Marikana, also known as Rooikoppies, is a town in the Rustenburg Local Municipality, Bojanala Platinum District Municipality in the North West province of South Africa.
Marikana (Maretlwane)
Rooikoppies Koppies | |
|---|---|
  Marikana (Maretlwane)  Marikana (Maretlwane) | |
| Coordinates: 25°41′53″S 27°28′19″E / 25.698°S 27.472°E | |
| Country | South Africa |
| Province | North West |
| District | Bojanala Platinum |
| Municipality | Rustenburg |
| Area | |
• Total | 17.54 km2 (6.77 sq mi) |
| Population (2011)[1] | |
• Total | 19,522 |
| • Density | 1,100/km2 (2,900/sq mi) |
| Racial makeup (2011) | |
| • Black African | 98.3% |
| • Coloured | 0.1% |
| • Indian/Asian | 0.5% |
| • White | 0.9% |
| • Other | 0.2% |
| First languages (2011) | |
| • Tswana | 30.0% |
| • Xhosa | 29.7% |
| • Tsonga | 18.1% |
| • Sotho | 14.4% |
| • Other | 7.9% |
| Time zone | UTC+2 (SAST) |
| Postal code (street) | 0284 |
| PO box | 0284 |
| Area code | 014 |
The name Rooikoppies means 'red hills' in Afrikaans.
Neighbouring localities include Marikana train station (1 km; 0.62 mi to the north-east), Wonderkop (4 km; 2.5 mi), Ramala, Rietfontein, Rustenburg (29 km; 18 mi); Swaershoek (30 km; 19 mi); Mooinooi (31 km; 19 mi); Brits (36 km; 22 mi); Monakato (38 km; 24 mi); Hartbeespoort (43 km; 27 mi); Kosmos (48 km; 30 mi).[2]
History
editThe town was laid out in 1870 on the farm Rooikoppies, and the settlement later expanded into seven white-owned farms. In 1933, the Buffelspoort Dam was built, allowing the local farmers to irrigate their crops.[3]
The farming community grew in the 1960s on the back of lucrative tobacco farming, but other diversified farming practices i.e. cattle, maize, chillies, paprika, soya, lusern and sunflower amongst the main groups was the main economic driver of the area. In the 1970s mining was introduced and grew to become the main industry in the region. The main mining activities are PGMs and chrome. Since the introduction of mining activities, the informal and formal population had a growth explosion.
The Marikana massacre of 16 August 2012 and the subsequent killing of 34 workers by police made headlines in the international media.[4]
References
edit- ^ a b c d "Main Place Marikana (Maretlwan)". Census 2011.
- ^ Travel distances from Marikana Archived 2013-11-14 at the Wayback Machine
- ^ "Marikana". North West History. Archived from the original on 3 February 2014. Retrieved 26 January 2014.
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: unfit URL (link) - ^ "South Africa's ANC to discuss mine shootings row". BBC News. 27 August 2012. Retrieved 27 August 2012.
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