{"id":876795,"date":"2026-09-27T17:00:00","date_gmt":"2026-09-27T15:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/?p=876795"},"modified":"2026-09-25T16:57:18","modified_gmt":"2026-09-25T14:57:18","slug":"south-africas-first-smart-town-voted-among-the-best-places-to-live","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/lifestyle\/876795\/south-africas-first-smart-town-voted-among-the-best-places-to-live\/","title":{"rendered":"South Africa\u2019s first \u2018smart town\u2019 voted among the best places to live"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Clarens in the Free State was named one of the best small towns in South Africa to live in, making it a top destination for residents seeking a quieter lifestyle.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The town was ranked fifth in the Daily Maverick\u2019s Small Towns of the Year for 2025, receiving an overall score of 87.8%.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It ranked just behind Barrydale in the Western Cape, White River in Mpumalanga, Jeffreys Bay in the Eastern Cape and Cullinan in Gauteng.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The rankings followed a months-long process that began with 2,069 nominations from readers across the country.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Nine writers, representing different provinces, researched the nominations, selected provincial winners and visited the shortlisted towns.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The towns were assessed on cleanliness, municipal performance, community spirit, safety, natural environment, family friendliness, and connectivity.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The publication also considered the \u201cM-Factor\u201d, which it described as the distinctive atmosphere and character of a town.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Clarens scored 88% for cleanliness, 80% for municipal performance, 80% for community, 90% for safety, 90% for nature, 100% for family friendliness and 90% for connectivity.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Located about 336km from Johannesburg and 284km from Bloemfontein, Clarens was established in 1912 and is known as the \u201cJewel of the Eastern Free State\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It was named after Clarens in Switzerland, where former South African president Paul Kruger spent his final years in exile.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The town is centred around Clarens Town Square, with surrounding residential areas following the hillsides and towards the Maluti Mountains.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It has developed a strong tourism economy, supported by its scenery, accommodation, restaurants, outdoor activities and arts community.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Clarens is particularly known for its galleries and artists. The town has about 20 permanent art galleries, with exhibitions featuring South African artists and changing regularly.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Its reputation has also contributed to the annual Clarens Art Festival, which attracted about 5,000 people in 2026.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The town is also an important agricultural hub, with the area\u2019s altitude and climate supporting crops such as cherries and other fruit.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Other notable events include a craft beer festival, a cherry festival, and a festival of lights, while nearby rock-art sites provide another link to the region\u2019s history.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

First ‘smart town’ pilot <\/h2>\n\n\n\n
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Despite its small permanent population, the town attracts hundreds of thousands of visitors each year.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Census figures record only 751 people in the town itself, although the population rises to about 6,500 when neighbouring Kgubetswana is included.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Property prices also reflect the town\u2019s popularity. Townhouses and sectional-title properties generally range from about R1.2 million to R2.2 million, while family homes range from roughly R2.5 million to R2.6 million.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Larger homes, luxury properties and established guesthouses can sell for R3.5 million to more than R6 million.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Clarens has also gained attention for its approach to electricity management and was dubbed South Africa\u2019s first \u2018smart town\u2019.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In 2024, Eskom announced that the town had become the first in South Africa to pilot \u201cgroup curtailment\u201d, allowing the community to manage its electricity demand collectively.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The project used a meter at the town\u2019s main point of supply to monitor electricity demand, with data transmitted every 60 seconds. Residents and businesses could then reduce consumption in real time when necessary.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cAs Clarens is already gearing up for smart city initiatives with smart metering and electric vehicle charging stations already installed,\u201d Eskom said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

At the time, Gert Kruger, the town\u2019s group coordinator, said the system was particularly important for a tourism-dependent community.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cFor a town that depends on tourism, not being subjected to load shedding was life-changing,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Eskom said the pilot had successfully demonstrated that residents could collectively reduce and manage electricity demand, and provided a successful model for similar projects elsewhere in South Africa.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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More images of Clarens, Free State<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
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<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

This ‘smart town’ in the Free State was named one of the best small towns in South Africa to live in.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":92,"featured_media":876820,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"","sticky":true,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_sma_x_autopost_status":"posted","_sma_x_autopost_error":"","_sma_x_post_id":"2104224832359371222","_sma_facebook_post_id":"191437357620492_2218505048969894","_sma_instagram_post_id":"17988769731063806","_sma_x_attempts":1,"footnotes":""},"categories":[9876],"tags":[26202,1164,6480,26615,853],"class_list":["post-876795","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-lifestyle","tag-clarens","tag-eskom","tag-free-state","tag-small-towns-of-the-year-for-2025","tag-south-africa"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/876795","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/92"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=876795"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/876795\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":876836,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/876795\/revisions\/876836"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/876820"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=876795"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=876795"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=876795"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}