Barkly East

Barkly East Barkly-Oos
Low-cost housing in Barkly East
Barkly East  Barkly East shown within Eastern Cape
Coordinates: 30°58′05″S 27°35′36″E / 30.96806°S 27.59333°ECoordinates: 30°58′05″S 27°35′36″E / 30.96806°S 27.59333°E
Country	South Africa
Province	Eastern Cape
District	Joe Gqabi
Municipality	Senqu
Established	1873[1]
Area[2]
• Total	16.80 km^2 (6.49 sq mi)
Elevation	1,790 m (5,870 ft)
Population (2011)[2]
• Total	9,986
• Density	590/km^2 (1,500/sq mi)
Racial makeup (2011)[2]
• Black African	90.4%
• Coloured	6.2%
• Indian/Asian	0.2%
• White	2.9%
• Other	0.3%
First languages (2011)[2]
• Xhosa	74.6%
• Sotho	11.7%
• Afrikaans	8.6%
• English	2.6%
• Other	2.5%
Postal code (street)	9786
PO box	9786
Area code	045-971-
Website	www.barklyeast.co.za

Barkly East (Afrikaans: Barkly-Oos) is a town in Eastern Cape Province, South Africa, seat of the Joe Gqabi District Municipality, and 117 km by road E.S.E. of Aliwal North, lying in the mountainous area just south of Lesotho. The town lies at the southern tip of the Drakensberg on the Langkloofspruit, a tributary of the Kraai River which, in turn is a tributary of the Orange River at an elevation of 1 790 meter (5 873 foot) above sealevel. Barkly East is characterized by rugged mountains and green valleys. Snow falls in winter, and the hamlet of Rhodes is 60 km or an hour's drive from Barkly East on the R396. Both are within the boundaries of the Senqu Local Municipality. It has been one of the few areas in South Africa where winter sports are pursued, and in summer fly fishing for Rainbow trout and indigenous Smallmouth yellowfish, trail running, mountain biking, ancient rock-art, tennis and the magnificent scenery draw tourists to the district. A more recent development is the mountainous terrain attracting off-road bikers who revel in traversing the numerous passes in the area. Even more recent is the opening of the winter fly fishing season on Wild Trout Association waters around Barkly East, Lady Grey, Rhodes and Wartrail.

Xhosa and Afrikaans are spoken by most of the people, while English and Sotho are also spoken. The primary economic base of the district is sheep-farming, the pasturage being excellent.

History

Like Barkly West, the town is named after Sir Henry Barkly,^[3] governor of the Cape Colony from 1870-1877. On 14 December 1874 the then-Governor, Sir Henry Barkly proclaimed that a town could split from Wodehouse.

Among the first families that settled in Barkly East were the Nels, Bothas, Oliviers, Murrays, Smits, Sephtons, Giddys, Isteds, Orpens, Nortons, Greyvensteins, Stapelbergs, Vorsters and the Jouberts and Cloetes of Constantia. But it was a Mr HS Nel who was the first person that settled in this area.

The area is well known for excellent trout fishing. A variety of caves contain rock paintings by the San that date back hundreds of years, and visitors interested in San art stay at cottages on local farms.

The Cloete-Joubert Hospital

The hospital in Barkly East is a monument for Mr. Piet Joubert by his wife who was a Cloete and daughter of one of the wealthiest cattle farmers in South Africa, CWP Cloete of Glen Almond. The Joubert couple had no children, and after her death she intended to donate her money to a hospital. But Mr. Greyvenstein, who was her lawyer, persuaded her to keep the Cloete money in the area. As such, a small hospital was planned. The total cost of the hospital was £100 000 of which £80 000 came from the Joubert couple. The hospital was opened by the minister Sauer and by Dollie Cloete (the granddaughter of CWP Cloete by his first wife).

Geography

Location

Climate

Barkly East has a subtropical highland climate (Cwb, according to the Köppen climate classification), with mild summers and chilly, dry winters, with occasional snowfalls. It borders on a cold semi-arid climate (BSk). The average annual precipitation is 567 mm (22 in), with most rainfall occurring during summer.

Barkly East
Climate chart (explanation)
J F M A M J J A S O N D     80     24 11     85     23 11     65     21 9     46     18 5     28     16 2     11     13 0     8     13 −1     11     15 0     22     18 4     46     20 6     67     21 8     78     23 10 Average max. and min. temperatures in °C Precipitation totals in mm Source: SA Explorer
Imperial conversion J F M A M J J A S O N D     3.1     75 52     3.3     73 52     2.6     70 48     1.8     64 41     1.1     61 36     0.4     55 32     0.3     55 30     0.4     59 32     0.9     64 39     1.8     68 43     2.6     70 46     3.1     73 50 Average max. and min. temperatures in °F Precipitation totals in inches

See also

• Barkly West
• Wodehouse

References

1. "Chronological order of town establishment in South Africa based on Floyd (1960:20-26)" (PDF). pp. xlv–lii.
2. "Main Place Barkly East". Census 2011.
3.  Chisholm, Hugh, ed. (1911). "Barkly East". Encyclopædia Britannica 3 (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press.

External links

• Barkly East Community Tourism organisation
• Wartrail & New England tourism
• Wild Trout Association, Rhodes-based fly fishing organisation