Swartruggens

Swartruggens is a small farming town in North West Province, South Africa that was established in 1875.

Swartruggens
Ou Stasie in Swartruggens
Swartruggens Show map of North West (South African province) Swartruggens Show map of South Africa
Coordinates: 25°39′S 26°42′E
Country	South Africa
Province	North West
District	Bojanala Platinum
Municipality	Kgetlengrivier
Established	1875
Area [1]
• Total	10.74 km2 (4.15 sq mi)
Population  (2011)[1]
• Total	1,969
• Density	180/km2 (470/sq mi)
Racial makeup (2011) [1]
• White	52.3%
• Black African	39.5%
• Indian/Asian	5.5%
• Coloured	1.8%
• Other	0.8%
First languages (2011) [1]
• Afrikaans	57.4%
• Tswana	21.9%
• English	14.1%
• Zulu	1.7%
• Other	4.9%
Time zone	UTC+2 (SAST)
Postal code (street)	2835
PO box	2835
Area code	014

Location

The town is located by the Elands River, 69 km east of the town of Zeerust, 56 km west of the city of Rustenburg and 34 km north-west of Koster. It is on the N4 road.^[2]

It takes its name 'Swartruggens' from a series of hills there, formerly known as Zwartruggens, the Dutch name for 'black ridges'.^[3]

History

The town of Swartruggens was founded in 1875 on the farm Brakfontein.

After the Siege of Mafeking, during the Second Anglo-Boer War, one of the supply depots was established by Robert Baden-Powell in Swartruggens, as he moved to Pretoria. ^[4]

A cemetery for British war dead from the Second Anglo-Boer War is located in the town.^[5]