Volksrust
Volksrust | |
|---|---|
 SAR Class 19D 2696 4-8-2 plinthed in Volksrust, 2 June 2005 | |
  Volksrust | |
| Coordinates: 27°22′S 29°53′E / 27.367°S 29.883°ECoordinates: 27°22′S 29°53′E / 27.367°S 29.883°E | |
| Country | South Africa |
| Province | Mpumalanga |
| District | Gert Sibande |
| Municipality | Pixley ka Seme |
| Established | 1888 |
| Area | |
| • Total | 25.43 km2 (9.82 sq mi) |
| Elevation | 1,660 m (5,450 ft) |
| Population (2011) | |
| • Total | 24,281 |
| • Density | 950/km2 (2,500/sq mi) |
| Racial makeup (2011) | |
| • Black African | 79.56% |
| • White | 16.46% |
| • Indian/Asian | 1.99% |
| • Coloured | 1.65% |
| • Other | 0.34% |
| First languages (2011) | |
| • Zulu | 72.38% |
| • Afrikaans | 15.77% |
| • English | 4.41% |
| • Sesotho | 1.74% |
| • SiSwati | 1.28% |
| • Setswana | 1.13% |
| • isiNdebele | 0.96% |
| • Other | 0.95% |
| • Sign language | 0.45% |
| • Sepedi | 0.40% |
| Time zone | UTC+2 (SAST) |
| Postal code (street) | 2470 |
| PO box | 2470 |
| Area code | 017 |
Volksrust is a town in the Mpumalanga province of South Africa near the KwaZulu-Natal provincial border, some 240 km southeast of Johannesburg, 53 km north of Newcastle and 80 km southeast of Standerton.
History[]
The town was laid out in 1888 on the farms Boschpad Drift, Rooibult or Llanwarne, Verkyk and Zandfontein, and proclaimed in 1889.[2] It lies at an elevation of 5,429 feet (1,655 m), and 4 miles (6.4 km) north of the pass through the Drakensberg known as Laing's Nek.[3] Municipal status was attained in 1904.[2]
Dorothea de Jager, daughter of Dirk Uys, one of the battle victims, named the town Volksrust (Nation's Rest). The name probably refers to the citizens resting here after the Battle of Majuba on 27 February 1881,[4] when the Transvaal won its independence back from the British. During the Second Boer War the British built a concentration camp in Volksrust, where many Boer women and children died.
Agriculture[]
Volksrust has important beef, dairy, maize, sorghum, wool and sunflower seed industries.
Notable people[]
The Miss World 2014, Rolene Strauss, was born here.
References[]
- ^ Jump up to: a b 2011 census
- ^ Jump up to: a b Raper, Peter E; Moller, Lucie A; du Plessis, Theodorus L (2014). Dictionary of Southern African Place Names. Jonathan Ball Publishers. ISBN 9781868425501.
- ^ One or more of the preceding sentences incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain: Chisholm, Hugh, ed. (1911). "Volksrust". Encyclopædia Britannica. 28 (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press. p. 195.
- ^ "Dictionary of Southern African Place Names (Public Domain)". Human Science Research Council. p. 462.
External links[]
Media related to Volksrust at Wikimedia Commons- Google Map
- Volksrust Home Page
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- Populated places in the Pixley ka Seme Local Municipality
- Second Boer War concentration camps
- Populated places founded by Afrikaners
- Mpumalanga geography stubs