Beaufort West Beaufort-Wes(in Afrikaans) eBhofolo(in Xhosa) | |
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Motto: Festina Lente (Latin: Make Haste Slowly) | |
Coordinates: 32°21′S22°35′E / 32.350°S 22.583°E | |
Country | South Africa |
Province | Western Cape |
District | Central Karoo |
Municipality | Beaufort West |
Established | 1818 [1] |
Area | |
• Total | 56.5 km2 (21.8 sq mi) |
Elevation | 900 m (3,000 ft) |
Population (2011) [2] | |
• Total | 34,085 |
• Density | 600/km2 (1,600/sq mi) |
Racial makeup (2011) | |
• African | 7.25% |
• Coloured | 77.92% |
• Indian/Asian | 0.53% |
• White | 13.66% |
• Other | 0.64% |
First languages (2011) | |
• Afrikaans | 91.48% |
• Xhosa | 3.59% |
• English | 2.47% |
• Other | 2.46% |
Time zone | UTC+2 (SAST) |
Postal code (street) | 6970 |
PO box | 6970 |
Area code | 023 |
Website | www |
Beaufort West (Afrikaans: Beaufort-Wes; Xhosa: eBhobhofolo) is a town in the Western Cape province in South Africa. It is the largest town in the arid Great Karoo region, and is known as the "Capital of the Karoo". It forms part of the Beaufort West Local Municipality, with 34,085 inhabitants in 2011. [3]
It is the centre of an agricultural district based mainly on sheep farming, and is a significant town and logistical support hub on the N1 national road.
Next door to Beaufort West is the Karoo National Park. Important Permian fossils have been found in the area to the west of the town. [4] These were initially found by David Baird, son of the local magistrate in 1827. The old Town Hall and the Dutch Reformed Church have been declared national monuments.
Beaufort West was the first town to be established in the central Karoo. The town was founded in 1818 and initially named Beaufort after Henry Somerset, 5th Duke of Beaufort, who was the father of Lord Charles Henry Somerset, then governor of the Cape Colony. [5] The town was renamed Beaufort West in 1869 to avoid confusion with Port Beaufort in the Western Cape as well as Fort Beaufort in the Eastern Cape.
The town became prosperous with the introduction of Saxon Merino sheep. One of those who first farmed them, John Molteno, was a young Anglo-Italian immigrant who then founded the town's first bank in 1854 and went on to become the first Prime Minister of the Cape. [6]
Beaufort West became the first municipality in South Africa on 3 February 1837 and had the country's first town hall. [5] When the railroad reached the town in 1880 it became a marshalling yard and locomotive depot and today it is the largest town in the Karoo. [7]
Professor Christiaan Barnard, the town’s most famous son, performed the first successful human-to-human heart transplant. He is honoured in the local museum, which houses a display of awards presented to him and a replica of the original heart transplant theatre.
Beaufort West is the site of one of the largest migrations of mammals on record. In 1849, Sir John Fraser (son of the local Dutch Reformed Church minister) observed and famously documented a herd of Springbok that took three days to pass the town. [8]
The 1936 census recorded a total population 7,966 residents in the town. [9]
Climate data for Beaufort West (1963–1987) | |||||||||||||
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Month | Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec | Year |
Record high °C (°F) | 41 (106) | 41 (106) | 39 (102) | 36 (97) | 32 (90) | 29 (84) | 29 (84) | 34 (93) | 36 (97) | 39 (102) | 41 (106) | 40 (104) | 41 (106) |
Mean daily maximum °C (°F) | 32 (90) | 31 (88) | 29 (84) | 24 (75) | 21 (70) | 19 (66) | 18 (64) | 20 (68) | 23 (73) | 26 (79) | 28 (82) | 31 (88) | 25 (77) |
Mean daily minimum °C (°F) | 16 (61) | 15 (59) | 14 (57) | 10 (50) | 8 (46) | 5 (41) | 4 (39) | 5 (41) | 7 (45) | 10 (50) | 12 (54) | 14 (57) | 10 (50) |
Record low °C (°F) | 8 (46) | 5 (41) | 4 (39) | 0 (32) | −3 (27) | −5 (23) | −6 (21) | −5 (23) | −4 (25) | −1 (30) | 3 (37) | 4 (39) | −6 (21) |
Average precipitation mm (inches) | 35 (1.4) | 30 (1.2) | 30 (1.2) | 20 (0.8) | 11 (0.4) | 8 (0.3) | 9 (0.4) | 14 (0.6) | 12 (0.5) | 21 (0.8) | 27 (1.1) | 19 (0.7) | 236 (9.3) |
Average precipitation days (≥ 1.0 mm) | 4 | 4 | 5 | 5 | 3 | 3 | 2 | 3 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 3 | 43 |
Source: South African Weather Service [10] |
By 1931, the town council had assumed a coat of arms — it was depicted on a cigarette card issued in that year.
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The large uranium and yellowcake producing Beaufort West mine is nearby. The three largest industries in the town are the agricultural sector, which is the largest employer, the transport and logistical support sector, and the tourism sector. [13]
Christiaan Neethling Barnard was a South African cardiac surgeon who performed the world's first human-to-human heart transplant operation. On 3 December 1967, Barnard transplanted the heart of accident victim Denise Darvall into the chest of 54-year-old Louis Washkansky who regained full consciousness and was able to talk easily with his wife, before dying eighteen days later of pneumonia, largely brought on by the anti-rejection drugs that suppressed his immune system. Barnard had told Mr. and Mrs. Washkansky that the operation had an 80% chance of success, an assessment which has been criticised as misleading. Barnard's second transplant patient, Philip Blaiberg, whose operation was performed at the beginning of 1968, returned home from the hospital and lived for a year and a half.
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Andrew Geddes Bain, was a Cape Colony geologist, road engineer, palaeontologist and explorer.
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Beaufort West Municipality is a local municipality located in the Western Cape province of South Africa. As of 2011, the population is 49,586. Its municipality code is WC053.
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