What You Need To Know

As the rest of South Africa currency of oudtshoorn is Rands(R), which is divided into 100 cents. The notes are R10, R20, R50, R100 and R200; the coins are R1, R2 and R5, and five, 10, 20 and 50 cents.

Language

Oudtshoorn is one of the founding homes of the Afrikaans culture and language. Afrikaans is South Africa’s third biggest home language, behind Zulu and Xhosa . It is also South Africa’s most widely understood & spoken language.

Climate

Oudtshoorn normally receives about 172mm of rain per year, with rainfall occuring throughout the year. The chart below (lower left) shows the average rainfall values for Oudtshoorn per month.

Economy

The annual real growth rate of the Oudtshoorn economy was on par with the provincial average of 1,9 per annum but below national output growth for the period from 1998 to 2004, i.e. Oudtshoorn economy grew at a real growth rate of 1,9 per annum as opposed to growth in national output of 2,8 for the same period.
Culture
C. J. Langenhoven, the town’s most famous inhabitant, rose to prominence during the post-collapse period. Considered by many to be one of the fathers of Afrikaans, Langenhoven was a prodigious writer who provided much of the literature that formed the backbone of the Afrikaans language during its early development.
The oldest church is the original Dutch Reformed Church, which is situated on the corner of Church Street and High Street. Other churches include, Apostolic Faith Mission, Anglican, Presbyterian, Baptist, Roman Catholic (Roman Catholic Diocese of Oudtshoorn) and other traditional churches. In recent years, the number of independent churches (also referred to as non-denominational churches) have grown. Independent Churches include the River of Life Church, The Vineyard and the Oudtshoorn Community Church.