Botshabelo
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BOTSHABELO Kasi yadi Kasi |
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The busy Botshabelo cbd
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 BOTSHABELO
BOTSHABELO
BOTSHABELO
BOTSHABELO shown within Free State
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| Coordinates: 29°13′59″S 26°43′59″E / 29.23306°S 26.73306°ECoordinates: 29°13′59″S 26°43′59″E / 29.23306°S 26.73306°E | |
| Country | South Africa |
| Province | Free State |
| Municipality | Mangaung |
| Established | 1979 |
| Area | |
| • Total | 103.98 km2 (40.15 sq mi) |
| Elevation | 1,423 m (4,669 ft) |
| Population (2011) | |
| • Total | 181,712 |
| • Density | 1,700/km2 (4,500/sq mi) |
| Racial makeup (2011) | |
| • Black African | 99.2% |
| • Coloured | 0.3% |
| • Indian/Asian | 0.2% |
| • White | 0.1% |
| • Other | 0.2% |
| First languages (2011) | |
| • Sotho | 84.5% |
| • Xhosa | 7.6% |
| • English | 2.0% |
| • Afrikaans | 1.6% |
| • Other | 4.3% |
| Postal code (street) | 9781 |
| Area code | (+27) 51 |
| Website | http://www.mangaung.co.za/ |
Botshabelo, meaning "a place of refuge", is a large township set up in 1979 by the then apartheid government 45 km east of Bloemfontein in the present-day Free State province of South Africa. Botshabelo situated on the N8 road (South Africa) road and is the second-largest township in South Africa (after Soweto). The population comprises mainly people who speak Southern Sotho and Xhosa. The township had over 350 000 inhabitants as of the 2001 census[update].
As many people moved away from the farms in the Free State, they looked for places to stay in the region of Thaba Nchu, another homeland under the old Bophutatswana government.
The policy governing Bophutatswana at the time clearly stated that Bophutatswana belongs to those who are of Tswana tribe. As a result, all other tribes, mainly Sotho and Xhosa, were housed at a squatter camp named “Kromdraai”. Kromdraai was initiated by a man who was only referred to as "Khoza". He was selling a stand for only 50 cents around the year of 1976.
Later on the government of Bophutatswana started to strongly condemn the development of that area and worked hard through their police force during the day and night, striving to dispatch everybody living in the region and who is not a Tswana. As the pressure mounted for the people of Kromdraai, Khoza fled and he was no longer to be seen.
In 1979, the then Prime Minister of QwaQwa, Kenneth Mopeli together with the apartheid government found a place for all the people of Kromdraai at a farm called Onverwacht. All the people who were not Tswana started to move to Onverwacht for free, and later on when they started to settle in the area paid ZAR80 for a stand. Late in 1980 to early 1981 the name Onverwacht started to disappear and people started to call their place by the name of Botshabelo, this name given by Julius Nkoko.
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Wikipedia