List of Towns, Villages and Cities in Dawid Kruiper Local Municipality

Dawid Kruiper Local Municipality was formed in August 2016 by merging the Mier and //Khara Hais local municipalities. It sits in the ZF Mgcawu District (formerly Siyanda), Northern Cape, with 125,744 people at the 2022 census over 44,399 km², and Upington as the seat.

Named for Dawid Kruiper, a San leader and traditional healer, the municipality spans the Northern Cape’s Kalahari frontier from the Orange River town of Upington to the Botswana and Namibia borders.

Towns and Villages in Dawid Kruiper

Other settlements across the former Mier and //Khara Hais areas:

• Ariemagom
• Askham
• Beginsil
• Christiana
• Donkiekraal
• Groot Mier
• Jagpad
• Karos
• Klein Mier Nommer Een
• Klipaar
• Klippunt
• Kurrees
• Lambrechtsdrif
• Leeu Bos
• Louisvale
• Maruping
• Mooirivier
• Noenieput
• Norokei
• Oranjevallei
• Paballelo
• Progress
• Rietfontein
• Rooiputs
• Rosedale Ext. 2
• Saulstraat
• Schepkolk
• Ses Brugge
• Straussburg
• Sultanaoord
• Uitsoek
• Vaal Koppies
• Van Rooi’s Vlei

Geography

The Orange River crosses the municipality at Upington, irrigating a strip of vineyards and lucerne fields before the land opens into Kalahari dune veld toward Botswana and Namibia. Dawid Kruiper borders Kai !Garib to the east and !Kheis and Tsantsabane further southeast, all within ZF Mgcawu District, and shares an international border with Namibia to the west and Botswana to the north.

Demographics

The combined //Khara Hais and Mier population grew from 100,498 at the 2011 census to 125,744 in 2022, growth of about 25%. Coloured residents make up 70.7% of the population, Black African residents 19.7%, and White residents 8.5%.

Economy and Local Life

Irrigated agriculture along the Orange River — table grapes, wine grapes, raisins and lucerne — is the backbone of the economy around Upington, Keimoes and Kakamas. Sultana and raisin drying is a particularly large local industry, and Upington’s cooperative wine cellars are among the biggest in the country by volume. The drier Mier area to the west runs on cattle and game farming, with small-scale tourism toward the Kgalagadi Transfrontier Park adding to household income around Askham and Rietfontein.

Upington also functions as the Northern Cape’s western logistics hub, with a large solar-power development on its outskirts taking advantage of the region’s high sunshine hours.

History

Upington grew from a mission station founded in 1884 on the Orange River, its irrigation canals dug largely by hand in the following decades to open the surrounding desert to farming. //Khara Hais and Mier developed separately through the apartheid era, with Mier’s mostly Coloured and San population governed at arm’s length from Upington’s larger municipal administration. The 2016 merger brought the two together for the first time under one council, giving the combined municipality a single administration spanning both the irrigated river valley and the dry Kalahari hinterland to its west.

Getting There

The N14 runs through Upington, linking it to Springbok and Cape Town in the southwest and Pretoria in the northeast; the N10 heads north toward the Namibia border at Nakop, and roads west lead to the Kgalagadi Transfrontier Park via Askham and Rietfontein. Upington Airport, one of the longest civilian runways in Africa, offers flights to Johannesburg and Cape Town.

FAQ

What is the seat of Dawid Kruiper Local Municipality?
Upington.

When was Dawid Kruiper Local Municipality formed?
August 2016, by merging the //Khara Hais and Mier local municipalities.

What is the population of Dawid Kruiper?
125,744 people at the 2022 census, up from 100,498 in 2011.

Which district does Dawid Kruiper belong to?
ZF Mgcawu District Municipality, formerly Siyanda, in Northern Cape.

What is Dawid Kruiper’s economy based on?
Orange River irrigation farming — grapes, raisins and lucerne — plus Kalahari cattle and game farming further west.