Sterkspruit is a town in the
Senqu Local Municipality in the
Joe Gqabi District Municipality
Joe Gqabi District Municipality is one of the seven districts of Eastern Cape province of South Africa. The seat of Joe Gqabi is Barkly East. The majority of its 349,768 people speak IsiXhosa ( 2011 census).
Before 1 February 2010 it was known a ...
in the
Eastern Cape province of
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 ...
.
The town is located about 45 km south-east of
Zastron, 80 km north-east of
Aliwal North
Aliwal North (officially Maletswai) is a town in central South Africa on the banks of the Orange River, Eastern Cape Province. It is a medium-sized commercial centre in the northernmost part of the Eastern Cape.
History
Sir Harry Smith, then ...
, and 24 km from the
Lesotho border. It takes its name from the Sterkspruit, the watercourse on which it is situated. The name is Afrikaans and means ‘strong stream’.
Health
The town houses the
Empilisweni District Hospital, a public government-funded and managed district hospital. It is a level 1 hospital with 93 usable beds. As it is situated close to Lesotho and
Free State borders, it also renders health services to cross-border citizens visiting Sterkspruit.
Water quality has been a problem, with 140 babies dying in 2008 after drinking contaminated water.
Protests
In 2013, the town was shut down for two weeks in protests led by the
Sterkspruit Civic Association, with the goal of forming its own, separate, municipality.
See also
*
Senqu Local Municipality elections
References
Populated places in the Senqu Local Municipality
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