Groenwater settlement
- Title
- Groenwater settlement
- Alternative Title
- Metsimatala
- Location Type
- settlement
- Farm Number
- 453
- Nearby Town
- Postmasburg
- Magistrate District
- Hay
- Province
- Northern Cape
- Description
- A rural village situated about 25 km east of Postmasburg
- Toponomy
- In Afrikaans: "Green water". This is a direct translation of "Metsimatala" (In Tswana: "metsi" means water, and "tala" means green/blue). It refers to bodies of water or settlements in a lush, green environment.
- History
-
The inhabitants of Groenwater are baTlharo. Groenwater is a fountain which gives rise to the river on which Postmasburg is situated. The tribe came to Groenwater about 1856. They were allocated this land by the Griqua chief Andries Waterboer, the son-in-law of Adam Kok, in appreciation of services rendered to him. The original headman was Isaak Thupane, who had been living at Logageng (Gatkoppies or Blinkklip near Postmasburg), where the Griqua obtained iron ore and the Tswana obtained "sebilo" (bright and shiny manganese ore, used as a cosmetic through-out the region). (PL Breutz, The Tribes of the Districts of Kuruman and Postmasburg, 1963, p. 228).
An asbestos mine was opened in 1962 by WJ and BJ Smit (PHR Snyman, Danielskuil: Van Griekwa-buitepos tot dienssentrum, HSRC, 1988, p. 80). - Latitude
- -28.2998
- Longitude
- 23.3016
Linked resources
Part of Groenwater settlement