Laingsburg, Western Cape

Laingsburg
A view of Laingsburg
Laingsburg Show map of Western Cape Laingsburg Show map of South Africa Laingsburg Show map of Africa  Laingsburg shown within Western Cape
Coordinates: 33°11′42″S 20°51′33″E / 33.19500°S 20.85917°E / -33.19500; 20.85917Coordinates: 33°11′42″S 20°51′33″E / 33.19500°S 20.85917°E / -33.19500; 20.85917
Country	South Africa
Province	Western Cape
District	Central Karoo
Municipality	Laingsburg
Established	1879
Area
• Total	723.72 km2 (279.43 sq mi)
Population (2011)
• Total	5,667
• Density	7.8/km2 (20/sq mi)
Racial makeup (2011)
• Black African	8.2%
• Coloured	82.3%
• Indian/Asian	0.3%
• White	8.5%
• Other	0.7%
First languages (2011)
• Afrikaans	93.6%
• English	1.7%
• Xhosa	1.6%
• Other	3.1%
Postal code (street)	6900
PO box	6900
Area code	023

Laingsburg is a town located in the Western Cape province in South Africa.

The original inhabitants of the region were the Khoikhoi herders and the San hunter gatherers. Following the arrival of the early European colonists, the area was settled by Afrikaner Trekboers and Griqua people.

In the 1870s, the government of Prime Minister John Molteno oversaw a massive expansion of the Cape Colony's railway system. The route (chosen by the Prime Minister with a map, pen and ruler) ran past a farm named Vischkuil-aan-de-Buffelsrivier (fishing pond on the Buffalo River) which a man called Stephanus Greeff then bought for the purpose of development.

The line was completed in 1878 and a small siding named Buffelsrivier was built at the farm. With railway access, a town soon began developing. It was soon renamed Nassau to avoid confusion with Buffalo River in East London, and finally changed to the name Laingsburg, after John Laing who was Commissioner of Crown Lands at the time.

The town was laid out in 1881 and became a municipality in 1904. The Laingsburg Local Municipality has since been expanded to include Bergsig, Goldnerville and Matjiesfontein.

On 25 January 1981, in Laingsburg's centennial year, the largest part of the town was swept away within minutes by one of the strongest floods ever experienced in the Great Karoo. After a cloud burst to the north-eastern hinterland, south of the Komsberg, a massive wall of water rushed down the Buffels River and swept away everything it encountered in its way. Animals, humans and their possessions were swept along and later dumped under meters of silt. Hydrologists estimate that a flood in Laingsburg of this magnitude has a recurrence interval of once, on average, every 100 years.