Sanddrif is a town in

Richtersveld Local Municipality Richtersveld Municipality () is a local municipality within the Namakwa District Municipality, in the Northern Cape province of South Africa. The municipality is named after Reverend W Richter, a Dutch missionary from the 20th century who opened ...

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 ...

, on the banks of the

Orange River The Orange River (from Afrikaans/Dutch language, Dutch: ''Oranjerivier'') is a river in Southern Africa. It is the longest river in South Africa. With a total length of , the Orange River Basin extends from Lesotho into South Africa and Namibi ...

. It is located 57 km east of Alexander Bay. Mining in the region began in the 1900s leading to the displacement of the indigenous

Nama people Nama (in older sources also called Namaqua) are an African ethnic group of South Africa, Namibia and Botswana. They traditionally speak the Khoekhoe language, Nama language of the Khoe languages, Khoe-Kwadi language family, although many Nama ...

. Diamond mines were again established in the 1970s, bringing a source of employment but also socio-economic upheaval, threatening the traditional Nama lifestyle. The subsequent migration of

Xhosa people The Xhosa people ( , ; ) are a Bantu peoples, Bantu ethnic group that migrated over centuries into Southern Africa eventually settling in South Africa. They are the second largest ethnic group in South Africa and are native speakers of the Xho ...

who came to the area to work in the mines led Sanddrif to acquire the nickname of "Rainbow Town". Sanddrif has nevertheless seen ethnic conflict between the indigenous Namas and the Xhosa migrants. The Baken diamond mine, located outside Sanddrif, was opened by Trans Hex Group in May 2001. Culture

References

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