The Vaal River is the largest tributary of the Orange River in South Africa. The river has its source near Breyten in Mpumalanga province, east of Johannesburg and about 30 kilometres (19 mi) north of Ermelo and only about 240 kilometres (150 mi) from the Indian Ocean. It then flows westwards to its confluence with the Orange River southwest of Kimberley in the Northern Cape. It is 1,458 kilometres (906 mi) long, and forms the border between Mpumalanga, Gauteng and North West Province on its north bank, and the Free State on its south.
SothoSesotho, also known as Southern Sotho or Sesotho sa Borwa is a Southern Bantu language of the Sotho–Tswana ("S.30") group, spoken in Lesotho, and South Africa where it is an official language.
The Sotho, also known as the Basotho, are a prominent Sotho-Tswana ethnic group native to Southern Africa. They primarily inhabit the regions of Lesotho and South Africa.
The Vaal Dam in South Africa was constructed in 1938 and lies 77 km south of OR Tambo International Airport, Johannesburg. The lake behind the dam wall has a surface area of about 320 square kilometres (120 sq mi) and is 47 meters deep. The Vaal Dam lies on the Vaal River, which is one of South Africa's strongest-flowing rivers. Other rivers flowing into the dam are the Wilge River, Molspruit and Grootspruit. It has over 800 kilometres (500 mi) of shoreline and is South Africa's second biggest dam by area and the fourth largest by volume.
Griqualand West is an area of central South Africa with an area of 40,000 km2 that now forms part of the Northern Cape Province. It was inhabited by the Griqua people – a semi-nomadic, Afrikaans-speaking nation of mixed-race origin, who established several states outside the expanding frontier of the Cape Colony. It was also ancestral home to the Tswana and Khoisan peoples.
Kroonstad, also known as Maokeng, 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. Maokeng is Sesotho and means "place of the thorn trees ".
Petrus Steyn, officially renamed Mamafubedu, is a small farming town between Tweeling and Kroonstad, 35 km north-east of Lindley in the Free State province of South Africa. It is at the centre of an agricultural area known for wheat, maize, sunflower, potato, cattle, hunting, sheep production and forms part of the breadbasket in the Free State. It is the highest town above sea level in the Free State. In 2012 the town's name was changed to Mamafubedu. Farming industries in Mamafubedu provide potatoes worldwide.
Deneys Reitz (1882–1944), son of Francis William Reitz, was a Boer warrior who fought in the Second Boer War for the Boer Republics against the British Empire. After a period of exile in French Madagascar he returned to South Africa, where he became a lawyer and founded a major South African law firm. In the First World War he fought for the Union of South Africa against the German Empire, and then was an officer in the British Army, commanding several battalions. In later life he was a politician. Deneys Reitz was educated at Grey College, Bloemfontein.
The Maritz rebellion, also known as the Boer revolt, Third Boer War, or the Five Shilling rebellion, was an armed insurrection in South Africa in 1914, at the start of World War I. It was led by Boers who supported the re-establishment of the South African Republic in the Transvaal. Many members of the South African government were themselves Boers who had fought with the Maritz rebels against the British in the Second Boer War, which had ended twelve years earlier. The rebellion failed, with 124 rebels killed and 229 wounded out of 12,000. The ringleaders received heavy fines and prison terms. One of them, Jopie Fourie, was executed.
Warrenton is an agricultural town of approximately 22,588 people in the Northern Cape province of South Africa, situated 70 kilometres (40 mi) north of Kimberley on the Vaal River.
The R57 is a provincial route in South Africa that connects Vanderbijlpark with Phuthaditjhaba via Sasolburg, Heilbron and Reitz.
The R82 is a provincial route in South Africa that connects Johannesburg with Kroonstad via Vereeniging and Sasolburg. It starts just south of the M1 Johannesburg Municipal Highway's interchange with the N12 Southern Bypass, going south, meeting the R59, R54, R42 & R28 routes at Vereeniging before crossing the Vaal River into the Free State & proceeding to Kroonstad. It is an alternative, but longer route to the N1 National Route between Johannesburg & Kroonstad.
Francis William Reitz, Jr. was a South African lawyer, politician, statesman, publicist, and poet who was a member of parliament of the Cape Colony, Chief Justice and fifth State President of the Orange Free State, State Secretary of the South African Republic at the time of the Second Boer War, and the first president of the Senate of the Union of South Africa.
The Northern Ndebele people are a Nguni ethnic group native to Southern Africa. Significant populations of native speakers of the Northern Ndebele language (siNdebele) are found in Zimbabwe and in South Africa.
The Magaliesberg of northern South Africa, is a modest but well-defined mountain range composed mainly of quartzites. It rises at a point south of the Pilanesberg to form a curved prominence that intersects suburban Pretoria before it peters out some 50 km (31 mi) to the east, just south of Bronkhorstspruit. The highest point of the Magaliesberg is reached at Nooitgedacht, about 1,852 metres (6,076 ft) above sea level. A cableway reaching to the top of the mountain range is located at Hartbeespoort Dam, providing sweeping views of the Magaliesberg and surrounding area.
Thaba 'Nchu, also known as Blesberg, is a town in Free State, South Africa, 63 km east of Bloemfontein and 17 km east of Botshabelo. The population is largely made up of Tswana and Sotho people. The town was settled in December 1833 and officially established in 1873. The town grew larger following the 1913 Natives' Land Act that declared the area a homeland for the Tswana people.
The Prehistory of South Africa lasts from the Middle Stone Age until the 17th century. Southern Africa was first reached by Homo sapiens before 130,000 years ago, possibly before 260,000 years ago. The region remained in the Late Stone Age until the first traces of pastoralism were introduced about 2,000 years ago. The Bantu migration reached the area now South Africa around the first decade of the 3rd century, over 1800 years ago. Early Bantu kingdoms were established in the 11th century. First European contact dates to 1488, but European colonization began in the 17th century.
The Leliefontein massacre occurred on 31 January 1902 during the South African War at the Leliefontein Methodist mission station in the Northern Cape, South Africa.
The Sand River is a river in the Free State province, South Africa. It is located close to the towns of Welkom and Virginia in the gold mining centre of the Free State. Its source is located close to Tweefontein NW of Ficksburg not far from the South Africa-Lesotho border. This river is famous because of the historical Sand River Convention signed nearby, an important event in South African political history.
Klipriviersberg Nature Reserve is a nature reserve consisting of veld and koppies (hills) run by the Johannesburg City Parks. It is located 11 kilometres (6.8 mi) south of Johannesburg, in an area of 640 hectares. Home to many species of flora and bird life, it is also home to large and small mammals such as blesbok, zebra, wildebeest and duiker.
