Bothaville is a maize farming town situated near the

Vaal River 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. ...

in the Lejweleputswa DM of the Free State province,

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 coun ...

. It is situated 60 km east of the Vaal, on the bank of its Vals River tributary. Bothaville and the adjacent Kgotsong township have a total of approximately 46,000 residents.

History

A 'church town', Botharnia, was established in 1891 on a portion of Gladdedrift farm, by

Voortrekker The Great Trek ( af, Die Groot Trek; nl, De Grote Trek) was a Northward migration of Dutch-speaking settlers who travelled by wagon trains from the Cape Colony into the interior of modern South Africa from 1836 onwards, seeking to live beyo ...

JP van Wyk who left

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

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 municipal status in 1914. It was recently amalgamated into the

Nala Local Municipality Nala Local Municipality is an administrative area in the Lejweleputswa District of the Free State in South Africa. The name is Sesotho for "affluence or plenty". It is derived from the maize belt and economic prosperity of the area. Main places ...

, along with

Wesselsbron Wesselsbron is a small maize farming town 75 kilometres south of Bothaville in Free State province of South Africa. Town 32 km east of Hoopstad and 48 km north-west of Welkom. It was laid out in 1920 and became a municipality in 1936. ...

and a part of the Vetvaal rural council.

Wall of Remembrance

In NAMPO Park lies the Wall of Remembrance, a monument erected in 2007, in remembrance of all the commercial farmers and farm-workers who have died in farm-murders in South Africa since May 1961. The memorial consists of nine pillars, representing each province, and a statue of a farmer holding a Bible.

Agriculture

Bothaville lies in the centre of the ''maize triangle'', thus surrounded by vast maizelands, some irrigated from the

Vals Vals is the word for waltz in many European languages. Vals or VALS may also refer to: * Peruvian waltz * Venezuelan waltz * Vals (dance), a dance related to Argentine tango * VALS, "Values And Lifestyles," a psychographic segmentation tool Place ...

and

s. Other agricultural activities are

sheep Sheep or domestic sheep (''Ovis aries'') are domesticated, ruminant mammals typically kept as livestock. Although the term ''sheep'' can apply to other species in the genus '' Ovis'', in everyday usage it almost always refers to domesticate ...

sunflower The common sunflower (''Helianthus annuus'') is a large annual forb of the genus ''Helianthus'' grown as a crop for its edible oily seeds. Apart from cooking oil production, it is also used as livestock forage (as a meal or a silage plant), ...

wheat Wheat is a grass widely cultivated for its seed, a cereal grain that is a worldwide staple food. The many species of wheat together make up the genus ''Triticum'' ; the most widely grown is common wheat (''T. aestivum''). The archaeologi ...

and

peanut The peanut (''Arachis hypogaea''), also known as the groundnut, goober (US), pindar (US) or monkey nut (UK), is a legume crop grown mainly for its edible seeds. It is widely grown in the tropics and subtropics, important to both small an ...

NAMPO Harvest Day

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 70,000 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.

Notes

External links

Bothaville Maize Capital

{{Authority control Populated places in the Nala Local Municipality Populated places established in 1889