Yzerfontein, or Ysterfontein, is a small harbour town with about 1200 inhabitants on the west coast of

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

about 90 km 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 ...

. The name 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 gr ...

means "Iron Fountain".The town started out when the farm 'Yzerfontein' was bought by th
Katz-family
in the 1930s. Then they started dividing the farm into plots. The main sources of income are tourism (especially during the wildflower season from August to October), mining and fishing. Yzerfontein is known for its Sixteen Mile Beach, stretching north from the main beach of the town, to the West Coast National Park, which borders the town. Dassen Island, another nature reserve, is about 10 km offshore. Yzerfontein is the landing point for the ACE and WACS

submarine communications cable A submarine communications cable is a cable laid on the sea bed between land-based stations to carry telecommunication signals across stretches of ocean and sea. The first submarine communications cables laid beginning in the 1850s carried tel ...

s. Outside of the town is the

Darling Wind Farm Darling Wind Farm was one of the first three wind farms in South Africa. It is located 70 km (43 mi) north of Cape Town Cape Town ( af, Kaapstad; , xh, iKapa) is one of South Africa's three capital cities, serving as the seat of t ...

. This is producing power and there are plans for expansion. The Yzerfontein salt pan is a coastal salt pan, just northeast of the town. It was formerly mined for salt, and is currently mined for

gypsum Gypsum is a soft sulfate mineral composed of calcium sulfate dihydrate, with the chemical formula . It is widely mined and is used as a fertilizer and as the main constituent in many forms of plaster, blackboard or sidewalk chalk, and drywa ...

. These days Yzerfontein is more modern. It has a new spa, coffee shop, pharmacy and many restaurants. Its harbour is busy when it is kreef season or snoek season.

References

External links

Information site for Yzerfontein
{{Authority control Populated places in the Swartland Local Municipality Populated places established in 1937