Beitbridge
Beitbridge | |
---|---|
UTC+2 (CAT) | |
Climate | BSh |
Beitbridge is a border town in the province of
Background
The town lies just north of the Limpopo River about 1 km from the Alfred Beit Road Bridge which spans the Limpopo between South Africa and Zimbabwe. The main roads are the A6 highway to Bulawayo and the Victoria Falls, being 321 kilometres (199 mi) and 758 kilometres (471 mi) away respectively and the A4 to Masvingo and Harare. According to the 2012 population census, the town had a population of 41,767 dominated by the Venda and Ndebele people . There is a sizable percentage of Shona people from other provinces this is a busy border post with traders from all over Zimbabwe. The Beitbridge border post is the busiest road border post in Southern Africa, and is best avoided during busy border-crossing seasons.
Climate
Climate data for Beitbridge (1961–1990) | |||||||||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Month | Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec | Year |
Record high °C (°F) | 43.3 (109.9) |
42.3 (108.1) |
42.2 (108.0) |
38.9 (102.0) |
36.7 (98.1) |
34.4 (93.9) |
33.9 (93.0) |
38.9 (102.0) |
40.0 (104.0) |
43.3 (109.9) |
44.4 (111.9) |
42.8 (109.0) |
44.4 (111.9) |
Mean daily maximum °C (°F) | 33.5 (92.3) |
32.8 (91.0) |
32.0 (89.6) |
30.4 (86.7) |
28.2 (82.8) |
25.4 (77.7) |
25.4 (77.7) |
27.6 (81.7) |
30.2 (86.4) |
31.8 (89.2) |
31.8 (89.2) |
33.1 (91.6) |
30.2 (86.4) |
Mean daily minimum °C (°F) | 21.9 (71.4) |
21.5 (70.7) |
20.1 (68.2) |
17.0 (62.6) |
11.9 (53.4) |
8.2 (46.8) |
7.9 (46.2) |
10.7 (51.3) |
15.2 (59.4) |
18.6 (65.5) |
20.3 (68.5) |
21.2 (70.2) |
16.2 (61.2) |
Record low °C (°F) | 12.8 (55.0) |
14.4 (57.9) |
11.7 (53.1) |
3.9 (39.0) |
2.8 (37.0) |
−1.1 (30.0) |
−0.6 (30.9) |
0.0 (32.0) |
4.4 (39.9) |
8.9 (48.0) |
11.1 (52.0) |
13.3 (55.9) |
−1.1 (30.0) |
Average rainfall mm (inches) | 56.8 (2.24) |
54.8 (2.16) |
34.1 (1.34) |
25.6 (1.01) |
10.0 (0.39) |
3.1 (0.12) |
0.4 (0.02) |
1.5 (0.06) |
14.9 (0.59) |
28.4 (1.12) |
48.7 (1.92) |
53.7 (2.11) |
332.0 (13.07) |
Average rainy days | 5 | 4 | 3 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 5 | 5 | 29 |
Average relative humidity (%)
|
62 | 64 | 60 | 58 | 52 | 56 | 51 | 46 | 46 | 48 | 53 | 57 | 54 |
Mean monthly sunshine hours | 244.9 | 217.5 | 241.8 | 240.0 | 275.9 | 252.0 | 263.5 | 272.8 | 252.0 | 248.0 | 225.0 | 226.3 | 2,959.7 |
Mean daily sunshine hours | 7.9 | 7.7 | 7.8 | 8.0 | 8.9 | 8.4 | 8.5 | 8.8 | 8.4 | 8.0 | 7.5 | 7.3 | 8.1 |
Source 1: World Meteorological Organization[2] | |||||||||||||
Source 2: Deutscher Wetterdienst (extremes, humidity, and sun)[3] |
The Town
Beitbridge has an estimated 2,570 houses in formal settlements (primarily for government officials and mid-level private sector staff) and 3,000 in informal settlements. Formal-settlement dwellings are mainly two- to three-room brick houses, while those in the informal settlements are among the worst mud houses in Zimbabwe. The mud houses have since been demolished. Average house occupancy in the low-income and informal settlements varies considerably, as many people do not bring their families to Beitbridge, but includes at least four people. Recreational facilities are limited in low-income areas, consisting largely of bars and soccer pitches.
Labour
The major sources of local employment—freight, retail, construction, customs and the police—employ about 1,200 people. Informal sector activities—primarily vending and sex work—are as large as those in the formal sector, employing about 1,400. Outside Beitbridge town, farming is a major employer. A diamond mine recently closed, increasing unemployment and poverty. Most women rely on vending, sex work and cross-border trading for income. Truckers are present in the area with work coming from the border area of South Africa.
The Bridge
The
Development
On the
Three railway lines meet at Beitbridge: the South African
Education
There are four primary schools in the town namely Beitbridge Mission, Beitbridge Government, Dulivhadzimo Primary and St Mary's Primary School. There is a private school in the town named under Oakleigh House Trust School. Two secondary schools Vhembe High School and St Joseph's Secondary School cater for the post primary education in the town. There is no tertiary education facility in the town and high school graduates travel to district outside Beitbridge for tertiary education.
Venue
Dulivhadzimu Stadium, a small multi-purpose arena in the town was chosen by the
See also
- Bulawayo
- Matabeleland South
- Musina
- Mwenezi District
References
- ^ Citypopulation.de Population of cities & urban localities in Zimbabwe
- ^ "World Weather Information Service – Beitbridge". World Meteorological Organization. Retrieved 12 May 2016.
- ^ "Klimatafel von Beitbridge / Simbabwe" (PDF). Baseline climate means (1961–1990) from stations all over the world (in German). Deutscher Wetterdienst. Retrieved 12 May 2016.
- ^ New Alfred Beit Bridge is opened The Montreal Gazette, 2 September 1929
- ^ Beitbridge readies of Mugabe [1] Archived 28 February 2008 at the Wayback Machine (accessed 20 February 2008)
External links
- Covid-19 poser as trucks overwhelm Beitbridge Border Post As of 12 June 2020.