Kathu, town in the Northern Cape, South Africa
Kathu is a small town in South Africa's Northern Cape province shaped by iron ore mining. The town was established in the late 1960s and early 1970s and is surrounded by an extensive forest of camel thorn trees covering about 4000 hectares, one of only two such forests in the world.
The town emerged in the 1960s and 1970s when iron ore deposits in the region were developed and a settlement for mine workers was established. It quickly developed into an industrial center that today houses one of the world's largest open-cast iron ore mines.
The name Kathu comes from the camel thorn trees surrounding the town and means town under the trees. The forest is now a place where residents and visitors walk and observe the old trees along with the many birds and animals that live there.
The town sits on the N14 National Road offering good road connections to other parts of the country and is reachable about 200 kilometers northeast of Upington and 280 kilometers northwest of Kimberley. Visitors will find basic services including accommodation, shops, and petrol stations.
Archaeologists have found stone-tipped spearheads about 500000 years old in the area around Kathu, among the oldest known spearheads in the world and likely made by Homo heidelbergensis. The site shows that early humans inhabited the region long before modern civilizations.
The community of curious travelers
AroundUs brings together thousands of curated places, local tips, and hidden gems, enriched daily by 60,000 contributors worldwide.
