Pretoria
 |
The central area of Pretoria. |
Pretoria is a city located in the northern part of
Gauteng Province,
South Africa. It is one of the country's three
capital cities, serving as the
executive (administrative) capital; the other two being
Cape Town and
Bloemfontein, respectively the
legislative and
judicial capitals. It is contained in the
City of Tshwane Metropolitan Municipality as one of several constituent former administrations (among which also
Centurion and
Soshanguve), and therefore sometimes incorrectly referred to as
Tshwane — this contentious issue is still being decided as of January 2006; see the discussion further down in this article.
Also see
Central Business District (Pretoria).
On
26 May 2005 the
South African Geographical Names Council (SAGNC), which is linked to the Directorate of Heritage in the
Department of Arts and Culture, approved changing the name of Pretoria to
Tshwane, which is already the name of the Metropolitan Municipality [
1] in which Pretoria, and a number of surrounding towns are located. Although the name change has been approved by the SAGNC, it has not yet been approved by the Minister of Arts and Culture,
Pallo Jordan,
as of 31 March 2006. The matter is currently under consideration while he has requested further research on the matter. Should the Minister approve the name change, the name will be published in the Government Gazette, giving the public opportunity to comment on the matter. The Minister can then refer the public response back to the SAGNC, before presenting his recommendation before parliament, who will vote on the change. Various public interest groups have warned that the name change will be challenged in court, should the minister approve the renaming. The long process involved makes it unlikely the name will change in 2006, even assuming the Minister approves the change early in the year 2006.
Pretoria is situated in the transitional area between the
Highveld and the
Bushveld, approximately 50 km north of
Johannesburg in the north-east of South Africa. It lies in a warm, well sheltered, fertile valley, surrounded by the hills of the
Magaliesberg range, 1,370 m (4,495 ft) above sea level. The city's coordinates are approximate
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Geographical distribution of home languages in Pretoria/Tshwane. |
The city has a population of approximately one million. The main languages spoken in Pretoria include
Tswana,
Ndebele,
Afrikaans, and
English. The whole
Tshwane metropolitan municipality had a population of 1 985 997 as at the
2001 census.
Nguni-speaking settlers, who later became known as the
Ndebele (derived from the
Sotho word for 'refugees'), were probably the first people to recognise the suitability of the river valley which was to become the location of the future city of Pretoria for settlement.
During the
difaqane in
Natal, another band of refugees arrived in this area under the leadership of
Mzilikazi. However, they were forced to abandon their villages in their flight from a
regiment of
Zulu raiders in
1832.
Pretoria itself was founded in
1855 by
Marthinus Pretorius, a leader of the
Voortrekkers, who named it after his father
Andries Pretorius. The elder Pretorius had become a national hero of the
Voortrekkers after his victory over the
Zulus in the famous
Battle of Blood River.
Andries Pretorius also negotiated the
Sand River Convention (
1852), in which Britain acknowledged the independence of the
Transvaal. It became the capital of the
South African Republic (ZAR) on 1 May
1860.
The founding of Pretoria as the capital of the South African Republic can be seen as marking the end of the Boers' settlement movements of the
Great Trek.
During the
First Boer War, the city was besieged by Republican forces in December 1880 and March 1881. The peace treaty which ended the war was signed in Pretoria on
3 August 1881 at the
Pretoria Convention.
The
Second Boer War (
1899 to
1902) resulted in the end of the South African Republic and start of
British hegemony in South Africa. During the war,
Winston Churchill was imprisoned in the
Staats Model School in Pretoria but escaped to
Mozambique. The city surrendered to British forces under
Frederick Sleigh Roberts, 1st Earl Roberts on
5 June 1900 and the conflict was ended in Pretoria with the signing of the
Peace of Vereeniging on
31 May 1902.
The Boer Republics of the ZAR and the
Orange Free State were united with the
Cape Colony and
Natal Colony in
1910 to become the
Union of South Africa. Pretoria then became the administrative capital of the whole of South Africa, with Cape Town the legislative capital. Between 1860 and
1994, the city was also the capital of the province of
Transvaal, superseding
Potchefstroom in that role.
On
14 October 1931, Pretoria achieved official
city status. When South Africa became a
republic in
1961, Pretoria remained its administrative capital.
Pretoria previously had a negative image as "the capital of
apartheid South Africa" - one of the most notable reasons for this was the so-called
Treason Trial of
1956 to
1961, which was conducted in the city. However, Pretoria's political reputation was redeemed with the inauguration of
Nelson Mandela as the country's first black
President at the
Union Buildings in the same city. However, the name Pretoria still has a negative connotation to many black South Africans, and therefore a change of name to
Tshwane has been proposed. This change is controversial to the many inhabitants of the city, especially the
Afrikaner community, to whom the name Pretoria has an important historical relevance.
After the creation of new municipal structures across South Africa in
2000, the name
Tshwane was adopted for the
Metropolitan Municipality that includes Pretoria.
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The front part of the Theo van Wyk Building on the Main Campus of UNISA. |
Pretoria is one of South Africa's leading academic cities, and it is home to both the largest residential university in the country (the
University of Pretoria) and the largest
distance education university (the
University of South Africa, more commonly known by its initials, UNISA). The South African
Council for Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR) is also located in this city.
Loftus Versfeld and
Rainbow Junction will be used for matches of the
2010 World Cup.
Pretoria is an important industrial centre, with heavy industries including
iron and
steel casting as well as
automobile,
railroad and
machinery manufacture. In a study entitled
An Inquiry into Cities and Their Role in Subnational Economic Growth in South Africa and published in
2002 by statisticians at
Potchefstroom University, the city was found to contribute 8.55% of the country's total
GDP, making it the third biggest contributor behind
Johannesburg and
Cape Town. [
2]
* The
National Zoological Gardens of South Africa.
*
Kruger House (Residence of the president of the ZAR,
Paul Kruger).
*
Melrose House.
*
Church Square.
*
Union Buildings.
*
Voortrekker Monument.
*
Marabastad.
*
Transvaal Museum.
*
African Window.
*
Menlyn Park.
* Pretoria's main street, Church Street, is the longest urban street in South Africa and one of the longest straight streets in the world.
* Many of the city's streets are lined with
Jacaranda trees that blossom mauve (purplish blue) in spring, giving rise to the city's nickname "Jacaranda City".
* The
Cullinan Diamond (the largest gem diamond ever found) was discovered in the town of
Cullinan near Pretoria at the
Premier Mine on
January 26,
1905.
* Pretoria has the second largest number of
embassies in the world after
Washington, D.C..
*
Pax Praetoriana was named after Pretoria.
* The initial full designation of the city was
Pretoria Philadelphia (‘Pretoria of brotherly love').
* Pretoria will have two venues for the
2010 FIFA World Cup. One of them will be the existing
Loftus Versfeld Stadium and the other will be the new
Rainbow Junction stadium that will be built north of Pretoria in 2007.
