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Rayton | |
|---|---|
  Rayton  Rayton | |
| Coordinates:25°44′22″S28°31′44″E / 25.73944°S 28.52889°E /-25.73944; 28.52889 | |
| Country | South Africa |
| Province | Gauteng |
| Municipality | City of Tshwane |
| Area | |
• Total | 145.99 km2 (56.37 sq mi) |
| Population (2011)[1] | |
• Total | 8,166 |
| • Density | 56/km2 (140/sq mi) |
| Racial makeup (2011) | |
| • Black African | 37.5% |
| • Coloured | 1.0% |
| • Indian/Asian | 0.3% |
| • White | 60.7% |
| • Other | 0.5% |
| First languages (2011) | |
| • Afrikaans | 58.6% |
| • Northern Sotho | 11.1% |
| • English | 7.8% |
| • S. Ndebele | 4.0% |
| • Other | 18.5% |
| Time zone | UTC+2 (SAST) |
| Postal code (street) | 1001 |
| PO box | 1001 |
| Area code | 012 |
| Website | www.rayton.co.za |
Rayton is a town in North-EasternGauteng which started out as a tin shack mining town on the farm Elandshoek. During its boom days the town served the needs of thousands of diggers and prospectors working for the Schiller, Montrose and Dunmore mining companies. A minidiamond rush sparked bySir Thomas Cullinan's discovery of akimberlite diamond pipe (which has since been namedCullinan Diamond Mine) nearby is what caused the town to boom.
The original Rayton Junction was laid out along a spur of the mainNZASM railway line, which was completed in 1895 to connect the Republic of Transvaal's capital,Pretoria to the port inDelagoa Bay,Mozambique. Officials in the "Montrose Diamond Mining Company" did the town planning and named the hamlet after Lady Rachel Ray Williston, wife of the company's first manager, Colonel Balliston.
The town's first—and at the time the only—brick building was the original magistrate's office, which dates from this early time. During theSecond World War Italian prisoners of war were interned at Zonderwater just north of town, and massive military logistics and supply depots were established betweenCullinan and Rayton.
After the war, the Stella Diamond Mining Company bought the land around the town and declared a peri-urban municipality with relatively cheap properties. Rayton's proximity to Pretoria's expanding eastern suburbs allowed steady growth from the 1970s into the latter part of the 20th century. Today, Rayton is a thriving town that serves the need of prison wardens at the nearbyZonderwater Prison, staff at theCullinan diamond mine as well as the surrounding farming community, with the Willem Prinsloo agricultural museum celebrating the area's rich agricultural history on the farmKleinfontein. Many settled town residents have found employment in surrounding suburbs of Pretoria.
| Year | Pop. | ±% |
|---|---|---|
| 2001 | 2,964 | — |
| 2011 | 8,166 | +175.5% |
| Source:Statistics South Africa[2] | ||
| Race | 2001 Census | 2011 Census | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Number | % | Number | % | |
| White | 2,754 | 92.91% | 4,959 | 60.73% |
| Black African | 207 | 6.98% | 3,062 | 37.50% |
| Coloured | 3 | 0.10% | 84 | 1.03% |
| Other | 0 | 0 | 40 | 0.49% |
| Indian or Asian | 0 | 0 | 21 | 0.26% |
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