Kokstad - KwaZulu Natal South Africa
Kokstad is named after the Griqua chief Adam Kok III who settled here. In the
1860s the Griqua tribe which lived in Griquatown split and under the leadership
of Adam Kok III, descendent of the ex-cook who established the tribe, one section
first moved to Philipolis,
then across the Drakensberg
to the vicinity of the modern Kokstad.
They named the mountain where they settled Mount Currie after Sir Walter Currie
who gave support to their effort to settle here. The Griquas settled on the
steep mountain slope, living in mud huts. When, in 1869, the Reverend William
Dower was asked by the Griqua to establish a mission, he agreed on condition
that they resettle in a more suitable place on the banks of the Mzimhlava River.
The town was built at this location. The first hotel in town, the Royal, was
opened by an Afro-American who also started a newspaper (Kokstad Advertiser)
in 1881. Kokstad became a municipality in 1892. The original Kokstadt settlement
of 1863 can be visited about 5Km from town off the Swartberg
road.
Accommodation in Kokstad
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