Pofadder
| Pofadder | |||
|---|---|---|---|
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| Coordinates | 29 ° 8 ′ S , 19 ° 24 ′ E | ||
| Basic data | |||
| Country | South Africa | ||
| North Cape | |||
| District | Namakwa | ||
| ISO 3166-2 | ZA-NC | ||
| local community | Khâi-ma | ||
| height | 1050 m | ||
| Residents | 3287 (2011) | ||
| founding | 1875 | ||
 Dutch Reformed Church in Pofadder
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The place Pofadder (formerly Theronsville ) is located in the northwest of the South African province of Northern Cape . He had in 2011 about 3,287 inhabitants and is part of the municipality of Khai-Ma in the district of Namakwa .
Geography and climate
Pofadder is 225 km from Upington and 165 km from Springbok in the southern Kalahari . The place is touched directly by the N14 , which connects it to the west with Springbok and to the east with Kakamas . There is a border crossing to Namibia at Onseepkanz 60 km north of the village . Pofadder was created 1050 m above sea level and in the middle of a rugged, very sparsely populated landscape.
The average annual rainfall is 125 mm. A daytime temperature of 20 ° C is usually not fallen below throughout the year, whereby maximum values of around 47 ° C can be reached in summer.
history
Before the arrival of white settlers, the region around Pofadder was inhabited by groups of the Khoikhoi and San . A Khoikhoi group, the Koranna , under their leader Klaas Pofadder, settled at an abundant spring on the site of the present-day location. Although the region around Pofadder is quite arid , the Nama (in the west) and the Hantam (in the east) ran pastures. As the dry season progressed , however, the few watering holes had to be used regularly.
In 1875 the missionary Christian Schröder built a mission station on the site of today's Pofadder. This mission station was named by Schröder after Klaas Pofadder, who in turn was named after the Afrikaans word for puff adder . A few years later, from 1891, grazing rights were granted to white farmers for the first time and the first white settlers established farms in the area. The import of alcohol was initially prohibited. The place that arose around the mission station and was initially called Pofadder was renamed Theronsville in 1918 . But it soon got its original name back.
Economy and Infrastructure
Despite some periods of drought, Pofadder increasingly developed into the commercial and cultural center of a well-developing agriculture in its surrounding area. It continues to play this role today. This applies in particular to sheep farming . Today, the farms around Pofadder are mostly very large, with an average size of around 8,000 hectares. Since around 1960, in addition to agriculture, mining has also played an important economic role for the region.
Today, Pofadder is increasingly suffering from water scarcity as more and more springs in the area are drying up. Currently, water is drawn from the Orange River , which runs 49 kilometers north of the village.
Pofadder is on the N14 road. Otherwise, few roads are paved. There is a café and a hotel in the village.
Tourism and sightseeing
Spring is the blooming time of the wildflowers, which cover the region with a carpet of flowers .
In Pofadder itself there is a memorial to commemorate the passage of the Voortrekkers in 1938 and in the vicinity of the village numerous, sometimes stately, quiver trees grow . Not far from the place is the Ritchie waterfall.
Web links
- Information at travelblog.portfoliocollection.com (English)
- Information at sa-venues.com (English)
Individual evidence
- ↑ 2011 census , accessed November 18, 2013
- ↑ Korana at routes.co.za ( memento of the original from September 24, 2015 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. (English), accessed February 25, 2014
