Western Cape Premier complains Official Residence is haunted

Source: Dateline Zero

Helen Zille, the Premier of the Western Cape, is not the first to complain about paranormal activity in the historic mansion.

The Western Cape is a province in the south west of South Africa, the capitol of which is Cape Town. [map] Western Cape boasts exceptional topographical diversity, a capitol city with population of well over 1,000,000, and — oh ya — the Official Cape Town Residence,” Leeuwenhof, is scaring heck out of Premier Helen Zille.

Zille was elected to office on 6 May 2009, and has been experiencing unsettling activity in Leeuwenhof since moving in.

According to The New Age:

Legend has it that Leeuwenhof, which dates back to the earliest days of European settlement in the Cape, is haunted by ghosts, including that of a young woman who died of heartbreak when her family disapproved of her lover.

Zille said she called in a ghostbuster to check for spooks soon after she moved into the magnificent Cape homestead, which is set against the picturesque backdrop of Devil’s Peak.

“It was uncanny how he pinpointed areas,” Zille told The New Age. “The long-time resident staff of Leeuwenhof explained to me that his identification of the spots fitted exactly with what Leeuwenhof legend had passed down about the ghosts.”

Soon after moving in, Zille’s predecessor in the house, former premier Lynne Brown, said she never saw the brunette ghost of the heartbroken woman but claimed to have often felt her “presence”. The former ANC premier recommended that Zille play music to mask the strange noises often heard at night.

Other former premiers who have lived in Leeuwenhof, including Marthinus van Schalkwyk and Ebrahim Rasool, have also spoken about the homestead’s ghosts.