask Ms Michal Singer or Mr Isaac Ntabankulu to find what they need in the climate controlled stack. It will then be available upon their arrival at UCT.
The Journal of the MCSA is published annually and serves as a record of the mountaineering-related activities of the Club’s members. These journals are now available digitally to all paid-up members and can be accessed from the MCSA Journals page on this website or on the external Docwize platform.
