Clanwilliam, Western Cape

Clanwilliam
Dutch Reform Church building in Clanwilliam Dutch Reform Church building in Clanwilliam
Clanwilliam  Clanwilliam shown within Western Cape
Coordinates:
Country	South Africa
Province	Western Cape
District	West Coast
Municipality	Cederberg
Established	1806
Area
• Total	15.27 km2 (5.90 sq mi)
Elevation	100 m (300 ft)
Population (2011)
• Total	7,674
• Density	500/km2 (1,300/sq mi)
Racial makeup (2011)
• Black African	22.6%
• Coloured	68.5%
• Indian/Asian	0.5%
• White	7.7%
• Other	0.7%
First languages (2011)
• Afrikaans	77.7%
• Sotho	9.2%
• Xhosa	7.8%
• English	2.3%
• Other	3.0%
Postal code (street)	8135
PO box	8135
Area code	027

Clanwilliam is a town in the Olifants River valley in the Western Cape, South Africa, about 200 kilometres (120 mi) north of Cape Town. It is located in, and the seat of, the Cederberg Local Municipality. As of 2011 Clanwilliam had a population of 7,674.

Clanwilliam is situated at an elevation of 100 metres (330 ft), between the western slopes of the Cederberg mountains and the east bank of the Olifants River, which is impounded there by the Clanwilliam Dam. It is located just off the N7 national road, which runs from Cape Town to the Namibian border, and on the R364 road, which runs from Lamberts Bay to Calvinia. Clanwilliam is 230 kilometres (140 mi) from Cape Town by road.

Clanwilliam is the birthplace of ZP Theart, former lead vocalist, and founding member of the British power metal band DragonForce.

The Dutch Reform Church has been a scheduled national monument since 1973. The mission there used to run a school where Harold Cressy once taught whilst studying to become the first coloured man to gain a degree in Cape Town.

Coats of arms

Municipality — The municipal council assumed a coat of arms on 13 February 1964 and registered them with the Cape Provincial Administration in August 1964.

The arms, designed by Cornelis Pama, were : Or, a fess wavy Azure charged with a bar wavy Argent between in chief an elephant's head caboshed the trunk surmounting the fess proper and in base a trefoil Vert; a bordure embattled Ermine. In layman's terms : a golden shield with a blue wavy stripe across the centre and a narrower white wavy stripe on top of that, in the upper half of the shield is an elephant's head with the trunk hanging over the wavy stripes, and at the bottom of the shield is green trefoil, the whole design surrounded by an ermine border with an embattled edge.

The crest was an orange tree, and the motto Toujours pret ("always prepared"). Both the motto and the ermine on the shield were dervied from the Earl of Clanwilliam's arms.

Divisional council — The Clanwilliam divisional council (the local authority for the rural areas outside the town) registered a coat of arms at the Bureau of Heraldry in May 1976.

The arms were : Or, on a pale wavy Azure, between two oranges stalked proper, four wavy endorses Argent; a pointe ente Gules charged with a cluster of three cones of the Clanwilliam cedar Or. In layman's terms : a golden shield displaying two oranges on either side of a blue wavy vertical stripe bearing four narrow white wavy lines, at the bottom of the shield three golden Clanwilliam cedar cones on a red triangle.

The crest was a bunch of grapes between two elephant trunks, and the motto Fide labora.

External links

• Clanwilliam website
• Clanwilliam Dam