Karasburg ( naq, ǀNomsoros, old name af, Kalkfontein, literally "carst spring") is a town of 4,000 inhabitants in the

ǁKaras Region The ǁKaras Region (pronounced , with a lateral click) is the southernmost and least densely populated of the 14 regions of Namibia; its capital is Keetmanshoop. The name assigned to the region reflects the prominence of the Karas mountain ra ...

of southern

Namibia Namibia (, ), officially the Republic of Namibia, is a country in Southern Africa. Its western border is the Atlantic Ocean. It shares land borders with Zambia and Angola to the north, Botswana to the east and South Africa to the south and ea ...

and the district capital of the Karasburg electoral constituency. It lies at the heart of the southern Namibian sheep farming industry.

Location

There are three main routes that lead into Karasburg. From Grünau in the west,

Onseepkans Onseepkans is a small settlement on the banks of the Orange River in Northern Cape Province, South Africa. It is a border post with Namibia for traffic between Pofadder in South Africa and Keetmanshoop in Namibia. The name either originated from ...

in the south and the B3 national road that leads to the

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the Southern Africa, southernmost country in Africa. It is bounded to the south by of coastline that stretch along the Atlantic Ocean, South Atlantic and Indian Oceans; to the ...

n border in the east. The town lies south of

Windhoek Windhoek (, , ) is the capital and largest city of Namibia. It is located in central Namibia in the Khomas Highland plateau area, at around above sea level, almost exactly at the country's geographical centre. The population of Windhoek in 202 ...

, north of

Cape Town Cape Town ( af, Kaapstad; , xh, iKapa) is one of South Africa's three capital cities, serving as the seat of the Parliament of South Africa. It is the legislative capital of the country, the oldest city in the country, and the second largest ...

and 110 km west of the

Ariamsvlei Ariamsvlei is a settlement of about 500 people in the ǁKaras Region of southern Namibia and a small border post between Namibia and South Africa, located east of Karasburg on the national road B3. It lies at 804 metres (2641 ft) above sea ...

border post. Karasburg is the only relatively large town south of Keetmanshoop in Namibia.

Economy

Karasburg's main industry is

sheep farming Sheep farming or sheep husbandry is the raising and breeding of domestic sheep. It is a branch of animal husbandry. Sheep are raised principally for their meat (lamb and mutton), milk (sheep's milk), and fiber (wool). They also yield sheepskin an ...

, but it is also an important truck stop for transport vehicles streaming into

from the South African border. The town supports several massive farms in the area. The town also has its own airstrip which is used mainly for light aircraft or as an emergency landing strip for larger planes. Karasburg Railway Station was once the busiest train station in Southern Namibia and is also the last significant stop before

Upington Upington ( Nama: //Khara hais) is a town founded in 1873 and located in the Northern Cape province of South Africa, on the banks of the Orange River. The town was originally called Olijvenhoutsdrift ('Olive wood drift'), due to the abundance of ...

Bondels Dam Bondels Dam is a reservoir outside of Karasburg in the ǁKaras Region of Namibia. Located 7 km west of Karas, it dams the Satco River and was built to enhance the recharge of the Bondels Dam aquifer. It has a capacity of 1.105 million cubic ...

, built in 1959, lies west of the town. Karasburg was downgraded from municipality to town status in 2010. The town is riddled with unemployment as there is no industry, and the little rainfall hampers commercial farming.

Climate

Karasburg has an extreme climate most times of the year with summer temperatures rising well over 40 degrees Celsius and dropping to sub-zero in winter. Low rainfall is seen in this region (annual average rainfall: at the Karasburg weather station), but the rains usually come in early January and leave as late as early April, depending on the previous season's nature.

Politics

Karasburg is governed by a town council that has seven seats. In the 2010 local authority election in Karasburg, a total of 808 votes were recorded. SWAPO won with approximately 46% of the vote. Of the three other parties seeking votes in the election,

Rally for Democracy and Progress (Namibia) The Rally for Democracy and Progress (RDP) is a political party in Namibia. It was launched on 17 November 2007 under the leadership of Hidipo Hamutenya and Jesaya Nyamu, both former leading members of the ruling SWAPO party and cabinet minist ...

(RDP) received approximately 33% of the vote, followed by the

Democratic Party of Namibia The Democratic Party of Namibia is a political party in Namibia, launched in July 2008 at Keetmanshoop. Although it constitutes an initiative of the Nama people, the party plans to focus on all ethnic minorities in Namibia. It positions itself i ...

(DPN, 14%) and the

Democratic Turnhalle Alliance The Popular Democratic Movement (PDM), formerly the Democratic Turnhalle Alliance (DTA), is an amalgamation of political parties in Namibia, registered as one singular party for representation purposes. In coalition with the United Democratic ...

(DTA, 6%). The resulting local council including three SWAPO members, three RDP members and one DPN member. The DPN's

Caroline Arendse Caroline may refer to: People *Caroline (given name), a feminine given name * J. C. Caroline (born 1933), American college and National Football League player * Jordan Caroline (born 1996), American (men's) basketball player Places Antarctica * ...

was elected mayor as the result of an alliance with SWAPO on 3 December 2010. However, the national Democratic Party condemned the alliance and called the swearing-in ceremony fraudulent. On 8 December, Arendse was recalled from her position in the council and replaced with Ernest Willem Anderson.DPN recalls new mayor
''The Namibian'', 8 December 2010 The 2015 local authority election was also won by SWAPO which gained five seats (586 votes). The remaining two seats went to the DTA with 204 votes. In the 2020 local authority election the

Landless People's Movement The Landless People's Movement was an independent social movement in South Africa. It consisted of rural people and people living in shack settlements in cities. The Landless People's Movement boycotted parliamentary elections and had a histor ...

(LPM, a new party registered in 2018) won with 572 votes and gained four seats. SWAPO was the runner-up with 294 votes and two sets. The remaining council seat went to the

Independent Patriots for Change The Independent Patriots for Change (IPC) is a political party in Namibia. It was founded by Panduleni Itula in August 2020. As an independent presidential candidate in the November 2019 election, Itula won the best result of a losing candidat ...

(IPC, an opposition party formed in August 2020) with 241 votes.

Wildlife

The Karasburg region hosts a variety of large to small game, ranging from

Kudu The kudus are two species of antelope of the genus '' Tragelaphus'': * Lesser kudu, ''Tragelaphus imberbis'', of eastern Africa * Greater kudu, ''Tragelaphus strepsiceros'', of eastern and southern Africa The two species look similar, th ...

and

Springbok The springbok (''Antidorcas marsupialis'') is a medium-sized antelope found mainly in south and southwest Africa. The sole member of the genus ''Antidorcas'', this bovid was first described by the German zoologist Eberhard August Wilhelm ...

to Duiker,

Klipspringer The klipspringer (; ''Oreotragus oreotragus'') is a small antelope found in eastern and southern Africa. The sole member of its genus and subfamily/tribe, the klipspringer was first described by German zoologist Eberhard August Wilhelm von Zim ...

, Steenbok,

Jackal Jackals are medium-sized canids native to Africa and Eurasia. While the word "jackal" has historically been used for many canines of the subtribe canina, in modern use it most commonly refers to three species: the closely related black-backed ...

and

Caracal The caracal (''Caracal caracal'') () is a medium-sized wild cat native to Africa, the Middle East, Central Asia, and arid areas of Pakistan and northwestern India. It is characterised by a robust build, long legs, a short face, long tufted e ...

. The

are abundant among the 'koppies' and roam free, leaping over any fence that may come in their way whereas the

on the other hand are bound to single encampments, because they lack the suppleness and length to jump over fences.

s are widely hunted down by farmers, because they prey on the lambs of sheep. Gemsbuck are also widely scattered across the region in addition to

Zebra Zebras (, ) (subgenus ''Hippotigris'') are African equines with distinctive black-and-white striped coats. There are three living species: the Grévy's zebra (''Equus grevyi''), plains zebra (''E. quagga''), and the mountain zebra (''E. zebr ...

and

Red Hartebeest The red hartebeest (''Alcelaphus buselaphus caama''), also called the Cape hartebeest or Caama, is a subspecies of the hartebeest found in Southern Africa. More than 130,000 individuals live in the wild. The red hartebeest is closely related to t ...

People from Karasburg

* John Walters (born 1956), Namibian ombudsman 2004–2021 * Ida Hoffmann (born 1947), politician

References

{{Authority control Towns in Namibia Populated places in the ǁKaras Region