Hartbeespoort, informally also known as "Harties", is a small resort town in the

North West Province North West is a province of South Africa. Its capital is Mahikeng. The province is located to the west of the major population centre of Gauteng and south of Botswana. History North West was incorporated after the end of Apartheid in 1994, an ...

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 ...

, situated on slopes of the

Magaliesberg The Magaliesberg (historically also known as ''Macalisberg'' or ''Cashan Mountains'') of northern South Africa, is a modest but well-defined mountain range composed mainly of quartzites. It rises at a point south of the Pilanesberg (and the Pi ...

mountain and the banks of the

Hartbeespoort Dam Hartbeespoort Dam (also known as ''Harties'') is an arch type dam situated in the North West Province of South Africa. It lies in a valley to the south of the Magaliesberg mountain range and north of the Witwatersberg mountain range, about 35 kil ...

. The name of the town means "gateway of the hartbees" (a

species In biology, a species is the basic unit of classification and a taxonomic rank of an organism, as well as a unit of biodiversity. A species is often defined as the largest group of organisms in which any two individuals of the appropriate s ...

of antelope) in

Afrikaans Afrikaans (, ) is a West Germanic language that evolved in the Dutch Cape Colony from the Dutch vernacular of Holland proper (i.e., the Hollandic dialect) used by Dutch, French, and German settlers and their enslaved people. Afrikaans gra ...

. Schoemansville, named after General Hendrik Schoeman, a Boer General in the

Anglo-Boer War The Second Boer War ( af, Tweede Vryheidsoorlog, , 11 October 189931 May 1902), also known as the Boer War, the Anglo–Boer War, or the South African War, was a conflict fought between the British Empire and the two Boer Republics (the South ...

, who owned the farm that the

was built on, is the oldest neighbourhood of Hartbeespoort. Hartbeespoort is the collective name of a few smaller towns situated around the Hartbeespoort Dam, including the towns of Meerhof, Ifafi, Melodie, Schoemansville and Kosmos. The town consists of holiday homes and permanent residences around the dam as it is popular with visitors from nearby

Gauteng Province Gauteng ( ) is one of the nine provinces of South Africa. The name in Sotho-Tswana languages means 'place of gold'. Situated on the Highveld, Gauteng is the smallest province by land area in South Africa. Although Gauteng accounts for only 1 ...

. It is home to the ''Om Die Dam'' ( en, Around the dam) ultra marathon of 50 km, which takes place annually in the first half of the year. Hartbeespoortdam

Some of the main tourist attractions in or around the town are: * The Hartbeespoort Dam wall and tunnel * The Hartbeespoort Dam Snake Park * The Hartbeespoort Dam Aquarium *

Hartbeespoort Aerial Cableway The Hartbeespoort Aerial Cableway (or Harties Cableway), originally constructed in 1973, is a 1.2 km long cableway that extends to the top of the Magaliesberg and offers panoramic views of the Magaliesberg, Hartbeespoort Dam and the su ...

(the longest monocableway in

Africa Africa is the world's second-largest and second-most populous continent, after Asia in both cases. At about 30.3 million km2 (11.7 million square miles) including adjacent islands, it covers 6% of Earth's total surface area ...

) * Transvaal Yacht Club * Oberon Leisure Resort * Welwitchia Country Market *

The Elephant Sanctuary Hartbeespoort Dam The Elephant Sanctuary Hartbeespoort Dam is an elephant sanctuary providing a safe haven and “halfway house” for African elephants. It provides fully guided interactive elephant educational programs covering elephant habits, dynamics, beh ...

* Bush Babies Monkey Sanctuary * Lion and Safari Park reserve * Harties horse trail safaris * Chameleon Village Van Gaalens Cheese Farm produce cheese. They give tours. Van Gaalens is famous for its mountain bike trails and it has held the Nissan Mountain Bike series. More recently it has also hosted some stages of the Warrior Races. Greenleaves is a wedding venue that has a Coffee Shop and a Hairdresser. Greenleaves holds annual HAWS (Hartbeespoort Animal Welfare Society) ball in November. HAWS is situated on the Van Der Hoff road and welcomes visitors. Many schools have outings here and children are encouraged to pet the animals, clean cages and assist where possible. HAWS may provide letters of social community service should children require them. They have fund-raising events. Other leisure-oriented venues around the dam include - Pecanwood Golf Estate, Hartbeespoort Boat Club (near Kosmos), Sandy Lane Golf Club (at Caribbean Beach Club), Kosmos Marina Club, Magalies Park (estate and golf club). A number of other leisure developments and resorts are in progress. In 2010 the

was completely revamped and modernised and officially reopened on 14 August 2010 by Minister of Tourism Marthinus van Schalkwyk. Hartbeespoort is part of the

Madibeng Local Municipality The Madibeng Local Municipality is a local municipality in Bojanala Platinum District Municipality, North West Province, South Africa. The seat of local municipality is Brits. The popular tourist area of Hartbeespoort is also located in the mu ...

, that also includes the nearby town of Brits. Schoemansville panorama from cable-way hill

Despite the semi-rural setting of the Hartebeespoort environs, it is ranked by the

World Health Organization The World Health Organization (WHO) is a specialized agency of the United Nations responsible for international public health. The WHO Constitution states its main objective as "the attainment by all peoples of the highest possible level of ...

as the most polluted city in South Africa in terms of airborne particulates, with air pollution levels roughly twice that of

Vereeniging Vereeniging () is a town located in the south of Gauteng province, South Africa, situated where the Klip River empties into the northern loop of the Vaal River. It is also one of the constituent parts of the Vaal Triangle region and was formerly s ...

, a heavily industrialised city south of Johannesburg.WHO Global Ambient Air Quality Database (update 2018)
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References

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{{Authority control Populated places in the Madibeng Local Municipality

See also

References

External links