- Vryburg, North West
Vryburg "(free fort)" is a large agricultural
town situated in the Bophirima district of theNorth West Province ofSouth Africa . It is the seat of the district.It is situated halfway between Kimberley (the capital of the
Northern Cape Province ) andMafikeng (the capital of theNorth West Province ). It is onCecil Rhodes ’s great northern railroad, which ran fromCape Town through the Kimberley diamond fields, Vryburg, Mafikeng, and northwards beyondVictoria Falls . It is also on the N14 National Road which runs fromGauteng Province in a southwesterly direction through Vryburg,Kuruman andUpington to the mining town ofSpringbok in the North-western Cape. This road also connects Gauteng Province withNamibia .The township
Huhudi (Tswana for "running water") is situated just south of the town. TheTiger Kloof Educational Institute was set up south of the town by theLondon Missionary Society in 1904. The stone church on the premises is anational monument .When the Boer Republic of Republic of Stellaland was established in
1882 , Vryburg became its capital. The first and only president wasG.J. van Niekerk . In 1885, the British seized the town and incorporated the area intoBritish Bechuanaland , which in turn became part of theCape Colony in 1895. During theSecond Boer War , the British built aconcentration camp here to houseBoer women and children. In 1910, the Cape Colony became theCape Province , one of the four provinces of theUnion of South Africa and later the Republic of South Africa. When nine provinces were established in 1994, it became part of theNorth West Province .Vryburg is South Africa's largest
beef producing district, withHereford cattle the most popular. It is sometimes called "theTexas of South Africa".Maize andpeanuts are important crops produced in the district.Sir Arnold Theiler, the
veterinarian who established the world famous veterinary research instituteOnderstepoort nearPretoria , did research on the farm Armoedsvlakte, 8 km west of Vryburg during his early career. The Theiler Museum on the farm exhibits some of the equipment he used.External links
* [http://www.tigerkloof.nw.school.za/ Tiger Kloof Educational Institute]
* [http://www.arc.agric.za/institutes/ovi/ Onderstepoort Veterinary Institute]
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