Porterville
From the top, an aerial photograph of Porterville in South Africa with the R44 road running through the town. In the left photograph, the Grootwinterhoek mountains can be seen in the distance. NG Kerk in Porterville (left). The Jan Danckaert Museum (right). Wheat is grown in the surrounding area (below).
Porterville Show map of Western Cape Porterville Show map of South Africa
Coordinates: 33°00′S 18°59′E / 33.000°S 18.983°E / -33.000; 18.983
Country	South Africa
Province	Western Cape
District	West Coast
Municipality	Bergrivier
Area [1]
• Total	7.98 km2 (3.08 sq mi)
Population  (2011)[1]
• Total	7,057
• Density	880/km2 (2,300/sq mi)
Racial makeup (2011) [1]
• Black African	1.6%
• Coloured	76.4%
• Indian/Asian	0.4%
• White	21.0%
• Other	0.6%
First languages (2011) [1]
• Afrikaans	96.0%
• English	1.9%
• Other	2.1%
Time zone	UTC+2 (SAST)
Postal code (street)	6810, 6811, 6812
PO box	6810
Area code	022

Porterville is a town in the Western Cape province of South Africa.

The town is located at the foot of the Olifants River Mountains, 27 km south-east of Piketberg and 155 km north-east of Cape Town. It is situated 140 km north of Cape Town on R44 road at the base of the Olifants River mountains. The Dasklip Pass to the surrounding Groot Winterhoek mountains is located 14 km outside of the town. The Soom Shale, a notable deposit of Late Ordovician era fossils, is located near the town. Agriculture in the area is dominated by wheat production. The closest towns are Piketberg to the west, Saron to the south, and Eendekuil and Citrusdal to the north.

History

Prior to European settlement the area was inhabited by Khoekhoen nomadic pastoralists.^[2] The town was laid out in 1863 on a portion of Pomona farm owned by F.J. Owen.^[3] It was previously called Willems Vallei and was owned by Willem Berger.^[3] The town was established in 1863 and named after William Porter, who served as Attorney General of the Cape Colony from 1839 to 1866,^[4] and became a municipality in 1903.

Demographics

According to the 2011 census, Porterville has a population of 7,057 people divided into 1,949 households. The census identifies residents' first languages as 96.0% Afrikaans, 1.9% English and 2.1% other. Within the population, 76.4% of residents identified themselves as "Coloured", 21.0% as "White" and 1.6% as "Black African".^[1] Porterville has an area of about 7.98 square km, with a density of 884.3 per square km. Minor area differences exist between figures extracted from the 2001 and 2011 censuses.

Notable people

• Pieter Grobbelaar, South African World War II military commander was born in Porterville.
• Andrew Beerwinkel, South African rugby union player grew up in Porterville.
• Nataniël le Roux, South African TV personality, singer, writer, and composer^[6]

References