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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) and
de facto national capital; the others are
Cape
Town
, the legislative
capital, and Bloemfontein
, the judicial
capital.
Pretoria
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 2009.
The city's original name was
Pretoria Philadelphia
(‘Pretoria of brotherly love’). It gave its name to the
Pax Praetoriana, referring to the country's
relative stability.
History
The
Southern Transvaal
Ndebele occupied the river valley, which was to become the
location of the city of Pretoria, by around 1600.
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.
Statue of Andries Wilhelmus Jacobus
Pretorius (November 27, 1798 – 23 July 1853) in Pretoria
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 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.
Boer Wars
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 Republic of Transvaal 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 Roberts
on 5 June 1900 and the conflict was ended in Pretoria with the
signing of the
Peace of
Vereeniging on 31 May 1902.
A number of
forts were built for the
defence of the city just prior to the
Second Boer War, though some are today in
ruins, a number of them have been preserved as national
monuments.
Union of South Africa
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.
Post Apartheid
After the creation of new municipal structures across South Africa
in 2000, the name
Tshwane was adopted for the
Metropolitan
Municipality that includes Pretoria and surrounding
towns.
Pretoria previously had a rather sinister image as "the capital of
Apartheid South Africa".
However, Pretoria's
political reputation was changed with the inauguration of Nelson Mandela as the country's first
non-apartheid President at
the Union
Buildings
close to
Pretoria CBD. Controversy of the name still continues as a
significant group of inhabitants of the city feel that the name
should change to that of the municipality "Tshwane", vs. another
fairly large group having no issue with the current name, though
this matter is still being challenged in the High Court of
Pretoria, and via community meetings around the city. For now the
name "Pretoria" for the city itself remains.
In 1994 Peter Holmes Maluleka was elected as transitional mayor of
Pretoria, until the first democratic election held later that year,
making him the first black mayor of this capital of South
Africa.Maluleka later became the chairman of the Greater Pretoria
Metropolitan City Council (later Tshwane Metro Council), then was
elected Speaker of the Tshwane Metro Council and in 2004 was chosen
to be a member of the South African Parliament for the Soshanguve
constituency.
(All of this section needs to be cited)
Geography
Satellite image of Pretoria.
Pretoria
is situated approximately 50 km (30 miles) north of
Johannesburg
in the north-east of South Africa, in a
transitional belt between the plateau of the Highveld
to the south and the lower-lying Bushveld to the north. It lies at an
altitude of about 1,350 m (4,500 ft) above sea level, in
a warm, sheltered, fertile valley, surrounded by the hills of the
Magaliesberg range.
Climate
The city has a dry
subtropical
climate with long, hot summers and short cool winters. The
average annual temperature is 18.7
OC
(65.7
OF). This is rather high considering its relatively
high altitude of about 1350 metres and is due mainly to its
sheltered valley position, which acts as a heat trap and cuts it
off from cool southerly and south-easterly air masses for much of
the year.Rain falls mainly in the summer months, with drought
conditions prevailing over the winter months, when frosts may be
sharp. Snowfall is an extremely rare event, occurring once or twice
in a century.
CBD
Pretoria CBD, April 2006, from
Lukasrand (Muckleneuk Hill), to the SE of the CBD.
The
Central Business
District (CBD) of Pretoria has been the traditional centre of
government and commerce, although today many corporate offices,
small businesses, shops and government departments are situated in
the sprawling suburbs of the city rather than the CBD.
Demographics
| Language |
Population |
% |
| Pedi |
500 732 |
27.14% |
| Afrikaans |
422,866 |
21.29% |
| Tswana |
339,719 |
17.11% |
| Tsonga |
198,441 |
9.99% |
| Zulu |
151,200 |
7.61% |
| English |
129,923 |
6.54% |
| Ndebele |
98,077 |
4.94% |
| Sotho |
78,435 |
3.95% |
| Swati |
37,963 |
1.91% |
| Xhosa |
37,957 |
1.91% |
| Venda |
35,242 |
1.77% |
|
Other |
16 425 |
0.83% |
The city has a population of approximately one million. The main
languages spoken in Pretoria are
Pedi,
Afrikaans,
Tswana,
Tsonga,
Zulu
and
English.
Ndebele and
Sotho are also widely spoken.
The whole Tshwane Metropolitan
Municipality
had a population of 1,985,997 at the 2001 census.
Cityscape
Architecture
Union Buildings, Pretoria, South
Africa
Pretoria has over the years had very diverse cultural influences
and this is reflected in the architectural styles that can be found
in the city. It ranges from British Colonial Architecture to
Art Deco with a good mix of uniquely South
African style mixed in.
Some of
the notable structures in Pretoria include the Union
Buildings, Voortrekker
Monument
, the main campus of the University
of South Africa
, Mahlamba Ndlopfu
(the President's House), Reserve Bank of South Africa (Office
Tower) and the Telkom Lukas Rand Transmission Tower.
Other
known structures and buildings include the Loftus Versveld Stadium, The South African State Theatre, University
of Pretoria
, and Head Quarters of the Department of
International Relations and Co-Operation (modern
architecture).
Parks and gardens
National Botanical Gardens in
Pretoria
Pretoria
is home to the National Zoological Gardens of South
Africa
as well as the Pretoria National Botanical
Garden, one of the National Botanical Gardens in South Africa. There are also a number of
smaller parks and gardens located throughout the city, including
the
Austin Roberts Bird
Sanctuary.
Transport
Railway
Transnet operates commuter and main line
trains from Pretoria Station. Extensive changes are in progress at
this station as work in being done to accommodate the new
Gautrain station below the lines and platforms of
the existing station.
Pretoria Station is a departure point for the
Blue Train.
Rovos Rail , a luxury mainline train safari service operated from
the colonial-style railway station at Capital Park.
The South African Friends of the Rail have recently moved their
vintage train trip operations from the Capital Park station to the
Hercules station.
Buses
Road
The
N1 is the major freeway
that runs through Pretoria.
The N1 Eastern Bypass bisects the large
expanse of the eastern suburbs, routing traffic from Johannesburg to Polokwane
and the north of the country. The N4 Platinum Highway forms the
Northern Bypass and routes traffic from Witbank
to Rustenburg
. The N4 runs east-west through South Africa,
connecting Maputo
to Gaborone
. Other major freeways include the N14 which
links Pretoria with Johannesburg's West Rand, and the R21 which
links the city with OR Tambo International
Airport
.
Airports
Pretoria
is served by the OR Tambo International
Airport, situated to the north-east of Johannesburg and
some 55 km (34 mi) from Pretoria city centre. Wonderboom
Airport
in the suburb of Wonderboom in the north of
Pretoria services light commercial and private aircraft.
There are two military air bases to the south of the city (Swartkop
and Waterkloof).
Society and culture
Media
Since
Pretoria forms part the Tshwane Metropolitan Municipality, most radio, television
and paper media is the same as what can be found in the rest of the
metro area.
Museums
Music
A number of popular South African bands and musicians are
originally from Pretoria. These include
Zebra & Giraffe,
Desmond and the Tutus,
Seetherpopular mostwako rapper JR and
DJ Mujava who was raised in the town of
Attridgeville.
The song
Marching to Pretoria
refers to this city.
Sport
One of the most popular sports in Pretoria is
rugby union.
Loftus Versfeld
is home to the Blue Bulls
who compete in the domestic Currie Cup,
the Bulls who compete in the
international Super 14 competition and to soccer
side Mamelodi Sundowns .
Pretoria also hosted matches during the
1995 Rugby World Cup. Loftus Versfeld
will be used for matches of the
2010 Soccer World Cup.There are two
soccer teams in the city campaigning in the Premier Soccer League.
They are
Sundowns and
Supersport United. Supersport United are
the reigning PSL Champions. Cricket is also popular.
Stadiums
Commerce and Industry
As the national administrative (executive) capital of South Africa,
Pretoria is the seat of government and houses the headquarters of
the main government departments and ministries. As the de facto
capital city, it also hosts the foreign embassies and diplomatic
missions. The city is a major commercial centre and an important
industrial centre. Its main industries are iron and steel works,
copper casting, and the manufacture of automobiles, railway
carriages and heavy machinery.
Education
Tertiary education
University of Pretoria's Old Arts Building
Pretoria
is one of South Africa's leading academic cities, and it is home to
the largest residential university in the country (the University
of Pretoria), the Tshwane University of
Technology and the largest distance education university (the
University
of South Africa, more commonly known by its acronym, UNISA).
The South
African Council for Scientific and Industrial
Research
(CSIR) is also located in this city.
Secondary education
Change of name
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 in which Pretoria, and a number of surrounding towns
are located. Although the name change was approved by the
SAGNC, it has not yet been approved by the Minister of Arts and
Culture,
Pallo Jordan. 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 made it unlikely
the name would change anytime soon, if ever, even assuming the
Minister had approved the change in early 2006.
The Tshwane Metro Council has advertised
Tshwane as
"Africa's leading capital city" since the name change was approved
by the SAGNC in 2005. This has led to further controversy, however,
as the name of the city had not yet been changed officially, and
the council was, at best, acting prematurely. Following a complaint
lodged with the Advertising Standards Authority (ASA), it was ruled
that such advertisements are deliberately misleading and should be
withdrawn from all media. Despite the rulings of the ASA, Tshwane
Metro Council failed to discontinue their "City of Tshwane"
advertisements. As a result, the ASA requested that Tshwane Metro
pay for advertisements in which it admits that it has misled the
public. Refusing to abide by the ASA's request, the Metro Council
was banned consequently from placing any advertisements in the
South African media that refer to Tshwane as the capital. ASA may
still place additional sanctions on the Metro Council that would
prevent it from placing any advertisements in the South African
media, including council notices and employment vacancies.
After the ruling, the Metro Council continued to place
Tshwane advertisements, but placed them on council-owned
advertising boards and busstops throughout the municipal area. In
August 2007, an internal memo was leaked to the media in which the
Tshwane mayor sought advice from the premier of Gauteng on whether
the municipality could be called the "City of Tshwane" instead of
just "Tshwane". This could increase confusion about the distinction
between the city of Pretoria and the municipality of Tshwane.
International relations
Twin towns - Sister cities
Pretoria is
twinned with:
Shopping Malls
- Atterbury Boulevard
- Atterbury Value Mart
- Brooklyn Mall*
- Brooklyn Designer Square
- Centurion Mall (upon Hennops River)*
- Hatfield Plaza*
- Irene Village Mall*
- Kolonnade Centre*
- Mall @ Reds*
- Menlyn Retail Park Menlyn Park
*
- Parkview Centre
- Sammy Marks Shopping Centre
- Sancardia Shopping Centre
- Sterland Mall*
- The Grove Shopping Centre*
- Woodlands Boulevard
*
Please note: The malls with and asterix are malls with at least a
4-screen cinema complex. Menlyn Retail Park is currently the only
shopping mall with an "Imax Theatre" and Kolonnade Centre is the
only mall with a public ice-skating ring, in the city.
Places of interest
Nature Reserves
See also
References
-
http://www.news24.com/Beeld/Pretoria-Beeld/0,,3-69_2413203,00.html
- GHCN climate data, 30 year climate average 1979-2008, Goddard
Institute of Space Studies
- Rovos Rail
website
- Pretoria name change is approved, BBC
- SABC pulls 'Tshwane city' ads, News24
- SA capital advert row sparks ad-alert threat,
IOL
- Media can't place Tshwane ads, FIN24
- Down with Pretoria signs!: South Africa: Politics:
News24
External links
(Residence of the president of the ZAR, Paul Kruger).
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