Places | Transgariep region

Botshabelo

Botshabelo, situated about 60 km from the provincial capital, Bloemfontein on the N8, has a population of approximately 300 000. It is a monument to apartheid planning in the Free State. The vision of Pretoria during the apartheid era was to develop Botshabelo into a 'Golden City' for the South Sotho people.

The 19 years of Botshabelo's existence tell a dramatic story of change, from the heyday of apartheid planning during which social engineering made it the fastest-growing urban centre in South Africa, to the post-1990 situation where the settlement, for its size, is probably the slowest growing urban area in the country.