Molteno is a town situated in the Stormberg Mountains and along the R56 Provincial Route, in the Eastern Cape Province of South Africa.
Due to Molteno’s location high in the Stormberg Mountains, the town has recorded South Africa’s coldest temperatures at the famous Buffelsfontein weather station, and it is close to the country’s only ski resort.
While Sutherland in the Northern Cape Province has the coldest average temperature throughout the year, Molteno records the lowest temperatures in the winter months.
Molteno is surrounded by mountains and high Karoo plains, known for its vast panoramic views. It is also located almost exactly on the watershed between the catchment areas of the Atlantic Ocean (e.g., the Orange River to the north) and the Indian Ocean.
The area is dominated by the semi-arid, succulent-rich vegetation of the Great Karoo ecoregion.
Molteno falls within the Enoch Mgijima Local Municipality and the Chris Hani District Municipality.
History
Founding
Coal fields were discovered in this part of the Stormberg Mountains in 1859, and this created an economic incentive for development. The local people also stated a need for a settlement to serve as a central hub for the surrounding rural area.
The town was founded in 1874 by George Vice and laid out the next year. The town was the setting of South Africa’s first coal mine. Its name has connections both locally to the people of the Eastern Cape (Molteno is a name among the Xhosa-speaking people of the district), but it also has Italian roots. At its founding, the town was officially named after an immigrant, John Molteno, who had been born in London into a large Anglo-Italian family. Molteno became the first locally elected leader of the Cape and fought against British imperial expansion in southern Africa. Several of the town’s streets are similarly named after the members of the Cape’s first locally-elected cabinet. Water was first drawn from the nearby Stormberg river, and later also from the Jubilee Dam.
Coal mining
Soon after its founding, the town became the major supplier of coal to the region, with a large portion going to supply the diamond fields in Kimberley. It was granted municipal status in 1883, and by 1892, around 6000 tons of coal were being extracted at Molteno. Much of this coal went to supplying the Cape’s rapidly growing railway system. In 1887, the newly founded Molteno Chamber of Commerce was influential in urging the Cape Government to extend its railway system northwards into the Boer republics, so as to open up new markets. By 1897, production of coal in the region had risen to over 70,000 tons. However, by the 1920s, the expansion of the railways made access to coal fields in Natal and the Transvaal possible, resulting in the decline of coal mining around Molteno.
Boer War
During the Second Boer War, Molteno was used as a mustering point for troops before the famous Battle of Stormberg, as it was the closest railway station. The area also saw extensive Boer guerrilla activity.
The Molteno struggle
In the 20th century, growing oppression by the Apartheid government was met by resistance that manifested in the town as protests and battles between Molteno residents and police. When the Group Areas Act was enforced across South Africa in the 1960s, the mixed neighbourhoods in Molteno were destroyed, and the entire town was divided. Some mixed neighbourhoods, such as Esigingqini, had their residents evicted, and others, such as Nomonde, were delimited by enforced segregation. As a result, the overall town suffered a severe economic and social decline.
Resistance came to a head on 12 August 1985, when residents and students confronted the Apartheid police in the area around the town’s Ethiopian Church. In the resulting battle, three local Molteno activists were shot and killed (R. Mbango, S. Loliwe, N. Smile). The town commemorates the activists and the 12 August date annually, as “Molteno Day”.
The following years saw other community activists of the town lose their lives in the struggle. After the fall of Apartheid, the town erected a monument in what was named “Heroes Park” in the town centre. The monument honours the local Molteno “comrades in blood” who “… shall forever be remembered by the people of Molteno and South Africa as a whole”.
Since South Africa’s liberation in 1993, the town has begun the task of reuniting its communities and reversing the damage it has sustained from decades of segregation and oppression. Within the greater District Municipality, it now lies on the North-South Corridor (Corridor 4), which links Molteno to Queenstown – the proposed location for a Special Economic Zone (SEZ).
