Ouplaas farm

Title: Ouplaas farm
Alternative Title: Ouplaats
Location Type: farm
Farm Number: 304
Nearby Town: Danielskuil
District Municipality: Siyanda; sourced from https://www.geonames.org/967032/ouplaas.html
Local Municipality: Kgatelopele; sourced from https://www.geonames.org/967032/ouplaas.html
Magistrate District: Barkly West
Province: Northern Cape
History: This farm, located just south of Danielskuil, was always under Griqua ownership. By the 1870s, the Griqua Kapteyn Niklaas Waterboer claimed ownership, but it seems he then allocated the farm to John Chapman, a trader. (See PHR Snyman, Danielskuil: Van Griekwa-buitepos tot dienssentrum, HSRC, 1988, p. 25, 28). Chapman had capital resources, and by 1877 he had fenced off two hectares on the farm, and planted orchards and vineyards. In the 1920s, the owner AG Emslie established an asbestos mine (Snyman 1988, p. 71). By 1927, AG Emslie began mining asbestos at Ouplaas, selling their product to Dominion Blue Asbestos (Snyman 1988, p. 72). Emslie mined asbtos until 1943; then the mine was taken over by Adolph Gers and Company, which mined it profitably until 1950 (Snyman 1988, p. 74). This operation was taken over by Marthinus Uys and Sarel de Witt in the mid-1950ss, and they established the Danielskuil Cape blue Asbestos Company, which employed a large numbers of workers. This was taken over by the ASbesco group in 1960 (SNyman 1988, p. 80). A huge breakthrough was the establishment of a lime mine and factory on Ouplaas by the Union Lime Company in 1973, which has transformed the economy of Danielskuil (Snyuman 1988, p. 83). The Idwala Lime Company now has a massive operation on this site, and fully completed the shift from asbestos to lime mining.
Historical Ownership: This farm, also called "Oudeplaats", was recorded in 1881 as allocated John Chapman, a trader, by Nicolaas Waterboer ( (Cape of Good Hope, Return of Farms and Lands granted in Griqualand West, Cape Town 1881, p. 28). The Cape Colonial Government then confirmed this allocation.
Latitude: -28.2107
Longitude: 23.4961
Geographic coordinates sourced from: Chief Surveyor General Geographic Information System

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