Malmesbury, South Africa Explained

Malmesbury
Pushpin Map:South Africa Western Cape#South Africa#Africa
Coordinates:-33.45°N 62°W
Subdivision Type:Country
Subdivision Name:South Africa
Subdivision Type1:Province
Subdivision Name1:Western Cape
Subdivision Type2:District
Subdivision Name2:West Coast
Subdivision Type3:Municipality
Subdivision Name3:Swartland
Subdivision Type4:Main Place
Established Title:Established
Established Date:1745[1]
Area Footnotes:[2]
Area Total Km2:18.8
Population Total:35897
Population As Of:2011
Population Density Km2:auto
Demographics Type1:Racial makeup (2011)
Demographics1 Title1:Black African
Demographics1 Info1:24.9%
Demographics1 Title2:Coloured
Demographics1 Info2:55.3%
Demographics1 Title3:Indian/Asian
Demographics1 Info3:0.5%
Demographics1 Title4:White
Demographics1 Info4:18.4%
Demographics1 Title5:Other
Demographics1 Info5:0.9%
Demographics Type2:First languages (2011)
Demographics2 Title1:Afrikaans
Demographics2 Info1:73.9%
Demographics2 Title2:Xhosa
Demographics2 Info2:16.3%
Demographics2 Title3:English
Demographics2 Info3:3.8%
Demographics2 Title4:Sotho
Demographics2 Info4:3.1%
Demographics2 Title5:Other
Demographics2 Info5:2.8%
Timezone1:SAST
Utc Offset1:+2
Postal Code Type:Postal code (street)
Postal Code:7300
Postal2 Code Type:PO box
Postal2 Code:7299
Area Code Type:Area code
Area Code:022

Malmesbury is a town of approximately 36,000 inhabitants in the Western Cape province of South Africa, about 65 km north of Cape Town.

The town is the largest in the Swartland (‘black land’) which took its name from the renosterbos ('rhino bush'), an indigenous plant that turns black in the warm, dry summers. The area is especially known for its grain and wine cultivation as well as sheep and poultry farming.

Malmesbury was named after Sir Lowry Cole's father-in-law, the Earl of Malmesbury. Settlers were encouraged to make their homes here because of a tepid sulphur chloride mineral spring that was renowned for curing rheumatism. The first farms were allocated in 1703.When the fifth Dutch Reformed congregation in the Cape was established here, it became known as Zwartlands-kerk (Swartland Church) but was renamed Malmesbury in 1829. The town acquired municipal status in 1860.

The town no longer attracts the ailing because this aspect was never developed by the local authority, and today a shopping centre is located on top of the site with only a decorative fountain marking the location of the original spring.

Notable people from Malmesbury

Demographics

In 1911 the Encyclopædia Britannica recorded the population of the town at 3,811,[3] however this may refer to a white population, as a census of 1849 recorded a total of 8,520 residents.[4] The 1939 edition of the official statistical Year Book of South Africa records a total population of 4,856, with roughly half the population recorded as white (2,574) and half recorded as coloured (2,221).[5]

The following statistics describing Malmesbury are from the 2011 census.

GenderPopulation%
Male18,01650.2
Female17,88049.8
RacePopulation%
Coloured19,86855.3
Black African8,92924.9
White6,58818.4
Indian or Asian1920.5
Other3190.9
First languagePopulation%
Afrikaans24,56473.9
isiXhosa5,43316.3
English1,2513.8
Sesotho1,0443.1
Setswana1480.4
Sign language770.2
isiZulu640.2
isiNdebele570.2
Xitsonga260.1
Sepedi220.1
Tshivenda210.1
siSwati180.1
Other5111.5
Not applicable2,658

Transport

Rail

Malmesbury lies on the main railway line between Kraaifontein and Bitterfontein, and its railway station marks the northern end of Metrorail Western Cape's commuter rail network. Metrorail currently operates services to Cape Town via Kalbaskraal, Klipheuwel, Fisantekraal and Kraaifontein where the Malmesbury line joins the main Northern Line to Cape Town.

Road

Malmesbury lies along the N7 highway “Cape Namibia Route” which bypasses the town centre to the west and leads north towards Moorreesburg, Piketberg, Springbok and Namibia and south towards Cape Town. The N7 intersects the R315 Bokomo Street, west of the town centre and the R45 interchange, north-west of the town centre.

Malmesbury is also has at the centre of three regional routes including the R45 which passes through the town as “Voortrekker Road", “Loedolf Street” and “Piet Retief Street” from Paarl (south-east) to Vredenburg (north-west), the R302 which passes through the town as “Voortrekker Road” from Durbanville (south), and the R315 which passes through the town as “Bokomo Street” from Darling (north-west). Voortrekker Road, designated as the R45 and R302 serves as Malmesbury's main street through the town.

Coats of arms

Municipality — Malmesbury was a municipality in its own right from 1860 to 2000. By 1931, the council had adopted an emblem depicting a plough in front of a sheaf of wheat, surrounded by a buckled strap inscribed Deo frumentoque vires. This device was depicted on a cigarette card issued in 1931.

In 1963, the council assumed a coat of arms, designed by Cornelis Pama. It registered the arms with the Cape Provincial Administration in December 1963,[6] had them formally granted by the provincial administrator on 8 July 1966[7] and registered them at the Bureau of Heraldry in September 1969.[8]

The arms were : Per chevron Sable and Gules, a chevron ermine between in chief two garbs and in base a sea-lion Or. In layman's terms : the shield was divided by an ermine chevron, the upper half displaying two golden sheaves of wheat on a black background and the lower half a golden heraldic sea-lion on a red background. The sea-lion was evidently derived from the arms of Gustaaf Willem van Imhoff, who established the church from which the town developed.

The crest was an upright spade between two rhenosterbos branches, and the motto, once again, was Deo frumentoque vires.

Divisional council — The Malmesbury divisional council, which administered the rural areas of the district outside the town, assumed a coat of arms, designed by Ivan Mitford-Barberton, on 24 June 1958.[9]

The arms were : Per fess Sable and Azure, a fess wavy Gules fimbriated Argent between in chief an eagle displayed between two ears of wheat palewise Or and in base a sea-lion naiant per pale Or and Argent. In layman's terms : the shield was divided horizontally into black and blue and displayed, from top to bottom, a golden eagle between two sheaves of wheat, a red wavy stripe edged in silver, and a gold and silver heraldic sea-lion.

Sport

Mother City SkyDiving operates out of a private airfield 12 km to the north of Malmesbury and provides a service for experienced sport skydivers, and offers Tandem Introductory Skydiving.[10]

Malmesbury has a variety of Sports Facilities including a Golf, Rugby & Bowling Club. The international organisation Parkrun hosts a regular 5 km run for anyone to join for free.[11]

Notes and References

  1. Robson . Linda Gillian . The Royal Engineers and settlement planning in the Cape Colony 1806–1872: Approach, methodology and impact . 2011 . PhD thesis . University of Pretoria . Annexure A . https://repository.up.ac.za/bitstream/handle/2263/26503/05back.pdf?sequence=6&isAllowed=y#page=31 . 2263/26503 . xlv–lii.
  2. Sum of the following Main Places from Census 2011: Mount Royal Golf & Country Estate, Wesbank, Malmesbury, Ilinge Lethu.
  3. Cape Colony. 05. x.
  4. Book: Parliamentary Papers. Parliament. House of Commons. 1852. 33. Great Britain. 31.
  5. Book: Official Year Book of the Union of South Africa. Union of South Africa. 1939. Cape Town. 1044.
  6. Cape of Good Hope Official Gazette 3217 (20 December 1963).
  7. Cape of Good Hope Official Gazette 3354 (8 July 1966).
  8. http://www.national.archsrch.gov.za/sm300cv/smws/sm300dl National Archives of South Africa : Data of the Bureau of Heraldry
  9. Western Cape Archives : Swartland Divisional Council Coat of Arms (4/SWL 4/1/5).
  10. http://www.MotherCitySkyDiving.co.za Mother City SkyDiving website, retrieved 26 March 2018
  11. Web site: Malmesbury parkrun Malmesbury parkrun. www.parkrun.co.za. en-US. 2019-03-25.