Prieska is a town on the south bank of the Orange River, in the province of the Northern Cape, in western South Africa. It is located on the southern bank of the Orange River, 130 km north-west of Britstown and 75 km south-east of Marydale.
Prieska | |
|---|---|
Town | |
 Prieska | |
  Prieska  Prieska  Prieska | |
| Coordinates: 29°40′6″S 22°44′38″E / 29.66833°S 22.74389°E | |
| Country | South Africa |
| Province | Northern Cape |
| District | Pixley ka Seme |
| Municipality | Siyathemba |
| Area | |
• Total | 195.52 km2 (75.49 sq mi) |
| Population (2011)[1] | |
• Total | 14,246 |
| • Density | 72.862/km2 (188.71/sq mi) |
| Racial makeup (2011) | |
| • Black African | 23.6% |
| • Coloured | 67.4% |
| • Indian/Asian | 0.5% |
| • White | 8.0% |
| • Other | 0.4% |
| First languages (2011) | |
| • Afrikaans | 92.6% |
| • Xhosa | 4.4% |
| • English | 1.0% |
| • Other | 2.0% |
| Time zone | UTC+2 (SAST) |
| Postal code (street) | 8940 |
| PO box | 8940 |
| Area code | 053 |
Geography
editHistory
editPrieska developed from a place to which farmers migrated when the pans were full, after rains. It was originally named Prieschap, the name is derived from Korana and means ‘place of the lost she-goat’.[2][3]: 41 An 1874 resolution of the Beaufort West presbytery of Dutch Reformed Church to establish a congregation in Prieska, came to fruition on 11 March 1878.[4] Prieska was administered by a village management board from 1882 and attained municipal status in 1892. As of 2011, the town has a population of 14,246.
Historically, many residents of Prieska worked at the nearby Koegas mine which extracted and processed blue asbestos.[5]
1878 murders
editIn October 1878, at Luisdraai, near Koegas, a group of Korana and San indigenous people were savagely attacked by a 'military patrol' and 46 were killed. It later came to light that the indigenous people were killed in cold blood, after being disarmed and taken prisoner, eleven of the slain were women and children. The perpetrators were mounted militia, consisting of several white and Griqua farmers.
Notable people
edit- Gert Thys (born 1971), long-distance runner
- Dricky Beukes (1918–1999), writer
See also
edit- Tumʔi language, spoken in the town
References
edit- 1 2 3 4 "Main Place Prieska". Census 2011.
- ↑ "Dictionary of Southern African Place Names (Public Domain)". Human Science Research Council. p. 375.
- ↑ "Copper by the Ton". South African Panorama. 19 (1). Information Service of South Africa. 1974 – via Internet Archive.
- ↑ "NG Gemeente Prieska" (in Afrikaans). Retrieved 10 August 2025.
- ↑ Steele, Jonathan (15 September 2001). "Blue death". The Guardian. Retrieved 6 February 2021.
External links
edit
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