Standerton | |
|---|---|
 Central business district in Standerton. | |
  Standerton  Standerton | |
| Coordinates:26°57′S29°15′E / 26.950°S 29.250°E /-26.950; 29.250 | |
| Country | South Africa |
| Province | Mpumalanga |
| District | Gert Sibande |
| Municipality | Lekwa |
| Established | 14 December 1878 |
| Area | |
• Total | 36.21 km2 (13.98 sq mi) |
| Elevation | 1,530 m (5,020 ft) |
| Population (2011)[1] | |
• Total | 43,966 |
| • Density | 1,214/km2 (3,145/sq mi) |
| Racial makeup (2011) | |
| • Black African | 66.6% |
| • White | 23.1% |
| • Coloured | 6.8% |
| • Indian/Asian | 3.0% |
| • Other | 0.5% |
| First languages (2011) | |
| • Zulu | 48.3% |
| • Afrikaans | 28.0% |
| • Sotho | 8.5% |
| • English | 7.4% |
| • Other | 7.8% |
| Time zone | UTC+2 (SAST) |
| Postal code (street) | 2430 |
| PO box | 2430 |
| Area code | 017 |
Standerton is a large commercial and agricultural town lying on the banks of theVaal River inMpumalanga,South Africa, which specialises incattle,dairy,maize andpoultry farming. The town was established in 1876 and named afterBoer leader Commandant A. H. Stander. During theFirst Boer War a British garrison in the town was besieged by the Boers for three months.General Jan Smuts won this seat during elections and went on to assist in setting up theLeague of Nations. Standerton is the seat of theLekwa Local Municipality.[2]
Standerton was founded in 1878 on a farm calledGrootverlangen and named after its owner Commandant Adriaan Henrik Stander.[3] TheSouth African Republic's Volksraad approved the formation of a town at the drift in 1876 and proclaimed two years later.[4]: 301 It was granted municipal status in 1903.[3] The crossing over theVaal River, now bridged, was known asStander's Drift and a hill close to the town was calledStanderskop were also named after Stander.[3][5]: 303 During theFirst Boer War (1880–81), a British unit was besieged by the Boer forces who shelled them from the nearby hill, the former holding out until the end of the war in February 1881.[4]: 301 In May 1900 during theSecond Boer War, the CanadianLord Strathcona's Horse (Royal Canadians) Regiment clashed with Boer Commandos near Standerton. Canadian marksmanship held off the Boer ambush and prevented an attempted encirclement.[6]
The town has received nationwide media attention in 2007 and 2008 following the destruction of an importantvoortrekker memorial. This monument, located near the facade of the municipality building, was constructed byAfrikaners to mark the 150th anniversary of theGreat Trek. The Lekwa municipality's mayor Queen Radebe-Khumalo ordered the structure demolished in April 2007. "That piece of thing means nothing to us. It's just a piece of cement with tracks. I do not even know where it comes from", Radebe-Khumalo declared in a statement quoted by theBeeld newspaper.[7]
The incident led to widespread condemnation by the local Afrikaans community. Jan Bosman, a spokesperson for theAfrikanerbond, claimed that "actions like these undo the spirit of reconciliation as promoted by former presidentNelson Mandela and ArchbishopDesmond Tutu".[8] In June 2007, a joint initiative betweenAfriForum andSolidarity lodged an application to thePretoria High Court requesting that the mayor offer compensation for damages claimed. A subsequent court order ruled that Radebe-Khumalo and her municipality would pay for the damage and prohibited attempts to remove another statue erected in memory ofAnglo-Boer war concentration camp victims.[9]
In May 2010, the memorial was rebuilt on its original site.[10][11]
The township ofSakhile near Standerton was the site of violent, service delivery riots that led to the Lekwa Municipality mayor Juliet Queen Radebe-Khumalo and other senior municipal officials, being recalled by theAfrican National Congress in October 2009. The riots included the burning of tyres and blocking some entries to the town.[12]
The area around the town promotes mixed agriculture with crops such asmaize,sunflower seeds,ground nuts andpotatoes. Poultry and dairy farming is also conducted in the region.[4]: 301
Standerton Mills Pty Ltd was established in 1947. Mainly manufacturing and supplying yarn and woven industrial fabrics.[13]
Grootdraai Dam is situated in the upper reaches of theVaal River less than 10 km upstream of Standerton. It has a catchment area of 8,195 km2, a mean annual precipitation of approximately 750 mm, a mean annual potential evaporation at the dam site of 1,400 mm and a natural inflow of 580 million m3/a. The full supply capacity of the reservoir is 364 million m3. The Grootdraai dam was completed in 1982.
Although Standerton is a rural town surviving mainly on agriculture, it has produced talented people prominent inSouth African society.
Municipalities and communities ofGert Sibande District Municipality,Mpumalanga | ||
|---|---|---|
District seat:Ermelo | ||
| Govan Mbeki | .svg) | |
| Albert Luthuli | ||
| Mkhondo | ||
| Msukaligwa | ||
| Lekwa | ||
| Pixley ka Seme | ||
| Dipaleseng | ||
| International | |
|---|---|
| National | |
| Geographic | |
| Other | |
