Graafwater is a town in the Sandveld in the Western Cape

Western Cape

The Western Cape is a province in the south west of South Africa. The capital is Cape Town. Prior to 1994, the region that now forms the Western Cape was part of the much larger Cape Province...

 province of South Africa

South Africa

The Republic of South Africa is a country in southern Africa. Located at the southern tip of Africa, it is divided into nine provinces, with of coastline on the Atlantic and Indian oceans...

 situated 300 km from Cape Town

Cape Town

Cape Town is the second-most populous city in South Africa, and the provincial capital and primate city of the Western Cape. As the seat of the National Parliament, it is also the legislative capital of the country. It forms part of the City of Cape Town metropolitan municipality...

, about halfway between Clanwilliam and Lamberts Bay

Lamberts Bay

Lamberts Bay is a small fishing town in the Western Cape province of South Africa situated 280 kilometres north of Cape Town. It is part of the Cederberg Municipality....

. Graafwater is the Afrikaans term for "water from a spade" referring to the Afrikaans farming culture found in South Africa at the time of establishment. It is located in the Cederberg Municipality

Cederberg Local Municipality

Cederberg Municipality is a local municipality located within the West Coast District Municipality in the Western Cape province of South Africa. As of 2007, it had a population of 31,942. Its municipality code is WC012.-Government:...

.

Graafwater is often divided into Graafwater North and Graafwater South.

It is notable for being the home of popular local celebrity, Mrf de Jongh.

After the railway junction between Cape Town and Bitterfontein

Bitterfontein

Bitterfontein is a village in the Knersvlakte, the northernmost area of the Western Cape province of South Africa, north of Cape Town. It is the railhead of a line from Cape Town; ore from the copper mines at Okiep is transferred there from road transport to the railway...

 was built in 1910, the town Graafwater was established. The local Dutch Reformed Church

Dutch Reformed Church

The Dutch Reformed Church was a Reformed Christian denomination in the Netherlands. It existed from the 1570s to 2004, the year it merged with the Reformed Churches in the Netherlands and the Evangelical Lutheran Church in the Kingdom of the Netherlands to form the Protestant Church in the...

 of Leipoldtville developed the town further. The Graafwater Dutch Reformed church formed its own congregation after a few years.

Tourist attractions

• The Heerenlogement - A cave about 30 km from the town that 'lodged' both Simon van der Stel
  Simon van der Stel
  Simon van der Stel was the last Commander and first Governor of the Cape Colony, the Dutch settlement at the Cape of Good Hope in South Africa.-Background:...
  
   and Olaff Bergh.