Tarkastad is a Karoo town situated on the banks of the Tarka River in the Eastern Cape Province of South Africa, at the intersection of the R61 Provincial Route and the R344 Regional Route.
Tarkastad lies on a plain to the north of the Winterberg mountain range along the R61 road between Cradock and Komani (formerly known as Queenstown) and approximately 317 km north-east of Gqeberha (formerly known as Port Elizabeth).
The town’s name, Tarkastad, is believed to come from the Khoi-Khoi word Traka (meaning women) or the Celtic word Tarka (meaning otter) and the Afrikaans word Stad (meaning city).
The fact that the town is overlooked by Mary and Martha, two peaks which look like two women resting after a hard day’s work, also lends to the name.
Tarkastad falls within the Enoch Mgijima Local Municipality and the Chris Hani District Municipality.
Tarkastad is the birthplace of anti-Apartheid activist and African nationalist Steve Biko.
Economy
Tarkastad is surrounded by commercial farms, which specialize in crop, animal farming (Merino sheep, cattle, and goats), and game farming. The town caters to the surrounding villages in Ntabethemba, such as Tentergate, Khwezi, and Khayalethu.
Although no longer the capital of the Tsolwana Local Municipality, which was absorbed into the Enoch Mgijima Local Municipality, Tarkastad still offers public and administrative services for surrounding villages.
Climate
According to scientists, Tarkastad has one of the healthiest climates in the world. Winters are cold with frequent snowfalls on high-lying mountain tops, while summers are hot and dry. Tarkastad, which is situated at an elevation of 1,304 metres, normally receives about 335mm of rain per year, with most rainfall occurring mainly during summer.
History
The first people to occupy the area around Tarkastad were the San, who left an abundance of rock art paintings in Grootvlei just north of the town. The first farmers settled in Tarkastad in 1795, who built watermills, inns, and both a Dutch Reformed and a Presbyterian Church.
Two Great Trek leaders, Piet Retief and Andries Potgieter, farmed here for a short while. After the Dutch farmers decided to accompany their leaders on the Great Trek, the English 1820 settlers moved in, and in 1862, Tarkastad was established as a church centre and became a municipality in 1864.
Elands River Poort, a mountain pass, is located in the Karoo, 24 km to the north-west of Tarkastad, where the Battle of Elands River (1901) was fought during the Second Boer War.
The grave of Lt. Richard Sheridan, cousin of Winston Churchill, who was killed in the Battle of Elands River, can be found on the Modderfontein farm just outside Tarkastad. Victorian cast iron lamp posts, old water mills, and broekie lace adornments indicate the British colonial influence.
Tarkastad’s first Municipal Manager after apartheid was Smilo Dayi, an ex-political prisoner. The first mayor after apartheid was Ntsikelelo Sampempe.
A family house in Tarkastad was the birthplace of anti-Apartheid activist Steve Biko.
