Right on the border of the Eastern Cape and KZN, today Kokstad is one of the fastest growing towns in KZN. It sits just outside the Drakensberg region in the shadow of Mount Currie and has always been best known for its cheese. That is, until Oprah Winfrey came to town and, via her charitable foundation, built a school for the local Shayamoya township.
It is now a busy little town, with lots of history on display and a national monument on Main Street which centres around the Griqua people and their culture. Trout fishing is popular in the many dams and rivers. There are also three reserves – Mount Currie, Wilfred Bauer and the Mountain Lake Nature Reserve. The Crystal Spring Dam supplies all of the town’s water needs and it is also wonderful for boating and angling.
Kokstad is named after the Griqua chief Adam Kok III, who settled in the area in 1863 (“stad” meaning “town” in Afrikaans). It is a wild and beautiful part of the country, originally home to the Griquas who, after being involved in various skirmishes with the Boers and the British further inland, decided to go east and settle in what they called “No Man’s Land” in the 1860s. Adam Kok died a rather ironic death when he fell off a cart only a few years after he settled in the town – today a monument honours his leadership.
