Schmidtsdrift is a town in

Pixley ka Seme District Municipality The Pixley ka Seme District Municipality (; ) is one of the five districts of the Northern Cape province of South Africa. The seat of Pixley ka Seme is De Aar. As of 2011, a majority (77%) of its 186,351 residents speak Afrikaans as a first la ...

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 ...

. Situated 80 km west 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 ...

, it was originally a ford across the

Vaal River The Vaal River ( ; Khoemana: ) is the largest tributary of the Orange River in South Africa. The river has its source near Breyten in Mpumalanga province, east of Johannesburg and about north of Ermelo and only about from the Indian Oce ...

which is now bridged on the N8 National Route from Kimberley to Campbell and

Griquatown Griekwastad is a country town in South Africa. It is sometimes still called Griquatown (the meaning of the town's name in Afrikaans), a name which is now considered historical. On maps from the 1840s is the town also called "Karrikamma". or calle ...

. The history of Schmidtsdrift has been traced back to 1827 when it was declared Crown Trust Land, occupied by the Tswana-speaking Batlhaping and

Griqua Griqua may refer to: * Griqua people, of South Africa * Griqua language or Xiri language, their endangered Khoi language * Griquas (rugby) Griquas (), known as the Suzuki Griquas for sponsorship reasons, are a South African professional rugby ...

people. It was scheduled as the Schmidtsdrift Native Reserve in terms of the 1913 Natives Land Act. The threat of relocation in the 1950s forced some of the Griqua families to identify as Batlhaping, becoming known as the Kleinfonteintjie community. The Griqua families who did not align themselves with the Batlhaping were forcibly removed, subsequently. Ultimately the ‘black spot’ removal policy saw more than 1000 Tswana (Batlhaping) households removed in 1968, forced onto military trucks at gunpoint. The former Schmidtsdrift farms continued to be state land. The South African Defence Force (SADF) Infantry Battalion acquired use of it in 1974, establishing a military training base. After Namibia's independence in 1990 members of the 31 Battalion (the so-called Bushman Battalion) consisting of ǃKung (also known as Vasekele) and Khwe (known also as Mbarakwengo), were settled in a tent town near to Schmidtsdrift. They had been recruited by the

South African Army The South African Army is the principal Army, land warfare force of South Africa, a part of the South African National Defence Force (SANDF), along with the South African Air Force, South African Navy and South African Military Health Servi ...

in northern Namibia to fight against

SWAPO The South West Africa People's Organisation (SWAPO ; , SWAVO; , SWAVO), officially known as the SWAPO Party of Namibia, is a political party and former independence movement in Namibia (formerly South West Africa). Founded in 1960, it has been ...

. In 2003, most of the !Kung and Khwe community relocated to

Platfontein Platfontein is a community located in an arid region of the Northern Cape Province, 15 kilometers outside the city of Kimberley. The community consists of two San peoples, the !Kung and the Khwe. “The San of Platfontein” is a collective nam ...

outside

following the successful landclaim on Schmidtsdrift by the erstwhile Batlhaping inhabitants. The town hosts an eponymous diamond mine, 80% owned by

Lonrho Lonrho is a London-based conglomerate that was established in 1998 as Lonrho Africa plc. It is engaged in multiple business sectors in Africa, mainly agribusiness, infrastructure, transport, hospitality and support services. History Lonrho ...

Mining and 20% by the Schmidtsdrift Communal Property Association. In June 2008 an 18.39 carat diamond was discovered at the mine.'Exceptional' find at Schmidtsdrift - IOL News
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References

{{Pixley ka Seme District Municipality Populated places in the Siyancuma Local Municipality

See also

References