Dordrecht, Eastern Cape

Dordrecht
View of the town of Dordrecht
Dordrecht
 Dordrecht shown within Eastern Cape
Dordrecht
Dordrecht (South Africa)
Dordrecht
Dordrecht (Africa)
Coordinates: 31°22′S 27°3′E / 31.367°S 27.050°E / -31.367; 27.050Coordinates: 31°22′S 27°3′E / 31.367°S 27.050°E / -31.367; 27.050
Country South Africa
Province Eastern Cape
District Chris Hani
Municipality Emalahleni
Established 1856
Area[1]
 • Total 17.4 km2 (6.7 sq mi)
Elevation 1,600 m (5,200 ft)
Population (2011)[1]
 • Total 10,261
 • Density 590/km2 (1,500/sq mi)
Racial makeup (2011)[1]
 • Black African 93.1%
 • Coloured 3.3%
 • Indian/Asian 0.4%
 • White 2.8%
 • Other 0.4%
First languages (2011)[1]
 • Xhosa 90.1%
 • Afrikaans 5.4%
 • English 2.0%
 • Other 2.5%
Time zone UTC+2 (SAST)
Postal code (street) 5435
PO box 5435
Area code 045

Dordrecht is a town situated in the Eastern Cape Province of South Africa. Dordrecht was founded in 1856 by Baron Smiddolff (later changed to Smithdorff), a minister of the Dutch Reformed Church. The town was named for the city of the same name in the South-Western Netherlands[2] and had a population of about 8,741 people in 2001.

Description

Dordrecht lies nestled in the Stormberg Mountains, just north of Queenstown between Middelburg and Mthatha. Its many historical buildings and museum display turn-of-the-century furniture and clothing. Dodrecht is a small town surrounded by a number of farms with a large number of merino sheep and cattle ranchers in the region. Farmers around Dordrecht also grow potatoes. Dordrecht prides itself on a number of historical sites including a unique 1873 colonial country B&B. There are farmstay holidays available in the region. They are well known in South Africa for trout fishing, pheasant hunting and game hunting. The town is also situated near to the Western Drakensberg Mountains where the only snow skiing resort is in South Africa.

Grain mill with bevel gears outside local museum

It has two high schools, Masikhanyise High School and Dordrecht High School (that is 102 years old). Its oldest townships are Sinako township, Munikville and Marabastad.

A Remembrance Garden is in the city centre in memorial to Baron Smithdorff and high in the kopje in the foothills is a plaque dedicated to the Smithdorff family.

Climate

Dordrecht has a subtropical highland climate (Cwb, according to the Köppen climate classification), with warm summers and chilly, dry winters, with occasional snowfalls. It borders on a cold semi-arid climate (BSk). The average annual precipitation is 466 mm (18 in), with most rainfall occurring mainly during summer.

The village of Buffelsfontein, located between the towns of Dordrecht and Molteno, has the lowest recorded temperature in South Africa, of −20.1 °C (−4 °F), on 23 August 2013.[3] The former national record, of −18.6 °C (−1 °F), was also registered in the same locality, on 28 June 1996.[4]

Dordrecht
Climate chart (explanation)
JFMAMJJASOND
 
 
70
 
 
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80
 
 
25
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77
 
 
23
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38
 
 
20
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7
 
 
14
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5
 
 
14
−1
 
 
9
 
 
16
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17
 
 
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33
 
 
21
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23
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25
10
Average max. and min. temperatures in °C
Precipitation totals in mm
Source: SA Explorer

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 Sum of the Main Places Dordrecht and Tjoksville from Census 2011.
  2. ↑ Raper, P. E. (1989). Dictionary of Southern African Place Names. Jonathan Ball Publishers. p. 141. ISBN 978-0-947464-04-2 – via Internet Archive.
  3. ↑ "New minimum temperature record for South Africa". Retrieved 12 June 2014.
  4. ↑ Details of the temperature, rainfall and wind extremes recorded in SA Archived 7 August 2011 at the Wayback Machine. South African weather service. Retrieved on 22 June 2010]
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