Vanwyksvlei | |
---|---|
Coordinates: 30°21′S21°49′E / 30.350°S 21.817°E | |
Country | South Africa |
Province | Northern Cape |
District | Pixley ka Seme |
Municipality | Kareeberg |
Area | |
• Total | 2.66 km2 (1.03 sq mi) |
Population (2011) [1] | |
• Total | 1,721 |
• Density | 650/km2 (1,700/sq mi) |
Racial makeup (2011) | |
• Black African | 2.3% |
• Coloured | 92.5% |
• Indian/Asian | 0.9% |
• White | 4.0% |
• Other | 0.3% |
First languages (2011) | |
• Afrikaans | 97.7% |
• Other | 2.3% |
Time zone | UTC+2 (SAST) |
Postal code (street) | 8922 |
PO box | 8922 |
Vanwyksvlei or Van Wyk's Vlei (Afrikaans for Van Wyk's Marsh) is a small town in the Northern Cape, South Africa.
The town is named after a farmer called Van Wyk, and the Afrikaans suffix vlei , meaning 'pond', 'marsh'. However, it is one of the driest places in South Africa, and the surrounding region is named the Dorsland (Afrikaans for Thirstland). [2]
Vanwyksvlei was founded in 1881. [2] It later saw action in the Second Boer War where two Victoria Crosses were awarded; Harry Hampton and Henry Knight were awarded the medal for gallant acts.
The Vanwyksvlei Dam was the first (1882) state-funded dam built in South Africa. [3]
Harry Hampton VC was an English recipient of the Victoria Cross, the highest award for gallantry in the face of the enemy that can be awarded to British and Commonwealth forces.
Henry James Knight VC was an English recipient of the Victoria Cross, the highest and most prestigious award for gallantry in the face of the enemy that can be awarded to British and Commonwealth forces.
Wakkerstroom is the second oldest town in Mpumalanga province, South Africa. The town is on the KwaZulu-Natal border, 27 km east of Volksrust and 56 km south-east of Amersfoort.
Lichtenburg is a town situated in North West Province, South Africa. It is the administrative centre of Ditsobotla Local Municipality.
The Harts River is a northern tributary of the Vaal River, which in turn is the largest tributary of the Orange River. Its source is in the North West Province, but the greater part of its basin is located in the Northern Cape Province, which it enters a few kilometers downstream from the Taung Dam.
South African literature is the literature of South Africa, which has 11 national languages: Afrikaans, English, Zulu, Xhosa, Sotho, Pedi, Tswana, Venda, Swazi, Tsonga and Ndebele.
Piet van Wyk de Vries was an independent South African songwriter born in Pretoria in 1972.
Nicolaas Petrus van Wyk Louw, almost universally known as N.P. van Wyk Louw, was an Afrikaans-language poet, playwright and scholar. He was the older brother of Afrikaans-language poet W.E.G. Louw.
Deadvlei is a white clay pan located near the more famous salt pan of Sossusvlei, in a valley between the dunes in the Namib-Naukluft Park in Namibia. Also written DeadVlei or Dead Vlei, its name means "dead marsh". The pan also is referred to as "Dooie Vlei" which is the Afrikaans name. There are many references to the site on the Internet, its name often being translated erroneously in terms such as "dead valley"; a vlei is not a valley. Nor is the site a valley; the pan is a desiccated vlei.
Kleinfontein is a culturally segregated, Afrikaner-only settlement near Pretoria, South Africa that was founded in 1992. Members of the African National Congress and Democratic Alliance youth have denounced the settlement and the continued existence of Afrikaner-only settlements in post-Apartheid South Africa.
A vlei is a shallow minor lake, mostly of a seasonal or intermittent nature. It even might refer to seasonal ponds or marshy patches where frogs and similar marsh dwellers breed. Commonly, vleis vary in their extent, or even in the presence or absence of water, according to the fall of rain or dryness of the season. In terms of water salinity, vleis may be freshwater, saltwater, or brackish. Over time a vlei may degrade into a salt pan or clay pan, such as Dead Vlei or Sossusvlei.
Boegoeberg Dam is a gravity type dam on the Orange River, near Prieska, Northern Cape, South Africa. Building was started in 1926 and completed by 1933. Boegoeberg is named for the small tree Croton gratissimus, also known as Bergboegoe. Its primary purpose is for irrigation and it has a low hazard potential.
The As River is a tributary of the Liebenbergsvlei River in the eastern Free State, South Africa. Since 1968 it is impounded by the Sol Plaatje Dam at its confluence with the latter river, just east of Bethlehem. Its origin is some 35 km southeast of Bethlehem, on the northern slopes of the Rooiberge, near Clarens. With the opening of the northern delivery tunnel of the Lesotho Highlands Water Project in 1998, the once tiny stream was transformed to a strong-flowing river.
Hermanus van Wyk (1835–1905) was the first Kaptein of the Baster community at Rehoboth in South-West Africa, today Namibia. Under his leadership, the mixed-race Basters moved from the Northern Cape to leave white racial discrimination, and migrated into the interior of what is now central Namibia; the first 30 families settled about 1870. They acquired land from local natives and were joined by additional Baster families over the following years. The Baster people developed their own constitution, called the Paternal Laws. They relied on the herding of sheep, goats and cattle as the basis of their economy.
Arnoldus Christiaan Vlok van Wyk was a South African art music composer, one of the first notable generation of such composers along with Hubert du Plessis and Stefans Grové. Despite the strict laws imposed by the Apartheid government during his lifetime, van Wyk's homosexuality was ignored by the authorities throughout his career due to the nationalistic nature of his music.
The Suid-Afrikaanse Akademie vir Wetenskap en Kuns (SAAWK) is a multidisciplinary organization dedicated to promoting science, technology and the arts in Afrikaans, as well as promoting the use and quality of Afrikaans. The Hertzog Prize is awarded annually by the academy for high-quality literary work, while the Havenga prize is awarded annually for original research in the sciences.
The Nyl River is a watercourse in Limpopo Province, South Africa. It flows at the head of the Mogalakwena River, being its southernmost tributary or uppermost section. It is located near Mookgophong (Naboomspruit) in the northern part of the Springbok Flats, a particular geological formation.
Janine van Wyk is a South African professional soccer player who plays as a defender for her own club in South Africa JVW and captains the South Africa women's national team. She is the highest capped player in South Africa with 185 appearances, and highest capped player in CAF.
Ben-Erik van Wyk FAAS is a South African professor of indigenous botany and traditional African medicine at the University of Johannesburg.