Location

In the east-central area of North West Province.

The town, a quiet, attractive farming centre (maize, groundnuts and sunflower seeds are the main crops), claimed its moment of fame in the 1920s when diamonds were discovered on the farm Elandsputte just to the north, provoking the last and perhaps most frenzied of the world's great diamond rushes. At one point more than 30,000 men ran across the flattish veld in a single, exuberant claim-pegging race. Over 100,000 diggers crowded into the area to work the alluvial soils; some good stones were found, but within a decade the rich diamond pockets had been emptied and Lichtenburg settled back into a sleepier routine. In the tree-shaded town square stands an equestrian statute of Koos de la Rey, one of a brilliant quartet of the Boer military commanders (the others were Louis Botha, Christiaan de Wet and Jan Smuts) during the war of 1899-1902 and the town's most notable son. De la Rey died in 1914, mistakenly shot dead by police at a roadblock (they were on the look-out for the notorious Foster gang of armed robbers). Visitor amenities include a hotel, guest-houses and B&Bs.

Highlights

Exhibits in the main museum are largely devoted to the life and times of General De la Rey, though space is also given to the renowned 19th-century 'seer' Niklaas van Rensburg, who showed, over a number of years, an uncanny ability to foretell future military events. There are other displays of a socio-economic nature. The Ampie Bosman cultural history museum features local history and the people of the wider area. Old farming equipment draws the eye in the Andries Beyers agricultural museum.

Part of the National Zoological Gardens network, the extensive (6,000-hectare) farm, formally known as the Lichtenburg nature reserve, specializes in the breeding and rearing of rare, endangered and exotic animals; among its residents are pygmy hippo, scimitar oryx, Indian water-buffalo, axis deer and Hartmann's mountain zebra. Here you'll also find a 'vulture restaurant' and, beside the dam, a bird hide. Visitors welcome.

An intriguingly unusual phenomenon is the 'Burning Vlei', a piece of open suburban ground where thick layers of peat have been burning, beneath the surface, for centuries.

Nearest towns

Ventersdorp lies to the east (take the R47); Klerksdorp is on the N12 highway to the south, Potchefstroom on the same route to the south-east.

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LICHTENBURG

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Western Cape
Gauteng
Eastern Cape
Free State
Kwazulu Natal
Mpumalanga
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Northern
North West