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The Northern Cape ( ; ; ) is the largest and most sparsely populated province of South Africa. It was created in 1994 when the Cape Province was split up. Its capital is Kimberley. It includes the Kalahari Gemsbok National Park, part of the Kgalagadi Transfrontier Park and an international park shared with Botswana. It also includes the Augrabies Falls and the diamond mining regions in Kimberley and Alexander Bay.
The Namaqualand region in the west is famous for its Namaqualand daisies. The southern towns of De Aar and Colesberg found within the Great Karoo are major transport nodes between Johannesburg, Cape Town and Gqeberha. Kuruman can be found in the north-east and is known as a mission station. It is also well known for its artesian spring and Eye of Kuruman. The Orange River flows through the province, forming the borders with the Free State in the southeast and with Namibia to the northwest. The river is also used to irrigate the many vineyards in the arid region near Upington.
Native speakers of Afrikaans comprise a higher percentage of the population in the Northern Cape than in any other province. The Northern Cape's four official languages are Afrikaans, Tswana language, Xhosa language, and English. Minorities speak the other official languages of South Africa and a few people speak indigenous languages such as Nama and Khwe language.
The provincial motto, Sa ǁa ǃaĩsi 'uĩsi ("We go to a better life"), is in the Nǀu language of the Nǁnǂe (ǂKhomani) people. It was given in 1997 by one of the language's last speakers, Ms. Elsie Vaalbooi of Rietfontein, who has since died. It was South Africa's first officially registered motto in a Khoisan language. Subsequently, South Africa's national motto, ǃKe e ǀxarra ǁke, was derived from the extinct ǀXam language.
The Northern Cape is also the home of over 1,000 Bushmen who emigrated from Namibia following the independence of the country; they had served as trackers and scouts for the South African Defence Force during the South African Border War, and feared reprisals from their former foes. They were awarded a settlement in Platfontein in 1999 by the Mandela government.
The precolonial history of the Northern Cape is reflected in a rich, mainly Stone Age, archaeological . Cave sites include Wonderwerk Cave near Kuruman, which has a uniquely long sequence stretching from the turn of the twentieth century at the surface to more than 1 million (and possibly nearly 2 million) years in its basal layer (where stone tools, occurring in very low density, may be Oldowan). Many sites across the province, mostly in open air locales or in sediments alongside rivers or pans, document Earlier, Middle and Later Stone Age habitation. From Later Stone Age times, mainly, there is a wealth of rock art sites – most of which are in the form of petroglyphs such as at Wildebeest Kuil and many sites in the area known as ǀXam -ka !kau, in the Karoo. They occur on hilltops, slopes, rock outcrops and occasionally (as in the case of Driekops Eiland near Kimberley), in a river bed.Parkington, J. Morris, D. & Rusch, N. 2008. Karoo rock engravings. Clanwilliam: Krakadouw Trust In the north eastern part of the province there are sites attributable to the Iron Age such as Dithakong.Morris, D. & Beaumont, P. 2004. Archaeology in the Northern Cape: some key sites. Kimberley: McGregor Museum. Environmental factors have meant that the spread of Iron Age farming westwards (from the 17th century – but dating from the early first millennium AD in the eastern part of South Africa) was constrained mainly to the area east of the Langeberg Mountains, but with evidence of influence as far as the Upington area in the eighteenth century. From that period the archaeological record also reflects the development of a complex colonial frontier when precolonial social formations were considerably disrupted and there is an increasing 'fabric heavy' imprint of built structures, ash-heaps, and so on. The copper mines of Okiep and the diamond rush to the Kimberley area resulted in industrial archaeological landscapes in those areas which herald the modern era in South African history.
Northern Cape has a shoreline in the west on the South Atlantic Ocean. It borders the following areas of Namibia and Botswana:
Above the Orange-Vaal confluence, the Seekoei River drains part of the northeastern Karoo into the Orange River above the Vanderkloof Dam. Next downstream from the Orange-Vaal confluence is the Brak River, which flows nonperennially from the south and is in turn fed by the Ongers River, rising in the vicinities of Hanover and Richmond respectively. Along the Orange River near the town of Kakamas, the Hartebeest River drains the central Karoo. Above Kenhardt the Hartebeest is known as the Sak River, which has its source on the northern side of the escarpment, southeast of Williston. Further downstream from Kakamas, below the Augrabies Falls, and seldom actually flowing into the Orange River, is the Molopo River, which comes down from the Kalahari in the north. With its tributary, the Nossob River, it defines part of the international boundary between South Africa and Botswana. Further tributaries of the Molopo River include the Kuruman River, fed by the Moshaweng River and Kgokgole River, and the Matlhwaring River. Flowing west into the Atlantic, in Namaqualand, is the Buffels River and, further south, the Groen River.
| +Historic Breakdown of Population by Group !Population Group !1996 !2001 !2011 !2022 | ||||
| Black African | 44.9% | 46.5% | 50.4% | 50.1% |
| Coloureds | 43.7% | 42.9% | 40.3% | 41.6% |
| White | 11.2% | 10.3% | 7.1% | 7.3% |
| Indian/Asian | 0.2% | 0.2% | 0.7% | 0.8% |
| Other | n/a | n/a | 1.6% | 0.2% |
Like South Africa's other provinces, the Northern Cape has a parliamentary system of government, with the provincial premier elected by the Northern Cape Provincial Legislature. The premier then selects the members of the provincial Executive Council (cabinet). The current premier is Zamani Saul of the African National Congress (ANC), who has held the position since 2019.
The provincial legislature is elected every five years by a system of party-list proportional representation. In the most recent provincial election, held in 2024, the ANC won a plurality of the vote but failed to win an overall majority of seats. After the election, the ANC declined to form a formal coalition, but the ANC's Zamani Saul was reelected as premier with support from the Patriotic Alliance and Freedom Front Plus. The Democratic Alliance (DA) is the second largest party in the province and forms the official opposition.
The results of the most recent provincial election in 2024 are as follows:
In the 1999 provincial election, the ANC substantially increased its vote share and won an overall majority in the provincial legislature. Thereafter the ANC would continue to maintain a majority in the legislature until 2024.
After the 2004 election, the ANC's Dipuo Peters replaced Dipico as Premier, and the Democratic Alliance (DA) replaced the New National Party as the official opposition. Following the 2009 election, which was again won the by ANC, the ANC's Hazel Jenkins became the new Premier, while the Congress of the People (COPE), a new splinter party from the ANC, had a strong showing and replaced the DA as the official opposition. Jenkins was later replaced as Premier by Sylvia Lucas in 2013.
The 2014 election saw the ANC returned to power once again with an increased mandate, while DA once again became the official opposition, after the collapse of COPE. The newly formed Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) also entered the legislature for the first time. Sylvia Lucas was re-elected to her first full term as premier.
In the 2019 election, the Northern Cape was considered competitive, with the DA hoping to win the province. In the end, the ANC returned as the majority party, albeit with a reduced majority. The DA was once again the official opposition with an increased seat total. The EFF made gains, while the Freedom Front Plus (FF+) won a seat in the legislature for the first time since 2004. Zamani Saul replaced Lucas as premier after the election.
Population 10,000+
Population < 10,000
The Northern Cape is also home to the Square Kilometer Array (SKA), which is located 75 km North-West of Carnarvon.
The economy of the Northern Cape relies heavily on two sectors, mining and agriculture, which employ 57% (Tertiary Sector) of all employees in the province.
Most famous for the diamond mines around Kimberley, it also has mining activities for Manganese and iron ore.
The Northern Cape also has a substantial agricultural area around the Orange River, including most of South Africa's sultana vineyards. Some Wine of Origin areas have been demarcated. The Orange River also attracts visitors who enjoy rafting tours around Vioolsdrif. Extensive sheep raising is the basis of the economy in the southern Karoo areas of the province.
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