Kuruman is a small town with just over 53,000 inhabitants in the

Northern Cape The Northern Cape is the largest and most sparsely populated province of South Africa. It was created in 1994 when the Cape Province was split up. Its capital is Kimberley. It includes the Kalahari Gemsbok National Park, part of the Kgalagadi ...

province of

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the southernmost country in Africa. It is bounded to the south by of coastline that stretch along the South Atlantic and Indian Oceans; to the north by the neighbouring coun ...

. It is known for its scenic beauty and the

Eye of Kuruman The Eye of Kuruman ( af, Die Oog) is a spring in the town of Kuruman (part of the Ga-Segonyana Local Municipality) in the province of Northern Cape, South Africa. Currently, it is known as the largest natural spring in the Southern Hemisphere. ...

, a geological feature that brings water from deep underground. The abundance of water produces an unexpected swathe of green amidst the barren plains and is known as the Oasis of the Kalahari. It was at first a mission station of the

London Missionary Society The London Missionary Society was an interdenominational evangelical missionary society formed in England in 1795 at the instigation of Welsh Congregationalist minister Edward Williams. It was largely Reformed in outlook, with Congregational m ...

founded by Robert Moffat in

1821 Events January–March * January 21 – Peter I Island in the Antarctic is first sighted, by Fabian Gottlieb von Bellingshausen. * January 28 – Alexander Island, the largest in Antarctica, is first discovered by Fabian Gottlieb von B ...

. It was also the place where

David Livingstone David Livingstone (; 19 March 1813 – 1 May 1873) was a Scottish physician, Congregationalist, and pioneer Christian missionary with the London Missionary Society, an explorer in Africa, and one of the most popular British heroes of t ...

arrived for his first position as a missionary in 1841. The Kuruman River, which is dry except for

flash flood A flash flood is a rapid flooding of low-lying areas: washes, rivers, dry lakes and depressions. It may be caused by heavy rain associated with a severe thunderstorm, hurricane, or tropical storm, or by meltwater from ice or snow flowing ...

s after heavy rain, is named after the town. residential street Kuruman

Origins

Kuruman is regarded as the “Oasis of the Kalahari”. It is set out on the Ghaap Plateau and receives its water source from a spring called “The Eye” which rises in a cave in the semidesert thornveld area in the Kalahari region. Kuruman is the main town in the area and the spring gives about 20 to 30 million litres of water daily to approximately 10 000 inhabitants. It is also known as “Die Oog” or “Gasegonyane” in the Kalahari region. The name Kuruman is derived from the Chief who lived in the area, named Kudumane. Robert Moffat, a missionary from the

, also lived there from 1820 to 1870. Moffat helped build the famous Moffat Church which was completed in 1838 and is still used for regular church services. While living in Kuruman, Moffat translated the bible into the

Tswana language Tswana, also known by its native name , and previously spelled Sechuana in English, is a Bantu language spoken in Southern Africa by about 8.2 million people. It belongs to the Bantu language family within the Sotho-Tswana branch of Zone ...

: this was the first bible in an indigenous southern African language.

Location and climate

Kuruman is situated on the main route between

Gauteng Gauteng ( ) is one of the nine provinces of South Africa. The name in Sotho-Tswana languages means 'place of gold'. Situated on the Highveld, Gauteng is the smallest province by land area in South Africa. Although Gauteng accounts for only ...

and

Namibia Namibia (, ), officially the Republic of Namibia, is a country in Southern Africa. Its western border is the Atlantic Ocean. It shares land borders with Zambia and Angola to the north, Botswana to the east and South Africa to the south and ea ...

Cape Town Cape Town ( af, Kaapstad; , xh, iKapa) is one of South Africa's three capital cities, serving as the seat of the Parliament of South Africa. It is the legislative capital of the country, the oldest city in the country, and the second largest ...

via

Upington Upington ( Nama: //Khara hais) is a town founded in 1873 and located in the Northern Cape province of South Africa, on the banks of the Orange River. The town was originally called Olijvenhoutsdrift ('Olive wood drift'), due to the abundance of ...

. The route is growing in popularity because of its beautiful nature and various tourist attractions. Kuruman lies virtually on the edge of the Kalahari at the foot of a range of low hills. It has relatively mild weather patterns compared to other Northern Cape towns, such as

and

Springbok The springbok (''Antidorcas marsupialis'') is a medium-sized antelope found mainly in south and southwest Africa. The sole member of the genus ''Antidorcas'', this bovid was first described by the German zoologist Eberhard August Wilhelm ...

, and is surrounded by more vegetation than Upington and Springbok, which are mostly semi-arid to desert environments.

Economy

Mining and agriculture (cattle and game) support Kuruman's thriving economy. Minerals mined in Kuruman include

Manganese Manganese is a chemical element with the Symbol (chemistry), symbol Mn and atomic number 25. It is a hard, brittle, silvery metal, often found in minerals in combination with iron. Manganese is a transition metal with a multifaceted array of ...

Iron Ore Iron ores are rocks and minerals from which metallic iron can be economically extracted. The ores are usually rich in iron oxides and vary in color from dark grey, bright yellow, or deep purple to rusty red. The iron is usually found in the ...

, Tiger's eye and

Crocidolite Riebeckite is a sodium-rich member of the amphibole group of silicate minerals, chemical formula Na2(Fe2+3Fe3+2)Si8O22(OH)2. It forms a solid solution series with magnesioriebeckite. It crystallizes in the monoclinic system, usually as long prism ...

. The richest deposits of Crocidolite in the world are found in the Kuruman district.

Demographics

According to the 2001 census, Kuruman had a population of 9,824, of which 4,267 (43.4%) were

Coloured Coloureds ( af, Kleurlinge or , ) refers to members of multiracial ethnic communities in Southern Africa who may have ancestry from more than one of the various populations inhabiting the region, including African, European, and Asian. South ...

, 3,549 (36.1%) were

White White is the lightest color and is achromatic (having no hue). It is the color of objects such as snow, chalk, and milk, and is the opposite of black. White objects fully reflect and scatter all the visible wavelengths of light. White ...

and 1,969 (20.0%) were

Black Black is a color which results from the absence or complete absorption of visible light. It is an achromatic color, without hue, like white and grey. It is often used symbolically or figuratively to represent darkness. Black and white ha ...

. The most spoken language at home was

Afrikaans Afrikaans (, ) is a West Germanic language that evolved in the Dutch Cape Colony from the Dutch vernacular of Holland proper (i.e., the Hollandic dialect) used by Dutch, French, and German settlers and their enslaved people. Afrikaans gr ...

with a percentage of 80.68%, followed by

with 14.8%. Males make up 50.58% of the population and females, 49.42%.

Attractions

The Eye of Kuruman

This is a natural fountain delivering approximately of crystal clear water daily which supplies domestic water, feeds the Kuruman River and spills more water into two irrigation canals which are in length. The Eye was claimed to have been discovered in 1801 and this led to the establishment of the mission station in the early 19th century. The Eye then came to be described as "The fountain of

Christianity Christianity is an Abrahamic monotheistic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus of Nazareth. It is the world's largest and most widespread religion with roughly 2.38 billion followers representing one-third of the global popula ...

". It is the biggest natural fountain in the Southern Hemisphere. In the early years,

Tswana people The Tswana ( tn, Batswana, singular ''Motswana'') are a Bantu-speaking ethnic group native to Southern Africa. The Tswana language is a principal member of the Sotho-Tswana language group. Ethnic Tswana made up approximately 85% of the pop ...

called this fountain ''Gasegonyane'' which means "small water calabash with bubbling water".

Other attractions

*Billy Duvenhage Nature Reserve *Raptor Route *Moffat Mission *Truce Tree which dates back to the 1914

Rebellion Rebellion, uprising, or insurrection is a refusal of obedience or order. It refers to the open resistance against the orders of an established authority. A rebellion originates from a sentiment of indignation and disapproval of a situation and ...

*Tswalu Kalahari Reserve – the country’s largest privately owned game reserve *Bird Sanctuary – wetland area with grass, reeds and trees. There are about 115 species of birds. *Northern Cape's only Instrumentation Engineering company, Mdux Instrumentation and Control System *

Wonderwerk Cave Wonderwerk Cave is an archaeological site, formed originally as an ancient solution cavity in dolomite rocks of the Kuruman Hills, situated between Danielskuil and Kuruman in the Northern Cape Province, South Africa. It is a National Heritage ...

*Kuruman Hiking Trail *

Kgalagadi Transfrontier Park Kgalagadi Transfrontier Park is a large wildlife preserve and conservation area in southern Africa. The park straddles the border between South Africa and Botswana and comprises two adjoining national parks: * Kalahari Gemsbok National Park in S ...

– where one can experience mine excursions *Boesmansgat/Sinkhole situated at Mount Carmel Farm. This cave is acclaimed the sixth deepest submerged cave in the world – also known as a sinkhole *The Kalahari Meerkat Project, made famous by the television series Meerkat Manor, is located nearby, in the Kuruman River Reserve. *Kuruman was home to well-known local author and Sanusi/Zulu traditional healer, Credo Mutwa.

References

External links

Visit Kuruman
Travel Guide and Accommodation in Kuruman
Kuruman on the Northern Cape Tourism Authority website
{{Authority control Populated places in the Ga-Segonyana Local Municipality Populated places established in 1887