Koster, North West

Koster is a small farming town situated on the watershed between the Orange and Limpopo Rivers in North West Province of South Africa.

Koster
Koster Koster
Coordinates: 25°52′S 26°54′E
Country	South Africa
Province	North West
District	Bojanala Platinum
Municipality	Kgetlengrivier
Government
• Type	Municipal Council
• Mayor	(ANC)
Area [1]
• Total	21.12 km^2 (8.15 sq mi)
Population  (2011)[1]
• Total	19,499
• Density	920/km^2 (2,400/sq mi)
Racial makeup (2011) [1]
• Black African	89.6%
• Coloured	1.2%
• Indian/Asian	0.5%
• White	7.5%
• Other	1.2%
First languages (2011) [1]
• Tswana	79.2%
• Afrikaans	7.6%
• English	3.6%
• Zulu	1.5%
• Other	8.1%
Time zone	UTC+2 (SAST)
Postal code (street)	0348
PO box	0348
Area code	014

History

The town was proclaimed in 1913 and named after Bastiaan Koster, the original farm owner. Koster means "bellringer".

Geography

Town 58 km south-west of Rustenburg and 72 km west-north-west of Magaliesburg. It was founded on the farm Kleinfontein in 1913, and has been administered by a village council since January 1931. Said to have been named either after Dr Herman Jacob Coster (1866–1899), State Attorney of the South African Republic, after its surveyor, or after Bastiaan Hendricus Koster, owner of the farm Kleinfontein. The latter explanation seems most plausible.[2]

The Elands River, the Koster River and the Mooi River have their sources near the town.[3]

References

1. Sum of the Main Places Reagile and Koster from Census 2011.
2. "Dictionary of Southern African Place Names (Public Domain)". Human Science Research Council. p. 260.
3. Koster - Visit South Africa Archived 2012-09-19 at Archive.today

Heine-Lize Becker