Harrismith

Province

Harrismith is a city in the South African province of the Free State. It is located in the municipality in the district of Maluti a Phofung Thabo Mofutsanyane.

Geography

2011 Harrismith had 27 869 inhabitants. North of the city center, the Township Intabazwe ( isiZulu, German: Flat Mountain ) lies with around 65,000 inhabitants. By Harrismith the Wilge River flows. The city is located immediately west of the 2377 m high Table Mountain Platberg ( German: Flat Mountain ). There are more mesas and clingstones of interest. South of Harrismith are the Drakensberg. The city is located in the eastern part of the Free State Province exactly halfway between Johannesburg and Durban.

History

Harrismith was established in 1849. The city was named after the Briton Sir Henry George Wakelyn Smith, who was usually called Sir Harry Smith. He was then governor of the Cape Colony and had the Voortrekker encouraged not to leave the province Natal. Originally, the city should occur 25 km to the west, where is the town of Aberfeldy today. There, however, there were too few sources, so that the city was built on the present site in January 1850. 24 years later Harrismith received city rights. During the gold rush in Kimberley Harrismith was an important way station on the road to the port of Durban. In the First and Second Boer War were the city and its surroundings scene of several battles. The majority of the population was of British origin, but citizens of the former, ruled by the Boer Orange Free State. In the suburb Intabazwe, also called 42nd Hill, lived at the time of apartheid, especially Basotho. Later, many Zulu moved there, so that the populations are approximately equal.

Economy and Transport

Harrismith is a transport hub. The National Road N3 ( Johannesburg - Durban ) performs Harrismith, N5 which starts here and leads towards the west, where it connects at Winburg on the N1. Highway Junction at the junction of the N5 of the N3 is the largest resting place in South Africa. Harrismith is located on the railway line Ladysmith Bethlehem, the 1892 by Ladysmith Coming Harrismith reached, but was not built for several years. Formerly chain in Harrismith northwest a branch line by Warden, later only after Kaffirstad from. Long-distance transport is performed by buses today. North of town is an airfield with a 1,200 -meter-long airstrip, which is not operated in regular service ( IATA code: HRS ).

Harrismith is the center of the five South African districts in which wool is produced. In the city there is a large wool and cotton processing plant is located.

Attractions

• Harrismith Town Hall, built in 1907 of sandstone and brick, is a national monument.
• Harrismith Wildflower Gardens was founded in 1967 as a botanical garden and contains around a fifth of the flora of the Drakensberg.
• The Platberg is the venue of the annual Platberg Mountain Race, a particularly serious long- distance running. The course is 15 kilometers. 1922 this run was carried out for the first time because of a bet by a British Major.
• Near the city there are several, including San crafted rock paintings.
• Sterkfontein Dam, the third largest dam in South Africa lies about 20 kilometers south-west of Harrismith. It was built for the water supply of the present province of Gauteng. The water was pumped primarily by the Province of KwaZulu -Natal over a mountain emerging in the basin. Thanks to the supply of Gauteng through the Lesotho Highlands Water Project, the waters of Sterkfontein Dam is rarely needed. At the reservoir lies the 180 km ² large reserve Sterkfontein Dam Nature Reserve, which occur among other antelopes and vultures.

Others

90 km away is the town in KwaZulu-Natal Ladysmith, which was named after Sir Harry Smith's wife.