Jan Kempdorp is an agricultural town situated in the centre of the Vaalharts Irrigation Scheme in the

Northern Cape The Northern Cape ( ; ; ) is the largest and most sparsely populated Provinces of South Africa, province of South Africa. It was created in 1994 when the Cape Province was split up. Its capital is Kimberley, South Africa, Kimberley. It includes ...

province of

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the Southern Africa, southernmost country in Africa. Its Provinces of South Africa, nine provinces are bounded to the south by of coastline that stretches along the Atlantic O ...

. It is situated north of

Kimberley Kimberly or Kimberley may refer to: Places and historical events Australia Queensland * Kimberley, Queensland, a coastal locality in the Shire of Douglas South Australia * County of Kimberley, a cadastral unit in South Australia Ta ...

, the provincial capital, and west of Christiana in North West province.

History

Jan Kempdorp was laid out on the farm Andalustria and at first bore that name. During the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

it was the site of a concentration camp housing German men regarded as potentially dangerous by the authorities. The first settlers bought plots in 1938, and the town was proclaimed in 1953 and named after General Jan Kemp, a former Minister of Lands. Municipal status was attained in 1967. Originally, the border between the

Cape A cape is a clothing accessory or a sleeveless outer garment of any length that hangs loosely and connects either at the neck or shoulders. They usually cover the back, shoulders, and arms. They come in a variety of styles and have been used th ...

and

Transvaal Transvaal is a historical geographic term associated with land north of (''i.e.'', beyond) the Vaal River in South Africa. A number of states and administrative divisions have carried the name ''Transvaal''. * South African Republic (1856–1902; ...

provinces ran through the town, making it the only town in South Africa that was in two provinces. This also led to confusion about the administration until in 1964 it was decided by Parliament that the town would be deemed to fall in the Cape for legal purposes. When new provincial boundaries were drawn in 1994, Jan Kempdorp was still divided, now between the

and North West provinces. The whole of the town was, however, included in the cross-border

Phokwane Local Municipality Phokwane Municipality (; ) is a local municipality within the Frances Baard District Municipality, in the Northern Cape province of South Africa. The name means "small Billy goat" in Setswana. Main places The 2011 census divided the municipality ...

. In 2006 cross-border municipalities were eliminated and the whole of the town was included in the Northern Cape. During South Africa's Border War Jan Kempdorp was the location of a munitions store, guarded 24 hours a day by National Servicemen who were first required to be of a lowered medical classification. The facility, designated 93 Ammunition Depot, remained active as at 2024.

Demographics

According to the census of 2011, the population of Jan Kempdorp is 24,220 people, of whom 79% described themselves as "

Black African Black is a racial classification of people, usually a Politics, political and Human skin color, skin color-based category for specific populations with a mid- to dark brown complexion. Not all people considered "black" have dark skin and ofte ...

", 13% as "

Coloured Coloureds () are multiracial people in South Africa, Namibia and, to a smaller extent, Zimbabwe and Zambia. Their ancestry descends from the interracial mixing that occurred between Europeans, Africans and Asians. Interracial mixing in South ...

", and 7% as "

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

". 64% spoke

Tswana Tswana may refer to: * Tswana people, the Bantu languages, Bantu speaking people in Botswana, South Africa, Namibia, Zimbabwe, Zambia, and other Southern Africa regions * Tswana language, the language spoken by the (Ba)Tswana people * Tswanaland, ...

as their

first language A first language (L1), native language, native tongue, or mother tongue is the first language a person has been exposed to from birth or within the critical period hypothesis, critical period. In some countries, the term ''native language'' ...

, 20% spoke

Afrikaans Afrikaans is a West Germanic languages, West Germanic language spoken in South Africa, Namibia and to a lesser extent Botswana, Zambia, Zimbabwe and also Argentina where there is a group in Sarmiento, Chubut, Sarmiento that speaks the Pat ...

, 10% spoke

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, one of the 11 official languages of South Africa, principally spoken by the Xhosa people See als ...

, 2% spoke

Sotho Sotho may refer to: *Sotho people (or ''Basotho''), an African ethnic group principally resident in South Africa, Lesotho and southern Botswana *Sotho language (''Sesotho'' or ''Southern Sotho''), a Bantu language spoken in southern Africa, an offi ...

and 2% spoke English.

Transport

Jan Kempdorp is located on the N18 national road, which branches from the N12

–

Johannesburg Johannesburg ( , , ; Zulu language, Zulu and Xhosa language, Xhosa: eGoli ) (colloquially known as Jozi, Joburg, Jo'burg or "The City of Gold") is the most populous city in South Africa. With 5,538,596 people in the City of Johannesburg alon ...

road at Warrenton and runs through Jan Kempdorp to

Vryburg Vryburg () is a large agricultural town with a population of approximately 89,120 situated in the Dr Ruth Segomotsi Mompati District Municipality of the North West Province (South Africa), North West Province of South Africa. It is the seat and ...

Mahikeng Mahikeng ( Tswana for "Place of Rocks"), formerly known as Mafikeng and alternatively known as Mafeking (, ), is the capital city of the North West province of South Africa. Close to South Africa's border with Botswana, Mafikeng is northeast ...

and the

Botswana Botswana, officially the Republic of Botswana, is a landlocked country in Southern Africa. Botswana is topographically flat, with approximately 70 percent of its territory part of the Kalahari Desert. It is bordered by South Africa to the sou ...

border. It is also situated on a railway line that branches from the Kimberley–Johannesburg main line at Fourteen Streams and runs parallel to the N18 to Mahikeng and Botswana.

Notable natives and residents

* Juanita (de Villiers) Velts: actress"Juanita de Villiers" - https://www.imdb.com/name/nm5862036/

References

Populated places in the Phokwane Local Municipality {{NorthernCape-geo-stub