Modimolle, also known as Nylstroom, is a town located near the southern edge of the Waterberg Massif in

Limpopo Limpopo () is the northernmost Provinces of South Africa, province of South Africa. It is named after the Limpopo River, which forms the province's western and northern borders. The term Limpopo is derived from Rivombo (Livombo/Lebombo), a ...

province,

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 a medium-sized town that focuses primarily on agriculture and farming (

citrus ''Citrus'' is a genus of flowering trees and shrubs in the family Rutaceae. Plants in the genus produce citrus fruits, including important crops such as oranges, mandarins, lemons, grapefruits, pomelos, and limes. ''Citrus'' is nativ ...

grape A grape is a fruit, botanically a berry, of the deciduous woody vines of the flowering plant genus ''Vitis''. Grapes are a non- climacteric type of fruit, generally occurring in clusters. The cultivation of grapes began approximately 8,0 ...

s and

cattle Cattle (''Bos taurus'') are large, domesticated, bovid ungulates widely kept as livestock. They are prominent modern members of the subfamily Bovinae and the most widespread species of the genus '' Bos''. Mature female cattle are calle ...

) as well as wildlife and tourism. Nylstroom is also located approximately north of

Pretoria Pretoria ( ; ) is the Capital of South Africa, administrative capital of South Africa, serving as the seat of the Executive (government), executive branch of government, and as the host to all foreign embassies to the country. Pretoria strad ...

, South Africa's

capital city A capital city, or just capital, is the municipality holding primary status in a country, state (polity), state, province, department (administrative division), department, or other administrative division, subnational division, usually as its ...

. The

Waterberg Biosphere The Waterberg () is a mountainous massif of approximately in north Limpopo Province, South Africa. The average height of the mountain range is 600 m with a few peaks rising up to 2,000 m above sea level. Vaalwater town is located just north ...

spreading north, a

UNESCO The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO ) is a List of specialized agencies of the United Nations, specialized agency of the United Nations (UN) with the aim of promoting world peace and International secur ...

designated Biosphere Reserve, contains approximately . Waterberg is the first region in the northern part of South Africa to be named as a Biosphere Reserve by

. The extensive rock formation was shaped by hundreds of millions of years of riverine erosion to yield diverse bluff and

butte In geomorphology, a butte ( ) is an isolated hill with steep, often vertical sides and a small, relatively flat top; buttes are smaller landforms than mesas, plateaus, and table (landform), tablelands. The word ''butte'' comes from the French l ...

landform A landform is a land feature on the solid surface of the Earth or other planetary body. They may be natural or may be anthropogenic (caused or influenced by human activity). Landforms together make up a given terrain, and their arrangement ...

.C.Michael Hogan, Mark L. Cooke and Helen Murray, ''The Waterberg Biosphere'', Lumina Technologies, May 22, 2006. The ecosystem can be characterised as a dry deciduous forest or

Bushveld The Bushveld (from Afrikaans: ''bosveld'', Afrikaans: ''bos'' 'bush' and ) is a Tropical and subtropical grasslands, savannas, and shrublands, sub-tropical woodland ecoregion of Southern Africa. The ecoregion straddles the Tropic of Capricorn ...

History

In the 1860s, a group of Voortrekkers known as the ''Jerusalem Trekkers'' set off for the

Holy Land The term "Holy Land" is used to collectively denote areas of the Southern Levant that hold great significance in the Abrahamic religions, primarily because of their association with people and events featured in the Bible. It is traditionall ...

. After discovering a wide river flowing northwards, they consulted the maps at the back of their Bibles and decided that it was the ''Nylrivier'' (

Nile river The Nile (also known as the Nile River or River Nile) is a major north-flowing river in northeastern Africa. It flows into the Mediterranean Sea. The Nile is the longest river in Africa. It has historically been considered the longest river i ...

). They called the stream Nyl River and settled the town and called it ''Nylstroom'' in 1866. After discovering what they believed to be a ruined pyramid, they were convinced that they had found the Nile. It was in fact, a natural hillock, known to the locals as ''Modimolle''. In March 1866, the district of ''Waterberg'' was created out of some of the districts of ''Rustenburg'' and ''Zoutpansberg'' with a landdrost established in Nylstroom. A Dutch Reformed Church was built in 1889 and is the oldest church in South Africa north of Pretoria. It was also used as a hospital during the

Second Boer War The Second Boer War (, , 11 October 189931 May 1902), also known as the Boer War, Transvaal War, Anglo–Boer War, or South African War, was a conflict fought between the British Empire and the two Boer republics (the South African Republic and ...

. The river is the Nyl River, a tributary of the

Mogalakwena River The Mogalakwena River () is one of the main watercourses in Limpopo Province, South Africa. It is also a major tributary of the Limpopo River. Course file:Waterberg SPOT 1369.jpg, left, SPOT Satellite photograph of the northern Waterberg showing ...

. The first South African railway line reached Modimolle in 1898, connecting the town to Pretoria. During the

, the

British government His Majesty's Government, abbreviated to HM Government or otherwise UK Government, is the central government, central executive authority of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland.

operated a

concentration camp A concentration camp is a prison or other facility used for the internment of political prisoners or politically targeted demographics, such as members of national or ethnic minority groups, on the grounds of national security, or for exploitati ...

in Modimolle, where Boer women and children where interned as part of the Lord Kitchener's

scorched earth A scorched-earth policy is a military strategy of destroying everything that allows an enemy military force to be able to fight a war, including the deprivation and destruction of water, food, humans, animals, plants and any kind of tools and i ...

policy. 544 of those interned at the camp died of various causes before it was closed upon the conclusion of the war in 1902. ''Strijdom Huis'' (Strijdom House) was the primary residence of the 6th

Prime Minister of South Africa The prime minister of South Africa ( was the head of government in South Africa between 1910 and 1984. History of the office The position of Prime Minister was established in 1910, when the Union of South Africa was formed. He was appointed ...

, JG Strijdom, and is situated in Modimolle.

Name change

The South African government officially changed the name of the town to ''Modimolle'' in 2002. The name comes from the Sotho-Tswana phrase, '' Modimo o lle'', meaning "the forefather's spirit has eaten", or "God has eaten". Other numerous name changes include the renaming of both a municipal building and the town hall after Oliver Tambo, the library being renamed the '' Ruth First Memorial Library'', as well as the renaming of several streets.

Notable people

* Christiaan Beyers – Boer general, and Commandant-General of the Union Defence Force * Carel Boshoff – Professor of theology and Afrikaner

white nationalist White nationalism is a type of racial nationalism or pan-nationalism which espouses the belief that white people are a Race (human categorization), raceHeidi Beirich and Kevin Hicks. "Chapter 7: White nationalism in America". In Perry, Barbara ...

* Lucas Malan – Afrikaans academic and poet * Eugène Marais – Poet, journalist, lawyer, naturalist and author * Gerard Moerdijk – Architect * Johannes Gerhardus Strijdom – 5th

* Nelson Makamo – South African visual artist.

References

External links

Modimolle Municipality Website
{{Waterberg District Municipality Populated places in the Modimolle–Mookgophong Local Municipality Second Boer War concentration camps Populated places established in 1866 Populated places founded by Afrikaners 1866 establishments in Africa