05
April
2025

Leeu Gamka

Leeu Gamka

Leeu-Gamka is a small town in the Western Cape province of South Africa, located 355 kilometres (221 mi) north-east of Cape Town in the Karoo. Leeu-Gamka is located where the Leeu River enters the Gamka River; both rivers are intermittent in this region. "Leeu" and "Gamka" both mean "Lion", in Afrikaans and ǀXam respectively.

Origin

The town of Leeu-Gamka owes its existence to the route chosen by Prime Minister John Molteno for the Cape Government Railways's western main line, from Cape Town towards the diamond fields at Kimberley. The railway line reached the meeting-point of the Leeu and Gamka rivers in 1879, and on 11 August of that year a station was opened on that location.

History

n 1877 a community centre and a church was built on a section of Brits's farm. A private irrigation scheme was started by the Smartt Syndicate in 1885 and liquidated in 1954. The concern built two dams, planted lucerne and wheat. They grazed karakul sheep and Clydesdale horses. In 1961, floods destroyed the Smartt Irrigation Board Dam and it was rebuilt by the government in 1964.

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