On the face of it, the huge rock outcrop on which the needle marking the Tropic of Capricorn is situated resembles the many huge rock outcrops that can be found all over the Capricorn District Municipality, especially in the Botlokwa and Moletjie areas.
But this particular outcrop carries so much significance.
These granite protrusions on the surface of the earth were formed more than 3 billion years ago. The Tropic of Capricorn, which is one of the five lines of latitudes on the globe, marks the most southerly latitude at which the sun can appear directly overhead at noon.
This event occurs at the December solstice, when the southern hemisphere is tilted towards the sun to its maximum extent.
But all this significance remains largely unknown even to the people of Botlokwa who hosted the 2015 Heritage Day Celebration about 15 kilometres away at the Ramokgopa Stadium.
When the SABC Digital News crew arrived at the monument, there was only one security guard in a building that is labelled the Information Centre. But there was no information whatsoever, except that the place hasn’t operated since it was built in 2004.
The monument marking the Tropic appears vandalised with graffiti, and the gates into the yard of the monument and its locks appear rusty – completely abandoned.
South Africa is not the only country in the world with such a monument. There is the Tropic of Capricorn just north of Antofagasta, Chile; Maringá in Brazil; Longreach, Queensland, in Australia; and Jujuy Province, Argentina.
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