History of Murraysberg
Province: Western Cape
Karoo
Coordinates:31°57′S 23°46′E
Area:69.3 km2
Municipality: Beaufort West
The dispute between settlers and locals
Before the European settlers arrived, the Karoo was populated by San hunter-gatherers. The concept of ownership was foreign to them so they hunted the Trekboers livestock as they did the wildlife in the area. This did not sit well with the settlers and it caused a lot of conflict. This conflict lasted for many years as farms were attacked, houses burned and herdsmen were killed. In retaliation, many San were also killed. The San were eventually displaced when they migrated north towards the Kalahari. There are still paintings and rock engravings to be seen in the area.
Municipality in Murraysberg
Murraysburg was established on the farm Eenzaamheid” which is Dutch for loneliness, it became a municipality in 1856 and was named after Reverend Andrew Murray Snr, who was the minister at Graaff-Reinet and Barend O J Burger, The town was established as so many Karoo towns around the formation of a church parish. For years the village was under the control of the Church, but Barend Burger, who managed the town for the Church, eventually found the task too difficult, so discussions took place with the Colonial Government. In 1860. The first members of a new Municipal Council were chosen and Barend Burger became the first mayor of Murraysburg.
Boer War Connection
A condition of the purchase of a residential plot in Murraysburg was that the plot had to be surrounded by a quince hedge. which explains the large number of quince hedges that were to be found there.
The 2nd Boer War affected Marraysburg in an interesting way. The town residents were technically subjects of the British crown but their sympathies were with the Boer republics. The colonial government attempted to form a town guard to offset Boer incursions but not enough men were found in Murraysburg to form such a guard. Therefore the colonial forces mostly ignored Murraysburg as they had no guard to rely on. In fact, Murraysburg was considered a rebel town as it assisted the Boers with medicine, weapons, and information. In fact, anything to do with Britain was at risk. the magistrate’s office, post office, and houses belonging to English people were burned.
Murraysberg is known today as a horse breeding centre.
The license plate prefix for Murraysberg is CBT and the postcode is 6995
Things to see and do in Murraysberg
- The Stillfees in April www.stillfees.co.za
- The Sneeuwberg Traverse in November Run over the Sneeuwberg mountains 049 844 0038
- The Sneeuwberg Crawl MTB race in December 049 852 9113 www.snuwbergcrawl.co.za
WEATHER IN MURRAYSBERGTODAY
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Useful Numbers in Murraysberg
- Police: 049-8446500, 049-8446501
- Municipaliy;023 449 1000
- Traffic department: 048 881 2660
- Fire: 10177
- Water:023 415 8100
- Electricity:023 415 8100
- Ambulance: 10177
- Post office;049 844 0153
- Library:049 844 0077
- Closest hospital: 049 844 0053
- Clinic: 049 844 0021
- Pharmacy;
- SPCA: The Cradock animal shelter 048 881 2660
- Schools: Murraysburg High School- 049 844 0244
Murraysburg Primary School- -049 844 0089
https://murraysburg.co.za/[/vc_column_text]