Hartbeespoort

Hartbeespoort, informally also known as "Harties", is a small resort town in the North West Province of South Africa, situated on slopes of the Magaliesberg mountain and the banks of the Hartbeespoort Dam. The name of the town means "gateway of the hartbees" (a species of antelope) in Afrikaans. Schoemansville, named after General Hendrik Schoeman, a Boer General in the Anglo-Boer War, who owned the farm that the Hartbeespoort Dam was built on, is the oldest neighbourhood of Hartbeespoort.[2]

Hartbeespoort
Hartbeespoort
Hartbeespoort
Coordinates: 25°44′39″S 27°53′58″E
CountrySouth Africa
ProvinceNorth West
DistrictBojanala Platinum
MunicipalityMadibeng
Area
 • Total125.89 km2 (48.61 sq mi)
Population
 (2011)[1]
 • Total22,374
 • Density180/km2 (460/sq mi)
Racial makeup (2011)
 • Black African38.2%
 • Coloured1.1%
 • Indian/Asian0.7%
 • White59.4%
 • Other0.5%
First languages (2011)
 • Afrikaans46.5%
 • Tswana19.3%
 • English7.3%
 • Tsonga6.2%
 • Other20.7%
Time zoneUTC+2 (SAST)
Postal code (street)
0216
PO box
0216
Area code012

Hartbeespoort is the collective name of a few smaller towns situated around the Hartbeespoort Dam, including the towns of Meerhof, Ifafi, Melodie, Schoemansville and Kosmos.

The town consists of holiday homes and permanent residences around the dam as it is popular with visitors from nearby Gauteng Province. It is home to the Om Die Dam (English: Around the dam) ultra marathon of 50 km, which takes place annually in the first half of the year.

Hartbeespoortdam from the top of the Harties Cableway

Some of the main tourist attractions in or around the town are:

Van Gaalens Cheese Farm produce cheese. They give tours. Van Gaalens is famous for its mountain bike trails and it has held the Nissan Mountain Bike series. More recently it has also hosted some stages of the Warrior Races.

Greenleaves is a wedding venue that has a Coffee Shop and a Hairdresser. Greenleaves holds annual HAWS (Hartbeespoort Animal Welfare Society) ball in November.

HAWS is situated on the Van Der Hoff road and welcomes visitors. Many schools have outings here and children are encouraged to pet the animals, clean cages and assist where possible. HAWS may provide letters of social community service should children require them. They have fund-raising events.

Other leisure-oriented venues around the dam include - Pecanwood Golf Estate, Hartbeespoort Boat Club (near Kosmos), Sandy Lane Golf Club (at Caribbean Beach Club), Kosmos Marina Club, Magalies Park (estate and golf club). A number of other leisure developments and resorts are in progress.

In 2010 the Hartbeespoort Aerial Cableway was completely revamped and modernised and officially reopened on 14 August 2010 by Minister of Tourism Marthinus van Schalkwyk.[4]

Hartbeespoort is part of the Madibeng Local Municipality, that also includes the nearby town of Brits.

Composite panorama of Schoemansville (lower right) and Hartbeespoort Dam looking South

See also

References
  1. "Main Place Hartbeespoort". Census 2011.
  2. Carruthers, Vincent (1990). The Magaliesberg. Johannesburg: Southern Book Publishers. p. 333.
  3. http://www.news24.com/Travel/South-Africa/Hartebeespoort-Cableway-reopens-20120724 News 24 Harties Cableway reopening, retrieved 19 December 2012
  4. "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 2 January 2014. Retrieved 19 December 2012.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link) Government Gazette, retrieved 19 December 2012
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