Malmesbury, Western Cape
Malmesbury | |
---|---|
The Dutch Reformed Church in Malmesbury | |
Malmesbury | |
Coordinates: 33°27′S 18°44′E / 33.450°S 18.733°ECoordinates: 33°27′S 18°44′E / 33.450°S 18.733°E | |
Country | South Africa |
Province | Western Cape |
District | West Coast |
Municipality | Swartland |
Established | 1745[1] |
Area[2] | |
• Total | 18.8 km2 (7.3 sq mi) |
Population (2011)[2] | |
• Total | 35,897 |
• Density | 1,900/km2 (4,900/sq mi) |
Racial makeup (2011)[2] | |
• Black African | 24.9% |
• Coloured | 55.3% |
• Indian/Asian | 0.5% |
• White | 18.4% |
• Other | 0.9% |
First languages (2011)[2] | |
• Afrikaans | 73.9% |
• Xhosa | 16.3% |
• English | 3.8% |
• Sotho | 3.1% |
• Other | 2.8% |
Postal code (street) | 7300 |
PO box | 7299 |
Area code | 022 |
Malmesbury is a town of approximately 36,000 inhabitants in the Western Cape province of South Africa, about 65 km north of Cape Town.
The town is the largest in the Swartland (‘black land’) which took its name from the Renosterbos ('rhino bush'), an indigenous plant that turns black in the warm, dry summers. The area is especially known for its grain and wine cultivation as well as sheep and poultry farming.
Malmesbury was named after Sir Lowry Cole's father-in-law, the Earl of Malmesbury. Settlers were encouraged to make their homes here because of a tepid sulphur chloride mineral spring that was renowned for curing rheumatism. The first farms were allocated in 1703. When the fifth Dutch Reformed congregation in the Cape was established here, it became known as Zwartlands-kerk (Black Land Church) but was renamed Malmesbury in 1829. The town acquired municipal status in 1860.
The town no longer attracts the ailing because this aspect was never developed by the local authority, and today a shopping centre is located on top of the site with only a decorative fountain marking the location of the original spring.
Notable people from Malmesbury
Marais Erasmus
Demographics
The following statistics describing Malmesbury are from the 2011 census.[2]
- Area: 18.8 square kilometres (7.3 sq mi)
- Population: 35,897: 1,909.3 inhabitants per square kilometre (4,945 /sq mi)
- Households: 9,473: 503.9 per square kilometre (1,305 /sq mi)
Gender | Population | % |
---|---|---|
Male | 18,016 | 50.2 |
Female | 17,880 | 49.8 |
Race | Population | % |
---|---|---|
Coloured | 19,868 | 55.3 |
Black African | 8,929 | 24.9 |
White | 6,588 | 18.4 |
Indian or Asian | 192 | 0.5 |
Other | 319 | 0.9 |
First language | Population | % |
---|---|---|
Afrikaans | 24,564 | 73.9 |
isiXhosa | 5,433 | 16.3 |
English | 1,251 | 3.8 |
Sesotho | 1,044 | 3.1 |
Setswana | 148 | 0.4 |
Sign language | 77 | 0.2 |
isiZulu | 64 | 0.2 |
isiNdebele | 57 | 0.2 |
Xitsonga | 26 | 0.1 |
Sepedi | 22 | 0.1 |
Tshivenda | 21 | 0.1 |
siSwati | 18 | 0.1 |
Other | 511 | 1.5 |
Not applicable | 2,658 |
References
- ↑ "Chronological order of town establishment in South Africa based on Floyd (1960:20-26)". pp. xlv–lii.
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 2.4 Sum of the following Main Places from Census 2011: Mount Royal Golf & Country Estate, Wesbank, Malmesbury, Ilinge Lethu.
External links
Wikimedia Commons has media related to Malmesbury, Western Cape. |
|