Warrenton is an agricultural town of approximately 22,588 people 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 T ...
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 ...
, situated north of
Kimberley
Kimberly or Kimberley may refer to:
Places and historical events
Australia
* Kimberley (Western Australia)
** Roman Catholic Diocese of Kimberley
* Kimberley Warm Springs, Tasmania
* Kimberley, Tasmania a small town
* County of Kimberley, ...
on the
Vaal River
The Vaal River ( ; Khoemana: ) is the largest tributary of the Orange River in South Africa. The river has its source near Breyten in Mpumalanga province, east of Johannesburg and about north of Ermelo and only about from the Indian Ocean. ...
.
History
In 1880, a syndicate bought the western portion of the farm ''Grasbult'' to irrigate the fertile land and produce
vegetable
Vegetables are parts of plants that are consumed by humans or other animals as food. The original meaning is still commonly used and is applied to plants collectively to refer to all edible plant matter, including the flowers, fruits, stems ...
s for the
diamond
Diamond is a solid form of the element carbon with its atoms arranged in a crystal structure called diamond cubic. Another solid form of carbon known as graphite is the chemically stable form of carbon at room temperature and pressure, ...
fields. The town which grew here was named after Sir
Charles Warren
General Sir Charles Warren, (7 February 1840 – 21 January 1927) was an officer in the British Royal Engineers. He was one of the earliest European archaeologists of the Biblical Holy Land, and particularly of the Temple Mount. Much of his mi ...
. Diamonds were discovered here in 1888 and mining continued to 1926.
Geography
Warrenton is situated in the north-eastern part of the Northern Cape province, on the south bank of the Vaal River, approximately north of Kimberley, the provincial capital.
The town lies just downstream of the
Vaalharts Dam, which supplies water to the
Vaalharts Irrigation Scheme.
The
N12 national route, the main route from Kimberley to
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 ...
, passes through Warrenton, and the
N18 national route to
Mahikeng
Mafikeng, officially known as Mahikeng and previously Mafeking (, ), is the capital city of the North West province of South Africa.
Close to South Africa's border with Botswana, Mafikeng is northeast of Cape Town and west of Johannesburg. In ...
and
Botswana
Botswana (, ), officially the Republic of Botswana ( tn, Lefatshe la Botswana, label= Setswana, ), is a landlocked country in Southern Africa. Botswana is topographically flat, with approximately 70 percent of its territory being the Kalah ...
stars there.
The main
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 larges ...
–Kimberley–
Johannesburg
Johannesburg ( , , ; Zulu and xh, eGoli ), colloquially known as Jozi, Joburg, or "The City of Gold", is the largest city in South Africa, classified as a megacity, and is one of the 100 largest urban areas in the world. According to De ...
railway line also passes through the town, and the line to Mahikeng and Botswana branches off at Fourteen Streams, on the north bank of the Vaal opposite Warrenton.
Demographics
In the
2011 Census the population of Warrenton, including the
township
A township is a kind of human settlement or administrative subdivision, with its meaning varying in different countries.
Although the term is occasionally associated with an urban area, that tends to be an exception to the rule. In Australia, C ...
of Ikutseng, was recorded as 22,588 people living in 5,615 households. 80% of the residents described themselves as "
Black African", 14% as "
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 ...
", 5% as "
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 o ...
", and 1% as "
Indian or
Asian". 67% of the residents of the town speak
Setswana
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 Zon ...
as their
first language
A first language, native tongue, native language, mother tongue or L1 is the first language or dialect that a person has been exposed to from birth or within the critical period. In some countries, the term ''native language'' or ''mother ton ...
, while 22% speak
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 gra ...
, 4% speak
Xhosa
Xhosa may refer to:
* Xhosa people, a nation, and ethnic group, who live in south-central and southeasterly region of South Africa
* Xhosa language
Xhosa (, ) also isiXhosa as an endonym, is a Nguni language and one of the official language ...
and 2% speak
Sotho.
Government
Warrenton is the only town in the
Magareng Local Municipality, which covers an area of between the
Harts River and the
Free State border. The municipal council is controlled by an
African National Congress
The African National Congress (ANC) is a social-democratic political party in South Africa. A liberation movement known for its opposition to apartheid, it has governed the country since 1994, when the first post-apartheid election install ...
majority; the mayor is Neo Mase.
References
External links
Warrentonat the Northern Cape Tourism Authority website
{{Authority control
Populated places established in 1880
Populated places in the Magareng Local Municipality
Mining communities in South Africa
Vaal River
1880 establishments in South Africa