Cities, towns and neighbourhoods

De Aar, the third largest town in the Northern Cape, is centrally located on the main railway line between Johannesburg, Cape Town, Port Elizabeth and Namibia and tarred roads to…

The town was founded in 1848 as a mission station on the farm Backhouse, by the Reverend Isaac Hughes. In 1867, a group of Europeans from Griquatown signed an agreement giving them…

Their leaders were Adam Kok II and Andries Waterboer. In 1813, at the instigation of Rev John Campbell, the ‘bastaards’ renamed themselves Griqua, and the place called Klaarwater became Griquatown.

Once part of the Graaff-Reinet district and known as Bo-Zeekoeirivier. As the farming community grew, a community centre was needed and, in 1854, the 8 656ha farm, Petrusvallei, was bought for 33 333 Rixdollars …

A servant was told it represented hope and made an imitation from tin which was nailed to the farm entrance. In 1866 a diamond, ‘Eureka’, was found and, in 1868, on the far…

When the discovery of diamonds blazed a trail to the interior, the railway followed it. It bypassed Victoria West by 12km, necessitating a railhead. This developed into a village and…

Originally the farm Phizantefontein, Loxton was bought from AE Loxton by the Dutch Reformed Church in 1899. Built to serve the sheep-farming community, it became a municipality in 1905. In March 1961, three-quarters…

Established in 1903 by the Dutch Reformed Church, Marydale was named after the wife of Mr GP Snyman, owner of the farm on which the town was laid out.

In 1881 the railway line from Port Elizabeth ended on the farm Carlton. With the diversion of the railway line to Colesberg in 1883/4 a station was built on part of the…

Orania offers an example of the ‘traditional’ Afrikaner way of life and also demonstrates the ingenuity of a marginalized community with advanced irrigation techniques, implemented in close cooperation with pioneers in …

Named after Petrus van der Walt, owner of the farm, Rhenosterberg, the town lies in a fertile valley surrounded by a cluster of high hills.

Founded in 1863 as a church centre, the town was named after Sir Philip Wodehouse, Governor of the Cape.