Yzerfontein

Yzerfontein, or Ysterfontein, is a small harbour town with about 1200 inhabitants on the west coast of South Africa about 90 km north of Cape Town. The name in Afrikaans means "Iron Fountain".The town started out when the farm 'Yzerfontein' was bought by the Katz-family in the 1930s. Then they started dividing the farm into plots. The main sources of income are tourism (especially during the wildflower season from August to October), mining and fishing.

Beach at Yzerfontein

Yzerfontein
Yzerfontein seen from the town harbour
Yzerfontein Show map of Western Cape Yzerfontein Show map of South Africa
Coordinates: 33.333°S 18.162°E / -33.333; 18.162
Country	South Africa
Province	Western Cape
District	West Coast
Municipality	Swartland
Established	1937
Area [1]
• Total	6.68 km^2 (2.58 sq mi)
Population  (2011)[1]
• Total	1,140
• Density	170/km^2 (440/sq mi)
Racial makeup (2011) [1]
• Black African	8.9%
• Coloured	5.6%
• Indian/Asian	0.5%
• White	81.4%
• Other	3.5%
First languages (2011) [1]
• Afrikaans	71.5%
• English	25.3%
• Xhosa	1.2%
• Other	1.9%
Time zone	UTC+2 (SAST)
PO box	7351
Area code	022
Website	www.yzerfontein.net

Yzerfontein in 2006

Yzerfontein is known for its Sixteen Mile Beach, stretching north from the main beach of the town, to the West Coast National Park, which borders the town. Dassen Island, another nature reserve, is about 10 km offshore.

Yzerfontein is the landing point for the ACE and WACS submarine communications cables.

Outside of the town is the Darling Wind Farm. This is producing power and there are plans for expansion.

Pearl Bay suburb, a new development in the south of Yzerfontein

The Yzerfontein salt pan is a 116 hectares (287 acres) coastal salt pan, just northeast of the town.[2] It was formerly mined for salt, and is currently mined for gypsum.[3]

These days Yzerfontein is more modern. It has a new spa, coffee shop, pharmacy and many restaurants. Its harbour is busy when it is kreef season or snoek season.

References

1. "Main Place Yzerfontein". Census 2011.
2. Valverde, Angel; Makhalanyane, Thulani P.; Cowan, Don A. (2014). "Contrasting assembly processes in a bacterial metacommunity along a desiccation gradient". Frontiers in Microbiology. 5: 668. doi:10.3389/fmicb.2014.00668. PMC 4253974. PMID 25520714.
3. Mauger, Carla L.; Compton, John S. (2011). "Formation of modern dolomite in hypersaline pans of the Western Cape, South Africa". Sedimentology. 58 (7): 1678–1692. doi:10.1111/j.1365-3091.2011.01229.x.

External links

• Information site for Yzerfontein