General Demographics
With the growth of Sasol Synthetic Fuels as the major employer and its increased drive to recruit labour from a field in the late seventies, it became necessary to establish a dormitory town within the Highveld Ridge complex to accommodate the increased workers employed by Sasol Synthetic Fuel. As a result, eMbalenhle was established in 1978 on the farm Langverwacht 282 IS.
The town is based on a mixture of traditional gridiron and modern town planning designs and boasts some of the modern
Community facilities within the sub-region. eMbalenhle has grown significantly from its inception in 1978 and today it has approximately 229 473 inhabitants.
CHARL CILLIERS:
Situated about 30 kilometres south of Sasol lies the township of Charl Cilliers. Mainly residential stands, that serves in the housing need of the HR area, although only 10% are yet developed. A Church, Police Station, Post Office and several General Dealers are situated within Charl Cilliers. The community of Charl Cilliers 2 028 residents relies mainly on through traffic (105-1) to create business opportunities for the residents. Some of the internal roads are tarred. Eskom provides electricity and sewerage disposal tanks are provided within the township.
BETHAL:
In the late seventies of the nineteenth century the distribution of the population was such that the need for an independent congregation gave rise to the parish of Bethal. In 1904, Bethal was declared a municipality and Mr George Hutchinson was elected the first chairman of theMunicipal Council of Bethal. In 1905 the railway line from Springs to the North Coast reached Bethal and contributed to the prosperity of the town. Today, Bethal and Milan Park has approximately 16 485 residents depending on her.
EMZINONI:
The eMzinoni extension has a virtually square shape and has the following logical physical boundaries: North: The Baanbreker road – provincial road no 456. West: the western boundary of portion 4. Blesbokspruit 148 IS: South: the proposed provincial road – P109-1: East: the Bethal-Standerton road – P30-2. eMzinoni and its environs are located within the Highveld region consisting of a rolling hill landscape at an average elevation of about 1640m above sea level. The area drains into the south flowing Blesbokspruit located to the west of eMzinoni. Topography is essentially level in the flood plains and vegetation comprises thick grass. Over the remainder of the site vegetation comprises maize, Lucerne, sunflower and bean fields and typical Highveld grass in uncultivated areas. There is approximately 119 170 residents in eMzinoni township.LEANDRA:
The town consists of the towns of Eendracht, Leslie and Lebohang. Leandra was established to fulfil a service centre role for either the mining and or agricultural sectors in the district. The district is close to Gauteng and the Witbank-Middelburg complex. The centre benefit directly from spill over effects from development in these centres. Today, Leandra has approximately 108 277 residents.BETHAL Rural Area:
The magisterial district of Bethal consists of an area of approximately 89006 hectare with Witbank, District to the North, Standerton district to the South, Kriel and
Secunda to the West and Ermelo district to the East. On 5 June 1992, the new magisterial district of Kriel was established resulting in a reduced area of Bethal and it fundamentally affected the economic and population statistics.
The natural field within the region is generally grass fields, with isolated spots of shrubs and trees within the Bethal District a total of 72067 hectare ground is plowable and suitable for the enhancement of the field. Hibernation of livestock in terms of livestock production is major problem in this area. Because of the acidified that exist, decrease the quality of the soil drastically from around May. The Bethal RA falls within the summer rainfall area, because the yearly rainfall mostly occurs in the summer. An average rainfall of more than 700mm per year is applicable. The most part of the Highveld is during the winter months subject to heavy frost and even snow is possible. Bethal RA has an estimated total population of approximately 19 715.
AGRICULTURAL LAND USE:
| Bethal (ha) Total Area | 240 200 |
|---|---|
| Arable land | |
| Dry land: Utilised | 144 164 |
| Vacant | 13 940 |
| Irrigation: Utilised | 5 000 |
| Vacant | 4 000 |
| Planted grazing | |
| Dry land: Utilised | |
| Vacant | 16 169 |
| Irrigation: Utilised | 16 253 |
| Vacant | 0 |
| Natural grazing | 33 372 |
| Forestation | 0 |
| Non-agricultural land | 7 302 |
HR Rural Area:
The town consists of the towns of Eendracht, Leslie and Lebohang. Leandra was established to fulfil a service centre role for either the mining and or agricultural sectors in the district. The district is close to Gauteng and the Witbank-Middelburg complex. The centre benefit directly from spill over effects from development in these centres. Today, Leandra has approximately 108 277 residents.It forms most of the rural areas around the build-up towns of Secunda, Evander, and eMbalenhle, Charl Cilliers, Kinross, Trichardt and Leandra.
A large amount of land (39.5%) in the study area is used for dry land arable farming. The HR RA is known for its large production of maize, sorghum and sunflower. Most of these products are grown in summer and are therefore reliant on the generally higher summer rainfall in the study area. The study area is characterized by undulating convex and concave slopes, and is situated 1 200 meter above sea level. A variety of pure grassveld types dominate the area. Igneous and sedimentary rock types also underlie the study area. The HR RA is therefore endowed with good gold deposits. These are also platinum-group metals and silver deposits which have been found in the study area. HR RA has an estimated total population of approximately 216 869.
AGRICULTURAL LAND USE:
| Highveld Ridge (ha) Total Area | 142 300 |
|---|---|
| Arable land | |
| Dry land: Utilised | 56 226 |
| Vacant | 6 472 |
| Irrigation: Utilised | 2 000 |
| Vacant | 3 000 |
| Planted grazing | |
| Dry land: Utilised | |
| Vacant | 5 621 |
| Irrigation: Utilised | 44 497 |
| Vacant | 0 |
| Natural grazing | 20 001 |
| Forestation | 0 |
| Non-agricultural land | 4 483 |