Grootvlei

Grootvlei, officially Thaba-Kgwali,^[2] is a town in Dipaleseng Local Municipality in the Mpumalanga province of South Africa. An old mining town, Grootvlei is located near the N3 road and on the R51 road, 5 km from Grootvlei Power Station.^[3]

Grootvlei
Thaba-Kgwali
Grootvlei Show map of Mpumalanga Grootvlei Show map of South Africa
Coordinates: 26.791°S 28.515°E / -26.791; 28.515
Country	South Africa
Province	Mpumalanga
District	Gert Sibande
Municipality	Dipaleseng
Area [1]
• Total	10.31 km2 (3.98 sq mi)
Population  (2011)[1]
• Total	5,415
• Density	530/km2 (1,400/sq mi)
Racial makeup (2011) [1]
• Black African	76.9%
• Coloured	1.0%
• Indian/Asian	0.7%
• White	21.2%
• Other	0.2%
First languages (2011) [1]
• Sotho	41.5%
• Zulu	24.0%
• Afrikaans	20.9%
• Xhosa	4.2%
• Other	9.5%
Time zone	UTC+2 (SAST)
Postal code (street)	2420
PO box	n/a

Description

The community had a booming economy in the 1970s and 1980s, when demand for coal from the power station created many jobs in the mining sector, but when the power plant was mothballed in the late 1980s due to overproduction of electricity, the local economy collapsed and Grootvlei became a virtual ghost town. The power plant was recommissioned in 2008, leading to a new period of growth.^[4]