From Surf Wiki (app.surf) — the open knowledge base

Zeerust

Town in North West Province, South Africa

Field	Value
name	Zeerust
image_skyline	A street in Zeerust.jpg
image_caption	Church street in Zeerust
pushpin_map	South Africa North West#South Africa
coordinates
subdivision_type	Country
subdivision_name	South Africa
subdivision_type1	Province
subdivision_name1	North West
subdivision_type2	District
subdivision_name2	Ngaka Modiri Molema
subdivision_type3	Municipality
subdivision_name3	Ramotshere Moiloa
subdivision_type4	Main Place
established_title	Established
leader_title	Councillor
area_footnotes
area_total_km2	57.09
population_footnotes
population_total	9093
population_as_of	2011
population_density_km2	auto
demographics_type1	Racial makeup (2011)
demographics1_footnotes
demographics1_title1	Black African
demographics1_info1	57.2%
demographics1_title2	White
demographics1_info2	25.3%
demographics1_title3	Coloured
demographics1_info3	8.5%
demographics1_title4	Indian/Asian
demographics1_info4	7.4%
demographics1_title5	Other
demographics1_info5	1.6%
demographics_type2	First languages (2011)
demographics2_footnotes
demographics2_title1	Afrikaans
demographics2_info1	35.1%
demographics2_title2	Tswana
demographics2_info2	32.1%
demographics2_title3	English
demographics2_info3	16.5%
demographics2_title4	Northern Sotho
demographics2_info4	1.2%
demographics2_title5	Other
demographics2_info5	15.1%
timezone1	SAST
utc_offset1	+2
postal_code_type	Postal code (street)
postal_code	2865
postal2_code_type	PO box
postal2_code	2865
area_code_type	Area code
area_code	018

Zeerust is a commercial town situated in the Ngaka Modiri Molema district of North West Province, South Africa. It lies in the Marico valley, approximately 240 kilometres northwest of Johannesburg. It lies on the N4, the main road link between South Africa and Botswana. There are large cattle ranches in the area, as well as wheat, maize, tobacco and citrus fruit farms. There are also fluorite and chromite mines in the vicinity. Tourism is also a developing industry.

History

The original name of the farm on which the town was established was Sefatlhane/Sebatlani (meaning dusty place) belonging to Casper Hendrik Coetzee who bought it in 1858. The farm was later renamed Hazenjacht, and after that Hazia/Hazeah.

Casper Coetzee contracted Walter Seymore to build a church and a fort on this farm, but Casper died before this was completed. In 1866, the farm then came into the hands of Diederik Jacobus Coetzee, who saw the potential of developing a town on the farm. He measured out some erven with the idea of starting a town, using "Ox riems" to measure out the plots instead of the accepted surveyors chains.

On 20 March 1867, the first erven of the newly established Coetzee-Rust were sold per public auction in Potchefstroom, before official recognition of the request to start a town was granted. The village gained official recognition in 1868, and later gained a landdrost (magistrate) in November 1871.

The name Coetzee's Rust was later abbreviated to Zeerust. Municipal status was obtained on 18 March 1936. Zeerust however wasn't the first town in this area. That honour belongs to Jacobsdal, a small village about 10 km south of Zeerust situated on the farm Vergenoegd, near the Lucerne station. The popularity of Zeerust as trading centre, caused the demise of Jacobsdal, and now it does not exist as a town anymore.

Natural features

Two rivers flow through Zeerust, the Klein-Marico and the Karee spruit. Irrigation farming just outside the town relies on these water bodies.

Development

Olienhout Park

In Zeerust there is also a small suburb named Olienhout Park, which is located before another suburb named Sandvlakte, with a population of about 250 residents, a few shops, a bar, Lutheran church, and a school. There is a township nearby named Ikageleng with about 1000 people.

Mining

The Zeerust Chromium Mine was first developed in 1942. Today this mine is a surface and underground operation, consisting of four distinct surface and underground workings extending 750 hectares. The ore mined is composed of chromite and magnetite.

Access to Madikwe Game Reserve

Madikwe Game Reserve can be accessed through Zeerust about 90 kilometres north of the town.

Roads

The N4 road (Platinum Highway) connects westwards to the Skilpadshek border with Botswana near Lobatse (52 kilometres away) and eastwards to Swartruggens, Rustenburg and Pretoria.

The R49 road connects northwards to the Tlokweng border with Botswana near Gaborone (103 kilometres away) and south-west to Ottoshoop and Mafikeng.

In popular culture

Zeerust has an entry in Douglas Adams' and John Lloyd's spoof dictionary The Meaning of Liff, in which place names are given humorous definitions. Zeerust is defined as an abstract noun, meaning the datedness of things that were originally meant to look futuristic

Notes

References

"Main Place Zeerust". Census 2011.
Theal, George McCall. (2010). "History of South Africa Since September 1795". Cambridge University Press.
"Zeerust".
"Zeerust Chromium Mine in North West, South Africa".
Falkner, John. (May 2012). "South African Numbered Route Description and Destination Analysis". National Department of Transport.

Info: Wikipedia Source

This article was imported from Wikipedia and is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Content has been adapted to SurfDoc format. Original contributors can be found on the article history page.

populated-places-in-the-ramotshere-moiloa-local-municipality populated-places-established-in-1867

Want to explore this topic further?

Ask Mako anything about Zeerust — get instant answers, deeper analysis, and related topics.

Research with Mako

Free with your Surf account

Content sourced from Wikipedia, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.

This content may have been generated or modified by AI. CloudSurf Software LLC is not responsible for the accuracy, completeness, or reliability of AI-generated content. Always verify important information from primary sources.

Report