The name is a composite of the names of two owners of the farm Waterkloof, Patrick Ellis and Piet Erasmus. It was granted municipal status in 1986.
The area is known for its cattle ranches and game farms. Situated in the heart of the Bushveld. Groundnuts and tobacco are grown particularly under irrigation.
The town is probably best known for lscor’s huge opencast colliery at Groot-geluk (‘good fortune’), which feeds Matimba, the largest direct dry- cooled power station in the world. The coal was discovered in the 1920’s during drilling operations for water. Work on the power station and mine was started in the 1970’s. Some of the coal is processed into high-grade metallurgical grade for lscor’s various iron and steel plants, while the low- grade coal is fed into Matimba Power station.
Municipal Area: 25km2
Location: 150km from Modimolle (Nylstroom), 180 km from Mokopane (Potgietersrus) Educational Facilities: 7 pre-primary; 3 primary; & 2 high sch. 1 Tech Col.
Hospitals: 1 private, 1 Provincial
Hotels: 2 x 2star
Main Places of Interest: Mokolo Dam, game farms, Pioneers Cemetery, Grootgeluk Cole Mine; Matimba Power Station
