Dewetsdorp is a small town in the
Free State province 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 ...
, 68 km south-east of
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 ...
. The town was set up, without approval of the
Volksraad The Volksraad was a people's assembly or legislature in Dutch or Afrikaans speaking government.
Assembly South Africa
*Volksraad (South African Republic) (1840–1902)
*Volksraad (Natalia Republic), a similar assembly that existed in the Natalia Re ...
, by field-cornet Jacobus de Wet, father of the
Second Anglo-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 South ...
general
Christiaan de Wet. Eventually recognized officially, the town became a municipality and named De Wet in 1890. General Christian de Wet successfully attacked English forces stationed there in November 1900.
It was laid out on the farm Kareefontein in 1876 and at first bore this name. Applications to the Volksraad in 1876 for the establishment of a village failed, but another request in 1879 led to recognition in 1880 under the name Dewetsdorp. Municipal status was attained in 1890. Dewetsdorp was the scene of heavy fighting in the Second Anglo-Boer War. In 1927, three officials died when the town hall was blown up by one Huibrecht Jacob de Leeuw in an attempt to cover up evidence of his embezzlement of town funds.
The new Town Hall, built in 1928, was declared a South African Heritage Site in 1995.
References
{{Authority control
Populated places in Mangaung
Populated places established in 1880
1880 establishments in South Africa