Towns and suburbs

Merweville

Karoo church dorpie

merweville

History of Merweville

  • Province: Western Cape
  • Karoo
  • Coordinates:32°40′S 21°31′E
  • Area:32.59 km2
  • Municipality: Beaufort West

    Church Dorpie

    Many of the dorpies in the Karoo began as Dutch Reformed Church parishes. Farmers from outlying areas travelled long distances to take communion and engage in the church’s social life. Merweville emerged as one such settlement. In 1897, with the help of Beaufort West minister Pieter Van der Merwe, the church authorities established a new parish on a portion of the farm Vanderbylskraal. They bought the land from Johannes Jacobus Le Seur van der Byl. However, the Boer War in 1899 delayed the establishment of the town. The land transfer occurred in 1905, and the village finally took shape. The well-managed farm, abundant water from the river, and efficient irrigation system allowed the fruit and vegetable gardens to thrive, along with the community that grew around them.

    Boer War Connection

    The settlement often hosted coach passengers and soon included a post office and a small police station. Van der Byl served as a magistrate, hearing cases of mostly petty crimes and imposing fines or sentences in the small farm jail. He also insisted on education for the local children, building a school and hiring a teacher.

    During the Boer War, Van der Byl ended up locked in his own jail when a Boer Commando, led by Commandant Wynand Malan, captured him during a scouting mission. The raiders rode off with the only key, forcing locals to break him out of the jail.

    In 1903, a loud explosion echoed across the region, drawing people to the scene. A meteorite had landed between the farms Jakkelsfontein and Tamboersfontein. The Jakkelsfontein meteorite was donated to the South African Museum in 1907.

    Hidden Wealth?

    During the war, locals discovered coal, which caught the attention of Bernard Israel Nowitz, a Jewish businessman from Cape Town. He applied for a prospecting license to mine coal, but the authorities denied it. However, he fell in love with a local girl. Her father, objecting to her marrying a Jew, led Nowitz to declare himself a “Christian Jew.” He became a leading member of the Merweville community and encouraged other Jewish people to settle in Merweville, as they did in other Karoo towns.

    The Karoo has often been the centre of wild speculation about hidden wealth. Merweville saw its share of speculators. During World War II and up to 1966, geologists and engineers drilled boreholes in search of oil but found none. In 1978, speculators returned, this time seeking rich deposits of uranium beneath the Karoo. Once again, nothing was found, and Merweville returned to its peaceful existence.

he postcode for Merweville is 6940 (Boxes only)

             

Things to do and see in Merweville

  • Dankfees held in May 084 962 2725 /023 501 4061 This is a carnivore’s delight, a festival for meat lovers. There are braais, potjies and pies.
  • Blounek pass
  • The old church was built around 1906, the ceiling beams are said to have come from a shipwreck and the organ came from Aberdeen in Scotland.
  • The “Englishman’s grave: Lieutenant Walter Olifant Arnot was in fact Australian but he was with the British in the Boer War, he committed suicide after returning from Sutherland in April 1902. It is said that he regretted the senseless killings of innocent black folk caught up in the white man’s war. Local people have always tended to his grave.

WEATHER IN MERWEVILLE TODAY

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Useful Numbers in Merweville

  • Police: 023501 4005
  • Municipality; 023 414 8100/ 023 414 8101 / 8141
  • Traffic department:023 414 8166
  • Fire: 10177 / 023-414 8176
  • Water:
  • Electricity: 023 414 8174
  • Ambulance: 10177
  • Post office; 023 501 4002
  • Library: Mimosa Library Beaufort West- 023 414 8158
  • Closest hospital; Prince Albert hospital; 023 5411300
  • Clinic– 023 501 4026
  • Pharmacy;Nuweveld Apteekl. 023-4152061
  • SPCA: (072) 847-7312/ (072) 847-7312
  • Schools

: Laerskool Merweville Primary School-023 501 4003
Merweville Boarding School-023 501 4003
Kleuterland Pre-Primary School-023 414 4252

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