Porterville, Western Cape

Porterville is a town in the Western Cape province in South Africa.

Porterville
A collection of images from Porterville, Western Cape, South Africa. Top left: main church. Top right: A 'China Shop' located in the town. Left center: Historic town house on the main street. Bottom: A view of the town's main road.
Porterville Show map of Western Cape Porterville Show map of South Africa
Coordinates: 33°00′S 18°59′E
Country	South Africa
Province	Western Cape
District	West Coast
Municipality	Bergrivier
Area [1]
• Total	7.98 km^2 (3.08 sq mi)
Population  (2011)[1]
• Total	7,057
• Density	880/km^2 (2,300/sq mi)
Racial makeup (2011) [1]
• Black African	1.6%
• Coloured	76.4%
• Indian/Asian	0.4%
• White	21.0%
• Other	0.6%
First languages (2011) [1]
• Afrikaans	96.0%
• English	1.9%
• Other	2.1%
Time zone	UTC+2 (SAST)
Postal code (street)	6810, 6811, 6812
PO box	6810
Area code	022

Town at the foot of the Olifants River Mountains, 27 km south-east of Piketberg and 155 km north-east of Cape Town. It was laid out in 1863 on the farm Pomona, previously Willems Vallei, and became a municipality in 1903. It is situated 140 km north of Cape Town on R44 road at the base of the Olifants River mountains. Agriculture in the area is dominated by wheat production.

The town was established in 1863 and named after William Porter, Attorney General of the Cape Colony from 1839 to 1866.[2]

Demographics

Historical population

Year	Pop.	±%
2001	5,864	—
2011	7,057	+20.3%
[3][1]

According to the 2011 census, Porterville had a population of 7,057 people in 1,949 households. 96.0% of the residents speak Afrikaans as their first language, while 1.9% speak English and 2.1% speak some other language. 76.4% of residents identified themselves as "Coloured", 21.0% as "White" and 1.6% as "Black African".[1]

Things to do

An aerial photograph of Porterville, South Africa looking south with the R44 road running through the town. The Grootwinterhoek mountains can be seen in the distance on the left.

Porterville is the home of the Porterville Farmer's Market which is the town's main attraction on weekends. It is a community driven market that is only 1km outside of the little town and a great opportunity to get to meet the locals and enjoy yourself as a visitor.

Notable people

• Pieter Grobbelaar, South African World War II military commander was born in Porterville.
• Andrew Beerwinkel, South African rugby union player grew up in Porterville.

References

1. "Main Place Porterville". Census 2011.
2. "Dictionary of Southern African Place Names (Public Domain)". Human Science Research Council. p. 372.
3. , Census 2001 — Main Place "Porterville"