South Africa: Northern Cape

Overview

The Northern Cape is South Africa’s largest province, covering 361,830km2 (139,702mi2), which is around a third of the country’s area (making it slightly bigger than Germany), yet is has the smallest population – a mere 2.1 per cent of the total. It offers sanctuary from the fast pace and stresses of modern life, being known for its silence, solitude, stunning landscapes and wildlife.

The Northern Cape is home to the Orange River, South Africa’s largest waterway and one of the province’s major geographical features, assets and attractions; in fact, it has been called the province’s lifeblood. The river marks South Africa’s border with Namibia to the north and the region around the river is the greenest and most fertile in a province that’s dominated by hot, arid land; the river also boasts the world’s sixth highest waterfall.

The Northern Cape also boasts fine examples of ancient San rock art, attractive national parks, including Augrabies Falls, Richtersveld and Vaalbos, and, for the environmentally-unfriendly, extensive terrain suitable for 4x4 safaris (in the interior of the province). A ground-breaking development (in 1999) was the establishment of the Kgalagadi (‘land of thirst’) Transfrontier Park, which joins South Africa’s Kalahari Gemsbok National Park with Botswana’s Gemsbok National Park to make South Africa’s first cross-border reserve. It covers around 38,000km2 (14,672mi2) – nearly twice the size of the world-famous Kruger National Park – and is home to a wide variety of wildlife.

Namaqualand is a 48,000km2 (18,750mi2) area in the west of the province, its terrain consisting of a scrubby, thorn-bush interior and windy Atlantic coastal sand dunes. The display of flowers in the region, particularly in August and September, is one of South Africa’s great natural wonders.

The north of the province contains part of the Kalahari desert, which is oblivious to international boundaries and also stretches across parts of Botswana and Namibia. Its name derives from the native word kgalagadi (‘place without water’), which sums up its bleached, arid landscapes. It’s a starkly beautiful semi-desert region of orange and red sand dunes, dry riverbeds and saltpans.

Kimberley

Kimberley is the provincial capital (population 170,000), a small, plain city in the far east of the province, near the border with the Free State. The city grew on account of local diamond reserves and was at one time the diamond capital of the world, boasting the first electric street lighting in the southern hemisphere and the second in the world (behind New York). Diamonds are still produced in the region but in much smaller quantities than formerly. A visit to the 500-metre-wide, 240-metre-deep ‘Big Hole’ (now a water-filled excavation), where tens of thousands of workers used to dig for diamonds, is a reminder of the previous scale of the industry.

Other Towns

Other important towns in the province include Upington, which is a centre for the sheep-farming and dried-fruit industries and is surrounded by the most northerly of South Africa’s wine-producing regions; Springbok, which is in the middle of Namaqualand flower country; De Aar, the hub of South Africa’s railway network; Sutherland, which has the distinction of being the coldest town in the country; and the sheep-farming towns of Carnarvon, Colesberg, Kenhardt and Prieska.

Population

Despite being South Africa’s largest province, the Northern Cape has the smallest population – a mere 850,000, which is just 2.1 per cent of the country’s total.

Economy

The Northern Cape is one of the poorest provinces, although there are attempts to alleviate its poverty by increasing tourist income. The province contributes just 2 per cent of the nation’s GDP, with sheep farming crucial to its economy. Fishing is also being developed, as the Northern Cape shares with the Western Cape the plankton-rich Benguela current off its coast, providing rich fishing grounds which the province has yet to exploit fully. Agriculture is important in parts of the province: the Orange River valley is intensively planted with fruit, while the Vaalharts Irrigation Scheme near Warrenton allows the production of wheat, fruit, peanuts, maize and cotton.

The Northern Cape is also rich in minerals, e.g. diamonds in the area around Kimberley and the largest iron ore deposit in South Africa near Kathu. Copper, asbestos, manganese, fluorspar, semi-precious stones and marble are also mined in the province.

Communications

The Northern Cape has good air connections: there are major airports at Kimberley and Upington, and a smaller airport at Springbok. The province also has a reasonable road network, meaning that even the interior of this vast region is easily accessible from South Africa’s major cities, harbours and airports. The N7 runs up the western strip of the province, through Springbok to the border with Namibia; the N14 runs from Springbok in the west to Upington in the north and on to the province’s north-east border; the N1 and N12 serve the south-east, the latter running to Kimberley; the N8 and N10 serve the eastern centre, the former linking Kimberley and Upington; and the R27 joins the south-west of the province with Upington. Trains link Kimberley with Bloemfontein, Cape Town, Durban, Johannesburg and Pretoria.

Property

According to figures released by ABSA bank, during the period 2000 to 2003, the Northern Cape had South Africa’s lowest average house price, R225,792 (£19,635), around 10 per cent less than the second cheapest province.

© Survival Books Limited 2005

“Buying a Home in South Africa” 1st Edition, Graeme Chesters.

Reproduced with the permission of Survival Books Limited.

Further information on this topic can be found in “Buying a Home in South Africa” 1st edition, by Graeme Chesters.

For extensive information about buying a property in South Africa, you can purchase this book at www.survivalbooks.net