Kameel... Where is that, exactly?

There are many small towns and villages in South Africa that you've probably never visited but their names will ring a bell. Then there's a hamlet like Kameel, with 49 silos and 27 residents...

- WILLEM VAN DER BERG

You might need a magnifying glass if you want to find Kameel on a map. It's not a place mentioned in casual conversation; in fact, chances of hearing someone talking about their visit to Kameel are close to zero.

Kameel is a tiny hamlet in North West, so small that Delareyville and Stella, the two towns on either side of it, appear positively bustling. And Vryburg is a metropolis by comparison.

It's a matter of debate whether Kameel actually has streets. A tarred stretch of roadway branches off from the R377 and weaves past Kameel Rust and Vrede B&B and Camping, and 21 silos. Just past Wilrick Supermarket it makes a snappy turn to the left and runs past another 28 silos, five houses and the primary school. Then the tarmac - and everything else that qualifies Kameel as a human settlement - ends at the NWK co-op.

Early in the morning, the voices of 42 children can be heard in the "main street" as they sing the national anthem, standing outside the school building. The English lyrics are a little unclear. School principal Leonie Brand gives a slightly abashed laugh. "Oh, our farm kids struggle with English, and it doesn't help that the teachers are all from farms in the area too."

Leonie, too, grew up on a farm in the Delareyville district, never imagining she'd one day live on another North West farm and work as a teacher.

"After high school, I couldn't wait to move to the city. I said the last thing I would do would be to marry a farmer, and I never wanted to live in the Delareyville area again."