Westonaria

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.

Westonaria
Westonaria
Westonaria
Coordinates: 26°19′4″S 27°39′2″E
CountrySouth Africa
ProvinceGauteng
DistrictWest Rand
MunicipalityRand West City
Established1948
Area
 • Total12.65 km2 (4.88 sq mi)
Population
 (2011)[1]
 • Total10,259
 • Density810/km2 (2,100/sq mi)
Racial makeup (2011)
 • Black African65.5%
 • Coloured1.4%
 • Indian/Asian1.0%
 • White31.9%
 • Other0.2%
First languages (2011)
 • Afrikaans28.8%
 • Xhosa16.6%
 • Sotho14.0%
 • Tswana13.4%
 • Other27.1%
Time zoneUTC+2 (SAST)
Postal code (street)
1779
PO box
1780
Area code011

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. "Main Place Westonaria". Census 2011.
  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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