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South Africa: North West Province

Overview

The North West province covers 116,320km2 (44,911mi2), which is 9.5 per cent of the total, and stretches west from Gauteng to the Botswana border and the Kalahari. It’s one South Africa’s most visited provinces on account of its two major attractions: the excellent game viewing in the numerous game reserves and parks (particularly the Pilanesberg National Park and Madikwe Game Reserve) and, in complete contrast, the glitzy entertainment centre of Sun City (see below). Apart from Sun City and the game parks, however, there’s little of interest to visitors in the province.

The North West province is known for agriculture, particularly the endless yellow and green fields of sunflowers and maize that cover much of the land; it also has the richest platinum deposits in the world.

The Magaliesberg Mountains lie along its eastern side, home to small resorts and timeshares for nature-seeking inhabitants of Johannesburg, and a welcome relief from the unbroken flatness of most of the province.

In the north-east of the province is Hartbeespoort Dam, known as the ‘jewel of the North West province’ – a semi-tropical area offering watersports, a floating restaurant and the province’s largest outdoor market. Nearby is the Sterkfontein Caves World Heritage Site, home to some of the oldest and richest hominid deposits in the world, giving the region its nickname ‘the cradle of mankind’.

Sun City

In the north of the province is the above-mentioned resort of Sun City, a weird – even surreal – development of four hotels, golf courses, parks, casinos, entertainment centres and glitz sitting in the bushveld of northern South Africa. A blend of Las Vegas and Disneyland, Sun City is a gambling and entertainment heaven for some people, a vulgar hell for others. When it was built, around 25 years ago, by famous South African entrepreneur Sol Kerzner, Sun City was one of the few places in the country where gambling was legal and it built its name on that, but gambling has since been legalised throughout the country, and the resort is said to be struggling.

Other Towns & Resorts

The twin towns of Mafikeng and Mmabatho are the capital of the province, often lumped together and called just Mafikeng and with a combined population of 44,000. The city is best-known for the Boer War siege, when Robert Baden-Powell (founder of the scouts) defended the town for 217 days before being relieved by forces from Rhodesia and the south. Today, Mafikeng has a few interesting attractions, particularly its striking collection of contemporary African buildings, incorporating Tswana designs and colours.

The far east of the province is home to the Afrikaner town of Potchefstroom (which, fortunately, is often shortened to ‘Potch’), supposedly the most beautiful town in North West, as well as one of the largest – in a province with few large settlements. As well as attractive botanical gardens, it has a university and 14 museums and national monuments. Other important towns in the province include Klerksdorp, Orkney and Stilfontein, which are centres of gold and uranium production.

Population

The North West province has a population of around 3.4 million (8.3 per cent of South Africa’s total).

More pages

Page 1: Overview
Page 2: Economy

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