Volksrust

{{Infobox settlement

| name = Volksrust

| image_skyline = SAR Class 19D 2696 (4-8-2).JPG

| image_caption = SAR Class 19D 2696 4-8-2 plinthed in Volksrust, 2 June 2005

| pushpin_map = South Africa Mpumalanga#South Africa

| coordinates = {{coord|27|22|S|29|53|E|region:ZA|display=inline,title}}

| subdivision_type = Country

| subdivision_name = South Africa

| subdivision_type1 = Province

| subdivision_name1 = Mpumalanga

| subdivision_type2 = District

| subdivision_name2 = Gert Sibande

| subdivision_type3 = Municipality

| subdivision_name3 = Pixley ka Seme

| subdivision_type4 = Main Place

| established_title = Established

| established_date = 1888

| leader_title = Councillor

| area_footnotes =

| area_total_km2 = 25.43

| elevation_m = 1660

| population_total = 24,281

| population_as_of = 2011

| population_density_km2 = auto

| demographics_type1 = Racial makeup (2011)

| demographics1_footnotes = [https://census2011.adrianfrith.com/place/863008 2011 census]

| demographics1_title1 = Black African

| demographics1_info1 = 79.56%

| demographics1_title2 = White

| demographics1_info2 = 16.46%

| demographics1_title3 = Indian/Asian

| demographics1_info3 = 1.99%

| demographics1_title4 = Coloured

| demographics1_info4 = 1.65%

| demographics1_title5 = Other

| demographics1_info5 = 0.34%

| demographics_type2 = First languages (2011)

| demographics2_footnotes =

| demographics2_title1 = Zulu

| demographics2_info1 = 72.38%

| demographics2_title2 = Afrikaans

| demographics2_info2 = 15.77%

| demographics2_title3 = English

| demographics2_info3 = 4.41%

| demographics2_title4 = Sesotho

| demographics2_info4 = 1.74%

| demographics2_title5 = SiSwati

| demographics2_info5 = 1.28%

| demographics2_title6 = Setswana

| demographics2_info6 = 1.13%

| demographics2_title7 = isiNdebele

| demographics2_info7 = 0.96%

| demographics2_title8 = Other

| demographics2_info8 = 0.95%

| demographics2_title9 = Sign language

| demographics2_info9 = 0.45%

| demographics2_title10 = Sepedi

| demographics2_info10 = 0.40%

| timezone1 = SAST

| utc_offset1 = +2

| postal_code_type = Postal code (street)

| postal_code = 2470

| postal2_code_type = PO box

| postal2_code = 2470

| area_code_type = Area code

| area_code = 017

}}

Volksrust is a town in the Mpumalanga province of South Africa near the KwaZulu-Natal provincial border, some 240 km southeast of Johannesburg, 53 km north of Newcastle and 80 km southeast of Standerton.

History

The town was laid out in 1888 on the farms Boschpad Drift, Rooibult or Llanwarne, Verkyk and Zandfontein, and proclaimed in 1889.{{Cite book|title=Dictionary of Southern African Place Names|last=Raper|first=Peter E|last2=Moller|first2=Lucie A|last3=du Plessis|first3=Theodorus L|publisher=Jonathan Ball Publishers|year=2014|isbn=9781868425501}} It lies at an elevation of {{convert|5429|ft|m}}, and {{convert|4|mi|km}} north of the pass through the Drakensberg known as Laing's Nek.{{EB1911|inline=y|wstitle=Volksrust|volume=28|page=195}} Municipal status was attained in 1904.

Dorothea de Jager, daughter of Dirk Uys, one of the battle victims, named the town Volksrust (Nation's Rest). The name probably refers to the citizens resting here after the Battle of Majuba on 27 February 1881,{{cite web|title=Dictionary of Southern African Place Names (Public Domain)|url=https://archive.org/details/DictionaryOfSouthernAfricanPlaceNames|publisher=Human Science Research Council|page=462}} a decisive battle leading to the Transvaal's victory against the British in the First Boer War. During the Second Boer War the British authorities built a Boer concentration camp in Volksrust. Visiting officials and army officers described the conditions of the camp as poor, though it suffered a death rate below the Transvaal average.{{Cite web |title=Volksrust |url=https://www2.lib.uct.ac.za/mss/bccd/Histories/Volksrust/ |access-date=2022-09-24 |website=British Concentration Camps of the South African War 1900-1902}} A memorial exists in Volkrust town square to the Boer women and children who died in the camp.{{Cite web |title=Concentration Camp Memorial |url=https://www.battlefieldsroute.co.za/place/concentration-camp-memorial/ |access-date=2022-09-24 |website=Battlefields Route |language=en-ZA}}

File:Majuba Hill-01 Nov 2008.jpg as seen from Laing's Nek where two decisive battles were fought between the British and Boer forces in the First Boer War]]

Agriculture

Volksrust has important beef, dairy, maize, sorghum, wool and sunflower seed industries.

Notable people

Miss World 2014, Rolene Strauss, was born here.

References

External links

{{Commons category-inline}}
[https://maps.google.com/maps?ll=-27.364111,29.881096&spn=0.059279,0.080316&t=k&hl=en Google Map]
[http://www.volksrust.com Volksrust Home Page]

Category:Populated places in the Pixley ka Seme Local Municipality

Category:Second Boer War concentration camps

Category:Populated places founded by Afrikaners