Roodepoort

South Africa · 1977-10-01

Unofficial

Click any photo to see it enlarged, and step through the rest.

front

info card_2

Cachet: The cachet on this cover is built around a bold circular design in black and gold, with the word "Roodepoort" arching across the top in gold foil lettering. Concentric gold rings radiate outward from the circle, giving the design a sense of expansion fitting for a city marking its new status. Inside the black circle the words "Stad City" appear in large white letters beside a small coat of arms showing a swan on a shield flanked by two springbok, with the motto "Quattuor in Uno" beneath, meaning "four in one", a reference to the four original mining camps that merged to form the city. The date "1.10.77" is worked directly into the design. A single RSA 4c stamp illustrated by Dick Findlay, showing a protea, sits in the top right corner. Two matching Roodepoort postmarks, each built around the same coat of arms, cancel the stamp and appear again on the cover itself.

Info card

Roodepoort het sy ontstaan te danke aan die eerste ontdekking van goud op die Witwatersrand toe die Strubenbroers in 1884 goud op die plase Roodepoort, Vogelstruisfontein en Paardekraal ontdek het. Die gevolglike toestroming van fortuinsoekers en delwers het spoedig daartoe aanleiding gegee dat die delwerskampe Roodepoort, Hamberg, Florida en Maraisburg verrys het. Op 16 Oktober 1903 word 'n Buitestedelike Gesondheidsraad vir hierdie delwerye wat intussen tot klein dorpies gegroei het, in die lewe geroep; munisipale status aan die vier dorpe word op 26 Augustus 1904 toegeken onder die saambindende naam Roodepoort-Maraisburg. Tydens sy diamant-jubileumfees gedurende Oktober 1963 word die naam van Roodepoort-Maraisburg gewysig na Roodepoort. Stadstatus is op 1 Oktober 1977 aan Roodepoort toegeken. Tans beslaan die Munisipale oppervlakte 'n gebied van 178 vierkante kilometers, en het die stad 'n bevolking van 90,000 inwoners. Vandag is gebiede soos Maraisburg, Florida, Discovery, Honeydew, Kloofendal, om maar enkeles te noem, van die bekende woongebiede van die stad Roodepoort. The beginning and growth of Roodepoort was due to the first discovery of gold on the Witwatersrand, when in 1884, the Struben brothers discovered gold on the farms of Roodepoort, Vogelstruisfontein and Paardekraal. The resulting influx of fortune-seekers and diggers speedily gave rise to the digger camps of Roodepoort, Hamberg, Florida and Maraisburg. On October 16th 1903 a Peri-Urban Health Board was formed for these diggings, that had by now, developed into small towns. On August 26th 1904 Municipal status was granted to these four towns under the joint name of Roodepoort-Maraisburg. At the time of its Diamond Jubilee Centenary in October 1963 the name of Roodepoort-Maraisburg was changed to Roodepoort. City status was granted to Roodepoort on 1st October 1977. The present area of the Roodepoort Municipality is 178 sq. kilometers, with a population of 90,000 inhabitants. Today Maraisburg, Discovery, Honeydew and Kloofendal, to name but a few, are well known residential areas of Roodepoort.

Additional information

This cover is postmarked on 1 October 1977 in Roodepoort. It marks the day the town was granted official city status, closing a chapter that began with the discovery of gold on the Witwatersrand by the Struben brothers in 1884. The city's motto, Quattuor in Uno, meaning four in one, refers to the four original mining camps of Roodepoort, Hamberg, Florida and Maraisburg, which were united under municipal government in 1904 before eventually taking the single name Roodepoort in 1963.

Theme: Heritage

Condition: FineGood condition. Minor wear or small imperfections, but overall well-presented.

Addressed: No

Signed: No

Stamp denomination: R0.04 (ZAR)

Estimated value: ~US$0.1

This is a high-level, subjective estimate only, not a professional appraisal.