Emthanjeni Municipality

Sunday, 04 October 2009 04:47 - Britstown - Population (Census 2001)

Sun, 04 Oct 2009 02:47:18 +0100

	Black	Coloured	Indian/Asian	White	Total
Male	400	1306	1	138	1846
Female	398	1617	2	160	2178
	798	2922	3	298	4024

Sunday, 04 October 2009 04:47 - De Aar - Population (Census 2001)

Sun, 04 Oct 2009 02:47:18 +0100

	Black	Coloured	Indian/Asian	White	Total
Male	3543	7181	21	1637	12384
Female	4014	7766	12	1841	13635
	7556	14946	33	3478	26019

Friday, 02 October 2009 22:13 - Hanover

Fri, 02 Oct 2009 20:13:25 +0100

The attractive and historic little town on the N1 one lies more or less half way between Cape Town, Gauteng and Kwazulu-Natal. It was established in 1854 at the base of some rocky hills on the farm Petrusvallei, which was bought from Gert Gous. Gous requested that the town be called Hanover, after his great grandfather's town in Germany.

When declared magisterial district in 1876, the town was very fortunate to be appointed with a far seeing magistrate, Richard Beere. He insisted that trees be planted so that residents' descendants would have shade. Due to the increase in water consumption caused by the increase in residents, the spring that Hanover was built around, dried up, and the number of trees seen in the town today is far less than 100 years ago. Beere loved the Karoo and spent a lot of time on the summit of Trappieskop, where a stone pyramid honouring his contribution to the town was erected when he died.

Friday, 02 October 2009 05:19 - Britstown - Historical Overview

Fri, 02 Oct 2009 03:19:54 +0100

It was in the heady days of the great diamond rush in the year 1877 that Britstown came into being. Fortune hunters paused here in their frenzied dash to the fabulous diamond field, and a settlement mushroomed to provide fresh horses, fodder, refreshment and accommodation. Soon even a concertina vituoso made music for happy dancers lubricated by the local brew. First the Fuller and Gibson coaches and then others stopped here. By the time Britstown gained municipal status in January, 1889, a railway line already snaked accross the Karoo to carry would-be diamond diggers through to Kimberley.

Friday, 02 October 2009 05:17 - De Aar - Historical Overview

Fri, 02 Oct 2009 03:17:18 +0100

De Aar means "the artery" and in many senses this town is also the lifeblood of the Karoo. It is the head office of the Emthanjeni Municipality and the Pixley ka Seme District Municipality; home to many artists; there is an important weather station that can be toured by visitors, and it is still an important railway junction.

The significance of its situation on the railway line is because it is central to Gauteng, Cape Town, Port Elizabeth and Namibia. There are about 110km of railway lines including 29 rail tracks in the De Aar precincts.