Kokstad

Kokstad is the major town in the East Griqualand area of KwaZulu-Natal near the boundary with the Eastern Cape in South Africa. It lies at the foothills of the Drakensberg Mountains and Mount Currie, rising to 2224m creates a spectacular back drop to the town in this wild and beautiful area of the province. The town, founded by Adam Kok, the leader of the Griqua tribe which settled area in the 1860’s after confrontations with the Voortrekkers, is now one of the fastest growing towns in KwaZulu-Natal with a population of 45000.

The area is mainly devoted to stock farming but because of the many rivers, dams and nature reserves in it has become a tourist destination worth visiting. There are a number of activities around the town, mostly related to water such as trout fishing, boating, angling and skiing. The three nature reserves – Mount Currie, Wilfred Bauer and Mountain Lake Nature Reserve – provide ample opportunities for bird watching (220 species), picnicking and easy hiking. The nearby Crystal Dam is fed by pure mountain spring water and is ideal for boating and fishing.

Two prominent European settlers George Brisley and Donald Strachan played a major role in the early development of Kokstad and East Griqualand: their trading store, Strachan and Co, introduced South Africa’s first indigenous currency—a set of trade tokens which circulated across a wide region, covering an area the size of Ireland. The town was the subject of international news when Oprah Winfrey’s charitable foundation, the Angel Network, established a school for disadvantaged children in the Shayomoyo Township just outside the town.