Potchefstroom, the first town and capital of the former Transvaal Republic, has retained much of the charm of its early years, in contrast to the frenetic bustle of Johannesburg and the brashness of other newer centres.
Potchefstroom has developed into a leading city in the province and the country.The town's industries include South Africa's only chalk factory and one of the largest organ factories in the country.
Potchefstroom offers a wealth of interesting architectural buildings dating back to the 1850's when the town was a major centre serving the westernTransvaal farmlands and the diamond fields of the Northern Cape. These buildings, many of which have been declared national monuments, include the Old Gunpowder House, the Old Police Station Building, the Kruger Kraal Opstal, the Heimat building of the University of Potchefstroom and the Old Magistrates Office.
The Madikwe Game Reserve, situated against the Botswana
border, 90 km north of Zeerust, just three hours' drive from both
Johannesburg and Pretoria, is now one of South Africa's prime safari
destinations. Madikwe is a Big Five game
reserve covering some 75,000 hectare. It is one of the largest game
reserves in South Africa. The rich diversity of vegetation ensures
a wide range of game and the topography offers ideal game viewing
opportunities.
The first magistrate of the small community that settled
on the banks of the Schoonspruit in 1837, Jacob de C'lerq,
gave his name to a town founded by Voortrekkers and built
by gold mining.
The discovery of gold in 1886 saw thousands of prospectors
descending on the quiet rural aggregation of Klerksdorp.
Today, Klerksdorp is the centre for a large mining and
agricultural economy and has the second largest grain co-operative
in the world.
The name Mafikeng means "The place among the rocks". This name was given to the area by early Barolong chiefs who had settled along the Molopo River near the present day village of Rooigrond after a period of intertribal war.
Mafikeng attracted the attention of the world during the Anglo-Boer War of 1899 - 1902 as the small British garrison under the command of Colonel Baden Powell held out for 217 days against Boer forces who had surrounded the town. The Mafikeng Museum has extensive ethnographic and Anglo-Boer War exhibits.
The origin of the town’s name Kuruman is uncertain but it is generally accepted as being a variation of the name of an 18th-century San leader, Kudumane.
Known as the Oasis of the Kalahari, Kuruman is blessed with a permanent and abundant source of water. More densely vegetated than most oases, its water flows from "the Eye". A spring delivering 20 million litres of water daily, the water flows from solution cavities in the dolomitic Plateau and cracks in the mammoth doleritic dykes and sills that thrust their way into prominence from the earth’s core some 190 million years ago.
Scottish missionary Robert Moffat, the first person to translate the Bible into seTswana, lived here for 50 years (1820 - 1870) and built the famous Moffat Church, completed in 1838.
The Moffats baptised their first converts in 1829, taught them to read, and, using their own printing press, printed the first Bible in Africa. Regular services are still conducted in their church.
The Bloemhof Dam Nature Reserve is located 320km from Johannesburg and 4km east of Bloemhof on the R34 to Hoopstad. Roads on the reserve are generally suitable for all vehicles except in exceptionally wet periods.
The reserve is a 12 000 ha conservancy in open Kalahari scrub, thornveld country offering the visitor a rare combination of game viewing on the reserve or fishing at one of the most popular angling sites in South Africa.
When diamonds were discovered in the Vaal River in the 1870s the former Transvaal Government hastily established a settlement on the banks of the river, in an attempt to control and alleviate land disputes over diamond discoveries further down the Vaal River. This town was established on the farm Zoutpansdrift (salt pan drift) and named Christiana, after the only daughter of President Pretorius of the old Transvaal. The first residential stands were sold in 1870.
Two years later diamonds were discovered in the gravel of the Vaal River close by and the inevitable manic rush followed. As usual the initial rush petered with the diamonds, although some are still found from time to time.
Lichtenburg is sometimes called 'Wilgedorp' because of the willow trees along the furrows lining the streets. The town was established on the farms Middelbosch and Doornfontein which were presented for this purpose to the Transvaal Republic by Commandant Hendrik Greeff in 1866. The town was the focus of diamond fever between 1925 and 1930 and, while it lasted, there were some 50 000 diggers and 100 000 labourers active in the district. After an estimated £ 15 million worth of diamonds had been found, the source waned and only a few diggers remained to pursue their dreams of fortune.
