Khuma
''Khuma (Makweteng)''
Khuma is located in North West (South African province)
Khuma
Khuma
Khuma is located in South Africa
Khuma
Khuma
Coordinates: 26°50′57″S 26°51′58″E / 26.84917°S 26.86611°E / -26.84917; 26.86611
CountrySouth Africa
ProvinceNorth West
DistrictDr Kenneth Kaunda
MunicipalityCity of Matlosana
Area
 • Total
9.45 km2 (3.65 sq mi)
Population
 (2011)[1]
 • Total
45,895
 • Density4,900/km2 (13,000/sq mi)
Time zoneUTC+2 (SAST)
Postal code (street)
2552
PO box
2552
Area code018



Khuma is a small settlement in the North West province in South Africa. It is in the Dr. Kenneth Kaunda District Municipality and falls under the City of Matlosana. It is about 11 km from the town of Stilfontein.

History

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Khuma was originally known as Khumo, which is a Setswana word meaning "wealth and prosperity" of the region [2]. It was founded around 1952 and formally recognized in 1960 [3] as a blacks settlement by the then Apartheid Government in a farm called Wildebeespan which was part of the Late Mr. Motsoenyane farm. This happened 3 years after Stilfontein was established in 1949 [4]. The earliest settlers in Khuma were from nearby farms and villages which spanned from the Vaal river (Lekwa) up to Eleazar and the surrounding areas. Others were from the Golden brown Farm, Stilfontein town and surroundings. In the 1950s black Africans were forcefully moved from towns and their farms and forced to live in blacks only Locations like Khuma. Blacks were disallowed to own land [5] and all the surrounding farms which were owned by black Africans were taken away forcefully (with little or no compensation) to make way for Gold mines. These new settlers settled on a farm formerly known as Makweteng, later known as Wildebeespan. Farms and mines made Khuma what it is today.

File:Aerial map of Khuma 1961.jpg
Aerial map of Khuma 1961

The sinking of Scott Shaft, later known as "Harties", caused many people from all over the country and the SADC region to rush to Khuma. As a result, new developments followed. The first school in the area was Wildebeespan Bantoeskool (now Khuma Primary School). Another school offspringed from it to be known as Tukisang.

There is no official historical record to confirm the name change from Khumo to Khuma. Research shows that the pronunciation of the name has changed due to the mixing of languages ​​in the mining area. The first mine in the area was called the Margaret Mine and it is the first mine in the Khuma area if you separate Stilfontein and Khuma. Another mine was Tony Shaft. Scott expanded his operations further. Buffelsfontein came next.

Khuma Location was previously divided into two sections namely; Queenstown and Maseru. Queenstown was the heart of the Xhosa-]-speaking people, while the Maseru section was the heart of the Sesotho and Setswana-speaking people. These two areas represented the origin and heritage of the settlers, especially the miners from the villages, and many streets were named after them and some after the clans of the settlers. Most of the Xhosa and Zulu-speaking settlers were migrant workers Interestingly, the Xhosa-speaking area is named after a miner from Queenstown who was known to have helped migrants from Komani (Queenstown).


Demographics

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The area is about 9.45 square KM According to the 2011 Census, Khuma had a population of 45,895. with 14,154 homes. [1]The population has since grown and it is estimated to be around 69,000 but the households have not changed much as no new houses have been built by the municipality in the past 10 years.

Notable People

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References

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