Standerton

Province

Standerton is a city in the South African province of Mpumalanga. It is located in the municipality in the district of Gert Sibande Lekwa. Standerton is the seat of the municipality Lekwa.

Geography

2011 Standerton had 43 966 inhabitants. Southwest of the city center lies the Sakhile Township, the township west and north of the township Azalea Meyer Ville.

Standerton is situated on the upper reaches of the Vaal. To the west lies the hill Standerskop. The Grootdraai Dam is a reservoir of the Vaal, which is around ten kilometers upstream east of the city and has a capacity of 364 million cubic meters.

History

Standerton was founded in 1878 on the grounds of the farm Groot request, which was called owner Adriaan Hendrik Stander. According to him, the city and the hills are named in the West.

In the Second Boer War the Boers besieged for three months, a British garrison in Standerton. The South African Prime Minister Jan Smuts had his parliamentary seat here. The loss of the seat in 1948 sealed the power of the National Party and the introduction of the apartheid system in South Africa. 1982 Grootdraai Dam was completed.

2007 was the mayor of the municipality Lekwa, which belonged to the African National Congress ( ANC), destroy a monument in the center Standertons that had commemorates the Great Trek of the Boers. It came to nationwide protests, in which Desmond Tutu also intervened in the sense of reconciliation. The mayor had to wear after a court ruling, the cost of recovery. 2009, there was in Sakhile serious riots, in consequence resigned the mayor.

Economy and Transport

Standerton is an agricultural center. Around the city, especially livestock and maize are operated.

The city lies on the highways R23, R39 and R50, as well as on the railway Johannesburg - Durban. A side path leads south to Vrede.

In the vicinity is the airfield Standerton Airport, which is not served in regular service. He has the ICAO code FASR.