Sterkspruit

Sterkspruit is a town in Joe Gqabi District Municipality in the Eastern Cape province of South Africa.

Sterkspruit
Bridge over the Orange River near Sterkspruit
Sterkspruit Sterkspruit
Coordinates: 30.524°S 27.370°E
Country	South Africa
Province	Eastern Cape
District	Joe Gqabi
Municipality	Senqu
Government
• Councillor	Chief Magadla
Area [1]
• Total	4.02 km^2 (1.55 sq mi)
Population  (2011)[1]
• Total	1,893
• Density	470/km^2 (1,200/sq mi)
Racial makeup (2011) [1]
• Black African	96.2%
• Coloured	0.9%
• Indian/Asian	2.1%
• White	0.4%
• Other	0.4%
First languages (2011) [1]
• Xhosa	73.5%
• Sotho	14.2%
• English	4.3%
• Afrikaans	1.0%
• Other	7.0%
Time zone	UTC+2 (SAST)
Postal code (street)	9762
PO box	9762
Area code	051

The town is located about 45 km south-east of Zastron, 80 km north-east of Aliwal North, and 24 km from the Lesotho border.[2] It takes its name from the Sterkspruit, the watercourse on which it is situated. The name is Afrikaans and means ‘strong stream’.[3]

Besides the assortment of shops and many businesses to be found in town, it also houses the Empilisweni District Hospital, a public government funded and managed district hospital. It is a level 1 hospital with 93 usable beds. As it is situated close to the Lesotho and Free State borders, it also renders health services to cross-border citizens visiting Sterkspruit.

References

1. "Main Place Sterkspruit". Census 2011.
2. http://www.saexplorer.co.za/south-africa/distance/sterkspruit_distance.asp
3. "Dictionary of Southern African Place Names (Public Domain)". Human Science Research Council. p. 416.