Maletswai, previously known as Aliwal North, is a town in central South Africa on the southern bank of the Orange River, in the Eastern Cape Province of South Africa.
Aliwal North (officially renamed Maletswai) is located at the intersection of the N6 National Route and the R58 Provincial Route on the Eastern Cape border with the Free State Province.
Maletswai (previously known as Aliwal North) falls within the Walter Sisulu Local Municipality, which is part of the Joe Gqabi District Municipality.
The town is a medium-sized commercial centre in the northernmost part of the Eastern Cape Province.
The settlement of the area and its development into a town is connected to the presence of good water, thermal springs, and a good fording place (‘drift’) across the Orange River, just below its confluence with the Kraai River.
The Frere Bridge was opened in 1880 and later replaced with the General Hertzog Bridge on the N6, leading to Bloemfontein, 206 km to the north. To the south-west of the town, the Kramberg rises to 2,000 m above sea level.
Maletswai has the following suburbs:
- Maletswai CBD
- Arbor View
- Buffelsbaden
- Bird’s Eye View
- Dukathole
- Hilton
- Joe Gqabi
- Area13
The central business district is surrounded by the following suburbs: Dukathole, Hilton, Joe Gqabi, the Springs (where the well-known Aliwal Spa is situated), and Arborsig. Many residents and staff of the Goedemoed Correctional Facility (situated on the Free State side of the Orange River) use the town’s many businesses, schools, churches, and hospital.
The town is connected to neighbouring towns via a good road system, and serves as a thoroughfare for tourists en route to resorts in the Eastern Cape Drakensberg. Unfortunately, the railway station had to close due to la ack of rail usage. The town also has a good airfield, the Aliwal North Airstrip, with three grass runways, safe for use during daylight.
History
One of the first white settlers in the area, Pieter Jacobus de Wet, built a house at the nearby Buffelsvlei around 1828. Sir Harry Smith, Governor of the Cape Colony from 1847 to 1852, formally founded the small town of Aliwal North in the Cape Province of South Africa in 1850. He named the town “Aliwal North” in memory of his victory over the Sikhs at the Battle of Aliwal during the First Sikh War in India in 1846.
The town was laid out in 1849 on ground acquired by the government. This was auctioned, and 38 lots were sold for £972.
The park in the centre of Maletswai, the Juana Square Gardens, was named after Smith’s wife, Juana María de los Dolores de León. Municipal status was attained in 1882.
The railway line from Molteno reached Aliwal North (officially renamed Maletswai) on 2 September 1885.
Also in 1855, the Dutch Reformed Church in the town was built.
On 8 January 1901, following the evacuation of Smithfield during the Second Boer War, Major Kendal Pretyman Apthorp established the Aliwal North concentration camp, which at its height housed approximately 2,000 Boer refugees. The camp was closed by November 1902 after the inmates had been repatriated to their homes.
The Northern Post newspaper operated from Aliwal North from 1874 to 1902.
Tourism
The main tourist attractions of Maletswai are two hot mineral springs, both of which have extremely high concentrations of minerals and gases.
The thermal springs resort, named Aliwal Spa, is located within the municipal area. During 2010–2014, the resort underwent reconstruction by the Local Municipality’s contractors and opened again for public use in 2015.
