Murraysburg is an

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 ...

speaking town of approximately 5,000 people in the

Western Cape The Western Cape ( ; , ) is a provinces of South Africa, province of South Africa, situated on the south-western coast of the country. It is the List of South African provinces by area, fourth largest of the nine provinces with an area of , an ...

province of South Africa. It is situated in the far northeast of the province, about from the provincial capital

Cape Town Cape Town is the legislature, legislative capital city, capital of South Africa. It is the country's oldest city and the seat of the Parliament of South Africa. Cape Town is the country's List of municipalities in South Africa, second-largest ...

, and west of

Graaff-Reinet Graaff-Reinet (; Xhosa: eRhafu) is a town in the Eastern Cape Province of South Africa. It is the oldest town in the province and the fourth oldest town in South Africa, after Cape Town, Stellenbosch, Simon's Town, Paarl and Swellendam. The to ...

. It is governed as part of the

Beaufort West Local Municipality Beaufort West Municipality (; ) is a local municipality located in the Western Cape province of South Africa. , the population is 49,586. Its municipality code is WC053. Geography The municipality covers an area of , making it the largest lo ...

within the

Central Karoo District Municipality The Central Karoo District Municipality () is a district municipality located in the Western Cape province of South Africa. Its municipality code is DC5. Geography The Central Karoo District Municipality is divided into three local municipalities ...

. Murraysburg is situated on the R63 regional road, which connects it to the N1 and N12 national roads to the west and the N9 to the east. It is a distance of from Cape Town by road, and from

Port Elizabeth Gqeberha ( , ), formerly named Port Elizabeth, and colloquially referred to as P.E., is a major seaport and the most populous city in the Eastern Cape province of South Africa. It is the seat of the Nelson Mandela Bay Metropolitan Municipal ...

History

Murraysburg, which lies in the north-east of the

of South Africa, was founded in 1856 on a farm named ''"Eenzaamheid"'' (Dutch for "loneliness") and became a municipality in July 1883. It was named after the Reverend Andrew Murray Snr, who was minister of Graaff-Reinet, and Barend O. J. Burger, who played a role in the establishment of the town. An original condition for the purchase of any residential plot in Murraysburg was that the plot had to be fenced with a

quince The quince (; ''Cydonia oblonga'') is the sole member of the genus ''Cydonia'' in the Malinae subtribe (which contains apples, pears, and other fruits) of the Rosaceae family. It is a deciduous tree that bears hard, aromatic bright golden-yel ...

hedge. This unexplained rule meant that Murraysburg once had the largest quantity of

hedging in the world.

Demographics

According to the 2011 census, Murraysburg has a population of 5,069 people in 1,255 households. 80.7% of these people described themselves 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 ...

", while 18.4% 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 ...

". 87.6% spoke

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'' ...

, while 9.8% 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 ...

and 1.0% spoke English.

Infrastructure

The town has public primary and secondary schools, a public library, a provincially aided hospital, a police station and a magistrate's court.

Water supply

During the mid-1800s a water conduit was constructed that delivered an uninterrupted water supply from the Buffels River to town, and lei water furrows distributed this to irrigated properties. A 1988 flood damaged the conduit, and the municipality hesitated to fix it, allowing it to fall into disrepair by the late 1990s. In 2007, new resident Chris Barr found that Murraysburg had very limited access to water. This was hampering the town's agricultural potential, despite its very fertile soil. Barr and local farmer Izak van der Merwe founded a development council to replace the former Murraysburg Environmental Forum. The Rooidamme water project was conceived as a way of visually creating hope for the town. During September to December 2017, local contractors utilized a R1.5 million grant from the

’s sustainable resource programme to invigorate the town’s water scheme, and the Water Affairs department renewed the town's water license.

Garlic farming

The Murraysburg heritage

garlic Garlic (''Allium sativum'') is a species of bulbous flowering plants in the genus '' Allium''. Its close relatives include the onion, shallot, leek, chives, Welsh onion, and Chinese onion. Garlic is native to central and south Asia, str ...

cultivar had long been cultivated in the area. Garlic was identified as a labour intensive crop that would be resilient in the harsh climate. A 2016 pilot project introduced commercially valuable Egyptian white garlic, besides the local heritage garlic, and some 1.3 metric ton was harvested. In 2018, some 10,000 m² of croplands around town were planted, and the yield was divided between harvesting and replanting. A failed vegetable project, initiated but not sustained by government, was also dedicated to garlic. The town's Rooidamme water project, initiated by the community, was instrumental in placing these areas under irrigation. A company was formed by two residents, employing several residents and supplying several “out growers”. Women are involved in the packing of the garlic bulbs, with a warehouse planned. The 2020 harvest was expected to improve on that of 2019.

References

{{Authority control Populated places in the Beaufort West Local Municipality Populated places established in 1856