Holly Country
Town in Free State
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Holly Country, known as the Coalbrook Mining Village until 1996,[2] is a town in Fezile Dabi District Municipality in the Free State province of South Africa.
Holly Country | |
|---|---|
  Holly Country  Holly Country | |
| Coordinates: 26.932°S 27.917°E | |
| Country | South Africa |
| Province | Free State |
| District | Fezile Dabi |
| Municipality | Metsimaholo |
| Area | |
• Total | 1.39 km2 (0.54 sq mi) |
| Population (2011)[1] | |
• Total | 586 |
| • Density | 422/km2 (1,090/sq mi) |
| Racial makeup (2011) | |
| • Black African | 21.5% |
| • Indian/Asian | 2.2% |
| • White | 75.8% |
| • Other | 0.5% |
| First languages (2011) | |
| • Afrikaans | 64.5% |
| • English | 10.5% |
| • Sotho | 6.6% |
| • Northern Sotho | 3.4% |
| • Other | 15.0% |
| Time zone | UTC+2 (SAST) |
| Postal code (street) | 1946 |
History
The settlement, located some 5 km from Sasolburg, is a former colliery, and was originally named Coalbrook, probably named after Coalbrookdale in England. It was the scene of the Coalbrook mining disaster on 21 January 1960; 435 workers were buried alive when the mine collapsed.[3]
Richard Hse, a Taiwanese businessman, bought out the old mine village in October 1996, renamed it and turned the place into a hub of factories including clothing, shoes, stoves, wood and paper factories and a sportsfield.[2]
