Bloemfontein, ( ; , "fountain of flowers") also known as Bloem, is one of

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the southernmost country in Africa. It is bounded to the south by of coastline that stretch along the South Atlantic and Indian Oceans; to the north by the neighbouring countri ...

's three

capital cities A capital city or capital is the municipality holding primary status in a country, state, province, department, or other subnational entity, usually as its seat of the government. A capital is typically a city that physically encompasses the ...

and the capital of the Free State province. It serves as the country's

judicial The judiciary (also known as the judicial system, judicature, judicial branch, judiciative branch, and court or judiciary system) is the system of courts that adjudication, adjudicates legal disputes/disagreements and interprets, defends, and app ...

capital, along with

legislative A legislature is an assembly with the authority to make laws for a political entity such as a country or city. They are often contrasted with the executive and judicial powers of government. Laws enacted by legislatures are usually known as p ...

capital

Cape Town Cape Town ( af, Kaapstad; , xh, iKapa) is one of South Africa's three capital cities, serving as the seat of the Parliament of South Africa. It is the legislative capital of the country, the oldest city in the country, and the second largest ...

and

administrative Administration may refer to: Management of organizations * Management, the act of directing people towards accomplishing a goal ** Administrative Assistant, traditionally known as a Secretary, or also known as an administrative officer, administ ...

capital

Pretoria Pretoria () is South Africa's administrative capital, serving as the seat of the Executive (government), executive branch of government, and as the host to all foreign embassies to South Africa. Pretoria straddles the Apies River and extends ...

. Bloemfontein is the seventh-largest city in South Africa. Situated at an elevation of above sea level, the city is home to approximately 520,000 residents and forms part of the

Mangaung Metropolitan Municipality Mangaung Metropolitan Municipality is a metropolitan municipality which governs Bloemfontein and surrounding towns in the Free State province of South Africa. Mangaung is a Sesotho name meaning "place of cheetahs", as it was not uncommon for th ...

which has a population of 747,431. It was one of the host cities for the

2010 FIFA World Cup , image = 2010 FIFA World Cup.svg , size = 200px , caption = ''Ke Nako. (Tswana and Sotho for "It's time") Celebrate Africa's Humanity'It's time. Celebrate Africa's Humanity'' (English)''Dis tyd. Vier Afrika se mensd ...

. The city of Bloemfontein hosts the

Supreme Court of Appeal of South Africa The Supreme Court of Appeal (SCA), formerly known as the Appellate Division, is an appellate court in South Africa. It is located in Bloemfontein, the "judicial capital" of South Africa. History On the creation of the Union of South Africa f ...

, the Franklin Game Reserve,

Naval Hill A navy, naval force, or maritime force is the branch of a nation's armed forces principally designated for naval and amphibious warfare; namely, lake-borne, riverine, littoral, or ocean-borne combat operations and related functions. It inc ...

, the Maselspoort Resort and the Sand du Plessis Theatre. The city hosts numerous museums, including the

National Women's Monument The National Women's Monument ( af, Nasionale Vrouemonument) in Bloemfontein, South Africa, is a monument commemorating the roughly 27,000 Boer women and children who died in British concentration camps during the Second Boer War. The Monument is ...

, the Anglo-Boer War Museum, the

National Museum A national museum is a museum maintained and funded by a national government. In many countries it denotes a museum run by the central government, while other museums are run by regional or local governments. In other countries a much greater numb ...

, and the Oliewenhuis Art Museum. Bloemfontein also hosts the first digital planetarium in the southern hemisphere, the Naval Hill Planetarium and

Boyden Observatory Boyden Observatory is an astronomical research observatory and science education centre located in Maselspoort, north-east of the city of Bloemfontein in Free State, South Africa. The observatory is managed by the Physics Department of the Un ...

, an astronomical research observatory. Bloemfontein is popularly and poetically known as "the city of roses", for its abundance of these flowers and the annual rose festival held there. The city's

Sesotho Sotho () or Sesotho () or Southern Sotho is a Southern Bantu language of the Sotho–Tswana ("S.30") group, spoken primarily by the Basotho in Lesotho, where it is the national and official language; South Africa (particularly the Free ...

name is ''Mangaung'', meaning "place of

cheetah The cheetah (''Acinonyx jubatus'') is a large cat native to Africa and central Iran. It is the fastest land animal, estimated to be capable of running at with the fastest reliably recorded speeds being , and as such has evolved specialized ...

s".

History

Early history

Though historically a !Orana settlement, and then a

Boer Boers ( ; af, Boere ()) are the descendants of the Dutch-speaking Free Burghers of the eastern Cape Colony, Cape frontier in Southern Africa during the 17th, 18th, and 19th centuries. From 1652 to 1795, the Dutch East India Company controll ...

settlement, Bloemfontein was officially founded in 1846 as a fort by

British Army The British Army is the principal land warfare force of the United Kingdom, a part of the British Armed Forces along with the Royal Navy and the Royal Air Force. , the British Army comprises 79,380 regular full-time personnel, 4,090 Gurk ...

major Henry Douglas Warden as a British outpost in the Transoranje region, at that stage occupied by various groups of peoples including !Orana (so-called "Korana" of the ǀHõaǁʼaes, ǀHũdiǁʼaes, Einiǁʼaes and others),

Cape Colony The Cape Colony ( nl, Kaapkolonie), also known as the Cape of Good Hope, was a British Empire, British colony in present-day South Africa named after the Cape of Good Hope, which existed from 1795 to 1802, and again from 1806 to 1910, when i ...

Trek Boers The Trekboers ( af, Trekboere) were nomadic pastoralists descended from European settlers on the frontiers of the Dutch Cape Colony in Southern Africa. The Trekboers began migrating into the interior from the areas surrounding what is now Cape ...

Griqua Griqua may refer to: * Griqua people * Griqua language or Xiri language * Griquas (rugby) Griquas (known as the Windhoek Draught Griquas for sponsorship reasons since April 2022) are a South African rugby union team that participates in the an ...

(at that time known as ''Baasters''), and

Barolong Barolong is a tribe of Tswana people from Botswana and South Africa. Their King, Tau was the descendant of King Morolong who is the founder of Barolong tribe. He reigned around 1240 and adopted ''Tholo'' (the Kudu) as the Barolong totem. King Tau w ...

. Warden originally chose the site largely because of its proximity to the main route to

Winburg Winburg is a small mixed farming town in the Free State province of South Africa. It is the oldest proclaimed town (1837) in the Orange Free State, South Africa and thus along with Griquastad, one of the oldest settlements in South Africa lo ...

, the spacious open country, and the absence of horse sickness. Bloemfontein was the original farm of Johannes Nicolaas Brits born 21 February 1790, owner and first inhabitant of Bloemfontein. Johann – as he was known – sold the farm to Major Warden. With colonial policy shifts, the region changed into the

Orange River Sovereignty The Orange River Sovereignty (1848–1854) was a short-lived political entity between the Orange and Vaal rivers in Southern Africa, a region known informally as Transorangia. In 1854, it became the Orange Free State, and is now the Free State ...

(1848–1854) and eventually the

Orange Free State The Orange Free State ( nl, Oranje Vrijstaat; af, Oranje-Vrystaat;) was an independent Boer sovereign republic under British suzerainty in Southern Africa during the second half of the 19th century, which ceased to exist after it was defeat ...

Republic (1854–1902). From 1902 to 1910 it served as the capital of the

Orange River Colony The Orange River Colony was the British colony created after Britain first occupied (1900) and then annexed (1902) the independent Orange Free State in the Second Boer War. The colony ceased to exist in 1910, when it was absorbed into the Unio ...

and since that time as the provincial capital of the Free State. In 1910 it became the Judicial capital of the

Union of South Africa The Union of South Africa ( nl, Unie van Zuid-Afrika; af, Unie van Suid-Afrika; ) was the historical predecessor to the present-day Republic of South Africa. It came into existence on 31 May 1910 with the unification of the Cape, Natal, Trans ...

Orange Free State (1854–1902)

The

was an independent Boer Republic in

southern Africa Southern Africa is the southernmost subregion of the African continent, south of the Congo and Tanzania. The physical location is the large part of Africa to the south of the extensive Congo River basin. Southern Africa is home to a number of ...

during the second half of the 19th century. Extending between the

Orange Orange most often refers to: *Orange (fruit), the fruit of the tree species '' Citrus'' × ''sinensis'' ** Orange blossom, its fragrant flower *Orange (colour), from the color of an orange, occurs between red and yellow in the visible spectrum * ...

and

Vaal The Vaal River ( ; Khoemana: ) is the largest tributary of the Orange River in South Africa. The river has its source near Breyten in Mpumalanga province, east of Johannesburg and about north of Ermelo and only about from the Indian Ocean. ...

rivers, its borders were determined by the

United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland was a sovereign state in the British Isles that existed between 1801 and 1922, when it included all of Ireland. It was established by the Acts of Union 1800, which merged the Kingdom of Great B ...

in 1848 when the region was proclaimed as the

, with a seat of a

British Resident A resident minister, or resident for short, is a government official required to take up permanent residence in another country. A representative of his government, he officially has diplomatic functions which are often seen as a form of indi ...

in Bloemfontein. As the capital of the Orange Free State Republic the growth and maturing of the republic resulted in the growth of Bloemfontein. The city constructed numerous public buildings that remain in use today, facilitated by the governance of the republic and compensation from the British for the loss of the diamond rich Griqua Land area. The old Orange Free State's presidential residence the Old Presidency is currently a museum and cultural space in the city. A railway line was built in 1890 connecting Bloemfontein to

. The railway line provided a centrally located

railway station Rail transport (also known as train transport) is a means of transport that transfers passengers and goods on wheeled vehicles running on rails, which are incorporated in tracks. In contrast to road transport, where the vehicles run on a pre ...

, and proved critical to the British in occupying the city later. The writer

J. R. R. Tolkien John Ronald Reuel Tolkien (, ; 3 January 1892 – 2 September 1973) was an English writer and philologist. He was the author of the high fantasy works ''The Hobbit'' and ''The Lord of the Rings''. From 1925 to 1945, Tolkien was the Rawlins ...

was born in the city on 3 January 1892, though his family left

(now

Free State province The Free State, known as Orange Free State until the 28th of June 1995 when its name was changed, is a province of South Africa. Its capital is Bloemfontein, which is also South Africa's judicial capital. Its historical origins lie in the Boer ...

, South Africa) following the death of his father, Arthur Tolkien, when Tolkien was three (1895). He recorded that his earliest memories were of "a hot country". De Wet Statue Bloemfontein

In 1899 the city was the site of the

Bloemfontein Conference The Bloemfontein Conference was a meeting that took place at the railway station of Bloemfontein, capital of the Orange Free State from 31 May until 5 June 1899. The main issue dealt with the status of British migrant workers called "Uitlanders", wh ...

, which failed to prevent the outbreak of the

Second Boer War The Second Boer War ( af, Tweede Vryheidsoorlog, , 11 October 189931 May 1902), also known as the Boer War, the Anglo–Boer War, or the South African War, was a conflict fought between the British Empire and the two Boer Republics (the Sout ...

. The conference was a final attempt to avert a war between Britain and the

South African Republic The South African Republic ( nl, Zuid-Afrikaansche Republiek, abbreviated ZAR; af, Suid-Afrikaanse Republiek), also known as the Transvaal Republic, was an independent Boer Republic in Southern Africa which existed from 1852 to 1902, when it ...

. With its failure the stage was set for war, which broke out on 11 October 1899. On 13 March 1900, following the

Battle of Paardeberg The Battle of Paardeberg or Perdeberg ("Horse Mountain") was a major battle during the Second Anglo-Boer War. It was fought near ''Paardeberg Drift'' on the banks of the Modder River in the Orange Free State near Kimberley. Lord Methuen a ...

, the British captured the city and built a

concentration camp Internment is the imprisonment of people, commonly in large groups, without charges or intent to file charges. The term is especially used for the confinement "of enemy citizens in wartime or of terrorism suspects". Thus, while it can simply ...

nearby to house

women and children. In 1913, the

was constructed on the outskirts of the city to commemorate all Boer civilians which died in concentration camps during the war. The hill in town was named Naval Hill after the

naval guns A navy, naval force, or maritime force is the branch of a nation's armed forces principally designated for naval warfare, naval and amphibious warfare; namely, lake-borne, riverine, littoral zone, littoral, or ocean-borne combat operations and ...

brought in by the British in order to fortify the position against attack.

Unionisation of South Africa (1910s)

On 31 May 1910, exactly eight years after the Boers signed the Peace Treaty of Vereeniging that ended the Anglo-Boer War between the

British Empire The British Empire was composed of the dominions, colonies, protectorates, mandates, and other territories ruled or administered by the United Kingdom and its predecessor states. It began with the overseas possessions and trading posts esta ...

and two

states, the

(Republic of Transvaal) and the

, South Africa became a Union. Due to disagreements over where the Union's capital should be, a compromise was reached that allowed Bloemfontein to host Appellate Division and become the Union's judicial capital. Bloemfontein was also given financial compensation. On 8 January 1912, the

South African Native National Congress The African National Congress (ANC) is a social-democratic political party in South Africa. A liberation movement known for its opposition to apartheid, it has governed the country since 1994, when the first post-apartheid election install ...

(SANNC) was founded in Bloemfontein. The Union of South Africa had not granted rights to black South Africans, causing the organisation's creation. Its primary aim was to fight for the rights of black South Africans. During the implementation of

pass laws In South Africa, pass laws were a form of internal passport system designed to segregate the population, manage urbanization and allocate migrant labor. Also known as the natives' law, pass laws severely limited the movements of not only black ...

, the city saw major demonstrations that forced South African authorities to exempt women from them for nearly four decades. From 1 to 9 January 1914,

James Barry Munnik Hertzog General James Barry Munnik Hertzog (3 April 1866 – 21 November 1942), better known as Barry Hertzog or J. B. M. Hertzog, was a South African politician and soldier. He was a Boer general during the Second Boer War who served ...

and his supporters met in Bloemfontein to form the National Party of the Orange Free State, and to lay down its principles, following Hertzog's exit from the

South African Party nl, Zuidafrikaanse Partij , leader1_title = Leader (s) , leader1_name = Louis Botha,Jan Smuts, Barry Hertzog , foundation = , dissolution = , merger = Het VolkSouth African PartyAfrikaner BondOrangia Unie , merged ...

in 1913. The National Party grew to govern South Africa in 1948 and implement the policy of

racial segregation Racial segregation is the systematic separation of people into race (human classification), racial or other Ethnicity, ethnic groups in daily life. Racial segregation can amount to the international crime of apartheid and a crimes against hum ...

known as

apartheid Apartheid (, especially South African English: , ; , "aparthood") was a system of institutionalised racial segregation that existed in South Africa and South West Africa (now Namibia) from 1948 to the early 1990s. Apartheid was ...

Apartheid era (1948–1994)

When the National Party won the 1948 South African national government elections they began implementing the policy known as

. The policy was built on separate development of ethnic groups and racial segregation was implemented. In Bloemfontein, residential segregation had begun in the 19th century with the passing of Ordinance 1 of 1860, which determined that no non-white, without written permission from the landlord (British government), had the right to occupy urban land in towns where local municipalities did not yet exist. On 3 June 1861, the council demarcated three locations in the following areas; the black population was to move to the area which lay to the right of a neighbourhood that was known as Kaffirfontein, Coloureds were to move to the

Waaihoek Waaihoek is the name of a peak at one of the vertices of a very large (8000ha), remote, rugged and mountainous rural property called Zuurberg ("Sour Mountain"), located about 60 km north-east of Cape Town, on the margin of a great sandstone m ...

Black residential area on the eastern outskirts of the town. The inhabitants of these settlements had to pay the so-called hut tax as well as tax on grazing rights. This laid the foundation for the implementation of residential urban segregation as envisaged by the architects of apartheid. When the

government passed the

Group Areas Act Group Areas Act was the title of three acts of the Parliament of South Africa enacted under the apartheid government of South Africa. The acts assigned racial groups to different residential and business sections in urban areas in a system of u ...

of 1950, the Bloemfontein municipality put into effect changes in the racial set-up of the city. The municipality demolished the Cape Stands residential area which was occupied by the city's coloured population and moved the residents to Heidedal. However, due to Coloureds living in such close proximity with black people, intermarriages across racial lines occurred, resulting in a partial mixed population in Heidedal and Mangaung. In 1952 the Bloemfontein municipality began building new residential areas for the city's black population. New residential areas to separate ethnic groups such as

Sotho Sotho may refer to: *Sotho people (or ''Basotho''), an African ethnic group principally resident in South Africa, Lesotho and southern Botswana * Sotho language (''Sesotho'' or ''Southern Sotho''), a Bantu language spoken in southern Africa, an off ...

Xhosa Xhosa may refer to: * Xhosa people, a nation, and ethnic group, who live in south-central and southeasterly region of South Africa * Xhosa language, one of the 11 official languages of South Africa, principally spoken by the Xhosa people See als ...

and

Tswana Tswana may refer to: * Tswana people, the Bantu speaking people in Botswana, South Africa, Namibia, Zimbabwe, Zambia, and other Southern Africa regions * Tswana language, the language spoken by the (Ba)Tswana people * Bophuthatswana, the former ba ...

were formed. The residential areas were jointly known as Mangaung. Phahameng, a

township, was the first formal housing projects to be approved by the municipality in 1956. Physical buffers such as the railway line and roads were put into place to separate black ethnic groups, the white and coloured population. 11,000 housing structures, of which approximately 6,000 were government built rental accommodation, were erected in Mangaung between 1952-1968. In 1968, Mangaung faced serious housing shortages when as many as 3,000 to 6,000 housing units were needed. To counter this problem, a 55 km eastward expansion called

Botshabelo Botshabelo, meaning "a place of refuge", is a large township set up in 1979 by the then apartheid government. It is located 45 km east of Bloemfontein in the present-day Free State province of South Africa. Botshabelo is now the largest ...

was added in 1979. The Bloemfontein municipality channelled off all black urbanisation to

Thaba Nchu Thaba 'Nchu is a town in Free State, South Africa, 63 km east of Bloemfontein and 17 km east of Botshabelo. The population is largely made up of Tswana and Sotho people. The town was settled in December 1833 and officially established ...

and Botshabelo, which were developed as a source of cheap labour for the city of Bloemfontein. A subsidised bus service was established, and Botshabelo was declared a decentralisation point, meaning it was designated to become an industrial development point in order to reduce the distance between place of employment and place of residence. In 1988, an approximate 14,500 people were commuting on a daily basis between

and Bloemfontein. This meant that 55% of Botshabelo's work force was employed outside the city. In 1994, after the disestablishment of the apartheid government, Bloemfontein, Botshabelo, and Thaba Nchu became part of

Motheo District Municipality Motheo ('' Sesotho'', meaning "foundation" or "cornerstone") was, until the municipal elections of 18 May 2011, a district of the Free State province of South Africa. At the time of the 2011 elections it was disestablished as a consequence of Ma ...

. The

was disestablished on 18 May 2011 and Mangaung was upgraded to become an autonomous metropolitan municipality with Bloemfontein as the main seat.

Since 1994

Until 1994 the city was the sole judicial capital of South Africa. It remains the seat for the Supreme Court of Appeal (formerly the Appellate Division of the Supreme Court). It is also an administrative centre with many private hospitals and educational institutions.

Government

Free State Provincial Government building Bloemfontein forms part of the

, which was upgraded from a Local Municipality in 2011. The Mangaung Metropolitan Municipality elects a municipal council for five-year periods, through a mixed-member proportional representation (MMP) system in which wards elect individual councillors alongside those named from party lists. Voters get two votes: one for a representative to become a ward councillor and the other for a political party. The latter vote is used to distribute seats in the municipal council amongst parties while the former distributes seats through the individual representatives. The current Executive Mayor of Mangaung,

Olly Mlamleli Sarah Matawana "Olly" Mlamleli (born 1957) is a South African politician who served as the Mayor of the Mangaung Metropolitan Municipality from August 2016 until August 2020. A member of the African National Congress, she served as the Member of ...

, was elected in August 2016.

Geography and climate

Bloemfontein is located in central South Africa on the southern edge of the

Highveld The Highveld (Afrikaans: ''Hoëveld'', where ''veld'' means "field") is the portion of the South African inland plateau which has an altitude above roughly 1500 m, but below 2100 m, thus excluding the Lesotho mountain regions to the south-east of ...

at an elevation of , bordering on the semi-arid region of the

Karoo The Karoo ( ; from the Afrikaans borrowing of the South Khoekhoe !Orakobab or Khoemana word ''ǃ’Aukarob'' "Hardveld") is a semi-desert natural region of South Africa. No exact definition of what constitutes the Karoo is available, so its ext ...

. The area is generally flat with occasional hills (''koppies'' in

Afrikaans Afrikaans (, ) is a West Germanic language that evolved in the Dutch Cape Colony from the Dutch vernacular of Holland proper (i.e., the Hollandic dialect) used by Dutch, French, and German settlers and their enslaved people. Afrikaans gra ...

) and the general vegetation is

grassland. Bloemfontein experiences a

semi-arid climate A semi-arid climate, semi-desert climate, or steppe climate is a dry climate sub-type. It is located on regions that receive precipitation below potential evapotranspiration, but not as low as a desert climate. There are different kinds of semi-ar ...

(

Köppen Köppen is a German surname. Notable people with the surname include: * Bernd Köppen (born 1951), German pianist and composer * Carl Köppen (1833-1907), German military advisor in Meiji era Japan * Edlef Köppen (1893–1939), German author and ...

: ''BSk''), with hot summer days and cooler, dry winters, often with frosts. Snow is rare but as recently as August 2006 it snowed in the city, with snowfalls occurring again at the airport on 26 July 2007.

Suburbs

Bloemfontein suburbs include Heidedal to the east and southeast, Bain's Vlei,

Woodland Hills Wildlife Estate A woodland () is, in the broad sense, land covered with trees, or in a narrow sense, synonymous with wood (or in the U.S., the ''plurale tantum'' woods), a low-density forest forming open habitats with plenty of sunlight and limited shade (see ...

, Brandwag, Ehrlich Park,

Fauna Fauna is all of the animal life present in a particular region or time. The corresponding term for plants is ''flora'', and for fungi, it is '' funga''. Flora, fauna, funga and other forms of life are collectively referred to as '' biota''. Zoo ...

Fichardt Park Fichardt Park is a suburb of the city of Bloemfontein in South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the southernmost country in Africa. It is bounded to the south by of coastline that stretch along the ...

, Fleurdal, Gardenia Park, Generaal De Wet, Hospitaalpark, Kiepersol, Lourier Park, Park West, Pellissier, Uitsig, Universitas,

Westdene Westdene is an area of the city of Brighton and Hove, East Sussex. It is an affluent northern suburb of the city, west of Patcham, the A23 (London Road) and the London to Brighton railway line, north of Withdean and northeast of West Blat ...

, Wilgehof and

Willows Willows, also called sallows and osiers, from the genus ''Salix'', comprise around 400 speciesMabberley, D.J. 1997. The Plant Book, Cambridge University Press #2: Cambridge. of typically deciduous trees and shrubs, found primarily on moist s ...

to the south of the city. To the west of Bloemfontein, you will find Langenhoven Park. To the north you will find

Arboretum An arboretum (plural: arboreta) in a general sense is a botanical collection composed exclusively of trees of a variety of species. Originally mostly created as a section in a larger garden or park for specimens of mostly non-local species, man ...

, Baysvalley,

Bayswater Bayswater is an area within the City of Westminster in West London. It is a built-up district with a population density of 17,500 per square kilometre, and is located between Kensington Gardens to the south, Paddington to the north-east, and ...

Dan Pienaar Major General Daniel Hermanus Pienaar (27 August 1893 – 19 December 1942) was a South African World War II military commander. Early life and career He was born in Ladybrand, Orange Free State and in his youth grew up in Natal. His family ...

, Helicon Heights, Heuwelsig, Hillsboro, Hillside, Hilton,

Navalsig Navalsig is a mixed race suburb of the city of Bloemfontein in South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the Southern Africa, southernmost country in Africa. It is bounded to the south by of coastline t ...

, Noordhoek, Pentagon Park, Panorama Park, and

Waverley Waverley may refer to: Arts and entertainment * ''Waverley'' (novel), by Sir Walter Scott ** ''Waverley'' Overture, a work by Hector Berlioz inspired by Scott's novel * Waverley Harrison, a character in the New Zealand soap opera ''Shortland Stree ...

. To the north east you will find Roodewal and Vallombrosa. The predominantly black suburbs are; Rocklands, Phahameng, Bloemside, Phelindaba, Bloemanda, JB Mafora, Bochabela and the most historic Batho where the Maphikela House (where the African National Congress started) is situated. To the east of Bloemfontein, Botshabelo and Thaba 'Nchu townships are situated.

Sports

Stadium

The

Free State Stadium The Free State Stadium ( af, Vrystaatstadion), currently known as the Toyota Stadium for sponsorship reasons and formerly known as Vodacom Park, is a stadium in Bloemfontein, South Africa, used mainly for rugby union and also sometimes for associa ...

and the surrounding

sports complex A sports complex is a group of sports facilities. For example, there are track and field stadiums, football stadiums, baseball stadiums, swimming pools, and Indoor arenas. This area is a sports complex, for fitness. Olympic Park is also a kind ...

is the main sports venue in the city and province. The venue was the hosting stadium of the

South Africa matches played in Bloemfontein. There are several other

sports venue A sports venue is a building, structure, or place in which a sporting competition is held. A stadium (plural: stadiums or stadia) or arena is a place or venue for sports or other events and consists of a field or stage either partly or completely ...

s in the city, however, including facilities belonging to the university, schools and sports clubs. Other stadiums in the city are

Mangaung Oval Mangaung Oval, previously known as Springbok Park, Chevrolet Park, Goodyear Park, and OUTsurance Oval, is a cricket oval in Bloemfontein, South Africa. It is currently used mostly for cricket matches. It is the home of the Knights cricket team. ...

, Dr. Petrus Molemela Stadium and

Clive Solomons Stadium Clive Solomons Stadium is a multi-use stadium in Bloemfontein, Free State, South Africa. It is currently used mostly for football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kicking a ball to score a goal. Un ...

Football

Bloemfontein is joint home (together with nearby

) to

Premier Soccer League Premier is a title for the head of government in central governments, state governments and local governments of some countries. A second in command to a premier is designated as a deputy premier. A premier will normally be a head of governm ...

team Bloemfontein Celtic. Some of the matches of the

were played at the Free State Stadium, including the historic 4–1 defeat of England by Germany in the

round of 16 A single-elimination, knockout, or sudden death tournament is a type of elimination tournament where the loser of each match-up is immediately eliminated from the tournament. Each winner will play another in the next round, until the final matc ...

Rugby

Bloemfontein's

is home to two

rugby union Rugby union, commonly known simply as rugby, is a close-contact team sport that originated at Rugby School in the first half of the 19th century. One of the two codes of rugby football, it is based on running with the ball in hand. In its m ...

teams; the

Cheetahs The cheetah (''Acinonyx jubatus'') is a large cat native to Africa and central Iran. It is the fastest land animal, estimated to be capable of running at with the fastest reliably recorded speeds being , and as such has evolved specialized ...

who compete in the

Pro 14 The United Rugby Championship (URC) is an annual rugby union competition involving professional teams from Ireland, Italy, Scotland, South Africa, and Wales. The current name was adopted in 2021 when the league expanded to include four South Afr ...

and the

Free State Cheetahs The Free State Cheetahs (formerly the Orange Free State), currently named the Toyota Free State Cheetahs, for sponsorship reasons, are a South African rugby union team that participates in the annual Currie Cup tournament. They are governed by th ...

who play in the domestic

Currie Cup The Currie Cup is South Africa's premier domestic rugby union competition, played each winter and spring (June to October), featuring teams representing either entire provinces or substantial regions within provinces. Although it is the premier ...

. The Free State Cheetahs won the Currie Cup in 2005 against the

Blue Bulls The Blue Bulls (known for sponsorship reasons as the Vodacom Blue Bulls) is a South African rugby union team that participates in the annual Currie Cup tournament. They are governed by the Blue Bulls Rugby Union and are based at Loftus Versfe ...

, they drew the final with the Blue Bulls in 2006 and retained the Currie Cup title in 2007 by beating the

Golden Lions The Golden Lions (currently known as the Sigma Golden Lions for sponsorship reasons) is a South African professional rugby union team based in Johannesburg who compete in the annual Currie Cup and Rugby Challenge. The team is governed by the ...

resulting in the Cheetahs remaining Currie Cup champions until 2008 when the failed to make the final for the first time since 2004. 2009 saw the Cheetahs return to the Currie Cup final but they were unable to beat the Blue Bulls at Loftus Versfeld. In 2016 the Cheetahs won the Currie Cup after a perfect season, beating the Blue Bulls at home in Bloemfontein.

Cricket

The

Knights cricket team The ITEC Knights are a Division 1 cricket team representing the province of Free State in South African domestic competitions. The Knights take part in the CSA 4-Day Series first-class competition, the Momentum One-Day Cup and the Mzansi ...

representing the Free State and Northern Cape in various series is located at

, part of the Free State Stadium complex. Bloemfontein features as a regular venue for touring international and local cricket teams.

Soaring

The town has one of the most active

soaring Soaring may refer to: * Gliding, in which pilots fly unpowered aircraft known as gliders or sailplanes * Lift (soaring), a meteorological phenomenon used as an energy source by some aircraft and birds * ''Soaring'' (magazine), a magazine produced ...

communities in South Africa and the world, using the New Tempe Airport, north of Bloemfontein.

Motor sports

Bloemfontein has a

motocross Motocross is a form of off-road motorcycle racing held on enclosed off-road circuits. The sport evolved from motorcycle trials competitions held in the United Kingdom. History Motocross first evolved in Britain from motorcycle trials competi ...

track (tempe) run by the Bloemfontein Off Road Club, as well as a

go-kart A go-kart, also written as go-cart (often referred to as simply a kart), is a type of sports car, close wheeled car, open-wheel car or quadracycle. Go-karts come in all shapes and forms, from non-motorised models to high-performance racing ...

circuit (M&F Raceway), which was closed down in early 2015.

Shooting sports

Bloemfontein has a comprehensive shooting centre south of the city, offering most forms of shooting including various clay target, pistol and rifle disciplines. Bloemfontein's shooting sport community has produced many provincial and national representatives over the years.

Metallic Silhouette Shooting

Bloemfontein's Metallic Silhouette Shooting Range is one of the top

metallic silhouette Metallic silhouette shooting is a group of target shooting disciplines that involves shooting at steel targets representing game animals at varying distances, seeking to knock the metal target over. Metallic silhouette is shot with large bore ri ...

shooting range A shooting range, firing range, gun range or shooting ground is a specialized facility, sports venue, venue or playing field, field designed specifically for firearm usage qualifications, training, practice or shooting sport, competitions. So ...

s in the world. Three IMSSU international championships have been held here : BMSSK Range 2010

* 2004 6th IMSSU World Championships * 2006 7th IMSSU World Championships *2016 12th IMSSU World Championships

Rock climbing

Bloemfontein has two rock climbing clubs, each with a wall and boulder cave.

Rose Festival

Every year Bloemfontein, the 'City of Roses', celebrates the 'Bloemfontein Rose Festival', known also as the 'Mangaung Rose Festival', in October—the cool month in which roses in the Free State bloom best. The majority of the events happen at the Loch Logan Waterfront in Bloemfontein. The festival attracts rose enthusiasts from all over South Africa and the world to participate in and experience this grand showcase of roses and other local events and attractions. The festival has made Bloemfontein a popular tourist destination with thousands of people attending the festival annually.

History of the Rose Festival

The first rose festival first took place in 1976, when council members decided that hosting such a festival was appropriate, given the area's name. In 1976 the events spanned over a few days and included activities related to roses in the

Sanlam Sanlam is a South African financial services group headquartered in Bellville, Western Cape, South Africa. Sanlam is the largest insurance company in Africa. It is listed on the Johannesburg Stock Exchange, the Namibian Stock Exchange and the ...

Plaza. Since then, the rose festival has expanded and grown to meet the needs and interests of the public.

Activities

Horticulturalists Horticulture is the branch of agriculture that deals with the art, science, technology, and business of plant cultivation. It includes the cultivation of fruits, vegetables, nuts, seeds, herbs, sprouts, mushrooms, algae, flowers, seaweeds and no ...

are invited to take part in competitions that focus on designing and improving unkempt gardens around the city. Festival activities take place in private gardens all over Bloemfontein, as local residents of the city open their gardens to the general public.

Loch Logan Waterfront

Most festival activities take place at the Loch Logan Waterfront, the largest shopping centre in central South Africa. It spans about 80 000 m² of space and is the hub of shopping, entertainment, sport and culture in Bloemfontein. The waterfront displays flowers created by local nurseries as well as the official municipal display created by the parks department, which is organised by the Mangaung Municipality. The Free State Rose Society's champion Rose Cut Competition, with approximately 700 entrants every year, is also hosted at the Waterfront, along with the Miss Volksblad Rosebud competition for girls aged 3–4 years old, organised in conjunction with the

Volksblad The ''Volksblad'' (English: People's Journal) is an Afrikaans-language daily newspaper published in Bloemfontein, South Africa, and distributed in the Free State and Northern Cape The Northern Cape is the largest and most sparsely populated ...

daily newspaper.

Rose Morning High Tea

The Rose Morning High Tea usually occurs at the Urth Garden Centre where tea and treats are served. The Urth Garden Centre is a retail and wholesale nursery that is located on Kenneth Kaunda Road in Bloemfontein. The crowning of the King and of Mangaung in the year of nomination.

Mangaung Rose Classic Cycle Tour

The Mangaung Rose Classic Cycle Tour is a road race that happens during the festival every year. The event is organised by AfriCycle Tours and the dates are announced annually. The race starts at the Urth and the race distances include 22 km, 56 km and 106 km.

Let's Green Bloem Expo

This expo forms part of the Mangaung/Bloemfontein Rose Festival and gives 'green' and organic local businesses an opportunity to promote their businesses. This includes showcasing different products and services that support a green environment, such as solar power, grey water systems, vegetable tunnels, JoJo tank systems, etc.

Basic education

Bloemfontein houses many institutions of learning, from pre-schools to universities and colleges. Classes are taught in different languages from school to school, with some schools even teaching all their classes in two languages. The languages are predominantly

, English, and

Primary education

* St. Andrew's Primary School * Grey College Primary School

Secondary education

* St. Andrew's School * Grey College *

Eunice High School Eunice High School is a public high school located in Eunice, in the far western end of St. Landry Parish, Louisiana, United States. It is operated by the St. Landry Parish School Board. Eunice High graduated its first class in 1910; the current ...

(Bloemfontein) * Bloemfontein High School * Hoërskool Fichardtpark * Hoërskool Jim Fouché * Hoërskool Sand du Plessis * St. Michael's School * Hoërskool Sentraal

Tertiary education

Public tertiary institutions

University of the Free State The University of the Free State is a multi-campus public university in Bloemfontein, the capital of the Free State and the judicial capital of South Africa. It was first established as an institution of higher learning in 1904 as a tertiary se ...

Central University of Technology Central University of Technology, Free State or CUT is a University of Technology in Bloemfontein in the Free State province of South Africa. It was established in 1981 as "Technikon A technikon was a post-secondary institute of technology (poly ...

There is a Further Education and Training College called Motheo FET College which comprises three main campuses (Thaba N'chu, Hillside view and Bloemfontein) and the satellite campuses in Zastron, Philippolis and Botshabelo.

Economy

The private sector mainly drives Bloemfontein's economy. Bloemfontein’s share of National GDP, employment, and population is the lowest among the benchmark group of South African and Southern African cities, falling just below the city of

Port Elizabeth Gqeberha (), formerly Port Elizabeth and colloquially often referred to as P.E., is a major seaport and the most populous city in the Eastern Cape province of South Africa. It is the seat of the Nelson Mandela Bay Metropolitan Municipality, Sou ...

. The city’s share of the National GDP is 1.73%, with a share of national employment at 1.86% and a share of the national population at 1.67%. Bloemfontein’s GDP growth, at 0.57% in 2015, stood in the lower half of the benchmark group of cities. Along with other major cities in South Africa, Bloemfontein’s GDP growth has slowly decreased in recent years. Some of South Africa's largest retail companies have headquarters in the city.

Major companies

The city is home to two of South Africa's top construction and infrastructure companies. Raubex Group Ltd, established in 1974 and listed on the

JSE Limited JSE Limited (previously the JSE Securities Exchange and the Johannesburg Stock Exchange) is the largest stock exchange in Africa. It is located in Sandton, Johannesburg, South Africa, after it moved from downtown Johannesburg in 2000. In 2003 ...

since March 2007 and Ruwacon (Pty Ltd), established in 1999. Other major companies included the retail department store, Kloppers, establishment in 1967 and EconoFoods (Pty Ltd) established in 1996.

Hospitals and clinics

* Mediclinic Bloemfontein, the biggest hospital in the Mediclinic private hospital group opened its doors in July 1990. * Life Rosepark Hospital * National District Hospital * Universitas Academic Hospital * Pelenomi Academic Hospital * Busamed Bram Fischer Private Hospital * EmoyaMed Private Hospital

Entertainment

* Windmill Casino and Entertainment World * Southern Sun Casino * Andre Huguenot theatre * Sand du Plessis Theatre Queen of Roses also happens during this event. The competition recognizes citizens of the City of Bloemfontein for contributions that go beyond their normal duties to enrich the Mangaung Metro. Nominees need to be citizens.

Media

* Dumelang Media

Newspapers

* '' Dumelang News - The People's Paper'' * ''

Free State Times Free may refer to: Concept * Freedom, having the ability to do something, without having to obey anyone/anything * Freethought, a position that beliefs should be formed only on the basis of logic, reason, and empiricism * Emancipate, to proc ...

'' * ''

'' * '' Ons Stad'' Closed down * '' Bloemnuus'' * '' The Weekly'' * '' Courant''

Radio

* OFM * Kovsie FM *

Lesedi FM Lesedi FM is a South African PBS radio network owned by the South African Broadcasting Corporation The South African Broadcasting Corporation (SABC) is the public broadcaster in South Africa, and provides 19 radio stations ( AM/ FM) as we ...

Motheo FM Motheo FM is a South African community radio station based in the Free State. Coverage areas *Bloemfontein *Botshabelo *Brandfort *Bultfontein *Dewesdorp *Glen *Hobhouse *Theunissen *Windburg * Verkeerevlei *Ladybrand * Thaba-Phathswa *Hobhous ...

* Radio Rosestad *

Motsweding FM Motsweding FM is an SABC radio station based in Mahikeng, South Africa, broadcasting mainly in Tswana language. Formerly known as Radio Tswana, the country-wide broadcast station evolved from a Bophuthatswana Broadcasting Corporation, which had ...

CUT FM Cut may refer to: Common uses * The act of cutting, the separation of an object into two through acutely-directed force ** A type of wound ** Cut (archaeology), a hole dug in the past ** Cut (clothing), the style or shape of a garment ** Cut ( ...

* Med FM

Transport

Road

Bloemfontein's national and regional roads are as follows: The N1, a major highway running roughly SE to NW from

Johannesburg Johannesburg ( , , ; Zulu and xh, eGoli ), colloquially known as Jozi, Joburg, or "The City of Gold", is the largest city in South Africa, classified as a megacity, and is one of the 100 largest urban areas in the world. According to Demo ...

and

Zimbabwe Zimbabwe (), officially the Republic of Zimbabwe, is a landlocked country located in Southeast Africa, between the Zambezi and Limpopo Rivers, bordered by South Africa to the south, Botswana to the south-west, Zambia to the north, and Mozam ...

largely bypasses this city to the west. The N8 runs east/west connecting Bloemfontein to Kimberley and

Maseru Maseru is the capital and largest city of Lesotho. It is also the capital of the Maseru District. Located on the Caledon River, Maseru lies directly on the Lesotho–South Africa border. Maseru had a population of 330,760 in the 2016 census. The ...

, the capital of

Lesotho Lesotho ( ), officially the Kingdom of Lesotho, is a country landlocked country, landlocked as an Enclave and exclave, enclave in South Africa. It is situated in the Maloti Mountains and contains the Thabana Ntlenyana, highest mountains in Sou ...

. Bloemfontein is also the northern end of the N6 road heading roughly southwards to the port of

East London East or Orient is one of the four cardinal directions or points of the compass. It is the opposite direction from west and is the direction from which the Sun rises on the Earth. Etymology As in other languages, the word is formed from the f ...

. There are also two two-digit R routes: the R64, which is the old road to Kimberley, via

Dealesville Dealesville is a mixed farming town in the Free State province of South Africa and is surrounded by numerous salt pans. There are many natural springs in the vicinity, most notably Florisbad some 35 km from the town. The town was establishe ...

and

Boshof Boshof is a farming town in the west of the Free State province, South Africa. The town is 55 km north-east of Kimberley on the R64 road. Established in March 1856 on the farm Vanwyksvlei, which had been named after a Griqua who sowed his ...

. It ends at the N1. The R30 ends at the N1 north of the town. It is the road to

Welkom Welkom () is the second-largest city in the Free State province of South Africa, located about northeast of Bloemfontein which is the provincial capital. Welkom is also known as Circle City, City Within A Garden, Mvela and Matjhabeng. The cit ...

. Three other three-digit R routes have their origin in Bloemfontein. The R706 takes origin from the N8 in the city centre, and heads south-west towards

Jagersfontein Jagersfontein is a small town in the Free State province of South Africa. Origin The original farm on which the town stands was once the property of a Griqua Jacobus Jagers, hence the name Jagersfontein. He sold the farm to C.F. Visser in 1854. ...

and

Fauresmith Fauresmith is located 130 km south west of Bloemfontein, South Africa. The town, named after Rev Phillip Faure and Sir Harry Smith, is the second oldest town in the Free State. Fauresmith is the only town in South Africa, and one of only ...

. The R702 also originates from the N8 in the city centre, but heads south-east towards the towns of

Dewetsdorp Dewetsdorp is a small town in the Free State province of South Africa, 68 km south-east of Bloemfontein. The town was set up, without approval of the Volksraad, by field-cornet Jacobus de Wet, father of the Second Anglo-Boer War The S ...

and

Wepener Wepener is a town in the Free State, South Africa, located near the border of Lesotho. History The town is named after Louw Wepener, the leader of the Boers in their war with the Basotho chief Moshoeshoe I in 1865. It was founded in 1867 on t ...

. The third road, the R700, starts in the city centre from the N8 and heads north crossing the N1 towards

Bultfontein Bultfontein is a town in the Free State province of South Africa with a total population of about 23,400 people. It is situated in the Tswelopele Local Municipality, about north of Bloemfontein. The town site was laid out in 1873; it had been ...

. Below that level, Bloemfontein has a number of metropolitan or M roads. These roads are numbered independently of M-roads in other South African cities.

Rail

Bloemfontein is well connected with

rail Rail or rails may refer to: Rail transport *Rail transport and related matters *Rail (rail transport) or railway lines, the running surface of a railway Arts and media Film * ''Rails'' (film), a 1929 Italian film by Mario Camerini * ''Rail'' ( ...

. It is located on the most important

rail junction A junction, in the context of rail transport, is a place at which two or more rail routes converge or diverge. This implies a physical connection between the tracks of the two routes (assuming they are of the same gauge), provided by ''points'' ( ...

between

and

, with daily trains to

and

Air

Bloemfontein has two

airports An airport is an aerodrome with extended facilities, mostly for commercial air transport. Airports usually consists of a landing area, which comprises an aerially accessible open space including at least one operationally active surface ...

New Tempe Aerodrome New is an adjective referring to something recently made, discovered, or created. New or NEW may refer to: Music * New, singer of K-pop group The Boyz Albums and EPs * ''New'' (album), by Paul McCartney, 2013 * ''New'' (EP), by Regurgitator, ...

and

Bram Fischer International Airport Bram Fischer International Airport ( af, Bram Fischer Internasionale Lughawe) is a primary airport located in Bloemfontein, the capital city of the Free State province of South Africa. The runways are shared with AFB Bloemspruit. In November ...

has no scheduled flights, it is used as a training facility for aviators and schools.

has scheduled flights to all South Africa's major cities.

Public transport

In October 2016, the Mangaung Metropolitan and various taxi associations reached an agreement on the Integrated Public Transport system which is currently under construction. The project consist of two phases, the first phase will see the construction of bus ways along the Metropolitan. The second will be the building of depot and stations.

Notable people

Many famous people are associated with Bloemfontein; these include:

Rugby players

François Steyn François Philippus Lodewyk Steyn (born 14 May 1987) is a South African professional rugby union player who currently plays for the South Africa national team and Cheetahs (rugby union) in Pro 14. He usually plays at inside centre, fullback ...

rugby Rugby may refer to: Sport * Rugby football in many forms: ** Rugby league: 13 players per side *** Masters Rugby League *** Mod league *** Rugby league nines *** Rugby league sevens *** Touch (sport) *** Wheelchair rugby league ** Rugby union: 1 ...

player * Juan Smith,

player * Os du Randt,

player *

Chris Dry Christopher Adriaan Dry (born 13 February 1988) is a South African professional rugby union player, currently playing with the South African Sevens team in the Sevens World Series. His regular position is a flanker. Youth rugby Dry played ...

South Africa national rugby sevens team The South African national rugby sevens team competes in the World Rugby Sevens Series, the Rugby World Cup Sevens, the Summer Olympic Games and the Commonwealth Games. Overall, the team has won the World Rugby Sevens Series 4 times, as well as h ...

player *

Naka Drotske Naka may refer to: Places in Japan * Naka, Hyōgo, a former town in Hyōgo Prefecture * Naka, Ibaraki, a city in Ibaraki Prefecture * Naka, Tokushima, a town in Tokushima Prefecture * Naka District, Ibaraki, a district in Ibaraki Prefecture * N ...

player * Brendan Venter,

player * Andre Joubert,

player * Andre Venter,

player *

Ruben Kruger Ruben Jacobus Kruger (30 March 1970 – 27 January 2010) was a South African rugby union player. He played as a flanker. He had two daughters Zoë (b. 2002) and Isabella (b. 2005), whose play tennis. Isabella played quarter final on the junior t ...

player *

Ollie Le Roux Andre-Henri "Ollie" le Roux (born 10 May 1973) is a South African rugby union footballer with 54 caps for his country. Rugby career Le Roux was born in Fort Beaufort, Eastern Cape. In his professional club rugby career he has played for: the , ...

player * Coenie Oosthuizen,

player *

Jannie de Beer Jan Hendrik de Beer (born 22 April 1971) is a South African former rugby union player. He played flyhalf for the South African national team, the Springboks. In all he represented the Springboks in 13 tests, scoring 181 points. He was principa ...

player

Cricket players

Allan Donald Allan Anthony Donald (born 20 October 1966) is a South African former cricketer who is also the current bowling coach of Bangladesh national cricket team. Often nicknamed 'White Lightning' due to his lightning quick bowling, he is considered ...

, South African

cricket Cricket is a bat-and-ball game played between two teams of eleven players on a field at the centre of which is a pitch with a wicket at each end, each comprising two bails balanced on three stumps. The batting side scores runs by striki ...

er *

Hansie Cronje Wessel Johannes "Hansie" Cronje (25 September 1969 – 1 June 2002) was a South African international cricketer and captain of the South African national cricket team in the 1990s. A right-handed all-rounder, as captain Cronje led his team to vi ...

, controversial South African

captain *

Morne van Wyk Morne is an Old-French word for a small mountain. It may refer to: * Morne a Chandelle, a village in the Sud-Est department of Haiti * Morne-à-l'Eau, a commune in Guadeloupe * Morne Bois-Pin, the fourth highest mountain in Haiti * Morne la Vigie, ...

, played for South Africa Proteas Cricket team *

Kepler Wessels Kepler Christoffel Wessels (born 14 September 1957) is a South African-Australian cricket commentator and former cricketer who captained South Africa after playing 24 Tests for Australia. Since retiring he has been a lawn bowls competitor. He ...

, test cricketer with Australia and South Africa

Football players

* Willem Jackson played for Bloemfontein Celtic and South Africa national football team. *

Vuyo Mere Vuyo Mere (born 5 March 1984) is a South African soccer Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a team sport played between two teams of 11 players who primarily use their feet to propel the ball around a re ...

plays for Moroka Swallows. *

Thabo Nthethe Thabo Benett Nthethe (born 3 October 1984 in Bloemfontein) is a retired South African football defender. He represented South Africa and played for Mamelodi Sundowns Mamelodi Sundowns Football Club (simply known as Sundowns) is a Sout ...

played for Bloemfontein Celtic,

Mamelodi Sundowns Mamelodi Sundowns Football Club (simply known as Sundowns) is a South African professional football club based in Mamelodi, Pretoria in the Gauteng province that plays in the Premier Soccer League, the first tier of South African football ...

Chippa United Chippa United Football Club (often known as Chilli boys or Chippa) is a South African professional football club based in Gqeberha in the Eastern Cape province, having previously being based in Nyanga suburb of the city of Cape Town. The club' ...

and South Africa national football team. * Thembinkosi Lorch plays for

Orlando Pirates Orlando Pirates Football Club (often known as "The Buccaneers") is a South African professional football club based in the Houghton suburb of the city of Johannesburg and plays in the top-tier system of Football in South Africa known as DStv ...

and South Africa national football team. *

Kgotso Moleko Kgotso Moleko (born 27 August 1989) is a South African professional soccer player who last played as a right-back for Amazulu in the South African Premier Division The South African Premier Division, officially referred to as the DStv Premi ...

plays for Kaizer Chiefs.

Musicians

Leon Schuster Leon Ernest "Schuks" Schuster (born 21 May 1951) is a South African filmmaker, comedian, actor, prankster and singer. Early life Schuster was drawn to the filmmaking process at an early age. As a child he and his brother would play practical ...

, filmmaker, comedian and musician, born and schooled in Bloemfontein *

Shaun Morgan Shaun Morgan Welgemoed (, born 21 December 1978) is a South African musician. He is the singer, songwriter, and guitarist for the rock band Seether. Early life Morgan spent most of his early life in South Africa.Bottomley, CSeether: South Af ...

and

Dale Stewart Dale William Stewart (born 30 November 1979) is a South African musician, best known as the bass guitarist for the South African rock band Seether. Equipment Stewart is sponsored by Schecter and has a signature model, the Dale Stewart Aven ...

, musicians and founding members of the band Seether * Coenie de Villiers, Afrikaans musician and songwriter *

Brendan Peyper Brendan Peyper (born 7 August 1996) is a South African singer-songwriter. He released his debut album ''Stop, wag, bly nog 'n bietjie'' in 2015 and then a follow-up album ''Hy Loop Oop'' in 2017. Career Brendan Peyper was born in Bloemfontein ...

, Afrikaans musician and songwriter

Actors / Directors

, filmmaker, comedian and musician, born and schooled in Bloemfontein *

Tony Kgoroge Tony Kgoroge (born 21 April 1974) is a South African actor. He is best known for his performance as Jason Tshabalala in ''Invictus''. He also stars as Zimele "Ngcolosi" Bhengu on e.tv's soap, '' Imbewu: The Seed''. Personal life He is married ...

, South African actor, performances in movies including ''

Hotel Rwanda ''Hotel Rwanda'' is a 2004 drama film directed by Terry George. It was adapted from a screenplay co-written by George and Keir Pearson, and stars Don Cheadle and Sophie Okonedo as hotelier Paul Rusesabagina and his wife Tatiana. Based on the ...

'', ''

Blood Diamond ''Blood Diamond'' is a 2006 American political war action thriller film directed and co-produced by Edward Zwick and starring Leonardo DiCaprio, Jennifer Connelly, and Djimon Hounsou. The title refers to blood diamonds, which are diamonds min ...

'', ''

Invictus "Invictus" is a short poem by the Victorian era British poet William Ernest Henley (1849–1903). It was written in 1875 and published in 1888 in his first volume of poems, ''Book of Verses'', in the section ''Life and Death (Echoes)''. Backgr ...

'', ''

Lord of War ''Lord of War'' is a 2005 American crime drama film written, produced, and directed by Andrew Niccol, and co-produced by and starring Nicolas Cage. The film was released in the United States on September 16, 2005, to positive reviews and grosse ...

'' and ''

Skin Skin is the layer of usually soft, flexible outer tissue covering the body of a vertebrate animal, with three main functions: protection, regulation, and sensation. Other cuticle, animal coverings, such as the arthropod exoskeleton, have diffe ...

Other

CBE The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding contributions to the arts and sciences, work with charitable and welfare organisations, and public service outside the civil service. It was established o ...

was born in Bloemfontein on 3 January 1892. Tolkien is famous for creating the ''

Legendarium Tolkien's legendarium is the body of J. R. R. Tolkien's mythopoeic writing, unpublished in his lifetime, that forms the background to his ''The Lord of the Rings'', and which his son Christopher summarized in his compilation of ''The Silmaril ...

'' fantasy epics, ''

The Hobbit ''The Hobbit, or There and Back Again'' is a children's fantasy novel by English author J. R. R. Tolkien. It was published in 1937 to wide critical acclaim, being nominated for the Carnegie Medal and awarded a prize from the '' ...

'', ''

The Lord of the Rings ''The Lord of the Rings'' is an epic high-fantasy novel by English author and scholar J. R. R. Tolkien. Set in Middle-earth, intended to be Earth at some time in the distant past, the story began as a sequel to Tolkien's 1937 children's boo ...

'' and ''

The Silmarillion ''The Silmarillion'' () is a collection of myths and stories in varying styles by the English writer J. R. R. Tolkien. It was edited and published posthumously by his son Christopher Tolkien in 1977, assisted by the fantasy author Guy Gavriel ...

''. When aged 3, Tolkien left South Africa for England. *

Ryk Neethling Ryk Neethling OIS (born 17 November 1977) is a South African businessman who rose to prominence as the three-times World Champion and four-times World Record Breaking Olympic swimming champion. He is known as one of the most accomplished swim ...

, Olympic gold medalist swimmer *

Zola Budd Zola Budd (also known as Zola Pieterse; born 26 May 1966) is a South African middle-distance and long-distance runner. She competed at the 1984 Olympic Games for Great Britain and the 1992 Olympic Games for South Africa, both times in the 30 ...

, international long-distance athlete, born in the city and attended Sentraal High School *

Gerrit Badenhorst Gerrit Badenhorst (born 10 October 1962) is a former WPC world champion powerlifter and professional strongman competitor from South Africa. Powerlifting Badenhorst was born on 10 October 1962 in De Aar, Northern Cape, South Africa.David Webs ...

, a powerlifter and strongman competitor. *

Karla Pretorius Karla Pretorius (née Mostert; born 12 March 1990) is a South African netball player, currently playing for the Sunshine Coast Lightning and the South Africa SPAR Proteas Netball. She plays in the positions of Goal Defence (GD) and Wing Defence ...

, Protea and international netball player, attended the * Frans Claerhout, artist. *

Gert Coetzer Gert Coetzer ( – 10 November 2018), also known by the nickname of "Oupa" (meaning "Old Man" in Afrikaans), was a South African rugby union and professional rugby league footballer who played in the 1950s and 1960s. He played representative le ...

, rugby league footballer who played in the 1960s *

Beric John Croome Beric John Croome (23 May 1960 – 22 April 2019) was a chartered accountant, Advocate of the High Court of South Africa and one of South Africa's tax law scholars. Research interests Croome's doctoral thesis dealt with issues relating to cons ...

, Advocate of the

High Court of South Africa The High Court of South Africa is a superior court of law in South Africa. It is divided into nine provincial divisions, some of which sit in more than one location. Each High Court division has general jurisdiction over a defined geographical ...

Winkie Direko Isabella Winkie Direko (27 November 192917 February 2012) was a South African politician born in the Free State (province), Free State province of South Africa. She was a member of the African National Congress and served as Premier of the Free S ...

, first black chancellor of the

* Lizzie van Zyl, Child inmate of the Bloemfontein concentration camp during the

* Dr

John Vernon Harrison John Vernon Harrison FRSE FGS (1892-1972) was a British structural geologist, explorer and cartographer. Life He was born to British parents in Bloemfontein in the Orange Free State on 16 March 1892. His father was John Frederick Harrison, a ci ...

FRSE Fellowship of the Royal Society of Edinburgh (FRSE) is an award granted to individuals that the Royal Society of Edinburgh, Scotland's national academy of science and letters, judged to be "eminently distinguished in their subject". This soci ...

geologist, was born here *

Flaxman Qoopane Moalosi Jacob Qoopane (1955–2017), also known as “Flaxman” was known as “the father of literature and arts” in Bloemfontein. Qoopane was a South African literary activist and internationally recognised author, poet, journalist and bio ...

, writer *

Billy Modise Billy Modise was an African National Congress (ANC) veteran and former ambassador. He was born on 18 December 1930 in Bloemfontein and died on 20 June 2018. Early life Billy Modise was born on 8 December 1930 in Bloemfontein, Orange Free State ...

* Elzabe Rockman, former Free State MEC for Finance

Religion

Bloemfontein has a large and diverse Christian population. The city houses several churches and denominations: * It is the seat of the Anglican Diocese of the Free State * Afrikaans

Baptist Church Baptists form a major branch of Protestantism distinguished by baptizing professing Christian believers only (believer's baptism), and doing so by complete immersion. Baptist churches also generally subscribe to the doctrines of soul compete ...

(Afrikaans: ''Afrikaanse Baptiste Kerk'') *

Dutch Reformed Church The Dutch Reformed Church (, abbreviated NHK) was the largest Christian denomination in the Netherlands from the onset of the Protestant Reformation in the 16th century until 1930. It was the original denomination of the Dutch Royal Family and ...

(Afrikaans: ''Nederduitse Gereformeerde Kerk'') * Sacred Heart Cathedral in Bloemfontein is the seat of the

Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Bloemfontein The Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Bloemfontein ( la, Bloemfonteinen(sis)) is the Metropolitan See for the Ecclesiastical province of Bloemfontein in South Africa. History * 1951.01.11: Established as Metropolitan Archdiocese of Bloemfontein f ...

Seventh-day Adventist Church The Seventh-day Adventist Church is an Adventist Protestant Christian denomination which is distinguished by its observance of Saturday, the seventh day of the week in the Christian (Gregorian) and the Hebrew calendar, as the Sabbath, and ...

, Southern African headquarters. *

Christian Revival Church The Christian Revival Church (CRC) is Full Gospel in Faith, Evangelical in Practice (Ministry), Pentecostal in Movement & Charismatic in Worship (triune prayers: confession, resist/cast devils/demons and ask of blessing or oneness tongue praise & ...

, is the largest church in Bloemfontein with over 30,000 members. CRC's net is widely cast and is established in Bloemfontein, Pretoria and Johannesburg along with 90 national and international CRC Churches worldwide, executing the mission of "One Church, Many Locations" throughout South Africa, Europe, America & Australia. The church is led by Pastor At Boshoff, together with his wife Nyretta. * New Covenant Ministries International had a church called Fountainhead led by Chris Gerber. It was a New Testament Church known by the name Fountainhead Church International. Later this church merged with Doxa Deo Bloemfontein, which is now the name of the combined church. The city also has a large Jewish population, which was established during the mid-19th century. There are two main cemeteries in Bloemfontein: * The Old Cemetery: Over 1,000 names from the three cemeteries. Old: The oldest of the three cemeteries, dating from 1871, is simply a small fenced off area of a public cemetery near the city centre. It includes a few graves of several Jewish pioneers involved in the early days of the city who died serving on either side in the Boer War, 1899–1902. Each of the thirty or so tombstones of these pioneer families has been completely transcribed. * South Park: This cemetery was consecrated in 1978 and now includes more than 10 000 graves and is the biggest cemetery in the Free State. On 7 October 2010, Several tombstones in the

Jewish cemetery A Jewish cemetery ( he, בית עלמין ''beit almin'' or ''beit kvarot'') is a cemetery where Jews are buried in keeping with Jewish tradition. Cemeteries are referred to in several different ways in Hebrew, including ''beit kevarot'' ...

in Bloemfontein were defaced with

swastika The swastika (卐 or 卍) is an ancient religious and cultural symbol, predominantly in various Eurasian, as well as some African and American cultures, now also widely recognized for its appropriation by the Nazi Party and by neo-Nazis. It ...

s and antisemitic graffiti. On 10 April 2012, Bloemfontein's historic Memorium cemetery was vandalized, with 35 tombstones toppled and obscene graffiti daubed on the walls of the adjoining Ohel. The graffiti included images of money bags and diamonds, as well as of a crudely drawn

Magen David The Star of David (). is a generally recognized symbol of both Jewish identity and Judaism. Its shape is that of a hexagram: the compound of two equilateral triangles. A derivation of the ''seal of Solomon'', which was used for decorative ...

, allegedly as part of an anti-Semitic act. There is also the old Phahameng cemetery which dates back to the 1960s and was specifically reserved for Africans during the

apartheid era Apartheid (, especially South African English: , ; , "aparthood") was a system of institutionalised racial segregation that existed in South Africa and South West Africa (now Namibia) from 1948 to the early 1990s. Apartheid was ...

and has a Heroes Acre, where freedom fighters are laid to rest. The Heide Heights cemetery in Heidedal was reserved for coloured people during the apartheid era but all races could bury their dead after 1994. This cemetery has been closed due to it being full.

Community service organisations

Round Table 158 Bloemfontein
The first

Round Table The Round Table ( cy, y Ford Gron; kw, an Moos Krenn; br, an Daol Grenn; la, Mensa Rotunda) is King Arthur's famed table in the Arthurian legend, around which he and his knights congregate. As its name suggests, it has no head, implying that e ...

was formed in

Norwich Norwich () is a cathedral city and district of Norfolk, England, of which it is the county town. Norwich is by the River Wensum, about north-east of London, north of Ipswich and east of Peterborough. As the seat of the See of Norwich, with ...

, England in 1927. The founder,

Louis Marchesi Erminio William Louis Marchesi (19 January 1898 – 10 December 1968) founded the Round Table, an international fellowship and community charitable organisation for young men. His mother was born in England to Irish parents and his father was Sw ...

, was a young member of Norwich Rotary Club who felt a need existed for a club where the young business men of the town could gather on a regular basis. At their meetings they could exchange ideas, learn from the experiences of their colleagues and play a collective part in the civic life of Norwich. From a very early stage it was agreed that Round Table would be a non-religious, non-political club and this has continued to this day.
Child Welfare Bloemfontein
Child Welfare Bloemfontein & Childline Free State is a non-profit organisation that was founded in 1914 by a group of volunteers who identified a need for welfare services among the community. In 2004, Child Welfare Bloemfontein celebrated its 90th birthday. Over the past 90 years, many community programmes have been successfully implemented.
FreeMasons
The Masonic Centre, Bloemfontein, was built during the 1970s when all the Masonic Lodges in Bloemfontein, sold their individual properties. The centre was erected to facilitate all Masonic activities in Bloemfontein and surrounding areas. All four Constitutions that is active in South Africa, gather at the centre. The Lodges that has ownership of the centre is Lodge Unie (est. 1864); the Rising Star Lodge (est. 1865); Thistle Lodge (est.1903); Emerald Lodge (est. 1905); Lodge Dagbreek (est. 1932) & Lodge Oranje (est. 1964). Various side degrees are catered for at the Centre which includes the Mark, Ark, the Royal Arch & Rose Croix. Bloemfontein has a rich Masonic history especially in the Anglo Boer War (1899–1902), with members such as Lord Kitchener,

Rudyard Kipling Joseph Rudyard Kipling ( ; 30 December 1865 – 18 January 1936)''The Times'', (London) 18 January 1936, p. 12. was an English novelist, short-story writer, poet, and journalist. He was born in British India, which inspired much of his work. ...

and

Sir Arthur Conan Doyle Sir Arthur Ignatius Conan Doyle (22 May 1859 – 7 July 1930) was a British writer and physician. He created the character Sherlock Holmes in 1887 for '' A Study in Scarlet'', the first of four novels and fifty-six short stories about Ho ...

, visiting Lodges in Bloemfontein.

International relations

Sister cities

Nanjing Nanjing (; , Mandarin pronunciation: ), alternately romanized as Nanking, is the capital of Jiangsu province of the People's Republic of China. It is a sub-provincial city, a megacity, and the second largest city in the East China region. T ...

, China *

Bhubaneshwar Bhubaneswar (; ) is the capital and largest city of the States and territories of India, Indian state of Odisha. The region, especially the old town, was historically often depicted as ''Ekamra Kshetra'' (area (''kshetra'') adorned with mango tr ...

, India

References

External links

Bloemfontein
The official Mangaung Local Municipality website *
Apartheid and housing in Mangaung and Botshabelo
{{Authority control Populated places in Mangaung Cities in South Africa Provincial capitals in South Africa Capitals in Africa Populated places established in 1846

Bloemfontein Bloemfontein, ( ; , "fountain of flowers") also known as Bloem, is one of South Africa's three capital cities and the capital of the Free State (province), Free State province. It serves as the country's judicial capital, along with legisla ...

Second Boer War concentration camps 1846 establishments in Africa