I grew up 110 km North of Polokwane in a town called Louis Trichardt. We used to venture to this city a lot when I was little for shopping, sports meetings, etc.
There’s a lot that you probably don’t know about Polokwane (the capital of Limpopo province), so the aim of this post is purely to inform you…
Here are 14 Interesting facts about Polokwane
1. Pietersburg (renamed to Polokwane meaning “Place of Safety” in 1994) was founded in 1886.
2. It’s the biggest city North of Pretoria (the capital city) in South Africa with a population of over 628,000 (according to Stats SA).
3. During the Anglo Boer War (1899-1902) the British built a concentration camp here to house 4,000 Boer women and children.
4. In 1900 the town was the capital of the Transvaal and the Orange Free State provinces of South Africa for a short while.
5. The city boasts the first gold crushing plant in South Africa.
6. Polokwane is well known for Hunting Safari’s, Arts and Crafts and a Game Breeding Centre.
7. It’s situated about 200 km from the Beit Bridge border post (the gateway to Zimbabwe).
8. The Peter Mokaba Stadium in the city was built for the 2010 FIFA World Cup and has a seating capicity of about 45,000. The stadium hosted 4 matches in the tournament.
9. John Smit (the former Springbok rugby captain), Victor Matfield (Springbok rugby player and captain of the Bulls rugby team) and Retief Goosen (South African golfer) were all born in Polokwane.
10. The game reserve which is situated 5 km South of the city, is one of the largest municipal owned game reserves in the country.
11. The city’s Cricket Club is one of the oldest in South Africa. It was established in 1902.
12. PEMPS is the oldest English Medium School in Polokwane Limpopo. Logbooks indicate the existence of the school as early as 1903.
13. The Roman Catholic Church was one of the earliest Churches established in Polokwane. Building began in 1895, and the church was completed in 1897.
14. The Irish House (in Polokwane) gets its name from Irishman James A. Jones, who purchased this Victorian building in 1920 to operate a fashion store. The previous building at this location had burned in the city fire of 1906. In today’s museum, opened in 1984, the first floor is devoted to the liberation struggle of South Africa and the second floor relates to the history of the area and of Polokwane in particular.
Well, there you have it, 14 facts you didn’t know about Polokwane. If you have another fact to add, feel free to comment below.
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