Westonaria

Westonaria
Westonaria
 Westonaria shown within Gauteng
Westonaria
Westonaria (South Africa)
Westonaria
Westonaria (Africa)
Coordinates: 26°19′4″S 27°39′2″E / 26.31778°S 27.65056°E / -26.31778; 27.65056Coordinates: 26°19′4″S 27°39′2″E / 26.31778°S 27.65056°E / -26.31778; 27.65056
Country South Africa
Province Gauteng
District West Rand
Municipality Rand West City
Established 1948
Area[1]
 • Total 12.65 km2 (4.88 sq mi)
Population (2011)[1]
 • Total 10,259
 • Density 810/km2 (2,100/sq mi)
Racial makeup (2011)[1]
 • Black African 65.5%
 • Coloured 1.4%
 • Indian/Asian 1.0%
 • White 31.9%
 • Other 0.2%
First languages (2011)[1]
 • Afrikaans 28.8%
 • Xhosa 16.6%
 • Sotho 14.0%
 • Tswana 13.4%
 • Other 27.1%
Time zone UTC+2 (SAST)
Postal code (street) 1779
PO box 1780
Area code 011

Westonaria is a town in the west of Gauteng province of South Africa. It is situated in the Rand West City Local Municipality, part of the West Rand District Municipality. During the apartheid era, blacks lived outside town in Bekkersdal. The town is some 45 km west of Johannesburg and 18 km south of Randfontein.

History

It was formed in 1948 by the amalgamation of the townships Venterspost, proclaimed in 1937, and Westonaria, proclaimed in 1938.[2] First called Venterspost, the name was changed to Westonaria when municipal status was attained in 1952.[2] The name is a homophone of ‘western area’, after the township developing company Western Areas Ltd.[3]

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 "Main Place Westonaria". Census 2011.
  2. 1 2 Raper, Peter E.; Moller, Lucie A.; du Plessis, Theodorus L. (2014). Dictionary of Southern African Place Names. Jonathan Ball Publishers. p. 1412. ISBN 9781868425501.
  3. ↑ "Dictionary of Southern African Place Names (Public Domain)". Human Science Research Council. p. 473.
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