Molteno (South Africa)

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Molteno
Molteno (South Africa)
Molteno
Molteno
Coordinates 31 ° 24 ′  S , 26 ° 22 ′  E Coordinates: 31 ° 24 ′  S , 26 ° 22 ′  E
Basic data
Country South Africa

province

Eastern Cape
District Chris Hani
ISO 3166-2 ZA-EC
local community Enoch Mgijima
Residents 11,553 (2011)
founding 1874
Molteno battlefield
Molteno battlefield
The public library in Molteno
John Charles Molteno, who gave this place its name

Molteno is a city in the Eastern Cape Province of South Africa . It is located in Enoch Mgijima Parish in Chris Hani District . In 2011 it had 11,553 inhabitants. The city was named after Sir John Charles Molteno , the first Prime Minister of the Cape Colony . Until 2016 it was the administrative seat of the Inkwanca municipality .

The area of ​​the municipality of Emalahleni , east of Molteno, got its name from a Bantu language and means coal.

history

The discovery of the hard coal deposits near Molteno provided the basis for the construction of coal-fired power plants in South Africa relatively early on. In the early days of mining, the coal was delivered to customers by ox wagons . Above all, this included the city of Kimberley with its nearby diamond fields. The production in 1885 amounted to an amount of 14,500 tons. Kimberley was the first city in South Africa to generate electricity.

Molteno has developed as a settlement since 1874. George Vice, a former farmer and captain of the Molteno Mounted Rangers , is referred to as the father of Molteno . He discovered coal deposits not far from the city. The first coal mine in South Africa was built here in 1864. The city was founded on September 7, 1883. A few years later, on December 10, 1899, the Battle of Stormberg took place near the city during the Second Boer War .

geography

Molteno is located at the edge of the Great Karoo and in the mountains between Storm massif ( Storm Berg Mountains ) and Bamboesberg.

A railway line connects the city with Middelburg in the west, Aliwal North and Bloemfontein in the north, Queenstown and East London in the south and Maclear in the east. Trunk roads lead to the same destinations. Molteno is on the R56 regional road.

Near the city, the watershed runs between the drainage areas to the Atlantic and Indian Oceans. The areas north of the watershed belong to the catchment area of ​​the Orange River , which flows into the Atlantic.

geology

The coal seams are alternately embedded between layers of black clay slate and strike in an easterly direction as far as Dordrecht and the Indwe region , after which the Molteno Indwe deposit got its name. It is the only coal reserves in the Eastern Cape that are of economic importance. Their coal seams are tight and have a high ash content. The coal fields of the Molteno Formation in the Stormberg Group are historically the youngest within the Karoo sequence of South Africa.

The formation of the same name of the Stormberg group within the Karoo super group is named after Molteno .

economy

Another raw material in the area is a light gray, fine-grain sandstone . It has been dismantled for decades and has also been used in the construction of city buildings. There was international interest in this stone .

Attractions

  • Farm Museum
  • San rock carvings in the Molteno area
  • Memorial sites of the Battle of Stormberg
  • Coal mine
  • Johannes Meintjies Art Gallery
  • City Museum ( Molteno museum )

literature

  • Ernst Klimm, Karl-Günther Schneider, Bernd Weise: Southern Africa . Scientific Country Customers; Vol. 17. Wiss. Buchgesellschaft, Darmstadt 1980, ISBN 3-534-04132-1 .
  • WR Oosterhuis: Stone in Southern Africa . Paris 1999, ISBN 88-8138-044-7 .
  • AW Rogers, AL Hall, PA Wagner, SH Haughton: The Union of South Africa. Handbook of Regional Geology, Volume VII, Dept. 7a, Heidelberg 1929.

Web links

Commons : Molteno, Eastern Cape  - Collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ 2011 census , accessed December 30, 2013
  2. ^ RA Pelletier: Mineral Resources of South-Central Africa . Oxford University Press, Cape Town / London / New York / Toronto 1964, p. 84.