Vredenburg

For the 16th-century castle in Utrecht, see Vredenburg (castle).

Vredenburg
—  Town  —
Vredenburg Location of the town in Western Cape
Vredenburg Location of the town in South Africa
Coordinates: 32°54′S 17°59′E / 32.9°S 17.983°E / -32.9; 17.983
Country	South Africa
Province	Western Cape
District municipality	West Coast District Municipality
Local municipality	Saldanha Bay Local Municipality
Population (2002)
– Total	31,283
Time zone	SAST (UTC+2)

Vredenburg is a town of the Cape West Coast in the Western Cape province of South Africa. "Vrede" is Afrikaans for peace. It is the transportation and commercial hub of the West Coast area and administrative center of the Saldanha Bay Local Municipality. It is located 12 kilometres inland from the coast at Saldanha Bay on the Cape Columbine Peninsula 138km north of Cape Town.

History

The town was established in 1875 initially as a Dutch Reformed Church to serve the surrounding communities, as the closest church was in Hopefield. The town's original name was "Twisfontein", which in Afrikaans would be translated to troubled fountain or similar. This name came about when two competing farmers fought over the only available freshwater spring in the area. The town's name was later changed to "Prosesfontein" which is process fountain if you translate it directly. The town was renamed as they were discussing the matter of the freshwater spring and were trying to come to an agreement. The town's population in 2002 was 31,283.^[1]

Coordinates: 32°54′S 17°59′E / 32.9°S 17.983°E / -32.9; 17.983

References

1. ^ "Saldanha Bay Municipality Water Services Development Plan: Executive Summary" (PDF). http://www.saldanhabay.co.za/wsdp/Executive%20Summary%20(Eng).pdf.