Lephalale, formerly known as Ellisras, is a coal mining town in the Limpopo province of South Africa, located immediately east of the Waterberg Coalfield. The town's history is deeply intertwined with the region's rich coal deposits and its strategic importance in South Africa's energy sector. Let's delve into the key events and developments that have shaped Lephalale into what it is today.
Location of Lephalale in Limpopo Province, South Africa
Early History and Establishment
Late Iron Age cattle posts belonging to the Letsibogo ceramic facies have been found in the area. The name Ellisras originates from a combination of the surnames of Patric Ellis and Piet Erasmus, who settled in the 1930s on the farm Waterkloof 502LQ. The town was established as Ellisras in 1960 and named after these two settlers.
Since the opening of the main route between Vaalwater and Stockpoort during 1929, a railway bus stop developed on the farm. The central function of the newly established nodes became more evident, and other facilities such as schools, churches, and shops were established on the farm.
Geological Exploration and Mining Development
In 1941, the Geological Survey Division of the then Department of Mining launched an exploration program. Drilling was completed in 1952. A major influence on the growth of the farm Waterkloof 502LQ was the decision of Iscor in 1973 to continue with the development of the Grootegeluk Coal Mine. Grootegeluk mine was officially opened on 15 April 1981.
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Lephalale is rich with coal, which is mined by Exxaro at the Grootegeluk coal mine. The Waterberg coalfield has an estimated resource of 75-billion tons of coal, which is 40% of South Africa's remaining coal resource. However, only a relatively small part of the Waterberg coalfield is shallow enough to be accessed by open pit mining. Grootegeluk is located in the narrow band between these faults. South of the Eenzaamheid fault and in between the Daarby fault and the Zoetfontien fault, in the north, coal is found from 250 m below surface and deeper.
The Grootegeluk coal mine is the largest open cast coal mine together with beneficiation plants of its kind in the world. It produces more than 17 million tonnes of coal product per year, and the mine provides iron and ore industries with high-grade metallurgical coal for iron and steel production.
Infrastructure and Energy Production
Mokolo Dam (previously known as the Hans Strijdom Dam) was constructed in 1979-1980 on the Mokolo River, near Lephalale. The Malmanie River and the Bulspruit River, two tributaries of the Mokolo, also enter the dam from its left side.
Since Iscor became part of Ellisras, Eskom also decided to extend its interest to Ellisras, seeing that the steam coal produced is suitable for use in power stations and is used for the generation of steam. It happened by a decision by Eskom to build the air-cooled Matimba Power Station in close vicinity of the Iscor coal mine. Construction of the power station commenced in April 1981, and the first phase became operational shortly thereafter. Matimba was officially opened on 17 November 1989.
Eskom's Matimba Power Station, the Tsonga word for power, is designed to generate 4,000 MW and is the largest direct dry-cooled power station in the world. Eskom is commissioning a new power station called Medupi, which will have a capacity of 4,800 MW by the time its last unit is commissioned. Exxaro's Thabametsi, a third coal project for Exxaro in the Waterberg, with construction planned to reach its peak in 2021, will employ 1,500 people. Thabametsi translates into 'water mountain' and is situated about 13 km from Grootegeluk coal mine.
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The Mokolo and Crocodile Water Augmentation Project (MCWAP) entails the phased construction of two main bulk raw water transfer systems, as well as associated infrastructure to meet the new power station, mines, and domestic demands. The main components of the scheme are abstraction weirs, pump stations, pipelines, and balancing storage.
Other significant projects include Anglo Coal's Five Spot coal-bed methane pilot project and Thirty-Nine Spot project, as well as Resgens Boikarabelo Mine, which has probable reserves of 744.8-million tonnes of coal on 35% of the tenements under ResGen's control.
Political Significance and Transformation
South Africa's FW De Klerk on apartheid, Mandela and Ramaphosa - BBC Africa
At the beginning of his presidency in 1989, former President F. W. This conference involved discussions about policy development and strategies for change within the old South Africa. On 2 February 1990, a mere two months after this first bush conference, De Klerk announced the coming release of hundreds of political prisoners, including Nelson Mandela, and the legalization of black liberation organizations that had been outlawed for 30 years. He also proclaimed his then government's willingness to end apartheid and to negotiate a new constitution to the benefit of all South Africans.
Over the next four years De Klerk returned to the D'nyala seven more times with various officials in order to work out solutions for crises that arose during the negotiation processes. In December 1992 and January 1993, for example, government officials and members of the African National Congress (ANC) met at D'nyala for two more bush conferences.
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FW de Klerk and Nelson Mandela
Infrastructure and Connectivity
These roads serve as links between Thabazimbi, Vaalwater, Ellisras and Mokopane. The P84/1 and 198/1 run mostly along the drainage subsystems in the area. These main roads are tarred and are in relatively good condition.
The towns developed around the central business district in a linear form along the R517 road, and also along the main road that leads to Stockpoort. The Lephalale-Stockpoort road is the main connection road between the Marapong community and Lephalale/Onverwacht.
Renaming and Modern Lephalale
In 2002, Ellisras was renamed Lephalale by the provincial government of Limpopo, after the main river that crosses the municipality.
Climate and Environment
In Lephalale, the summers are long, hot, and partly cloudy, and the winters are short, cool, dry, and clear. The area is dominated by mixed bushveld and sour bushveld (sourveld).
The Waterberg Biosphere Reserve was declared a National Priority Area in terms of Section 18(1) of the National Environmental Management: Air Quality Act, 2004 (Act No. 39 of 2004). This reserve covers ±16,100 hectares and also adjoins the Glen Alpine Dam, which forms 11 km of the eastern boundary of Wonderkop Nature Reserve. It was proclaimed as a provincial nature reserve in June 1994.
Tourism and Recreation
Situated 10 km from the town of Lephalale, this resort gets its name from the massive nyala tree that is characteristic of the area and is also the southernmost habitat of the famous baobab tree. D'nyala boasts a diversity of game which includes some 65 mammal species such as nyala, white rhinoceros, giraffe, waterbuck, tsessebe, oryx, eland, zebra, impala, caracal, African wildcat, brown hyena, black-backed jackal and leopard.
Approximately 50 km to the south of Lephalale, this dam is well suited for water sports enthusiasts, campers and day visitors. It is on the northern slopes of the Waterberg mountains and has the advantage of both sweet veld as well as sour veld. Mokolo Dam into which the Mokolo River flows, is fairly large and water enthusiasts, campers, anglers and birders all regard the reserve as a sanctuary, set as it is against the beautiful mountains.
The Bushveld Festival takes place in early July.
Agriculture and Economy
Vegetables, cotton, tobacco, citrus, paprika, peppers, cucumbers, tomatoes, pumpkins, lucern, groundnuts, dry beans, wheat, maize, cut flowers and water melons.
Public Transportation
Public transport in Lephalale is provided by a number of taxi operators and two bus companies, Lowveld Bus Services and Phadziri Brothers. Lowveld Bus Services provides local and long distance services between Lephalale and surrounding villages. In addition it has a contract to provide services for the transportation of laborers to Grootegeluk and Matimba.
The Ellisras Basin
The Ellisras Basin is a geological basin that spans the border between South Africa and Botswana, extending west from the town of Lephalale (formerly Ellisras) in Limpopo province. There is an unconformity where the Karoo rocks of the basin overlie much older rocks. The southern flank of the basin is underlain by Waterberg Group rocks, which form between two-thirds and three-fourths of the basin floor. Mafic rocks of the Limpopo Belt underlie the basin floor in the northeast. There are few bedrock exposures in the Ellisras Basin; in most of the area, the relatively flat-lying sedimentary rock is covered by sands and soils.
In the Ellisras Basin, the Drakensberg flood basalts that cap the Karoo stratigraphic sequence are represented by a 75-m basalt section with a potassium-argon age of 179 million (+/-5 million) years and may account for over 50% of South Africa's coal reserves. Mining and utilization of the coal is expected to be constrained by its depth, high ash content, and structural complexity. There is interest in the potential for coalbed methane development from deep coal beds in the Ellisras Basin, particularly in the northeastern parts of the basin where the Grootgeluk Formation coal is found at depths greater than 300 metres (980 ft).
The Swartrant Formation is predominantly mudstone derived from a mafic source. Above the Grootegeluk Formation is the Eendragtpan Formation.
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