Standerton
| Standerton | |
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Central business district in Standerton.
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 Standerton
Standerton
Standerton
Standerton shown within Mpumalanga
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| Coordinates: 26°57′S 29°15′E / 26.950°S 29.250°ECoordinates: 26°57′S 29°15′E / 26.950°S 29.250°E | |
| Country | South Africa |
| Province | Mpumalanga |
| District | Gert Sibande |
| Municipality | Lekwa |
| Established | 14 December 1878 |
| Area | |
| • Total | 36.21 km2 (13.98 sq mi) |
| Population (2011) | |
| • Total | 43,966 |
| • Density | 1,200/km2 (3,100/sq mi) |
| Racial makeup (2011) | |
| • Black African | 66.6% |
| • Coloured | 6.8% |
| • Indian/Asian | 2.9% |
| • White | 23.1% |
| • Other | 0.6% |
| First languages (2011) | |
| • Zulu | 48.3% |
| • Afrikaans | 28.0% |
| • Sotho | 8.5% |
| • English | 7.4% |
| • Other | 7.8% |
| Postal code (street) | 2430 |
| PO box | 2430 |
| Area code | 017 |
Standerton is a large commercial and agricultural town lying on the banks of the Vaal River in Mpumalanga, South Africa, which specialises in cattle, dairy, maize and poultry farming. The town was established in 1876 and named after Boer leader Commandant A. H. Stander. During the Second Boer War a British garrison in the town was besieged by the Boers for three months. General Jan Smuts won this seat during elections and went on to assist in setting up the League of Nations. Standerton is part of the Lekwa Local Municipality.
Standerton was founded in 1878 on a farmed called Grootverlangen and named after its owner Commandant Adriaan H. Stander. It was granted municipal status in 1903. The crossing over the Vaal River, now bridged, was known as Stander's Drift and a hill close to the town was called Standerskop.
The town has received nationwide media attention in 2007 and 2008 following the destruction of an important voortrekker memorial. This monument, located near the facade of the municipality building, was constructed by Afrikaners to mark the 150th anniversary of the Great Trek. The Lekwa municipality's mayor Queen Radebe-Khumalo ordered the structure demolished in April 2007. "That piece of thing means nothing to us. It's just a piece of cement with tracks. I do not even know where it comes from", Radebe-Khumalo declared in a statement quoted by the Beeld newspaper.
The incident led to widespread condemnation by the local Afrikaans community. Jan Bosman, a spokesperson for the Afrikanerbond, claimed that "actions like these undo the spirit of reconciliation as promoted by former president Nelson Mandela and Archbishop Desmond Tutu". In June 2007, a joint initiative between AfriForum and Solidarity lodged an application to the Pretoria High Court requesting that the mayor offer compensation for damages claimed. A subsequent court order ruled that Radebe-Khumalo and her municipality would pay for the damage and prohibited attempts to remove another statue erected in memory of Anglo-Boer war concentration camp victims.
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Wikipedia