Vryburg

Vryburg

Vryburg town hall
Vryburg
Vryburg
Vryburg

 Vryburg shown within North West

Coordinates: 26°57′0″S 24°44′50″E / 26.95000°S 24.74722°E / -26.95000; 24.74722Coordinates: 26°57′0″S 24°44′50″E / 26.95000°S 24.74722°E / -26.95000; 24.74722
Country South Africa
Province North West
District Dr Ruth Segomotsi Mompati
Municipality Naledi
Area[1]
 • Total 64.24 km2 (24.80 sq mi)
Population (2011)[1]
 • Total 21,182
 • Density 330/km2 (850/sq mi)
Racial makeup (2011)[1]
 • Black African 40.8%
 • Coloured 37.6%
 • Indian/Asian 3.2%
 • White 17.7%
 • Other 0.7%
First languages (2011)[1]
 • Afrikaans 56.3%
 • Tswana 33.0%
 • English 6.4%
 • Other 4.3%
Postal code (street) 8601
PO box 8600
Area code 053

Vryburg (Afrikaans for free fort) is a large agricultural town with a population of 48,200 situated in the Dr Ruth Segomotsi Mompati District Municipality of the North West Province of South Africa. It is the seat and the industrial and agricultural heartland of the district of the Bophirima region.

Location

It is situated halfway between Kimberley (the capital of the Northern Cape Province) and Mahikeng (the capital of the North West Province). It is on Cecil Rhodes’s great northern railroad, which ran from Cape Town through the Kimberley diamond fields, Vryburg, Mafikeng, and northwards beyond Victoria Falls. It is also on the N14 National Road which runs from Gauteng Province in a southwesterly direction through Vryburg, Kuruman and Upington to the mining town of Springbok in the North-western Cape. This road also connects Gauteng Province with Namibia.

The township Huhudi (Tswana for "running water") is situated just south of the town. The Tiger Kloof Native Institute was set up south of the town by the London Missionary Society in 1904. A cornerstone for the building of the institute was laid in 1905 by the Earl of Selborne.[2] The stone church on the premises is a national monument.

History

The name Vryburg comes from the period in the 1882 when Vryburg was established as the capital of Republic of Stellaland. The Republicans called themselves Vryburgers ("free citizens"), hence the name of the town.

Vryburg was founded on September 20, 1882, when a site for a township was selected and named Endvogelfontein. On November 15 the same year, the name was changed to Vryburg. In December that year, newly laid out plots were apportioned to the volunteers by means of a lottery and by February 1883 some 400 farms had been established.

On August 16, 1883, Administrator Van Niekerk proclaimed the Republic of Stellaland with Vryburg as capital and himself as President. Stellaland split into two rival factions – those who supported annexation into the Cape Colony as mooted by Cecil Rhodes, and those who preferred independence.

In February 1884, the London Convention was signed, making Stellaland a British protectorate, with the Reverend John McKensie appointed Commissioner to British Bechuanaland. Vryburg today is the industrial and agricultural capital of the Bophirima (Western) region. When the Boer Republic of Stellaland was established in 1882, Vryburg ('Fort of Freedom') was established as its capital.[3] The first and only president was G.J. van Niekerk. By 1884 the town consisted of around 20 houses.[4] In 1885, the British seized the town and incorporated the area into British Bechuanaland, which in turn became part of the Cape Colony in 1895. During the Second Boer War, the British built a concentration camp here to house Boer women and children. In 1910, the Cape Colony became the Cape Province, one of the four provinces of the Union of South Africa and later the Republic of South Africa. When nine provinces were established in 1994, it became part of the North West Province.

Economy

Vryburg railway station

Vryburg is South Africa's largest beef producing district, with Bonsmara cattle the most popular. It is sometimes called "the Texas of South Africa". Maize and peanuts are important crops produced in the district. The town hosts South Africa's third largest agricultural show.

The town today is an industrial and agricultural hub. Its modern architecture blends naturally with its surroundings and the well-preserved old buildings are carefully maintained.

Transport

There are roads, rail and air connections to all the major centers in the country. Vryburg is also situated on the main railway lines from Cape Town to Botswana and Zimbabwe.

The town is served by Vryburg Airport.

Culture

The Theiler Museum on the farm Armoedsvlakte, 8 km west of Vryburg, holds a collection of equipment used by Sir Arnold Theiler, the veterinarian who established the Onderstepoort veterinary research institute near Pretoria.

See also

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 "Main Place Vryburg". Census 2011.
  2. ↑ Hawkins, Frank H (1914). "III - Tiger Kloof - "A Lamp Shining in a Dark Place"". Through lands that were dark : being a record of a year's missionary journey in Africa and Madagascar. London: London Missionary Society. p. 63. Retrieved 2009-10-24.
  3. ↑ Appletons' annual cyclopaedia and register of important events of the year: 1896-1902. 3. 5. New York: Appletons. 1901. p. 3. Retrieved 2009-10-24.
  4. ↑ Great Britain (1884). South African Republic: A Convention Between Her Majesty the Queen of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland and the Republic of South Africa. London: Great Britain. p. 30. Retrieved 2009-10-24.
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