Yzerfontein, or Ysterfontein, is a small harbour town with about 1200 inhabitants on the west coast 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 ...
about 90 km north of
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 ...
. The name in
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 ...
means "Iron Fountain".The town started out when the farm 'Yzerfontein' was bought by th
Katz-familyin the 1930s. Then they started dividing the farm into plots. The main sources of income are tourism (especially during the wildflower season from August to October), mining and fishing.
Yzerfontein is known for its Sixteen Mile Beach, stretching north from the main beach of the town, to the
West Coast National Park, which borders the town.
Dassen Island, another nature reserve, is about 10 km offshore.
Yzerfontein is the landing point for the
ACE and
WACS submarine communications cable
A submarine communications cable is a cable laid on the seabed between land-based stations to carry telecommunication signals across stretches of ocean and sea. The first submarine communications cables were laid beginning in the 1850s and car ...
s.
Outside of the town is the
Darling Wind Farm. This is producing power and there are plans for expansion.
The Yzerfontein salt pan is a coastal
salt pan, just northeast of the town. It was formerly mined for salt, and is currently mined for
gypsum
Gypsum is a soft sulfate mineral composed of calcium sulfate Hydrate, dihydrate, with the chemical formula . It is widely mined and is used as a fertilizer and as the main constituent in many forms of plaster, drywall and blackboard or sidewalk ...
.
These days Yzerfontein is more modern. It has a new
spa, coffee shop, pharmacy and many restaurants. Its harbour is busy when it is kreef season or snoek season.
References
External links
Information site for Yzerfontein
{{Authority control
Populated places in the Swartland Local Municipality
Populated places established in 1937