Bronkhorstspruit is a town 50 km east of

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 ...

Gauteng Gauteng ( ) is one of the nine provinces of South Africa. The name in Sotho-Tswana languages means 'place of gold'. Situated on the Highveld, Gauteng is the smallest province by land area in South Africa. Although Gauteng accounts for only ...

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 ...

along the N4 highway towards

Witbank Witbank (), officially Emalahleni, is a city situated on the Highveld of Mpumalanga, South Africa, within the Emalahleni Local Municipality. The name Witbank is Afrikaans for "white ridge", and is named after a white sandstone outcrop where wa ...

. It also includes three townships called

Zithobeni Zithobeni (a Zulu word meaning humble yourselves) is a township situated in Gauteng, South Africa, just north of Bronkhorstspruit Bronkhorstspruit is a town 50 km east of Pretoria, Gauteng, South Africa along the N4 highway towards ...

, Rethabiseng and

Ekangala Ekangala is a large township falling under the City of Tshwane in the Gauteng province of South Africa. It lies remotely in Gauteng, tucked into the border with Mpumalanga Mpumalanga () is a province of South Africa. The name means "East", ...

. On 18 May 2011, the

Tshwane Metropolitan Municipality The City of Tshwane Metropolitan Municipality (also known as the City of Tshwane) () is the metropolitan municipality that forms the local government of northern Gauteng Province, South Africa. The Metropolitan area is centred on the city of Pr ...

took over the municipal administration from the abolished

Kungwini Local Municipality Kungwini Local Municipality was a local municipality in the Metsweding District of Gauteng in South Africa. The town of Bronkhorstspruit Bronkhorstspruit is a town 50 km east of Pretoria, Gauteng, South Africa along the N4 highway tow ...

, which makes Bronkhorstspruit part of Tshwane.

History

In 1858, a group of Voortrekkers settled beside the

Bronkhorst Spruit The Bronkhorst Spruit, meaning ''watercress stream'' or ''creek'', is a river in the Mpumalanga and Gauteng provinces of South Africa. In the 19th century it as was known as the Kalkoenkransrivier or Rhenosterpoortrivier. It is a tributary of the ...

creek, which was originally called Kalkoenkransrivier ('

turkey Turkey ( tr, Türkiye ), officially the Republic of Türkiye ( tr, Türkiye Cumhuriyeti, links=no ), is a list of transcontinental countries, transcontinental country located mainly on the Anatolia, Anatolian Peninsula in Western Asia, with ...

cliff river'). The town was laid out on land of the farm ''Hondsrivier'' in 1904 owned by C.J.G. Erasmus and was initially named after him.Dictionary of Southern African Place Names
/ref> It adopted the name Bronkhorstspruit in 1935. On 20 December 1880 it was the scene of the

Battle of Bronkhorstspruit The Battle of Bronkhorstspruit was the first major engagement of the First Boer War. It took place by the Bronkhorst Spruit (river), a few kilometres east of the town of Bronkhorstspruit, Transvaal on 20 December 1880. Background On 12 April 1 ...

, an important event in the early days of the

First Boer War The First Boer War ( af, Eerste Vryheidsoorlog, literally "First Freedom War"), 1880–1881, also known as the First Anglo–Boer War, the Transvaal War or the Transvaal Rebellion, was fought from 16 December 1880 until 23 March 1881 betwee ...

when a Boer Commando ambushed a British army column, 94th Regiment of Foot, near the present town en route from

Lydenburg Lydenburg, officially known as Mashishing, is a town in Thaba Chweu Local Municipality, on the Mpumalanga highveld, South Africa. It is situated on the Sterkspruit/Dorps River tributary of the Lepelle River at the summit of the Long Tom Pass. ...

. There is disagreement about where the town got its name from. Some believe it was named after the farmer J.G. Bronkhorst, while others say that it was named after the plant, bronkors (Afrikaans for

watercress Watercress or yellowcress (''Nasturtium officinale'') is a species of aquatic flowering plant in the cabbage family Brassicaceae. Watercress is a rapidly growing perennial plant native to Europe and Asia. It is one of the oldest known leaf v ...

), that grew in the region of the creek. Bronkhorstspruit was the seat of the

Metsweding District Municipality Metsweding District Municipality was, from 2000 till 18 May 2011, a district municipality in Gauteng province, South Africa. Metsweding, and its component local municipalities, was disestablished and absorbed into the Tshwane Metropolitan Municip ...

as well as the

. Then, on the day of South Africa's 2011 general elections (18 May 2011), the entire Metsweding District ceased to be its own municipality and became part of the

Parks and greenspace

Ten kilometers to the south of the town lies the

Bronkhorstspruit Dam Bronkhorstspruit Dam is a concrete-arch type dam on the Bronkhorst Spruit, near Bronkhorstspruit, Gauteng, South Africa. It was established in 1950 and its main purpose is for domestic supply and industrial use. The lake's shores are home to numer ...

Suburbs

*Erasmus *Masada *Riamar Park *Bester Park *Cultura Park *Bronkhorstbaai

Economy

Agriculture

Being an agricultural area, maize, sorghum, groundnuts, sunflower seeds, sheep and cattle are grown and raised.

Mining

Fire clay Fire clay is a range of refractory clays used in the manufacture of ceramics, especially fire brick. The United States Environmental Protection Agency defines fire clay very generally as a "mineral aggregate composed of hydrous silicates of alumi ...

is as well as

coal Coal is a combustible black or brownish-black sedimentary rock, formed as rock strata called coal seams. Coal is mostly carbon with variable amounts of other elements, chiefly hydrogen, sulfur, oxygen, and nitrogen. Coal is formed when dea ...

mined in the area.

Places of interest

Cultura Park, a suburb of Bronkhorstspruit, hosts the largest

Buddhist Buddhism ( , ), also known as Buddha Dharma and Dharmavinaya (), is an Indian religion or philosophical tradition based on teachings attributed to the Buddha. It originated in northern India as a -movement in the 5th century BCE, and ...

temple in Africa.

Nan Hua Temple Nan Hua Temple (南華寺, ''Nanhua Si'') is the largest Buddhist temple and seminary in Africa, and is situated in the Cultura Park suburb of Bronkhorstspruit, South Africa. It is the African headquarters of the '' Fo Guang Shan'' (Buddha's ...

houses the South African headquarters of the Humanistic Buddhist order.

References

External links

Bronkhorstspruit Information
Populated places established in 1858 Populated places in the City of Tshwane Populated places founded by Afrikaners {{Gauteng-geo-stub