Country South Africa Language spoken Sotho Area 8.0 km2 | District Fezile Dabi Founded 1910 | |
Steynsrus is s a small farming town in the Free State province of South Africa that was founded in 1910 and named after the last president of the Orange Free State, Martinus Theunis Steyn. It is included under Moqhaka Local Municipality, the tier of municipal government in South Africa, and administered from Kroonstad.
Contents
Map of Steynsrus
Demographics
While in 2001 Steynsrus had a population of 1,192, Matlwangtlwang had a population of 6,441. Both Steynsrus and Matlwangtlwang had majority of Females in the population.
According to the 2001 census there are 847 white South Africans living in town of Steynsrus (71.1%), almost all of Afrikaner background. The town also houses 18 (1.5%) shop owners who are South African citizens of Indian origin. Under apartheid Indians were banned from living in the Free State—even requiring a pass to travel through it—and those in Steynsrus are therefore relatively more recent residents. Steynsrus town also has a large (and growing) black minority, which in 2001 stood at 324 (27.2%). Of Matlwangtlwangs 6,441 inhabitants, 6,408 were classified as black in the 2001 census. 92.5% of them speak Southern Sotho, with the next largest language being Zulu at 3.6%.
Almost all the people in Matlwangtlwang speak seSotho. In the actual town of Steynsrus the majority (70.8%) of residents speak Afrikaans while most of the black minority speaks seSotho and a few whites (as well as most of the Asian population) profess English as their mother tongue.
Location
Steynsrus is located on the R76 and R720 road between Kroonstad and Senekal, roughly 50 km from either; the distance, as with most towns in the Free State, that could be ridden in a day on horseback. A fine sand stone Dutch Reformed Church, built in 1928, dominates the town and is its most notable architectural feature, sitting at the main axis, Van Reebeck and Haasbroek Streets.
Economy
Apart from government services, agriculture is the main employer in this area and many residents commute every day to work on the surrounding farms.