Noupoort

Noupoort is a small town in the eastern Karoo region of South Africa.

Noupoort
View over Noupoort
Noupoort Show map of Northern Cape Noupoort Show map of South Africa
Coordinates: 31°11′S 24°57′E
Country	South Africa
Province	Northern Cape
District	Pixley ka Seme
Municipality	Umsobomvu
Area [1]
• Total	10.2 km2 (3.9 sq mi)
Elevation	1,494 m (4,902 ft)
Population  (2011)[1]
• Total	7,848
• Density	770/km2 (2,000/sq mi)
Racial makeup (2011) [1]
• Black African	54.0%
• Coloured	41.5%
• Indian/Asian	0.5%
• White	3.7%
• Other	0.2%
First languages (2011) [1]
• Xhosa	48.2%
• Afrikaans	47.7%
• English	1.5%
• Other	2.6%
Time zone	UTC+2 (SAST)
Postal code (street)	5950
PO box	5950
Area code	049843

The town lies 54 km south of Colesberg and 45 km north of Rosmead Junction on the N9 National Route. It was laid out on a portion of the farm Caroluspoort, was administered by a village management board from 1937 and attained municipal status in 1942. Afrikaans for ‘narrow pass’, the name refers to a gap in the Carlton Hills 27 km to the north-west.[2]

It revolved principally around the railways and is still used as traction change-over facility from diesel to electric locomotives on the Noupoort-Bloemfontein line. It was serviced by Midlandia, a locomotive complex a few kilometres to the south of town, especially during the diesel era up to the late 1900s. Nowadays it links up with the electrified line to De Aar, part of the main artery for iron ore and manganese exports from the Northern Cape through Port Elizabeth harbour on the south coast.

Commercial activity in Noupoort is heavily dependent on railway activity. After a long period of increasingly less demand on the rail network, the town suffered from a drastic decline in local business leading to increasingly dire socioeconomic conditions for the local population. Poverty increased concomitantly with the decline in rail activity.