The main street (“N14”) southwest towards Upington.
27 April 2009
© Charles van Schalkwyk, 2009
Kuruman is nestled in a shallow valley surrounded by low hills. The town is named after the Bushman Chief Khudumane who lived in the area in the 1700s. He was killed by the Thlaping tribe.
The town lies on the Ghaap Plateau 1131m above sea level. It is surrounded by semi–desert thornveld. Because of the low hills surrounding the town, you only see the town when you get close to it.
The town, for the most part, lies in a shallow river valley. The town is somewhat contradictory in that the traditional “downtown” is lying on the higher ground and “uptown” is lying lower down in the valley. Kuruman is not a pretty town: this area of the Northern Cape is renowned for iron ore mining (as well as manganese, asbestos and tiger eye) and it is leaving its mark on the town with a multitude of ore carrying trucks being detrimental to the roads of the town; this drawback is compensated for by the business that is brought to the town by the same mines and their trucks. Apart from mining, agriculture (cattle and game) supports the towns economy.
The town lies around a crossing. Entering the town on the N14 from the western side, the road widens to a broad double way to both sides. This is the main road of the town, lined by many shops and quite busy with the hustle and bustle of commerce. On this road, towards the middle of town, is “The Eye” (“Die Oog”): a fountain that produces 22 million litres of water a day. It supplies the town and surrounding smallholdings with water; it feeds 7 irrigation channels. On the site of “The Eye” you can have a nice picnic under big shade trees. There is an information centre, curio shop and ablution facilities.
Out of the main road branch many smaller roads, most of them also mostly part of town centre with shops and businesses. The main road crosses another double way at a large robot intersection. This North—South road is the R31. To the south the R31 takes you to Daniëlskuil and along this road lies the industrial region of the town. The R31 northwards goes to Hotazel.
Surrounding the centre of town are the residential areas. This is the nice part of the town. The acacia thornveld gives the town a rustic, shaded and relaxed atmosphere. These parts of the town are calm, quiet and beautiful. There also are a few shady parks in these areas.
Just outside town on the R31 is the historical Moffat mission. Here you can step back in history and experience mission life of years long ago. The church built by Robert Moffat is still used today. There are plenty of historical exhibitions on the site depicting mission life. Here David Livingstone also spent time and married Robert’s daughter Mary. The site, with its many shade trees, has a solemn and calm atmosphere. The new part of the site houses a theological college.
Surrounding the mission station are plenty smallholdings and plots where small scale agriculture is practised (e.g. lucerne, sheep and maize). Many of the plots have horses too.
Written by Charles van Schalkwyk
“Die Oog”.
27 April 2009
© Charles van Schalkwyk, 2009
The main street (“N14”) northeast towards Vryburg.
27 April 2009
© Charles van Schalkwyk, 2009