A popular vacation spot that irrigates the majority of the Bushveld, the Loskop Dam was first proposed in 1905 and started as a private cooperative scheme by landowners along the Olifants in 1930, but officially only endorsed by the government in 1934.

An innovative feature of the dam is the use of "breakers," 6-m-high structures above the walls that divert floodwaters into colliding streams called "heavy rain" with less destructive potential.

650 farms covering around 25.7 ha each use the water, including a small proportion originally reserved for the elderly and disabled.

The subtropical climate supports the growth of many crops, but summer tobacco and cotton and winter wheat are the main standbys, as well as table grapes and vegetables on a smaller scale.

[1]: 24  Large game has been bred there since 1948 - indeed, a breeding pair of white rhinoceros were brought there in 1963 to bear a calf there on April 11, 1964, returning the species to the area after its extinction in the Transvaal in 1896.