Kroondal is a village situated in

North West Province North West is a province of South Africa. Its capital is Mahikeng. The province is located to the west of the major population centre of Gauteng and south of Botswana. History North West was incorporated after the end of Apartheid in 1994, an ...

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 ...

with a large

German German(s) may refer to: * Germany (of or related to) **Germania (historical use) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizens of Germany, see also German nationality law **Ger ...

speaking community. It lies on the N4 road. The village originated from a farm in existence since 1843, initially known as ''Kronendal'', on which a mission was established - one of 22 German Lutheran missions in Natal and the former Transvaal. By 1889 a settlement was surveyed and divided into plots. The local school, established in 1892, is said to have been attended by

Louis Botha Louis Botha (; 27 September 1862 – 27 August 1919) was a South African politician who was the first prime minister of the Union of South Africa – the forerunner of the modern South African state. A Boer war hero during the Second Boer War, ...

, who would become South Africa's first prime minister, and Afrikaans poet

JD du Toit Jacob Daniël du Toit (21 February 1877 – 1 July 1953), better known by his pen name Totius, was an Afrikaner poet. He was the son of Stephanus Jacobus du Toit and Elisabeth Jacoba Joubert. Life The poet D.J. Opperman compiled brief biograph ...

. In fact both these men were pupils for brief periods at schools founded by missionaries of the Hermannsburg Mission Society – Botha at Hermannsburg near Greytown, du Toit at Morgensonne near Rustenburg. The local church congregation counts about 400 members, and is 80% German-speaking, with most of the rest being Afrikaans speakers.

Education

The town has a German secondary school, Deutsche Schule Kroondal.

References

Populated places in the Rustenburg Local Municipality German settlements in South Africa {{NorthWestZA-geo-stub