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Northern Cape
Introduction
The Northern Cape lies to the south of its most important asset, the mighty Orange River, which provides the basis for a healthy agricultural industry. The landscape is characterised by vast arid plains with outcroppings of haphazard rock piles. The cold Atlantic Ocean forms the western boundary. Characterised by its vast expanses of space and silence, blazing summer sunshine and interesting and friendly people, the Northern Cape is a province rich with culture.
This region covers the largest area of all the provinces and has the smallest population. Its major airports are situated at Kimberley, the capital, and at Upington. The Northern Cape has an excellent road network, which makes its interior easily accessible from South Africa’s major cities, harbours and airports.
Province profile
- The Northern Cape is home of the Southern African Large Telescope (Salt).
- The Big Hole in Kimberley is the largest man-made excavation in the world.
- The Kimberley Mine Museum is South Africa’s largest full-scale open-air museum.
- The Freddy Tate Golf Museum at the Kimberley Golf Club was the first golfing museum in Africa.
- The South African Dried Fruit Co-operative is the second-largest in the world.
- A cultural centre at Wildebeestkuil outside Kimberley features !Xun and Khwe artwork for sale and a tour of rock engravings by these indigenous people.
- The Witsand Nature Reserve near Postmasburg features a 100-m high, 9-km long, 2-km wide white sand dune.
- The province is the South Africa’s most northerly wine-making region.
- It is home to the world’s sixth-largest waterfall.
The Northern Cape is host to the southern hemisphere’s largest astronomical observatory, the multinational-sponsored Southern African Large Telescope, at Sutherland. South Africa's shortlisting, and the Northern Cape in particular, as one of two possible sites for the Square Kilometre Array (SKA) telescope is a great step for science in South Africa. The SKA will be the biggest telescope ever built and will be the only one of its kind to be built in the world. It is the only instrument which can solve the most basic questions of the origin of the Universe and the birth and evolution of stars and galaxies. The recent announcement demonstrates the world’s recognition of South Africa’s growing capacity to contribute to the global astronomy knowledge base through leading-edge facilities and highly capable specialised professionals.
Important towns in the Northern Cape are Upington, centre of the karakul sheep and dried-fruit industries, and the most northerly wine-making region of South Africa; Springbok, in the heart of the Namaqualand spring-flower country; Kuruman, founded by the Scottish missionary Robert Moffat; and De Aar, second most important junction of South African railway network.
Other important Northern Cape towns include the sheep-farming towns of Carnarvon, Colesberg, Kenhardt and Prieska, which is renowned for its semi-precious stones and large variety of succulents.
The largest part of the province falls within the Nama-Karoo biome, with a vegetation of low shrubland and grass, and trees limited to water courses. The area is known worldwide for its spectacular display of spring flowers that attracts thousands of tourists for a short period every year.
This biome is home to many wonderful plant species, such as the elephant’s trunk (halfmens), tree aloe (kokerboom) and a variety of succulents.\
Accommodation
The Northern Cape boasts a variety of accommodation establishments to cater for all tastes and budgets.
Tourism and leisure
Game parks
The province has several national parks and conservation areas. The Kalahari Gemsbok National Park, together with the Gemsbok National Park in Botswana, is Africa’s first transfrontier game park, known as the Kgalagadi Transfrontier Park. It is one of the largest nature-conservation areas in southern Africa and one of the largest remaining protected natural ecosystems in the world. The park provides unfenced access to a variety of game between South Africa and Botswana, and has a surface area of more than 3,6 ha.
The Ai-Ais-Richtersveld Transfrontier Conservation Park spans some of the most spectacular scenery of the arid and desert environments in southern Africa. Bisected by the Orange River, which forms the border between South Africa and Namibia, it comprises the Ai-Ais Hot Springs Game Park in Namibia, and the Richtersveld National Park in South Africa. Some of the distinctive features in the area include the Fish River Canyon (often likened to the Grand Canyon in the United States of America) and the Ai-Ais hot springs. This arid zone is further characterised by a unique and impressive variety of succulent plant species.
Augrabies Falls
Nowhere is the Orange River more impressive than at the Augrabies Falls, which ranks among the world’s greatest cataracts on a major river. The Augrabies Falls National Park was established to preserve this natural wonder.
Cultural heritage
The last remaining true San (Bushman) people live in the Kalahari area of the Northern Cape. The area, especially along the Orange and Vaal rivers, is rich in San rock engravings. A good collection can be seen at the McGregor Museum in Kimberley. The province is also rich in fossils.
Diamond fields
The Big Hole in Kimberley is the largest hand-dug excavation in the world. In 1871, diamonds were discovered at the site and mined manually by prospectors. The Kimberley Tram Service dates from the beginning of the century and still transports passengers from the City Hall to the Mine Museum. Underground mine tours are a big attraction, as are the famous ghost tours.
The McGregor Museum houses invaluable collections of the archaeological finds in the area, as well as San art works. The house where Sol Plaatje (African National Congress founding member and human-rights activist) lived in Kimberley, boasts a library of Plaatje’s and other black South African writers’ works, and several displays, including a portrayal of black involvement in the Anglo-Boer/South African War.
The Paterson Museum near the Kimberley Airport houses a replica of a Paterson biplane, which was used for pilot training by the flying school operated by the Paterson Aviation Syndicate at Alexandersfontein. A township tour of Galeshewe provides a fresh perspective on South Africa’s socio-historical realities. Pan African Congress founder Robert Sobukwe’s house is worth a visit.
The Magersfontein Battlefield outside Kimberley with its original trenches and other defences intact, is the site of the Boers’ crushing defeat of the British during the siege of Kimberley.
A cultural centre at Wildebeestkuil outside Kimberley features !Xun and Khwe artwork for sale and a tour of rock engravings by these indigenous people.
A short distance from Kimberley is the mining town Barkley West, which, due to its proximity to the Vaal River, is a favourite spot for many water-sport enthusiasts and anglers.
Tucked along the Vaal River near Barkley West lies the Vaalbos National Park. The park is not only home to large raptors, but is also a breeding centre for endangered African herbivores such as rhino, roan, sable and disease-free buffalo.
Kalahari
At Black Rock, visitors are afforded the opportunity to view a worked-out manganese mine.
Danielskuil lies at the foot of the Kuruman hills. The Tswana people occupied it before it became home to the Griquas. Boesmansgat, on the farm Mount Carmel outside Danielskuil, is a unique natural sinkhole – the second-deepest and largest of its kind in the world.
Known as the Oasis of the Kalahari, Kuruman is blessed with a permanent and abundant source of water. Its water flows from Gasegonyana (Tswana for ‘the little water calabash’) – commonly called the ‘Eye of Kuruman’.
Moffat’s Mission in Kuruman is a tranquil place featuring the house of missionary Robert Moffat, the church he built, and several other buildings. Moffat translated the Bible into Setswana – the first African language in which the Bible was made accessible.
The printing press on which he printed the first 2 000 copies can still be viewed. The church seats 800 people and is still in use. David Livingstone married Moffat’s daughter and started many famous travels from this mission station.
The Wonderwerk Cave at Kuruman features extensive San paintings that may be viewed by appointment.
Green Kalahari
The roaring sands on the farm Doornaar near Groblershoop is an interesting site. The white dunes, surrounded by typically red Kalahari dunes, are said to ‘roar’ when the wind blows.
Eleven water wheels are still used today along the hand-built irrigation canals at Kakamas. The Orange River Wine Cellar Co-op Rockery Route runs between Keimoes and Kakamas.
Kanoneiland is a settlement on the biggest island in the Orange River.
At Keimoes, the Orange River flows at its widest. The Tierberg Nature Reserve offers spectacular views of the Keimoes Valley and the many islands in the Orange River. The original irrigation canal system is still in use. The Orange River Wine Cellar Co-op’s largest cellar is situated here. Kenhardt is the oldest town in the Lower Orange River area. The Quiver Tree Forest and Kokerboom Hiking Trail, consisting of between 4 000 and 5 000 quiver trees, are within easy driving distance of the town.
Upington is the commercial, educational and social centre of the Green Kalahari, owing its prosperity to agriculture and its irrigated lands along the Orange River. A camel-and-rider statue in front of the town’s police station pays tribute to the ‘mounties’, who patrolled the harsh desert territory on camels.
The South African Dried Fruit Co-operative is the second-largest and one of the most modern of its kind in the world. Tours of the plant are offered and freshly packed dried fruit is sold.
Namaqualand
The indigenous people of the Namaqualand region are the Namas. Their traditional Nama reed huts still abound in Leliefontein, Nourivier and Steinkopf. Namaqualand annually puts on a spectacular show in spring when an abundance of wild flowers cover vast tracts of desert. The flowers sprout and survive for a brief period before they wilt and disappear just as suddenly in the blistering heat and dry conditions.
After diamonds were discovered along the West Coast in 1925, Alexander Bay was known for its mining activities. The town is no longer a high-security area and no permits are needed to enter. The Alexkor Museum paints a picture of the history of the area. The town also features the world’s largest desert lichenfield with some 26 species.
Established as a small-vessel harbour and railway junction in 1954 for the copper-mining industry, Port Nolloth is a centre for the small-scale diamond-recovery and crayfish industries. It is the only holiday resort on the Diamond Coast. Fish and crayfish can be bought from the local factory when in season.
Bo-Karoo
One of the Northern Cape’s most beautiful towns, Colesberg, is flanked by the Towerberg. The town features one of the country’s last working horsemills. An Anglo-Boer/South African War tour is also on offer. A weekend tour includes a visit to the Norvalspont prisoner-of-war camp and cemetery. Colesberg has bred many of the country’s top merino sheep. It is also renowned for producing high-quality racehorses.
De Aar is the most important railway junction in South Africa. The author Olive Schreiner lived in the town for many years. Visitors can dine in her house, which has since been converted into a restaurant.
The Star of South Africa diamond was discovered at Hopetown. The town, which is steeped in history, also features an old toll house and a block house dating from the Anglo-Boer/South African War.
At Wonderdraai near Prieska, visitors can visit the horseshoe-shaped island formed by the flow of the Orange River. It seems as if the river turns to flow uphill. Vanderkloof was built to house people building the Vanderkloof Dam. Today, it is a flourishing holiday resort. Visitors can enjoy waterskiing, boardsailing, boating and swimming, or visit the Eskom Hydroelectric Power Station situated within the dam’s wall.
Victoria West is home to the Apollo Theatre, South Africa’s last operational art deco movie theatre from the 1950s. The theatre comes alive each September with the Apollo Film Festival. The Victoria West Nature Reserve is the habitat of the rare riverine rabbit.
Hantam Karoo
Near the small town of Brandvlei lies Verneukpan, where Sir Malcolm Campbell unsuccessfully attempted to break the world land-speed record in 1929.
A few kilometres outside Fraserburg lies the Gansfontein Palaeosurface. Discovered in 1968, it comprises several trackways of large, four-footed and five-toed mammalian reptiles. The prints are estimated to be some 190 million years old.
Sutherland, birthplace of well-known Afrikaans author and poet NP van Wyk Louw is known for its brilliant night skies and cold, biting winters. The sterboom (star tree), which blossoms in September, is found only in Sutherland.
Contact details
Northern Cape Provincial Government
Private Bag X5016, Kimberley, 8300
Monument Heights, Nobengula Extension, 3 Field Street, Galeshewe, Kimberley
Tel: (053) 802 4500
Fax: (053) 839 8215
Website: www.northern-cape.gov.za