Phuthaditjhaba (formerly Witsieshoek or Qwaqwa) is a 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 ...

. Phuthaditjhaba is a

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 Sta ...

name that means ''meeting place of the tribes''. It is located on the banks of the Elands River.Free State - Phuthaditjhaba
It also located in a section of

Drakensberg The Drakensberg (Afrikaans: Drakensberge, Zulu: uKhahlambha, Sotho: Maluti) is the eastern portion of the Great Escarpment, which encloses the central Southern African plateau. The Great Escarpment reaches its greatest elevation – within th ...

mountains ( Maloti in the Sesotho language). it is bordered by the province of

KwaZulu-Natal KwaZulu-Natal (, also referred to as KZN and known as "the garden province") is a province of South Africa that was created in 1994 when the Zulu bantustan of KwaZulu ("Place of the Zulu" in Zulu) and Natal Province were merged. It is locate ...

to the south east and the independent country 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 ...

to the south west. Phuthaditjhaba was capital of the

bantustan A Bantustan (also known as Bantu homeland, black homeland, black state or simply homeland; ) was a territory that the National Party administration of South Africa set aside for black inhabitants of South Africa and South West Africa (now N ...

or homeland of

QwaQwa QwaQwa was a bantustan ("homeland") in the central eastern part of South Africa. It encompassed a very small region of in the east of the former South African province of Orange Free State, bordering Lesotho. Its capital was Phuthaditjhaba. It ...

. When apartheid ended, Phuthaditjhaba became part of the Free State province.

History

The frequent snow on the

mountain peaks surrounding the town led the San to call the region Qwa-Qwa ''(whiter than white)''. It was known as ''Witsieshoek'' to the

Europe Europe is a large peninsula conventionally considered a continent in its own right because of its great physical size and the weight of its history and traditions. Europe is also considered a Continent#Subcontinents, subcontinent of Eurasia ...

an settlers, after Oetse, also Witsie and Wetsi, a Makholokoe chief who lived there from 1839 to 1856. The area was inhabited by two clans of the

Basotho The Sotho () people, also known as the Basuto or Basotho (), are a Bantu nation native to southern Africa. They split into different ethnic groups over time, due to regional conflicts and colonialism, which resulted in the modern Basotho, who ...

, the

Bakoena The Bakoena or Bakwena ("those who venerate the crocodile") are a large clan in Southern Africa. They form part of the Sotho-Tswana Bantu people and can be found in different countries such as Lesotho, Botswana, South Africa, Zimbabwe and Eswa ...

and the Batlokoa. The Orange Free State government settled these people there in the 1870s after concluding a peace settlement with their leaders. In 1926 the Orange Free State government placed the Batlokoa under the authority of the

but gave each group its own regional authority in 1930. In 1969 they were combined into a single territorial authority, which was replaced two years later by a legislative assembly. Qwaqwa was granted self-government in 1974. In 1974 Phuthaditjhaba became capital of the bantustan or homeland of QwaQwa. When the apartheid system was abolished in South Africa in 1994, Phuthaditjhaba became part of the Free State province. Phuthaditjhaba is the formal gateway to rural Qwa-Qwa. Service provision in the area is difficult - the land is mountainous and homes in remote areas lack access to basic services. Qwa-Qwa is the poorest area in the Free State Province. It is home to the Mofumahadi Manapo Mopeli Regional Hospital. The view of Manapo Hospital from Setsing

The view of Manapo Hospital from Setsing

Sports

Phuthaditjhaba is the birthplace of the

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 ...

side club

Free State Stars Free State Stars Football club is a South African professional football club based in Bethlehem, Free State that plays in the National First Division. Formerly known as Makwane Computer Stars and Qwa Qwa Stars, their most significant honour i ...

. Although the club has since relocated to

Bethlehem Bethlehem (; ar, بيت لحم ; he, בֵּית לֶחֶם '' '') is a city in the central West Bank, Palestine, about south of Jerusalem. Its population is approximately 25,000,Amara, 1999p. 18.Brynen, 2000p. 202. and it is the capital o ...

, it still plays its important games at the much larger

Charles Mopeli Stadium Charles Mopeli Stadium is located in Phuthaditjhaba, South Africa. It is mostly used by the PSL club Free State Stars and the National First Division club African Warriors African Warriors are a South African football club based in Phuthaditjha ...

. The town has two other professional soccer teams, namely Maluti FET College FC and African Warriors FC who both use the Charles Mopeli Stadium as their homeground. The teams both participate in the

National First Division The National First Division (NFD), officially known as the Motsepe Foundation Championship for sponsorship reasons, is the second-highest league of South African club association football, football after the South African Premier Division. Both t ...

, with Maluti FET College FC making their debut in the division.

References

Populated places in the Maluti a Phofung Local Municipality {{FreeState-geo-stub

History

Sports

See also

References