<P> Merweville is a town located in Beaufort West Municipality, Western Cape . </P> <P> Village 45 km north - west of Prince Albert Road and 130 km south - east of Beaufort West . It was established on the farm Vanderbylskraal in 1904 and administered by a village management board from 1921 . Named after the Reverend P van der Merwe (1860 - 1940), minister at Beaufort West of the Dutch Reformed Church, and chairman of the church council which established the town . </P> <P> The town is an isolated community that maintains an old - world charm, about 150 km from Beaufort West . The surrounding region has been likened to that of Nevada or Arizona . It was one of the few towns or villages in the province not to be serviced by a sealed highway until the 40 km stretch of gravel road from the N1 was tarred in 2015 . </P>

Give a possible reason for the location of merweville