Onverwacht (

Dutch Dutch or Nederlands commonly refers to: * Something of, from, or related to the Netherlands ** Dutch people as an ethnic group () ** Dutch nationality law, history and regulations of Dutch citizenship () ** Dutch language () * In specific terms, i ...

for "unexpected") is a town in

City of Tshwane Metropolitan Municipality The City of Tshwane Metropolitan Municipality (; ; ), also known as the City of Tshwane (), is the Metropolitan municipality (South Africa), metropolitan municipality that forms the local government of northern Gauteng in South Africa. The metro ...

in the

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

province of

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the Southern Africa, southernmost country in Africa. Its Provinces of South Africa, nine provinces are bounded to the south by of coastline that stretches along the Atlantic O ...

. The settlement is located about 40 km north-east of

Pretoria Pretoria ( ; ) is the Capital of South Africa, administrative capital of South Africa, serving as the seat of the Executive (government), executive branch of government, and as the host to all foreign embassies to the country. Pretoria strad ...

, near the mining town of

Cullinan Cullinan may refer to: * Cullinan (surname), a surname * Rolls-Royce Cullinan, an ultra-luxury SUV produced by Rolls-Royce Motor Cars *Cullinan, Gauteng, a small town in South Africa *Cullinan Diamond The Cullinan Diamond is the largest gem- ...

History

Onverwacht was established in 1886 by President

Paul Kruger Stephanus Johannes Paulus Kruger (; 10 October 1825 – 14 July 1904), better known as Paul Kruger, was a South African politician. He was one of the dominant political and military figures in 19th-century South Africa, and State Preside ...

. During the

Second Boer War The Second Boer War (, , 11 October 189931 May 1902), also known as the Boer War, Transvaal War, Anglo–Boer War, or South African War, was a conflict fought between the British Empire and the two Boer republics (the South African Republic and ...

, local blacks were promised their own land if they helped the Boers in the war, and the promise was kept despite the Boer defeat. The village was also the site of the Battle of Onverwacht, which took place on 4 January 1902.

Present day

Today, Onverwacht is home to approximately 100 black

Afrikaner Afrikaners () are a Southern African ethnic group descended from predominantly Dutch settlers who first arrived at the Cape of Good Hope in 1652.Entry: Cape Colony. ''Encyclopædia Britannica Volume 4 Part 2: Brain to Casting''. Encyclopæd ...

families. The local inhabitants have petitioned the government to have their town declared a heritage site.

References

Afrikaner culture in South Africa Populated places in the City of Tshwane {{Gauteng-geo-stub