Die rol van sendelinge, die owerheid en ekonomiese faktore in die onstaan van Kuruman, 1886-1913

Abstract

It has never been easy to fix criteria for determining when a South African town was founded. A study of a few Northern Cape districts reveals that only one town in this region does not trace its date of establishment back to the installation of local government. The reasons why Kuruman developed at a snail's pace - from the time when the town's establishment was approved (1886) and erven were surveyed (1887) - before it was granted local government almost 30 years later, are analysed in Kuruman' s centenary. The study indicates that between 1886 and 1903 the actions of missionaries and the government, as well as economic factors, were to a great extent responsible for this state of affairs. As these restrictions disappeared, and as a result of the population growth and economic revival since 1903, Kuruman developed into an important service centre within a decade. In 1913 a village management board was formed, and three years later Kuruman was granted municipal status.