Burgersdorp

Burgersdorp was founded in 1846 on the farm Klipfontein, making it the oldest town in the northern Eastern Cape. The name translates directly as Town of Citizens — it was named after its own inhabitants. It sits at the foot of the Stormberg Mountains in the Joe Gqabi District, a place with an outsized role in South African political and cultural history for a town of its size. The Afrikaner Bond, the first Afrikaner political party, was founded here in 1881. A theological seminary established here in 1869 eventually moved to Potchefstroom and became the institution that grew into North-West University.

The Taalmonument in Burger Square is the most talked-about landmark. It depicts a woman pointing to a tablet inscribed with 'The Triumph of the Dutch Language' — commemorating the successful campaign in 1882 to have Dutch recognised as an official language after 25 years of lobbying. The statue was badly damaged by Lord Milner during the Anglo-Boer War. A replica was erected in 1907. The original, missing its head and one arm, turned up in a King William's Town workyard in 1939 and was brought back. Both statues now stand side by side in the square. That kind of story is what makes Burgersdorp worth visiting.

There are ten national monuments in the town, including a Victorian drinking fountain from 1897 celebrating Queen Victoria's Diamond Jubilee, a Boer War memorial unveiled by General Koos de la Rey, and a blockhouse called Brandwag overlooking the town — one in Kitchener's line of forts across the Cape frontier. The Battle of Stormberg was fought near here in late 1899, part of what became known as Black Week when a commando of 400 Boers defeated a much larger British force. The town wears this history without performance.

For outdoor activity, there are hiking trails through the surrounding Stormberg countryside with San rock art and plant fossils, and a 2 km historical trail through the town itself. The area is prime merino sheep-farming country and the economy reflects it.