Editing Volksrust

{{Use dmy dates|date=April 2022}}
{{Infobox settlement
| name                    = Volksrust
| image_skyline           = SAR Class 19D 2696 (4-8-2).JPG
| image_caption           = SAR Class 19D 2696 4-8-2 plinthed in Volksrust, 2 June 2005
| pushpin_map             = South Africa Mpumalanga#South Africa
| coordinates             = {{coord|27|22|S|29|53|E|region:ZA|display=inline,title}}
| subdivision_type        = Country
| subdivision_name        = [[South Africa]]
| subdivision_type1       = Province
| subdivision_name1       = [[Mpumalanga]]
| subdivision_type2       = District
| subdivision_name2       = [[Gert Sibande District Municipality|Gert Sibande]]
| subdivision_type3       = Municipality
| subdivision_name3       = [[Pixley ka Seme Local Municipality|Pixley ka Seme]]
| subdivision_type4       = Main Place
| established_title       = Established
| established_date        = 1888
| leader_title            = Councillor
| area_footnotes          = 
| area_total_km2          = 25.43 
| elevation_m             = 1660
| population_total        = 24,281
| population_as_of        = 2011
| population_density_km2  = auto
<!-- demographics (section 1) -->
| demographics_type1      = Racial makeup (2011)
| demographics1_footnotes = <ref name="census2011">[https://census2011.adrianfrith.com/place/863008 2011 census]</ref>
| demographics1_title1    = [[Bantu peoples of South Africa|Black African]]
| demographics1_info1     = 79.56%
| demographics1_title2    = [[White South African|White]]
| demographics1_info2     = 16.46%
| demographics1_title3    = [[Indian South African|Indian]]/[[Asian South African|Asian]]
| demographics1_info3     = 1.99%
| demographics1_title4    = [[Coloureds|Coloured]]
| demographics1_info4     = 1.65%
| demographics1_title5    = Other
| demographics1_info5     = 0.34%
<!-- demographics (section 2) -->
| demographics_type2      = [[First language]]s (2011)
| demographics2_footnotes = <ref name="census2011" />
| demographics2_title1    = [[Zulu language|Zulu]]
| demographics2_info1     = 72.38%
| demographics2_title2    = [[Afrikaans language|Afrikaans]]
| demographics2_info2     = 15.77%
| demographics2_title3    = [[English language|English]]
| demographics2_info3     = 4.41%
| demographics2_title4    = [[Sesotho language|Sesotho]]
| demographics2_info4     = 1.74%
| demographics2_title5    = [[SiSwati language|SiSwati]]
| demographics2_info5     = 1.28%
| demographics2_title6    = [[Setswana language|Setswana]]
| demographics2_info6     = 1.13%
| demographics2_title7    = [[Southern Ndebele language|isiNdebele]]
| demographics2_info7     = 0.96%
| demographics2_title8    = Other
| demographics2_info8     = 0.95%
| demographics2_title9    = [[Sign language]]
| demographics2_info9     = 0.45%
| demographics2_title10   = [[Sepedi language|Sepedi]]
| demographics2_info10    = 0.40%
<!-- blank fields (section 2) -->
<!-- Other information -->
| timezone1               = [[South African Standard Time|SAST]]
| utc_offset1             = +2
| postal_code_type        = [[List of postal codes in South Africa|Postal code]] (street)
| postal_code             = 2470
| postal2_code_type       = [[Post-office box|PO box]]
| postal2_code            = 2470
| area_code_type          = [[Telephone numbers in South Africa|Area code]]
| area_code               = 017
}}

'''Volksrust''' is a town in the [[Mpumalanga]] province of [[South Africa]] near the [[KwaZulu-Natal]] provincial border, some 240&nbsp;km southeast of [[Johannesburg]], 53&nbsp;km north of [[Newcastle, KwaZulu-Natal|Newcastle]] and 80&nbsp;km southeast of [[Standerton]].

==History==

The town was laid out in 1888 on the farms Boschpad Drift, Rooibult or Llanwarne, Verkyk and Zandfontein, and proclaimed in 1889.<ref name="Dict">{{Cite book|title=Dictionary of Southern African Place Names|last=Raper|first=Peter E|last2=Moller|first2=Lucie A|last3=du Plessis|first3=Theodorus L|publisher=Jonathan Ball Publishers|year=2014|isbn=9781868425501}}</ref> It lies at an elevation of {{convert|5429|ft|m}}, and {{convert|4|mi|km}} north of the pass through the [[Drakensberg]] known as [[Laing's Nek]].<ref name="EB1911">{{EB1911|inline=y|wstitle=Volksrust|volume=28|page=195}}</ref> Municipal status was attained in 1904.<ref name=Dict/>

Dorothea de Jager, daughter of Dirk Uys, one of the battle victims, named the town Volksrust ''(Nation's Rest)''. The name probably refers to the citizens resting here after the [[Battle of Majuba]] on 27 February 1881,<ref name=dsapn>{{cite web|title=Dictionary of Southern African Place Names (Public Domain)|url=https://archive.org/details/DictionaryOfSouthernAfricanPlaceNames|publisher=Human Science Research Council|page=462}}</ref> a decisive battle leading to the [[South African Republic|Transvaal]]'s victory against the [[United Kingdom|British]] in the [[First Boer War]]. During the [[Second Boer War]] the British authorities built a [[Boers|Boer]] [[concentration camp]] in Volksrust. Visiting officials and army officers described the conditions of the camp as poor, though it suffered a death rate below the Transvaal average.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Volksrust |url=https://www2.lib.uct.ac.za/mss/bccd/Histories/Volksrust/ |access-date=2022-09-24 |website=British Concentration Camps of the South African War 1900-1902}}</ref> A memorial exists in Volkrust town square to the Boer women and children who died in the camp.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Concentration Camp Memorial |url=https://www.battlefieldsroute.co.za/place/concentration-camp-memorial/ |access-date=2022-09-24 |website=Battlefields Route |language=en-ZA}}</ref>

[[File:Majuba Hill-01 Nov 2008.jpg|thumb|right|280px|[[Battle of Majuba Hill|Majuba Hill]] as seen from [[Battle of Laing's Nek|Laing's Nek]] where two decisive battles were fought between the British and Boer forces in the First Boer War]]

==Agriculture==
Volksrust has important [[beef]], [[dairy]], [[maize]], [[sorghum]], [[wool]] and [[sunflower seed]] industries.

==Notable people==
* [[Miss World 2014]], [[Rolene Strauss]], was born here.

==References==
{{Reflist}}

== External links ==
* {{Commons category-inline}}
* [https://maps.google.com/maps?ll=-27.364111,29.881096&spn=0.059279,0.080316&t=k&hl=en Google Map]
* [http://www.volksrust.com Volksrust Home Page]

{{Gert Sibande District Municipality}}
{{Authority control}}

[[Category:Populated places in the Pixley ka Seme Local Municipality]]
[[Category:Second Boer War concentration camps]]
[[Category:Populated places founded by Afrikaners]]


{{Mpumalanga-geo-stub}}