Upington ( Nama: //Khara hais) is a town founded in 1873 and located in the Northern Cape province of

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

, on the banks of the

Orange River The Orange River (from Afrikaans/Dutch: ''Oranjerivier'') is a river in Southern Africa. It is the longest river in South Africa. With a total length of , the Orange River Basin extends from Lesotho into South Africa and Namibia to the north ...

. The town was originally called Olijvenhoutsdrift ('Olive wood drift'), due to the abundance of olive wood trees in the area, but later renamed after Sir Thomas Upington, Attorney-General and then Prime Minister of the

Cape A cape is a clothing accessory or a sleeveless outer garment which drapes the wearer's back, arms, and chest, and connects at the neck. History Capes were common in medieval Europe, especially when combined with a hood in the chaperon. Th ...

. It originated as a mission station established in 1871 and run by Reverend Christiaan Schröder. The mission station now houses the Kalahari Orange Museum. The museum is also the home of a donkey statue, which recognises the enormous contribution that this animal made to the development of the region during the pioneering days of the 19th century. The elevation of Upington is 2,742 feet (835 metres). It is the closest large centre to the

Augrabies Falls The Augrabies Falls is a waterfall on the Orange River, the largest river in South Africa. Since 1966 the waterfall, set in a desolate and rugged milieu, is enclosed by the Augrabies Falls National Park. The falls are around in height. Some s ...

(arguably the greatest of South African waterfalls) and the

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 ...

. The landscape is very arid but the soil is fertile and crops such as fruit are grown in irrigated fields. The area is best known for its export-quality grapes, raisins and wines, which are cultivated on the rich flood plains of the Orange River.

The Upington 26

On 13 November 1985, a black policeman was killed following a disturbance at a political meeting in Paballelo, a black township on the outskirts of Upington. Twenty-six people were charged with the killing, of whom twenty-five were convicted of murder on the basis of

common purpose The doctrine of common purpose, common design, joint enterprise, joint criminal enterprise or parasitic accessory liability is a common law legal doctrine that imputes criminal liability to the participants in a criminal enterprise for all reaso ...

, and one convicted of attempted murder. Fourteen were sentenced to death, although the death sentences were later overturned on appeal. In 2011, a memorial in honour of the Upington 26 was unveiled in Upington by Hazel Jenkins, the Premier of the Northern Cape. In 2014, the Australian film '' A Common Purpose'' was made about the case.

Wine industry

Upington's most famous wines are produced by an organisation known as Orange River Cellars. The organisation has six depots in the area (all of them on the banks of the Orange River) at Upington, Kanoneiland, Grootdrink,

Kakamas Kakamas is a town founded in 1898 and located in the Northern Cape province of South Africa, on the banks of the Orange River. Originated as at a place where the Orange River could be relatively easily crossed. The spot was first known as Basso ...

Keimoes Keimoes is a town in the Northern Cape province of South Africa. It lies on the Orange River and is about halfway between Upington and Kakamas. History It attained municipal status in 1949. The name of the town translates in both the Khoekhoe and ...

and

Groblershoop Groblershoop is a settlement in ZF Mgcawu District Municipality in the Northern Cape province of South Africa. It is situated about 2 km west of the Orange River The Orange River (from Afrikaans/Dutch: ''Oranjerivier'') is a river in ...

. Their wines are exported, ''inter alia'', to Europe and the USA.

Transportation

Upington Airport Upington Airport is an airport located in Upington, Northern Cape, South Africa. At , runway 17/35 is one of the longest runways in the world. The high elevation of the airport, extremely high summer temperatures and the fact that it was desi ...

has scheduled flights provided by

SA Airlink Airlink is an airline based in Johannesburg, South Africa. Its main business is to provide services between smaller, under-served towns and larger hub airports. It has since expanded to offer flights on larger, mainline routes. The airline has ...

(an affiliate of South African Airways). One of the airport's runways is 4,900 m in length. This unusually long runway was constructed to serve as an emergency landing strip for the

NASA The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA ) is an independent agencies of the United States government, independent agency of the US federal government responsible for the civil List of government space agencies, space program ...

Space Shuttle The Space Shuttle is a retired, partially reusable low Earth orbital spacecraft system operated from 1981 to 2011 by the U.S. National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) as part of the Space Shuttle program. Its official program ...

if needed, as one of the only such emergency-designated landing areas for the Shuttle. It also allows Boeing 747 and other heavy air cargo and military aircraft to use the airport for refueling stops on long-haul flights. Nelson Mandela drive in the upington cbd (cropped)

Nelson Mandela drive in the upington cbd (cropped)

In the first half of the 20th century, there was a passenger train service from Cape Town to Upington. Until the 1950s, a narrow-gauge railway line (two-foot gauge) ran from Upington to

and

, two nearby towns. The trains carried passengers and freight, being mainly

dried fruit Dried fruit is fruit from which the majority of the original water content has been removed either naturally, through sun drying, or through the use of specialized dryers or dehydrators. Dried fruit has a long tradition of use dating back to th ...

. The line to Kakamas was still in use during the November 2010 grape harvest season.

Shopping

Shopping in Upington is characterised by High Street shopping, with most stores located along Scott, Schroder, Nelson Mandela and Mark Streets. Upington has a mall, which is the area's first super-regional mall. The ''Kalahari mall'' is anchored by Game,

Checkers Checkers (American English), also known as draughts (; British English), is a group of strategy board games for two players which involve diagonal moves of uniform game pieces and mandatory captures by jumping over opponent pieces. Checkers ...

Spar SPAR, originally DESPAR, styled as DE SPAR, is a Dutch multinational that provides branding, supplies and support services for independently owned and operated food retail stores. It was founded in the Netherlands in 1932, by Adriaan van Well, ...

, Woolworths, Tiger Wheel & Tyre and clothing stores, banks and restaurants. It is located on the corner of Van Riebeeck and Malherbe Streets.

Geography and climate

Upington is located on the northern banks of the Orange River and is surrounded by irrigated vineyards. The hottest month of the year is January, with average daily temperatures swinging from to , while in the coolest month of July temperatures range between and . Also the driest month of the year, July sees an average rainfall of only , while the wettest month of March sees . Upington has been noted as being the sunniest location on the planet for three months of the year, from November through January. Upington has a hot

desert climate The desert climate or arid climate (in the Köppen climate classification ''BWh'' and ''BWk''), is a dry climate sub-type in which there is a severe excess of evaporation over precipitation. The typically bald, rocky, or sandy surfaces in deser ...

(

BWh Bust/waist/hip measurements (informally called 'body measurements' or ′vital statistics′) are a common method of specifying clothing sizes. They match the three inflection points of the female body shape. In human body measurement, these t ...

) with long, hot summers and short, mild winters. Precipitation peaks during late summertime.

Notable natives and residents

* Chris Brink – mathematician, vice-chancellor of Newcastle University in England, vice-chancellor and rector of

Stellenbosch University Stellenbosch University ( af, Universiteit Stellenbosch) is a public research university situated in Stellenbosch, a town in the Western Cape province of South Africa. Stellenbosch is the oldest university in South Africa and the oldest extant ...

* Ruben Cloete – footballer for the

South Africa national soccer team The South Africa national soccer team represents South Africa in men's international soccer and it is run by the South African Football Association, the governing body for Soccer in South Africa. The team's nickname is Bafana Bafana (The Boy ...

Alice Krige Alice Maud Krige (; born 28 June 1954) is a South African actress and producer. Her first feature film role was in '' Chariots of Fire'' (1981) as the Gilbert and Sullivan singer Sybil Gordon. She played the dual role of Eva Galli/Alma Mobley i ...

– actress * Shaleen Surtie-Richards - actress *

Jasper Wiese Jasper van der Westhuizen Wiese (born 21 October 1995) is a South African rugby union player who plays for Leicester Tigers in England's Premiership Rugby. He previously played for the in the Pro14, the in the Currie Cup and the in the Rug ...

– rugby union footballer for the

South Africa national rugby union team The South Africa national rugby union team, commonly known as the Springboks (colloquially the Boks, Bokke or Amabokoboko), is the country's national team governed by the South African Rugby Union. The Springboks play in green and gold jerse ...

* Tiaan Strauss - rugby player for Western Province and the Springboks. Later for Australia. * Christo Wiese - South African businessman

Gallery

Image:upingtonrunw.jpg, 4900 m airport runway Image:golfcourseupt.jpg, Golf course Image:Upingtonriver.jpg, View from "Die Eiland" holiday resort

References

External links

Additional information about Upington Airport

The Orange River Wine Cellars Home Page

Upington Business Directory

Racially motivated land dispossession in Gordonia: Memorial lecture on the 1913 Natives Land Act
{{Authority control Orange River Populated places in the Dawid Kruiper Local Municipality Populated places established in 1873 1884 establishments in the Cape Colony