Browse / South Africa / Mpumalanga / Standerton
Standerton
Mpumalangatown
Standerton
Total population
43,966
Founded
1878
Demographic figures from Statistics South Africa. Overview below cites Wikipedia and may reference a different year.
City facts
Facts from Wikidata (CC0).
Overview
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 Adriaan H. Stander, the original owner of the farm where the town was built. During the First 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 the seat of the Lekwa Local Municipality.
Read more on WikipediaHistory & geography
History
Standerton was founded in 1878 on a farm called Grootverlangen and named after its owner Commandant Adriaan Henrik Stander. The South African Republic's Volksraad approved the formation of a town at the drift in 1876 and proclaimed two years later. It was granted municipal status in 1903. During the First Boer War (1880–81), a British unit was besieged by the Boer forces who shelled them from the nearby hill, the former holding out until the end of the war in February 1881. 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. In May 2010, the memorial was rebuilt on its original site. The township of…
Excerpted from the corresponding Wikipedia article (CC BY-SA).
Geography
Coordinates & boundaries from the US Census TIGER/Line shapefiles.
Climate
Air quality
Walkability
Amenities nearby
Wildlife & biodiversity
Most-observed species
- Cape WagtailMotacilla capensis Linnaeus, 1766 · Aves476
- Southern Masked-WeaverPloceus velatus Vieillot, 1819 · Aves332
- Blacksmith LapwingVanellus armatus (Burchell, 1822) · Aves330
- Ring-necked DoveStreptopelia capicola (Sundevall, 1857) · Aves322
- Hadada IbisBostrychia hagedash (Latham, 1790) · Aves319
- Egyptian GooseAlopochen aegyptiaca (Linnaeus, 1766) · Aves307
- Cape SparrowPasser melanurus (Statius Muller, 1776) · Aves305
- Southern Red BishopEuplectes orix (Linnaeus, 1758) · Aves301
Citizen-science & research observations from the Global Biodiversity Information Facility (GBIF).
Earthquake history
Most recent
- M 3.1 — 2022-08-2723 km E of Nigel, South Africa
- M 2.9 — 2022-06-2529 km E of Delmas, South Africa
- M 4.7 — 2022-03-1314 km W of eMbalenhle, South Africa
- M 4.6 — 2018-11-256 km WNW of eMbalenhle, South Africa
- M 3.6 — 2008-05-3018 km NNE of Kriel, South Africa
- M 3.6 — 2006-06-0219 km SSE of Delmas, South Africa
Events from the USGS Earthquake Catalog (global) (FDSN Event Web Service).
Photos
Sights & places nearby
Notable people from here






People born within ~10 km, from Wikidata (CC0). Click any name for their Wikipedia article.
Nearby places in Mpumalanga
Geography & sun
Elevation, sunrise/sunset and daylight from Open-Meteo. Solar climatology from NASA POWER.
Nearby airports
Public attention
Pageview totals from the Wikimedia Pageviews API.
Books about this place
Recent natural events nearby
Ground air-quality sensors
Recently spotted species









Research-grade observations from iNaturalist (within ~15 mi).
Events
Gallery
Geotagged photos within ~6 miles of Standerton, from Wikimedia Commons contributors.
Photos via Wikimedia Commons — see each image page for license & attribution.
Sources
- • Wikipedia
- • Wikimedia Commons
- • Wikidata
- • USGS Earthquake Catalog (global feed)
- • GBIF (Global Biodiversity Information Facility)
- • iNaturalist
- • Open-Meteo / sunrise-sunset.org
- • Wikipedia Pageviews API
