Upington () is a town founded in 1873 and located 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 ...

. The town was originally called Olijvenhoutsdrift ('Olive wood drift'), due to the abundance of olive wood trees in the area, but later renamed after Sir

Thomas Upington Sir Thomas Upington KCMG (1844–1898), born in Cork, Ireland, was an administrator and politician of the Cape Colony. He was briefly Prime Minister of the Cape Colony, between 1884 and 1886, during a period of extreme turbulence in the Cape' ...

, Attorney-General and then Prime Minister of 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 ...

. It originated as a mission station established in 1871 and run by Reverend Christiaan Schröder. The mission station now houses the Kalahari Orange Museum. The museum is also the home of a donkey statue, which recognises the enormous contribution that this animal made to the development of the region during the pioneering days of the 19th century. The elevation of Upington is 2,742 feet (835 metres). It is the closest large centre to the

Augrabies Falls The Augrabies Falls is a waterfall on the Orange River, the largest river in South Africa. Since 1966 the waterfall, set in a desolate and rugged milieu, is enclosed by the Augrabies Falls National Park. The falls are around in height. Some so ...

(arguably the greatest of South African waterfalls) and the

Kgalagadi Transfrontier Park Kgalagadi Transfrontier Park is a large wildlife reserve and conservation biology, conservation area in southern Africa. The park straddles the border between South Africa and Botswana and comprises two adjoining national parks: * Kalahari Gems ...

. The landscape is very arid but the soil is fertile and crops such as fruit are grown in irrigated fields. The area is best known for its export-quality grapes, raisins and wines, which are cultivated on the rich flood plains of the Orange River.

The Upington 26

On 13 November 1985, a black policeman was killed following a disturbance at a political meeting in Paballelo, a black township on the outskirts of Upington. Twenty-six people were charged with the killing, of whom twenty-five were convicted of murder on the basis of

common purpose The doctrine of common purpose, common design, joint enterprise, joint criminal enterprise or parasitic accessory liability is a common law legal doctrine that imputes criminal liability to the participants in a criminal enterprise for all reas ...

, and one convicted of attempted murder. Fourteen were sentenced to death, although the death sentences were later overturned on appeal. In 2011, a memorial in honour of the Upington 26 was unveiled in Upington by

Hazel Jenkins Hazel Gertrude Jenkins is a South African politician and former premier of the Northern Cape province. She served as premier from May 2009 until she officially stood down in April 2013, following a stroke. The motion to recognise her stepping do ...

, the

Premier of the Northern Cape The premier of the Northern Cape is the head of government of the Northern Cape province of South Africa. The current premier of the Northern Cape is Zamani Saul, a member of the African National Congress, who was elected in the 2019 South Afric ...

. In 2014, the Australian film ''

A Common Purpose A, or a, is the first letter and the first vowel letter of the Latin alphabet, used in the modern English alphabet, and others worldwide. Its name in English is '' a'' (pronounced ), plural ''aes''. It is similar in shape to the Ancient G ...

'' was made about the case.

Wine industry

Upington's most famous wines are produced by an organisation known as Orange River Cellars. The organisation has six depots in the area (all of them on the banks of the Orange River) at Upington, Kanoneiland,

Grootdrink Grootdrink is a town in !Kheis Local Municipality in the Northern Cape province of South Africa on the N10 National Route and on the Orange River The Orange River (from Afrikaans/Dutch language, Dutch: ''Oranjerivier'') is a river in Sout ...

Kakamas Kakamas is a town founded in 1898 and located in the Northern Cape province of South Africa, on the banks of the Orange River. Originated as at a place where the Orange River could be relatively easily crossed. The spot was first known as Bass ...

Keimoes Keimoes (Khoekhoe: ''Kai mãs'') is a town in the Northern Cape province of South Africa. It lies on the Orange River and is about halfway between Upington and Kakamas. History It attained municipal status in 1949. The name of the town translates ...

and

Groblershoop Groblershoop is a settlement in ZF Mgcawu District Municipality in the Northern Cape province of South Africa. It is situated about 2 km west of the Orange River. Groblershoop was founded in 1914 on the farm Sternham, but was renamed in 1939 ...

. Their wines are exported, ''inter alia'', to Europe and the USA.

Transportation

Upington Airport Upington International Airport is an airport located in Upington, Northern Cape, South Africa. At , runway 17/35 is one of the longest runways in the world. The high elevation of the airport, extremely high summer temperatures and the fact th ...

has scheduled flights provided by

SA Airlink Airlink (previously known as South African Airlink) is a regional airline based in Johannesburg, South Africa. Its main business is to provide services between smaller, under-served towns and larger hub airports. It has since expanded to of ...

. Due to the combination of high elevation and temperature, one of the airport's runways is 4,900 m long ( the fourth longest in the world), and thus allows

Boeing 747 The Boeing 747 is a long-range wide-body aircraft, wide-body airliner designed and manufactured by Boeing Commercial Airplanes in the United States between 1968 and 2023. After the introduction of the Boeing 707, 707 in October 1958, Pan Am ...

and other heavy aircraft to use the airport without limitations on take-off weight. In the first half of the 20th century, there was a passenger train service from Cape Town to Upington. Until the 1950s, a narrow-gauge railway line (two-foot gauge) ran from Upington to

and

, two nearby towns. The trains carried passengers and freight, being mainly

dried fruit Dried fruit is fruit from which the majority of the original water content has been removed prior to cooking or being eaten on its own. Drying may occur either naturally, by sun, through the use of industrial dehydrators, or by freeze drying. ...

. The line to Kakamas was still in use during the November 2010 grape harvest season.

Public institutions

There are four libraries that serve the community in Upington, viz, Rosedale Library, Upington Library, Korrektiewe and Forum Library.

Geography and climate

Upington is located on the northern banks of the Orange River and is surrounded by irrigated vineyards. The hottest month of the year is January, with average daily temperatures swinging from to , while in the coolest month of July temperatures range between and . Also the driest month of the year, July sees an average rainfall of only , while the wettest month of March sees . Upington has been noted as being the sunniest location on the planet for three months of the year, from November through January. Upington has a hot

desert climate The desert climate or arid climate (in the Köppen climate classification ''BWh'' and ''BWk'') is a dry climate sub-type in which there is a severe excess of evaporation over precipitation. The typically bald, rocky, or sandy surfaces in desert ...

( BWh) with long, hot summers and short, mild winters. Precipitation peaks during late summertime.

Notable natives and residents

Chris Brink Chris Brink, CBE, FRSSAf (born 31 January 1951) is a South African mathematician and academic. He was the Vice-Chancellor of Newcastle University between 2007 and December 2016. Career After graduating with a degree in maths and computer scie ...

– mathematician, vice-chancellor of

Newcastle University Newcastle University (legally the University of Newcastle upon Tyne) is a public research university based in Newcastle upon Tyne, England. It has overseas campuses in Singapore and Malaysia. The university is a red brick university and a mem ...

in England, vice-chancellor and rector of

Stellenbosch University Stellenbosch University (SU) (, ) is a public research university situated in Stellenbosch, a town in the Western Cape province of South Africa. Stellenbosch is the oldest university in South Africa and the oldest extant university in Sub-Sahara ...

Ruben Cloete Ruben Cloete (born 3 November 1982) is a South African soccer player who played as a defender. He played for Santos, Free State Stars, Orlando Pirates, Maritzburg United, Bloemfontein Celtic, Chippa United Chippa United Football Club (o ...

– footballer for the

South Africa national soccer team The South Africa national soccer team represents South Africa in men's international association football, soccer and is run by the South African Football Association, the governing body for soccer in South Africa. Nicknamed Bafana Bafana (The ...

Alice Krige Alice Maud Krige (; born June 28, 1954) is a South African actress and producer. Her big break came in 1981, when she starred as the Gilbert and Sullivan singer Sybil Gordon in the British historical film ''Chariots of Fire'', and as Eva Gall ...

– actress *

Tiaan Strauss Christiaan Petrus 'Tiaan' Strauss, (born 28 June 1965) is a former rugby union and rugby league footballer who represented both South Africa and Australia at international level in rugby union and also played top-level domestic rugby league in ...

- rugby union player for

Western Province Western Province or West Province may refer to: *Western Province, Cameroon *Western Province, Rwanda *Western Province (Kenya) *Western Province (Papua New Guinea) *Western Province (Solomon Islands) *Western Province, Sri Lanka *Western Provinc ...

and for the South African and for

Australian Australian(s) may refer to: Australia * Australia, a country * Australians, citizens of the Commonwealth of Australia ** European Australians ** Anglo-Celtic Australians, Australians descended principally from British colonists ** Aboriginal Aus ...

national rugby union teams *

Shaleen Surtie-Richards Shaleen Surtie-Richards (7 May 1955 – 7 June 2021) was a South African television, stage, and film actress, perhaps best known for her starring roles in the 1988 film '' Fiela se Kind'' and the long-running series '' Egoli: Place of Gold.'' Sh ...

- actress *

Christo Wiese Christoffel Hendrik Wiese (born 10 September 1941) is a South African billionaire businessman who was the longtime chairman of Shoprite and Pepkor. He was also the chairman and largest shareholder of Steinhoff International until its collapse i ...

- businessman *

Cobus Wiese Jacobus Hermanus Wiese (born 2 June 1997) is a South African rugby union player who currently plays for the in the United Rugby Championship. He can play as a flanker or a lock. Rugby career 2013–2015: Schoolboy rugby Wiese was born and ...

- rugby union player *

Jasper Wiese Jasper van der Westhuizen Wiese (born 21 October 1995) is a South African professional rugby union player who plays for Urayasu D-Rocks in Japan's Rugby League One and internationally. He can play as a number 8 or a flanker. Rugby career 20 ...

– rugby union player for the

South Africa national rugby union team The South Africa national rugby union team, commonly known as the Springboks (colloquially the Boks, Bokke or Amabhokobhoko) is the country's national team governed by the South African Rugby Union. The Springboks play in green and gold jersey ...

Gallery

Image:upingtonrunw.jpg, 4900 m airport runway Image:golfcourseupt.jpg, Golf course Image:Upingtonriver.jpg, View from "Die Eiland" holiday resort

Sport

Upington has a professional football club named Upington City F.C.

References

External links

Additional information about Upington Airport

The Orange River Wine Cellars Home Page

Upington Business Directory

Racially motivated land dispossession in Gordonia: Memorial lecture on the 1913 Natives Land Act
{{Authority control Orange River Populated places in the Dawid Kruiper Local Municipality Populated places established in 1873 1884 establishments in the Cape Colony