Kuruman is a small town in the

Northern Cape The Northern Cape ( ; ; ) is the largest and most sparsely populated Provinces of South Africa, province of South Africa. It was created in 1994 when the Cape Province was split up. Its capital is Kimberley, South Africa, Kimberley. It includes ...

province of

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the Southern Africa, southernmost country in Africa. Its Provinces of South Africa, nine provinces are bounded to the south by of coastline that stretches along the Atlantic O ...

. It is known for its scenery and the

Eye of Kuruman The Eye of Kuruman () is a spring in the town of Kuruman (part of the Ga-Segonyana Local Municipality) in the province of Northern Cape, South Africa. Currently, it is known as the largest natural spring in the Southern Hemisphere; although ...

, a geological feature that brings water from deep underground. The abundance of water produces an unexpected swathe of green amidst the barren plains and is known as the "Oasis of the Kalahari". It was at first a mission station of the

London Missionary Society The London Missionary Society was an interdenominational evangelical missionary society formed in England in 1795 at the instigation of Welsh Congregationalist minister Edward Williams. It was largely Reformed tradition, Reformed in outlook, with ...

founded by Robert Moffat in

1821 Events January–March * January 21 – Peter I Island in the Antarctic is first sighted, by Fabian Gottlieb von Bellingshausen. * January 26 – Congress of Laibach convenes to deal with outstanding international issues, particularly ...

. It was also the place where

David Livingstone David Livingstone (; 19 March 1813 – 1 May 1873) was a Scottish physician, Congregationalist, pioneer Christian missionary with the London Missionary Society, and an explorer in Africa. Livingstone was married to Mary Moffat Livings ...

arrived for his first position as a missionary in

1841 Events January–March * January 20 – Charles Elliot of the United Kingdom and Qishan of the Qing dynasty agree to the Convention of Chuenpi. * January 26 – Britain occupies Hong Kong. Later in the year, the first census of the ...

. The Kuruman River, which is dry except for

flash flood A flash flood is a rapid flooding of low-lying areas: washes, rivers, dry lakes and depressions. It may be caused by heavy rain associated with a severe thunderstorm, hurricane, or tropical storm, or by meltwater from ice and snow. Flash f ...

s after heavy rain, is named after the town.

Origins

Kuruman is regarded as the "Oasis of the Kalahari". It is set out on the Ghaap Plateau and receives its water source from a spring called "The Eye" which rises in a cave in the semidesert thornveld area in the Kalahari region. Kuruman is the main town in the area and the spring gives about 20 to 30 million litres of water daily to approximately 10 000 inhabitants. It is also known as "Die Oog" or "Gasegonyane" in the Kalahari region. The name Kuruman is derived from the Chief who lived in the area, named Kudumane. Robert Moffat, a missionary from the

, also lived there from 1820 to 1870. Moffat helped build the Moffat Church which was completed in 1838 and is still used for regular church services. While living in Kuruman, Moffat translated the bible into the

Tswana language Tswana, also known by its Endonym and exonym, native name Setswana, is a Bantu language indigenous to Southern Africa and spoken by about 8.2 million people. It is closely related to the Northern Sotho language, Northern Sotho and Sotho lan ...

: this was the second bible in an indigenous southern African language.

Location and climate

Kuruman is situated on the main route between

Gauteng Gauteng ( , ; Sotho-Tswana languages, Sotho-Tswana for 'place of gold'; or ) is one of the nine provinces of South Africa. Situated on the Highveld, Gauteng is the smallest province by land area in South Africa. Although Gauteng accounts f ...

and

Namibia Namibia, officially the Republic of Namibia, is a country on the west coast of Southern Africa. Its borders include the Atlantic Ocean to the west, Angola and Zambia to the north, Botswana to the east and South Africa to the south; in the no ...

Cape Town Cape Town is the legislature, legislative capital city, capital of South Africa. It is the country's oldest city and the seat of the Parliament of South Africa. Cape Town is the country's List of municipalities in South Africa, second-largest ...

via

Upington Upington () 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 olive wood trees i ...

. The route is growing in popularity because of its beautiful nature and various tourist attractions. Kuruman lies virtually on the edge of the Kalahari at the foot of a range of low hills. It has relatively mild weather patterns compared to other Northern Cape towns, such as

and

Springbok The springbok or springbuck (''Antidorcas marsupialis'') is an antelope found mainly in south and southwest Africa. The sole member of the genus (biology), genus ''Antidorcas'', this bovid was first Species description, described by the Germa ...

, and is surrounded by more vegetation than Upington and Springbok, which are mostly semi-arid to desert environments.

Economy

Mining and agriculture (cattle and game) support Kuruman's thriving economy. Minerals mined in Kuruman include

manganese Manganese is a chemical element; it has Symbol (chemistry), symbol Mn and atomic number 25. It is a hard, brittle, silvery metal, often found in minerals in combination with iron. Manganese was first isolated in the 1770s. It is a transition m ...

iron ore Iron ores are rocks and minerals from which metallic iron can be economically extracted. The ores are usually rich in iron oxides and vary in color from dark grey, bright yellow, or deep purple to rusty red. The iron is usually found in the f ...

tiger's eye Tiger's eye (also called tiger eye) is a chatoyant gemstone that is usually a metamorphic rock with a golden to red-brown colour and a silky lustre. As members of the quartz group, tiger's eye and the related blue-coloured mineral hawk's e ...

and

crocidolite Riebeckite is a sodium-rich member of the amphibole group of silicate minerals, chemical formula Na2(Fe2+3Fe3+2)Si8O22(OH)2. It forms a solid solution series with magnesioriebeckite. It crystallizes in the monoclinic system, usually as long prism ...

. The richest deposits of crocidolite in the world are found in the Kuruman district.

Demographics

According to the 2001 census, Kuruman had a population of 9,824, of which 4,267 (43.4%) were

Coloured Coloureds () are multiracial people in South Africa, Namibia and, to a smaller extent, Zimbabwe and Zambia. Their ancestry descends from the interracial mixing that occurred between Europeans, Africans and Asians. Interracial mixing in South ...

, 3,549 (36.1%) were

White White is the lightest color and is achromatic (having no chroma). It is the color of objects such as snow, chalk, and milk, and is the opposite of black. White objects fully (or almost fully) reflect and scatter all the visible wa ...

and 1,969 (20.0%) were

Black Black is a color that results from the absence or complete absorption of visible light. It is an achromatic color, without chroma, like white and grey. It is often used symbolically or figuratively to represent darkness.Eva Heller, ''P ...

. The most spoken language at home was

Afrikaans Afrikaans is a West Germanic languages, West Germanic language spoken in South Africa, Namibia and to a lesser extent Botswana, Zambia, Zimbabwe and also Argentina where there is a group in Sarmiento, Chubut, Sarmiento that speaks the Pat ...

with a percentage of 80.68%, followed by

with 14.8%. Males make up 50.58% of the population and females, 49.42%.

Notable residents and media

Kuruman was home to local author and Sanusi or Zulu traditional healer, Credo Mutwa.

Philip Hazel Philip Hazel is a computer programmer best known for writing the Exim mail transport agent in 1995 and the PCRE regular expression library in 1997. He did undergraduate studies at the University of Cape Town and went to the University of Cam ...

, the British computer programmer, emigrated to Kuruman with his family after WWII; his father worked in the offices of an asbestos-mining company. The Kalahari Meerkat Project, made famous by the television series

Meerkat Manor ''Meerkat Manor'' is a British television documentary produced by Oxford Scientific Films that premiered in September 2005. Originally broadcast on Animal Planet International for four seasons, until its cancellation in August 2008, the pro ...

, is located nearby. Kuruman is one of the more noted Peace Corps outposts in the northern regions of the country. From 2007 to 2009, it was home to former Peace Corps volunteer and published author and playwright Stefanie DeLeo.

Attractions

The Eye of Kuruman

This is a natural fountain delivering approximately of crystal clear water daily which supplies domestic water, feeds the Kuruman River and spills more water into two irrigation canals which are in length. The Eye was claimed to have been discovered in 1801 and this led to the establishment of the mission station in the early 19th century. The Eye then came to be described as "The fountain of

Christianity Christianity is an Abrahamic monotheistic religion, which states that Jesus in Christianity, Jesus is the Son of God (Christianity), Son of God and Resurrection of Jesus, rose from the dead after his Crucifixion of Jesus, crucifixion, whose ...

". It is the biggest natural fountain in the Southern Hemisphere. In the early years,

Tswana people The Batswana (, singular ''Motswana'') are a Bantu peoples, Bantu Ethnic groups in South Africa, ethnic group native to Southern Africa that are descendants of King Looe (Lowe) who established the Hurutshi tribe in Southern Africa (linguistic ...

called this fountain ''Gasegonyane'' which means "small water calabash with bubbling water".

Other attractions

*Billy Duvenhage Nature Reserve *Raptor Route *Moffat Mission *Truce Tree which dates back to the 1914

Rebellion Rebellion is an uprising that resists and is organized against one's government. A rebel is a person who engages in a rebellion. A rebel group is a consciously coordinated group that seeks to gain political control over an entire state or a ...

Tswalu Kalahari Reserve The Tswalu Kalahari Reserve is a privately owned game reserve in the Northern Cape, South Africa. It is South Africa's largest private game reserve, covering an area of over 111,000 hectares. History The Tswalu Game Reserve in the Southern Kal ...

– the country’s largest privately owned game reserve *Bird Sanctuary – wetland area with grass, reeds and trees. There are about 115 species of birds. *Northern Cape's only Instrumentation Engineering company, Mdux Instrumentation and Control System *

Wonderwerk Cave Wonderwerk Cave is an archaeological site, formed originally as an ancient solution cavity in dolomite rocks of the Kuruman Hills, situated between Danielskuil and Kuruman in the Northern Cape Province, South Africa. It is a National Herita ...

*Kuruman Hiking Trail *

Kgalagadi Transfrontier Park Kgalagadi Transfrontier Park is a large wildlife reserve and conservation biology, conservation area in southern Africa. The park straddles the border between South Africa and Botswana and comprises two adjoining national parks: * Kalahari Gems ...

– where one can experience mine excursions *

Boesmansgat Boesmansgat (or Bushmansgat), also known in English as "Bushman's Hole", is a deep submerged freshwater cave (or sinkhole) in the Northern Cape province of South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the ...

sinkhole situated at Mount Carmel Farm. This cave is acclaimed the sixth deepest submerged cave in the world – also known as a sinkhole *The Kalahari Meerkat Project, associated with the television series

, is located nearby, in the Kuruman River Reserve. *Kuruman was home to well-known local author and Sanusi/Zulu traditional healer, Credo Mutwa.

References

External links

Visit Kuruman
Travel Guide and Accommodation in Kuruman
Kuruman on the Northern Cape Tourism Authority website
{{Authority control Populated places in the Ga-Segonyana Local Municipality Populated places established in 1887