Kaapschehoop or Kaapsehoop is a village situated in
Mpumalanga
Mpumalanga () is a province of South Africa. The name means "East", or literally "The Place Where the Sun Rises" in the Swazi, Xhosa, Ndebele and Zulu languages. Mpumalanga lies in eastern South Africa, bordering Eswatini and Mozambique. It ...
province (formerly Eastern Transvaal) of
South Africa.
It is situated 1640 m (5380 ft.) above sea level on the
Drakensberg Highveld escarpment, about 28 km from
Nelspruit
Mbombela (also known as Nelspruit) is a city in northeastern South Africa. It is the capital of the Mpumalanga province. Located on the Crocodile River (Mpumalanga), Crocodile River, Mbombela lies about by road west of the Mozambique border, ea ...
, the capital of Mpumalanga. The name of the village was derived from
gold discoveries in and around the area. The find created hope for the early inhabitants of the De Kaap Valley (The Cape Valley) below, it offered the chance of attaining great wealth.
Today Kaapschehoop is a scenic mountain top village with vibrant arts & crafts shops, confectionaries, restaurants, pubs and accommodation. It is surrounded with expansive views, nature reserves, golden grass land, wild flowers, pine plantations, unique sandstone formations, flowing streams, and unique endangered wildlife. Kaapschehoop village is set out between large natural clearings in the rock fields near the top of the escarpment overlooking the lush
De Kaap Valley situated some 800 metres below, with distant views towards
Barberton,
Nelspruit
Mbombela (also known as Nelspruit) is a city in northeastern South Africa. It is the capital of the Mpumalanga province. Located on the Crocodile River (Mpumalanga), Crocodile River, Mbombela lies about by road west of the Mozambique border, ea ...
,
White River, and
Eswatini
Eswatini ( ; ss, eSwatini ), officially the Kingdom of Eswatini and formerly named Swaziland ( ; officially renamed in 2018), is a landlocked country in Southern Africa. It is bordered by Mozambique to its northeast and South Africa to its no ...
.
History
Image:Entrance to Kaapsehoop.jpg, Entrance to Kaapsehoop
Image:Kaapsche Hoop streetscape.JPG, Kaapsehoop streetscape
Image:Mining Commissioner's House 1884 Kaapsche Hoop.jpg, Mining Commissioner's House 1884 Kaapsehoop
Kaapsehoop originally gained fame as a
gold mining town once known as the
Duiwels Kantoor – the Devil's Office – towards the end of the 19th century, when gold was discovered in 1882 in a small creek running through the town. This led to portion of the original township layout being canceled and opened up for gold diggings. However, the earlier better paying discoveries of gold at both
Pilgrim's Rest in 1873 and
Barberton in 1881, followed by the discovery of gold on the
Witwatersrand in 1886 (later to become the town of
Johannesburg), coupled with the meager returns obtained at Kaapsche Hoop led to the town going into decline.
Image:Edge of escarpment overlooking De Kaap valley.jpg, Edge of escarpment overlooking De Kaap valley
Image:Kaapsehoop-berg.jpg, The Kaapsehoop heights seen from below
Image:Surveyor General Map of Kaapsche Hoop.JPG, Old Surveyor General Map of Kaapsche Hoop showing diggings area crossed out
The town has been "re-discovered" in recent time and has now become a popular weekend retreat with its period housing including accommodation establishments. New housing (some not period) has also been established on some of the remaining vacant stands (erven). The town is also within commuting distance of the centre of
Nelspruit
Mbombela (also known as Nelspruit) is a city in northeastern South Africa. It is the capital of the Mpumalanga province. Located on the Crocodile River (Mpumalanga), Crocodile River, Mbombela lies about by road west of the Mozambique border, ea ...
situated some 30 odd kilometres away.
The rock field formations near the town are made up of
quartzites of the
Black Reef Formation of the
Transvaal Supergroup
The Transvaal Supergroup is a stratigraphic unit in northern South Africa and southern Botswana, situated on the Kaapvaal Craton, roughly between 23 and 29 degrees southern latitude and 22 to 30 degrees eastern longitude. It is dated to the boun ...
.
Origin of the name
Kaapschehoop has had multiple names and spellings since 1874 and the discovery of gold. Kaapsche Hoop is the original
Dutch spelling of Kaapsehoop as now spelled in
Afrikaans.
It was first known as Duiwels Kantoor (Devils Office) and later changed to Kaapsche Hoop (Cape Hope) due to objections by the church that the former was considered a "heathen" name by the standards of the time.
The village is sometimes referred to in past documents as De Kaap (The Cape) because of its landmass jutting into De Kaap valley (The Cape valley). The valley often fills with cloud, resulting in the image of a costal cape jutting out into the ocean.
Marthinus Wessel Pretorius of the Transvaal Repbublic, when visiting Duiwels Kantoor, was reminded of the view from Table Mountain. Encouraged by the discoveries of gold, he renamed the settlement to Kaapsche Hoop in 1886.
The name of the town was no doubt derived from the fact that gold was discovered in the town which sits high above the
De Kaap Valley (The Cape Valley) and the find then created the hope for the early inhabitants of the nearby De Kaap Valley area of attaining great wealth.
Dutch was the official language of the two original
Boer Republics of the
Orange Free State or Oranje-Vrijstaat and the
South African Republic or Suid Afrikaanse Republiek or Zuid-Afrikaansche Republiek (ZAR). Dutch was eventually to be replaced by
Afrikaans a colloquially spoken language of many of the European descended settlers. Afrikaans was largely derived from Dutch and incorporating words derived or adopted from
French
French (french: français(e), link=no) may refer to:
* Something of, from, or related to France
** French language, which originated in France, and its various dialects and accents
** French people, a nation and ethnic group identified with Franc ...
,
German,
English and indigenous
African languages.
[‘The History Of Mining In the Barberton Greenstone Belt, South Africa, With An Emphasis On Gold (1868 – 2012)’ by Carl R. Anhaeusser]
References
External links
Google Map showing location of town www.kaapschehoop.com
{{Ehlanzeni District Municipality
Populated places in the Mbombela Local Municipality
Populated places founded by Afrikaners