Ventersdorp

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Ventersdorp
Ventersdorp
 Ventersdorp shown within South Africa
Coordinates: 26°19′S 26°49′E / 26.317°S 26.817°E / -26.317; 26.817Coordinates: 26°19′S 26°49′E / 26.317°S 26.817°E / -26.317; 26.817
Country South Africa
Province North West
District Dr Kenneth Kaunda
Municipality Ventersdorp
Established 1866
Area[1]
 • Total 53.88 km2 (20.80 sq mi)
Population (2011)[1]
 • Total 4,204
 • Density 78/km2 (200/sq mi)
Racial makeup (2011)[1]
 • Black African 51.4%
 • Coloured 5.5%
 • Indian/Asian 2.3%
 • White 40.2%
 • Other 0.5%
First languages (2011)[1]
 • Afrikaans 46.6%
 • Tswana 40.5%
 • English 4.3%
 • Xhosa 2.8%
 • Other 5.8%
Postal code (street) 2710
PO box 2710
Area code 018

Ventersdorp is a town situated in North West Province of South Africa.

The town's population is just 2,000 while the nearby township of Tshing has a population of around 15,000.

History

The town grew around a Dutch Reformed Church that was established in 1866.[2] [3] The town was named after Johannes Venter who owned the land the church was built on.[2]

The Afrikaner nationalist Eugène Terre'Blanche was born in Ventersdorp,[4][5] and the town is the base of the Afrikaner Weerstandsbeweging (AWB), the far-right secessionist political organisation and former paramilitary group which Terre'Blanche founded.

Racial segregation

The township of Tshing houses most of the town's blacks and coloureds. The township's secondary school of 1,000 pupils is still 100% black without a single white teacher.[6]

The Ventersdorp High School has changed quite dramatically, with non-white students attending since 1995. These students are mostly Afrikaans speaking coloured residents of the smaller township Toevlug. Ventersdorp youth are bedevilled by alcoholism and unemployment. Ventersdorp has a great central location, making it easier to access more prominent urban towns such as Klerksdorp, Lichtenburg, Potchefstroom and Rustenburg.

The Tshing township has a diamond mine nearby: a town councillor owned it in the early 1990s.

See also

References

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 "Main Place Ventersdorp". Census 2011. 
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 www.routes.co.za/nw/ventersdorp
  3. ↑ www.tourismnorthwest.co.za/southern/ventersdorp
  4. ↑ "Eugene Terre'Blanche obituary". The Guardian. April 4, 2010. Retrieved December 10, 2013. 
  5. ↑ "Eugene Terreblanche killed in South Africa". BBC News. 4 April 2010. Retrieved 2013-12-10. 
  6. ↑ Broomfield, Nicholas, and Riete Oord. 2006. His big white self revisited. [London]: Metrodome Distribution.

External sources

  • The Leader, His Driver and the Driver's Wife, a Nick Broomfield film (1991)
  • His Big White Self, a Nick Broomfield film (2006)
 Schoonspruit Nature Reserve Koster Droogpan
Coligny Carletonville
   Ventersdorp  
Hatbeesfontein Vlakfontein Potchefstroom
Municipalities and communities of Dr Kenneth Kaunda District Municipality, North West
District seat: Klerksdorp
Ventersdorp
Tlokwe
City of Matlosana
Maquassi Hills
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