Steinkopf | |
---|---|
Coordinates: 29°15′41″S17°44′01″E / 29.261389°S 17.733611°E Coordinates: 29°15′41″S17°44′01″E / 29.261389°S 17.733611°E | |
Country | South Africa |
Province | Northern Cape |
District | Namakwa |
Municipality | Nama Khoi |
Area | |
• Total | 7.59 km2 (2.93 sq mi) |
Population (2011) [1] | |
• Total | 7,842 |
• Density | 1,000/km2 (2,700/sq mi) |
Racial makeup (2011) | |
• Black African | 3.3% |
• Coloured | 95.4% |
• Indian/Asian | 0.2% |
• White | 0.4% |
• Other | 0.6% |
First languages (2011) | |
• Afrikaans | 98.2% |
• Other | 1.8% |
Time zone | UTC+2 (SAST) |
Postal code (street) | 8244 |
PO box | 8244 |
Area code | 027 |
Steinkopf is a town in Namakwa District Municipality in the Northern Cape province of South Africa.
The town is located about 45 km north-north-west of Springbok. Formerly known as Kookfontein, it was established as a mission station of the London Missionary Society, but was later taken over by the Rhenish Mission. It is named after Karl Steinkopf (de), foreign secretary on the British and Foreign Bible Society. [2]
Steinkopf is the birthplace of Tholwana Mohale, winner of South Africa's Got Talent 2014.
The Rev. Christiaan Albrecht of the London Missionary Society (LMS) secured permission from the Cape Colony authorities to minister to the area as early as 1809. The first local mission was founded near Besondermeid in 1817 by Rev. Heinrich Schmelen of the LMS in 1817, and he named it Steinkopf after his spiritual mentor in London, Dr. Karl Steinkopf. When the LMS began working in the area, it was ruled by the Nama chiefs Vigiland and Orlam, vice-captains of captain Kido Witbooi, at the time the predominant leader of Little Namaqualand between Buffelsrivier and the Orange River.
The Rev. Michael Wimmer moved the mission 5 km north of Besondermeid to Kookfontein Farm, where Steinkopf is today. The Rhenish Missionary Society (RMS) took over the LMS's work in 1840, when the latter left the area. Steinkopf became part of Cape Colony in 1847, when the colonial border shifted to the Orange River, but it was not until 1913, with the implementation of the Mission Stations and Communal Reserves Act of 1909, that direct state control was established. In 1934, the RMS left the region to the Dutch Reformed Church in South Africa (NGK) Mission Church, which in 1994 became part of the Uniting Reformed Church in Southern Africa (VGKSA).
In the early years of the mission, Steinkopf was wracked by violence between the San hunter-gatherers and pastoral communities. A mass grave of 32 Nama children at Kinderlê just north of town testifies to the bloody struggles that almost wiped out the San from the area.
When the railway was built to carry copper from the mines near Okiep, it passed through Steinkopf on the way to Port Nolloth, growing the mission town considerably. Steinkopf was also invaded by the Boer forces during the Second Boer War, under the leadership of Gen. Jan Smuts, and many fled to the refugee camp in Port Nolloth. Several local citizens served the British as part of the Town Guards and Border Scouts. Around 10 km north of town on the road to Port Nolloth, near Klipfontein, there remain graves of soldiers killed in the war and ruins of the railway station and hotel that served passengers on the copper line.
The town has a population of around 7,850 and lies in the northernmost portion of the Namaqualand floral region, where winter rainfall is strongest but summer rains sometimes occur. Livestock are also pastured in the area, and the mountains around the town feature three distinct plant biomes, namely Cape fynbos, Kamiesberge, and Richtersveld. The town itself is in the Namaqualand Klein Koperberge, but the eastern pastures are part of Bushmanland and the western ones sandveld.
Most inhabitants either raise livestock communally or commute to mines in larger towns. At Henkries, about 50 km to the northeast, a state-run date farm operates; its produce is readily available in Steinkopf.
Steinkopf was once a major educational center and featured what was for decades the only high school in Namaqualand for those the National Party government deemed Cape Coloureds. The school drew students from far and wide. Today, organizations such as the E.J. Appies House old age home and the Immanuel Center for the Disabled here serve people from around Namaqualand.
Namaqualand is an arid region of Namibia and South Africa, extending along the west coast over 1,000 km (600 mi) and covering a total area of 440,000 km2 (170,000 sq mi). It is divided by the lower course of the Orange River into two portions – Little Namaqualand to the south and Great Namaqualand to the north.
The following lists events that happened during 1886 in South Africa.
The following lists events that happened during 1871 in South Africa.
Port Nolloth is a town and small domestic seaport in the Namaqualand region on the northwestern coast of South Africa, 144 kilometres (89 mi) northwest of Springbok. It is the seat of the Richtersveld Local Municipality.
Springbok is the largest town in the Namaqualand area in the Northern Cape province of South Africa. It was called Springbokfontein until 1911, when it was shortened to Springbok. Springbok is located on the N7 national route which connects the Cape with Namibia, and at the western end of the N14, which connects it with Upington and Pretoria. It is the main town of the Nama Khoi Local Municipality, which also includes a number of surrounding towns such as Okiep and Nababeep.
Okiep is a small town in the Northern Cape province of South Africa, and was in the 1870s ranked as having the richest copper mine in the world. The town is on the site of a spring that was known in the Khoekhoe language of the Nama people as U-gieb and was originally spelled as O'okiep.
The Namaqualand Railway was a 2 ft 6 in narrow gauge railway operating between Port Nolloth and O'okiep in the Namaqualand region of the former Cape Colony in South Africa. It was originally a mule-drawn railway built to provide an outlet for the copper mines of the region. Constructed between 1869 and 1876, the railway was 93+1⁄2 miles long, with an additional 8 miles purely associated with the copper mine workings. Although owned by the Cape Copper Company, the railway always operated as a public railway.
Richtersveld is an administrative area in the Namakwa District of Northern Cape in South Africa.
Reverend Johann Heinrich Schmelen, born Johann Hinrich Schmelen was a German missionary and linguist who worked in South Africa and South-West Africa. Traveling through the area of today's northern South Africa and central and southern Namibia he founded the mission stations at Bethanie and Steinkopf and discovered the natural harbour at Walvis Bay. Together with his wife Zara he translated parts of the Bible into Khoekhoegowab (Damara/Nama) and published a dictionary.
Concordia is a town in Namakwa District Municipality in the Northern Cape province of South Africa. The distance from Concordia to Cape Town is approximately 600 km (370 mi).
The Namaqualand 0-6-0T of 1871 were two South African steam locomotives from the pre-Union era in the Cape of Good Hope.
The Cape Copper Mining Company 0-4-0WT Condenser of 1886 was a South African steam locomotive from the pre-Union era in the Cape of Good Hope.
The Namaqualand 0-6-2 Clara Class of 1890 was a South African steam locomotive from the pre-Union era in the Cape of Good Hope.
The Cape Copper Company 0-6-2 Scotia Class of 1900 was a South African steam locomotive from the pre-Union era in the Cape of Good Hope.
The Cape Copper Company 0-4-2IST Caledonia of 1904 was a South African steam locomotive from the pre-Union era in the Cape of Good Hope.
The Cape Copper Company 0-4-2T Britannia of 1905 was a South African steam locomotive from the pre-Union era in the Cape of Good Hope.
The Namaqua Copper Company 0-4-2STPioneer of 1901 was a South African steam locomotive from the pre-Union era in the Cape of Good Hope.
In the Colonies and Boer Republics which became the Union of South Africa in 1910, several unofficial military decorations and medals were instituted and awarded during the nineteenth and early twentieth century. The Cape Copper Company Medal for the Defence of O'okiep is a private campaign medal which was instituted by the Cape Copper Company Limited in 1902. The medal was awarded to members of the O'okiep Garrison who defended the town while it was besieged by Boer Commandos from 4 April to 4 May 1902, near the end of the Second Boer War.
Hans Christian Knudsen was a Norwegian missionary and painter. He was a pioneer Rhenish Missionary pioneer and scholar of Khoekhoe.
Johann Georg Krönlein was a Rhenish Missionary pioneer in South West Africa and a Bible translator and lexicographer of the Khoekhoe language. A neighborhood in Keetmanshoop, which he founded in 1866, is named after him.