Leeu-Gamka is a small town in the

Western Cape The Western Cape is a province of South Africa, situated on the south-western coast of the country. It is the fourth largest of the nine provinces with an area of , and the third most populous, with an estimated 7 million inhabitants in 2020 ...

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 count ...

, located north-east of

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 ...

in the Karoo.

History

The town of Leeu-Gamka owes its existence to the route chosen by Prime Minister

John Molteno Sir John Charles Molteno (5 June 1814 – 1 September 1886) was a soldier, businessman, champion of responsible government and the first Prime Minister of the Cape Colony. Early life Born in London into a large Anglo-Italian family, Molteno ...

for the Cape Government Railways's western main line, from

towards the diamond fields at

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, a ...

. The railway line reached the meeting-point of the Leeu and Gamka rivers in 1879, and on 11 August of that year a station was opened on that location. It was initially named "Fraserburg Road", because it was the closest station to the town of Fraserburg, to the north-west over the Nuweveld Mountains. A small town grew around this station, with a church and school opening in 1896, and a hotel in 1898. In 1950 the station and town were renamed to "Leeu-Gamka".

Geography

Leeu-Gamka is located where the Leeu River enters the Gamka River; both rivers are intermittent in this region. "Leeu" and "Gamka" both mean "Lion", in

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 g ...

and ǀXam respectively. The town lies at an elevation of 552 m, in the southern Karoo; to the north are the Nuweveld Mountains, and to the south the Swartberge. It is situated on the N1 national road and the Cape Town–Kimberley railway, between Laingsburg and Beaufort West; the travel distance from

is by road and by rail. From Leeu-Gamka the R353 road runs north-west to Fraserburg and Williston.

Demographics

The 2011 Census reported that, of the population of 2,727, some 91% described themselves 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. Sout ...

" and 95% spoke Afrikaans.

Government and Infrastructure

Leeu-Gamka falls within the

Prince Albert Local Municipality Prince Albert Municipality is a municipality located in the Western Cape Province of South Africa. History At the end of the apartheid era, the area that is today the Prince Albert Local Municipality formed part of the Central Karoo Regional Serv ...

, which is part of the

Central Karoo District Municipality The Central Karoo District Municipality (Afrikaans: Sentraal Karoo-distriksmunisipaliteit) is a district municipality located in the Western Cape Province of South Africa. Its municipality code is DC5. Geography The Central Karoo District Municip ...

. It has a primary school and a police station, and was served by a mobile clinic. Recently, Leeu-Gamka established a new emergency medical services station in conjunction with the Western Cape Provincial Health Department to render support services to accident victims on the N1 en route to Cape Town and Johannesburg. Furthermore, a permanent community health center was erected, doing away with the previously used mobile clinic. The community also has a library and a new dam for domestic

water Water (chemical formula ) is an inorganic, transparent, tasteless, odorless, and nearly colorless chemical substance, which is the main constituent of Earth's hydrosphere and the fluids of all known living organisms (in which it acts as ...

supply. Leeu Gamka is mainly a community surrounded by farms and many of the citizens are dependent on work from these farms, with maintenance work by civil contracting engineering companies who subcontract for SANRAL.

References

{{Central Karoo District Municipality Populated places in the Prince Albert Local Municipality Populated places established in 1879