South Africa

The small South African town that banned tarred roads and has no petrol stations, street lights, or ATMs

Shaun Jacobs • 11 September 2026

Nieu Bethesda is an isolated town in the Great Karoo which has banned tarred roads and has no petrol stations, street lights or ATMs.

This is to preserve the town’s unique, slow-paced atmosphere and gives it the appearance of being frozen in time.

Located just north of Robert Sobukwe (formerly Graaff Reinet), Nieu Bethesda was founded as a church town in 1875.

This is reflected in the town’s name, which is of biblical origin and refers to the Pool of Bethesda where Jesus healed a paralysed man.

The name was chosen because of the town’s geography, with the Gats River flowing through it. This gives life to the area at the foot of the Sneeuberge.

However, the town existed before it took on a name and a church. Settlers occupied the area since the Great Trek began in 1835.

Nieu Bethesda was formally declared a town when it built its own church on a section of the Uitkyk farm, which became the centre of the community.

Residents built the church after becoming tired of the seven-hour journey over rough terrain to Graaff Reinet for services.

This church was much smaller than the huge sandstone Dutch Reformed Church that one can see today. This was only built in 1905.

The church has played a dominant role in the community, retaining ownership of land in the town despite the formation of a municipality in 1880.

This forced residents to pay double taxes, once to the church and once to the municipality, until property rights were transferred to the municipality.

Nieu Bethesda has also struggled economically due to its location off major railway lines and highway corridors.

As South Africa’s economy industrialised and motorised transport became common, people bypassed Nieu Bethesda because they no longer had to pass through the town to get anywhere.

Its population shrank, businesses shut down, and the town fell into a state of economic stagnation and preservation.

Isolation and preservation

Today, Nieu Bethesda has only 1,540 residents who work to preserve the town’s unique feel and its appearance as a time capsule.

This does not mean the town is not popular with travellers, with it being kept alive by the tourism industry, where people visit to experience pre-modern Karoo living.

South African playwright Athol Fugard played a major role in making the town more popular after he bought a home in Nieu Bethseday int he 1960s.

Fugard wrote The Road to Mecca in 1984 about a local resident, Helen Martins, which put the town into the global spotlight.

The town is also popular among palaeontologists and historians, given its unique fossil deposits and historical preservation.

One of the most unique features of Nieu Bethesda is the town’s obsession with preserving its history and atmosphere.

Today, the town still closely resembles and 19th century Karoo outpost due to the efforts of residents to oppose modernity and its isolation.

Rather than developing modern infrastructure to boost its economy, the town and its residents reject convenience to maintain the Karoo atmosphere.

This has been done through deliberate civic choices, strict community preservation efforts, and its geographic isolation.

The town has banned tarred roads, keeping its internal road network unpaved. Gravel streets slow traffic to a crawl and discourage driving to maintain the look and sound of the 19th-century Karoo.

Nieu Bethesda has even managed to remain cut off from the modern banking system, with residents having to travel to Graaff-Reinet to access ATMs and branches.

It also lacks petrol stations, common South African franchises or grocery stores, and neon signage. Along with the lack of streetlights, this protects its dark night sky.

The town continues to rely on its unique Leivore System for water, with historic stone furrows directing mountain spring water through the streets.

These remain operational today and are coordinated by the town’s water bailiff. The bailiff dictates the weekly allocation schedule, which determines when residents can irrigate their gardens and orchards.

Strict municipal controls also play a major role in maintaining the town’s feel, with new structures and renovations having to match traditional Karoo architecture.

This includes corrugated iron roofs, sash windows, deep verandahs, and lime-washed walls.

Local heritage trusts manage most of the town’s historic sites and enforce conservation protocols to maintain the town’s character.