Louis Trichardt (formerly Trichardtsdorp, and Makhado from 2003 to 2014), informally shortened to Louis Tri (), is a town at the foot of Songozwi, in the Soutpansberg mountain range in the Limpopo province of South Africa. It is the centre of the Makhado Local Municipality, which comprises 16,000 km² with a total population of 270,000 (2001). Louis Trichardt is located in a fertile region where litchis, bananas, mangoes and nuts are produced. The N1 National Route runs through the town. Louis Trichardt is 437 kilometres from Johannesburg and one hour's drive from the Zimbabwean border at Beitbridge. Louis Trichardt was known for a time as Makhado, but it was changed back to Louis Trichardt. Vleifontein, Elim, Tshikota, Madombidzha, Makhado Park and Dzanani surround the town at all directions.
History
Like many other towns in South Africa, Louis Trichardt had its origins in Voortrekker settlement of the area. Two groups of Trekkers reached the Soutpansberg mountain range in 1836, one under the leadership of Louis Tregardt (born near Oudtshoorn, South Africa, 10 August 1783) and another under Hans van Rensburg. Van Rensburg decided to lead his group to Sofala (near current Beira), Mozambique, but his entire party was killed en route.
Trigardt and his group stayed near the mountain, camping near what eventually became the town of Louis Trichardt. They planted crops and started exploring the area northwards in an attempt to locate Van Rensburg and his group. After spending a year in the area, they decided to head for the fort at Delagoa Bay, a journey that took them 7 months to complete, during which more than half the group perished (including Tregardt himself).
Other trekkers soon settled nearby, at Schoemansdal, clashing with the Venda people who dwelt there. The town of Trichardtsdorp was finally founded in February 1899.
The Trekkers settled on the northern part of what would later become a town while the Venda people resided at the southern part, about 800 meters apart. When the Trekkers decided to build a town they moved the Venda people and constructed firms in the exact area. The people moved in different directions but most were moved to the dry lands, west of the town, that would later become known as Madombidzha, and they later stretched further west along the mountain.
Their area grew over the years and was shared amongst two chiefs. The area is well known as Ha-Sinthumule/Kutama or simply Dzanani 2. Amongst the youth the name "Western" is fairly popular, as emphasizes that the area is far west of the Venda tribe.
Here are the villages’ names:
Climate
Louis Trichardt has a subtropical climate. The winters are characterised by mild afternoons and cool evenings. Winters usually last from June to August. Summers experience warm and often humid temperatures with the occasional afternoon thunderstorm.
Most of Louis Trichardt's rainfall occurs in the summer months, from November to March. The last few years have seen some water restrictions put in place by the municipality mainly due to drought in the area and lack of maintenance of the town's water supply system by the municipality.
Geography
Louis Trichardt is located in the lowveld. The area consists of savannah as well as high rainfall areas. The Soutpansberg has forests where the fauna and flora are abundant. A wide variety of animal as well as bird species can be found in the Soutpansberg area. It is situated 79 km from Thohoyandou and about 60 km from Dzanani. Hanglip/Songozwi mountain is prominent landmark in the area.
Demography
According to the 2011 census, the population of Louis Trichardt consists of 25,360 people in 7,129 households. Of this population, 72.7% describe themselves as "African", 20.0% as "White", 5.7% as "Indian or Asian" and 1.3% as "Coloured". 39.5% speak Venda as their first language, 22.8% speak Afrikaans, 11.7% speak English, 6.6% speak Northern Sotho, 6.1% speak Tsonga and 2.6% speak Southern Sotho.
Name change
Background
The town is named after the voortrekker leader Louis Tregardt; the original Venda name is Tshirululuni, and it is also informally known as Tshitandani. The whole region was known as Dzanani until 1946.