Bothaville
Encyclopedia
Bothaville is a maize farming town situated near the Vaal River
in the Lejweleputswa DM
of the Free State
province, South Africa
. It is situated 6km east of the Vaal, on the bank of its Vals River tributary. Bothaville and the adjacent Kgotsong township have a total of approximately 80,000 residents.
after religious persecution. The town was renamed Bothaville in 1893, after Theunis Louis Botha, the original owner of the farm.
The Battle of Doornkraal
took place some distance south of town on 6 November 1900. Doornkraal Monument is a granite memorial built in honour of Boers who died here in the surprise attack by British soldiers. Some of the Boer soldiers were buried in a communal grave.
The town received municipality status in 1914. It was recently amalgamated into the Nala Municipality, along with Wesselsbron
and a part of the Vetvaal rural council.
The NAMPO agricultural trade show, known as Nampo Harvest Day or Nampo Oesdag, has been held annually at Bothaville since 1974. Described as one of the largest in the world, it attracted some 60,000 visitors in recent years. It is held in the middle week of May at Nampo Park just north of town. The show, organised by Grain South Africa (GSA), features a large variety of agricultural machinery and livestock.
Vaal River
The Vaal River is the largest tributary of the Orange River in South Africa. The river has its source in the Drakensberg mountains in Mpumalanga, east of Johannesburg and about 30 km north of Ermelo and only about 240 km from the Indian Ocean. It then flows westwards to its conjunction...
in the Lejweleputswa DM
Lejweleputswa District Municipality
Lejweleputswa is one of the 5 districts of Free State province of South Africa. The seat of Lejweleputswa is Welkom. The majority of its 657 019 people speak Sotho...
of the Free State
Free State
The Free State is a province of South Africa. Its capital is Bloemfontein, which is also South Africa's judicial capital. Its historical origins lie in the Orange Free State Boer republic and later Orange Free State Province. The current borders of the province date from 1994 when the Bantustans...
province, South Africa
South Africa
The Republic of South Africa is a country in southern Africa. Located at the southern tip of Africa, it is divided into nine provinces, with of coastline on the Atlantic and Indian oceans...
. It is situated 6km east of the Vaal, on the bank of its Vals River tributary. Bothaville and the adjacent Kgotsong township have a total of approximately 80,000 residents.
History
A 'church town', Botharnia, was established in 1891 on a portion of Gladdedrift farm, by Voortrekker JP van Wyk who left PretoriaPretoria
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 and de facto national capital; the others are Cape Town, the legislative capital, and Bloemfontein, the judicial capital.Pretoria is...
after religious persecution. The town was renamed Bothaville in 1893, after Theunis Louis Botha, the original owner of the farm.
The Battle of Doornkraal
Battle of Bothaville
The Battle of Bothaville on 6 November 1900 was a rare defeat of Christiaan de Wet's Boer commando at the hands of a force of British Mounted Infantry .-Battle:...
took place some distance south of town on 6 November 1900. Doornkraal Monument is a granite memorial built in honour of Boers who died here in the surprise attack by British soldiers. Some of the Boer soldiers were buried in a communal grave.
The town received municipality status in 1914. It was recently amalgamated into the Nala Municipality, along with Wesselsbron
Wesselsbron
Wesselsbron is a small maize farming town 75 kilometres south of Bothaville in Free State province of South Africa. It was named after the Boer Commandant Cornelius Wessels who led the 1899 Siege of Kimberley during the Second Boer War.-Education:...
and a part of the Vetvaal rural council.
Agriculture
Bothaville is in the Maize Triangle, thus surrounded by vast maizelands, some irrigated from the Vals and Vaal rivers. Other agricultural activities are sheep, sunflower, wheat and ground-nuts.The NAMPO agricultural trade show, known as Nampo Harvest Day or Nampo Oesdag, has been held annually at Bothaville since 1974. Described as one of the largest in the world, it attracted some 60,000 visitors in recent years. It is held in the middle week of May at Nampo Park just north of town. The show, organised by Grain South Africa (GSA), features a large variety of agricultural machinery and livestock.