Riversdale, Western Cape

Riversdale (Afrikaans: Riversdal) is a town located on the N2 highway between Cape Town and George on the Agulhas Coastal Plain of the southern Western Cape province of South Africa. It is an agricultural service oriented town, being a hub for shopping and other services for surrounding farming communities, smaller towns, and coastal resorts, like Witsand and Stilbaai. It is located beneath the imposing Langeberg Mountains to the north, with Sleeping Beauty Mountain overlooking the town.

Riversdale
Approaching the town of Riversdale on the N2 highway
Riversdale
Riversdale
Riversdale
Coordinates: 34°05′49″S 21°15′44″E
CountrySouth Africa
ProvinceWestern Cape
DistrictGarden Route
MunicipalityHessequa
Established1838[1]
Area
 • Total100.45 km2 (38.78 sq mi)
Elevation
110 m (360 ft)
Population
 (2011)[2]
 • Total16,176
 • Density160/km2 (420/sq mi)
Racial makeup (2011)
 • Black African8.9%
 • Coloured75.2%
 • Indian/Asian0.3%
 • White15.3%
 • Other0.3%
First languages (2011)
 • Afrikaans92.3%
 • Xhosa3.7%
 • English2.2%
 • Other1.8%
Time zoneUTC+2 (SAST)
Postal code (street)
6670
PO box
6670
Area code028

History

The town was founded as a church on the farm, Doornkraal, and was subsequently named after Harry Rivers, the then incumbent Civil Commissioner of Swellendam. It was proclaimed a town on 30 August 1838. Riverdale is the seat of the Hessequa Local Municipality. It is also sometimes considered the westernmost point in the Garden Route region.

Notable residents
  • Dyan Buis, Paralympic Athlete
  • JT Jackson, Blue Bulls rugby
  • Dr Cecil Moss, Springbok
  • Jack Simons, academic and anti-apartheid activist
  • Jan Ernst Abraham Volschenk (20 August 1853 Riversdale – 22 January 1936 Riversdale), was a South African painter, noted for his majestic landscapes of the Langeberg Range in the Western Cape Province
  • Vera Volschenk (1899-1987) was a South African painter who was born in 1899. Eldest of nine daughters of Jan Ernst Abraham Volschenk[3]

• Willem Botha, Singer

• Dalene Matthee (13 October 1938 – 20 February 2005) was a South African writer who matriculated at the local high school, Hoërskool Langenhoven.

See also

References
  1. "Chronological order of town establishment in South Africa based on Floyd (1960:20-26)" (PDF). pp. xlv–lii.
  2. "Main Place Riversdale". Census 2011.
  3. http://www.blouinartinfo.com/artists/vera-volschenk-190688/
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