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Bethlehem | |
---|---|
Coordinates: 28°13′26″S28°18′40″E / 28.224°S 28.311°E | |
Country | South Africa |
Province | Free State |
District | Thabo Mofutsanyane |
Municipality | Dihlabeng |
Area | |
• Total | 27.8 km2 (10.7 sq mi) |
Elevation | 1,700 m (5,600 ft) |
Population (2011) [1] | |
• Total | 16,236 |
• Density | 580/km2 (1,500/sq mi) |
Racial makeup (2011) | |
• White | 56.0% |
• Black African | 32.7% |
• Coloured | 8.7% |
• Indian/Asian | 2.1% |
• Other | 0.5% |
First languages (2011) | |
• Afrikaans | 66.7% |
• Sotho | 19.4% |
• English | 7.2% |
• Zulu | 2.7% |
• Other | 4.0% |
Time zone | UTC+2 (SAST) |
Postal code (street) | 9701 |
PO box | 9700 |
Area code | 058 |
Bethlehem is a city in the eastern Free State province of South Africa that is situated on the Liebenbergs River (also called Liebenbergs Vlei) along a fertile valley just north of the Rooiberg Mountains on the N5 road. It is the fastest growing city in the Free State province, with its target of being the third largest city after Bloemfontein and Welkom.
It is a wheat growing area and named after the biblical Bethlehem, from Hebrew : בֵּית לֶחֶם ("Beit Lechem"), meaning "house of bread". [2]
The city lies at an altitude of 1,700 metres (5,600 ft), which contributes to its cool climate, with frosty winters and mild summers. The average annual temperature is around 14 °C (57 °F).
Bethlehem is situated approximately 240 kilometres (150 mi) north-east of Bloemfontein, 140 kilometres (87 mi) east of Kroonstad and 90 kilometres (56 mi) north-west of Harrismith. The city is strategically situated in the heart of the picturesque north-eastern Free State and originally developed as a service centre. [3]
Bethlehem is the seat of the Dihlabeng Local Municipality, which forms part of the Thabo Mofutsanyana District Municipality.
The township associated with Bethlehem is called Bohlokong in Sesotho by Basotho. It named after the hloko/bohloko grass found in the area Diheteropogon filifolius . [4]
Bethlehem was founded in 1864. In 1900, during the Second Boer War, Bethlehem temporarily served as the seat of the Orange Free State government. [5]
A number of heritage sites are located in Bethlehem:
Climate data for Bethlehem (1991-2020, extremes 1980-present) | |||||||||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Month | Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec | Year |
Record high °C (°F) | 37.4 (99.3) | 33.4 (92.1) | 34.1 (93.4) | 31.2 (88.2) | 29.9 (85.8) | 25.5 (77.9) | 25.2 (77.4) | 28.7 (83.7) | 31.3 (88.3) | 33.8 (92.8) | 35.7 (96.3) | 36.4 (97.5) | 37.4 (99.3) |
Mean daily maximum °C (°F) | 27.5 (81.5) | 27.0 (80.6) | 25.6 (78.1) | 22.8 (73.0) | 20.2 (68.4) | 17.6 (63.7) | 17.6 (63.7) | 20.5 (68.9) | 24.3 (75.7) | 25.7 (78.3) | 26.4 (79.5) | 27.3 (81.1) | 23.5 (74.4) |
Daily mean °C (°F) | 19.4 (66.9) | 19.0 (66.2) | 17.4 (63.3) | 14.1 (57.4) | 10.6 (51.1) | 7.4 (45.3) | 7.3 (45.1) | 10.2 (50.4) | 14.1 (57.4) | 16.3 (61.3) | 17.5 (63.5) | 18.9 (66.0) | 14.4 (57.8) |
Mean daily minimum °C (°F) | 13.3 (55.9) | 13.0 (55.4) | 11.0 (51.8) | 6.7 (44.1) | 2.0 (35.6) | −1.5 (29.3) | −2.0 (28.4) | 0.7 (33.3) | 4.6 (40.3) | 8.3 (46.9) | 10.3 (50.5) | 12.4 (54.3) | 6.6 (43.8) |
Record low °C (°F) | 0.0 (32.0) | 1.8 (35.2) | 0.0 (32.0) | −4.0 (24.8) | −10.0 (14.0) | −9.3 (15.3) | −12.5 (9.5) | −10.2 (13.6) | −6.8 (19.8) | −2.9 (26.8) | 0.2 (32.4) | 1.1 (34.0) | −12.5 (9.5) |
Average precipitation mm (inches) | 122.1 (4.81) | 109.0 (4.29) | 79.0 (3.11) | 40.5 (1.59) | 16.5 (0.65) | 11.0 (0.43) | 11.1 (0.44) | 11.8 (0.46) | 17.3 (0.68) | 72.6 (2.86) | 90.1 (3.55) | 121.3 (4.78) | 702.2 (27.65) |
Average precipitation days (≥ 1 mm) | 13.1 | 11.2 | 11.1 | 6.0 | 2.6 | 1.9 | 1.0 | 2.0 | 2.9 | 8.2 | 11.0 | 13.2 | 84.2 |
Average relative humidity (%) | 66.1 | 67.5 | 67.6 | 63.9 | 55.3 | 52.6 | 48.9 | 44.9 | 42.7 | 52.2 | 57.5 | 62.8 | 56.8 |
Source: NOAA [20] |
Bethlehem has many shopping centres like any other town in the Free State. Bethlehem is the main center of the eastern Free State where people from other towns do their shopping, the main shopping malls are:
With the shopping in this town also characterized by typical high street shopping with majority of shops situated along the Muller, Cambridge, Louw, Church, High and other surrounding streets.
Premier Soccer League and National First Division clubs Free State Stars and Super Eagles F.C. are based in Bethlehem and plays their home games at Goble Park. [21] Bethlehem is also the birthplace of several notable rugby union players, including Tom van Vollenhoven, [22] Jannie du Plessis, Bismarck du Plessis, Frans Steyn, and Bongi Mbonambi, who was born in nearby Bohlokong.
Bethlehem is a retail, medical, and educational hub for the Eastern Free State. It has three private hospitals and three star Frontier hotel, Casino and Entertainment Centre located near the Dihlabeng Mall and Bethlehem Aerodrome.
Bethlehem hosts several industries including Coca-Cola, South African Breweries and Nestlé, as well as petroleum and engineering companies.
Bethlehem is located on the N5 to the provincial capital Bloemfontein via Senekal and Winburg to the N1. Other roads in the town are R76 to Kroonstad (north-west) and the R26 to Reitz and Fouriesburg (north-east and south) respectively, and just outside the town, the R712 and R714 to Clarens (south) and Warden (east) respectively.
Bethlehem is located on the main railway line between Bloemfontein and Durban. This railway line transports passengers and freight. [23]
Bethlehem is served by a small airport (Bethlehem Airport) with chartered daily flights to Bloemfontein and Johannesburg. [24]
On 7 September 2024 a fire broke out at Bethlehem Air show 2024 destroying 30 vehicles. [25] [26] [27] The incident occurred at the Bethlehem Airfield when a spectator left a burning coal unattended. [28] The Democratic Alliance in the Free State accused the Dihlabeng municipality of negligence. [29]
By 1931, the municipal council had assumed a coat of arms. [30] The arms were registered with the Orange Free State Provincial Administration in October 1958. [31]
The arms were: Party per chevron Azure and Gules, a chevron Or, in chief between two springboks couped at the neck respecting each other, proper, a mullet of the third, and in base three maize cobs, the outer ones pilewise, all proper. In layman's terms, the shield depicted a golden chevron between a gold star and two springboks' head on a blue background, and three maize cobs on a red background.
A new coat of arms was designed in the 1980s. It was registered at the Bureau of Heraldry in June 1989. [32]
The arms were: Per chevron, Azure and Gules, a chevron Or between in chief a mullet and in base two bars wavy, Argent (i.e. a golden chevron between a silver star on a blue background and two wavy silver stripes on a red background).
The crest was three golden ears of wheat with blue stalks and leaves, tied together with a red band; the motto was Conjuncti prosperamus.
Bloemfontein, also known as Bloem, is the capital and the largest city of the Free State province in South Africa. It is often, and has been traditionally, referred to as the country's "judicial capital", alongside the legislative capital Cape Town and administrative capital Pretoria, although the highest court in South Africa, the Constitutional Court, has been in Johannesburg since 1994.
The Free State, formerly known as the Orange Free State, is a province of South Africa. Its capital is Bloemfontein, which is also South Africa's judicial capital. Its historical origins lie in the Boer republic called the Orange Free State and later the Orange Free State Province.
Potchefstroom, colloquially known as Potch, is an academic city in the North West Province of South Africa. It hosts the Potchefstroom Campus of the North-West University. Potchefstroom is on the Mooirivier, roughly 120 km (75 mi) west-southwest of Johannesburg and 45 km (28 mi) east-northeast of Klerksdorp.
Kroonstad, which consist of suburbs as follows: Brentpark, Constantia, Constantia Park, Dawid Malanville, Elandia, Gelukwaarts, Goedgedacht, Heuningspruit, Industria, Jordania, KoeKoeVillage, Kroonheuwel, Maokeng, Morewag, Noordhoek, Ou Dorp, Panorama, Phomalong, Presidensia, PrisonArea, Seisoville, Suidrand, Tuinhof, Uitsig, Vooruitsig, WestPark and Wilgenhof. Kroonstad is the fourth largest town in the Free State and lies two hours' drive on the N1 from Gauteng. It is the second-largest commercial and urban centre in the Northern Free State, and an important railway junction on the main line from Cape Town to Johannesburg.
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Harrismith is a large town in the Free State province of South Africa. It was named for Sir Harry Smith, a 19th-century British governor and high commissioner of the Cape Colony. It is situated by the Wilge River, alongside the N3 highway, about midway between Johannesburg, about 275 km to the north-west, and Durban to the southeast. The town is located at the junction of the N5 highway, which continues westward towards the provincial capital Bloemfontein, some 340 km to the south-west. This important crossroads in South Africa's land trade routes is surrounded by mesas and buttes. It is located at the base of one of these called Platberg.
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