//Khara Hais

//Khara Hais Local Municipality is a Category B municipality and is located in the Siyanda District Municipality, which is the second-largest district in the Northern Cape. It is the acknowledged commercial, educational, military, agricultural, medical, transport and tourist center of the area. The unusual spelling of the name of the local municipality, with the // glyph, is a result of the transcription of the click consonant used in the Kxoe language from which the name originates.

The municipality straddles the Orange River. The main towns in this area are Upington, Raaswater, Louisvale, Kalksloot, Leerkrans, Karos and Lambrechtsdrift. Upington is the central town situated 400km west of Kimberley. Upington has an airport and a landing strip. This town plays a very prominent role in the lives of the residents of this local municipality. Upington was established in the 1870s when the Reverend Christiaan Schroder was sent from Cape Town to establish a mission at the request of the Hottentots chieftain Klaas Lucas, who realized the importance of being able to read and write. Shortly after the establishment of the Mission, various pioneer settlers including Japie Lutz and the Reverend Schroder realized that the area was ideal for irrigation development and the first irrigation canals were hand-dug in 1880 - some of which are still in use today. Since then, Upington grew rapidly today, Upington is the Provincial Capital for the Northern Cape Province and as such has taken on a new and important role in the development of the whole region.

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!Kheis

!Kheis is a Khoi name meaning "a place where you live”, or “a home". The municipality is named in recognition of the Khoi people who were the first permanent dwellers of the area. The!Kheis Municipal Area was initially inhabited by the Khoi-San people, who are also the first permanent inhabitants of South Africa. The San, who lived a nomadic life, migrated through the area. The Korannas (Khoi group) arrived in the area during the 18th century. They were widely spread over the “Benede Oranje” area and consisted of various tribes, each with its own captain (leader). The groups who lived in the! Kheisarea, was under the leadership of Captain Willem Bostander and Klaas Springbok. Many of their descendants still live in the area today. Other Khoi-groups, such as the Griekwas, also migrated through the area and intermarried with the Korannas. Later coloured stock farmers, as well as white hunters and farmers arrived.read more »

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Sol Plaatjie

The Sol Plaatje Local Municipality is named after Solomon Tshekisho Plaatje who was a South African intellectual, journalist, linguist, politician, translator, and writer. Solomon Plaatje was born just outside Boshof, in the former Orange Free State (now Free State province, South Africa). The Sol Plaatje Local Municipality is the second largest local municipality in the district with an area covering 3 145 km² and comprising a large urban node in the form of Kimberley, as well as villages and farms. Kimberley is the administrative centre of the municipality. Sol Plaatje Local Municipality is the largest local municipality in the Frances Baard District Municipality in terms of population size.read more »

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Dikgatlong

Dikgatlong Local Municipality is a Category B municipality in Frances Baard District Municipality in the Northern Cape.  It has seven wards.  The municipal areas are Barkly-West, Windsorton, Delportshoop and a portion of the former Diamantveld District Council.

The head office of the municipality is situated in the town of Barkly West that is approximately 35 km north-west of the city of Kimberley on the northern bank of the Vaal River.  Barkly West is situated on the Kimberley-Postmasburg growth corridor. The municipal area covers approximately 7 315 km² and borders with the Magareng Municipality in the north-east and Sol Plaatje in the south-east.  Agriculture and mining form the economic basis of the area.

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Phokwane

Phokwane Local Municipality incorporates the previous municipal areas of Hartswater, Jan Kempdorp, Ganspan and Pampierstad. The Phokwane Municipality is named after Queen “Phokwane”, the wife of Kgosi Galeshewe of the Barolong boo Ra-Tlhaping tribe. Phokwane is nestled in the lush green delta of the Hartswater region and boasts the second largest irrigation scheme in the Southern Hemisphere, namely the Vaalharts Irrigation Scheme. The municipality has a total population of 61 321 inhabitants of whom the majority is found in the peri-urban areas of the municipality. A significant characteristic of the Phokwane population is the youth who account for 33% (ages 15–34) of the total population. The economy of Phokwane is based on agriculture, community development, retail, private household and informal sectors. These five sectors alone provide jobs to 11 160 persons within the municipal area. This accounts for 65% of employment within Phokwane. In terms of agriculture Phokwane exports grape, citrus and olive products. The dominant languages in the area are Setswana, Afrikaans and Isixhosa with each of the languages having 70%, 25% and 5% users respectively.  read more »

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