In 1851, Rustenburg town was born. The burghers and Voortrekker leader, Andres Pretorius had been living in the area for about 10 years. It was created for the specific purpose of being the country’s supplier of citrus fruits, peanuts, tobacco, corn, wheat, and sunflower seeds. The land was also perfect for cattle grazing. Then on February of 1859, the Dutch Reformed Church was founded and is also known as the home of Paul Krugerin 1963 who became the South African Republic president. On his property now sits the Paul Kruger Country Museum.

During the Second Boer War in 1899, Rustenburg became the battlefield. These battle sites are now part of the tourist attraction in the city. But during the war, it was a horrific experience with the British surrounded and under siege for many months.

The People

The original tribes before any settlers came were the Setswana and Matabele tribes. Today, many of the residents in the city are Tswana from the Royal Bafoken Nation. These were direct descendants of Sotho settlers. The Boers came in and in them the Tswana people found an ally to help them fight the Matabele and Zulu tribes even if technically they acquired the land illegally. Rustenburg only became known as a haven after the defeat of the Matabele tribe. Thus the name Rustenburg has a special meaning where “rusten” translates to “rest” and so becomes the “resting town” after all the violent clashes.

Platinum Mining

With the discovery of platinum in the town, the progress began in earnest. Transformations on all aspect of community life started to happen. The town was also called the Rustenburg Romance by poet Eric Rosenthal because of the presence of beautiful natural springs and a serene healing environment in the midst of so much progress and the ensuing pollution it created.

Effects of the Apartheid and Pass Laws

With apartheid, life in South Africa, Rustenberg included became very hard for non-whites. There were curfews set at 9 in the evening and pass laws that were skewed against non-whites. They were called pass laws because all non-whites were required to carry pass books outside of their homes and immediate vicinity. It helped whites control the mining industry as they were able to check workers and their status at any given time.

But, it was part of what made life excruciatingly horrible for non-whites. Not the least was the sudden uncaring attitude non-whites had for the environment which lead to the problems of pollution and desecration of much of the land. Because of the uncaring mining attitude, water sources got polluted with poisonous chemicals and toxins which lead to a severe water shortage. Today, in Boitekong which is on the north east side of Rustenburg, AIDS is highest in all of South Africa. Blame is being put at the feet of the mining companies that tainted the water supply, among others.

Today in Rustenburg

Much of what happened in the past has been left there. Today, Rustenburg is a thriving community with its share of successes and problems. The problems are normal cases brought about by a larger population, and a good economy. There is poverty but the community is doing something to alleviate it.

Some of the places residents like to spend time in are the game parks like the Rustenburg Nature Preserve, the Rustenburg Ramble, farm stalls, art galleries, Kgaswane Mountain Reserve, the Royal Bafokeng Sports Place, and even the Waterfall Mall.