Bethlehem is a city in the eastern
Free State 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 ...
that is situated on the
Liebenbergs River (also called Liebenbergs Vlei) along a fertile valley just north of the Rooiberg Mountains on the
N5 road. It is the fastest growing city in the
Free State province, with its target of being the third largest city after
Bloemfontein
Bloemfontein ( ; ), also known as Bloem, is the capital and the largest city of the Free State (province), Free State province in South Africa. It is often, and has been traditionally, referred to as the country's "judicial capital", alongsi ...
and
Welkom
Welkom () is a city in the Free State (province), Free State province of South Africa, located about northeast of Bloemfontein, the provincial capital. Welkom is also known as Circle City, City Within A Garden, Mvela and Matjhabeng. The city' ...
.
It is a
wheat
Wheat is a group of wild and crop domestication, domesticated Poaceae, grasses of the genus ''Triticum'' (). They are Agriculture, cultivated for their cereal grains, which are staple foods around the world. Well-known Taxonomy of wheat, whe ...
growing area and named after the
biblical Bethlehem, from ("Beit Lechem"), meaning "house of bread".
The city lies at an altitude of , which contributes to its cool climate, with frosty winters and mild summers. The average annual temperature is around .
Bethlehem is situated approximately north-east of
Bloemfontein
Bloemfontein ( ; ), also known as Bloem, is the capital and the largest city of the Free State (province), Free State province in South Africa. It is often, and has been traditionally, referred to as the country's "judicial capital", alongsi ...
, east of
Kroonstad
Kroonstad ( in Afrikaans) is a town in Free State, South Africa, consisting of the following suburbs:
Brentpark,
Constantia,
Constantia Park,
Dawid Malanville,
Elandia,
Gelukwaarts,
Goedgedacht,
Heuningspruit,
Industria,
Jordania,
Koek ...
and north-west of
Harrismith. The city is strategically situated in the heart of the picturesque north-eastern Free State and originally developed as a service centre.
Bethlehem is the seat of the
Dihlabeng Local Municipality, which forms part of the
Thabo Mofutsanyana District Municipality
The Thabo Mofutsanyana District Municipality (; ) is one of the 5 Districts of South Africa, districts of the Free State (South African province), Free State province of South Africa. The seat is Witsieshoek. As of 2011, a majority of its 725,932 r ...
.
The township associated with Bethlehem is called ''Bohlokong'' in
Sesotho
Sotho (), also known as ''Sesotho'' (), Southern Sotho, or ''Sesotho sa Borwa'' is a Southern Bantu languages, Southern Bantu language spoken in Lesotho as its national language and South Africa where it is an official language.
Like all Ba ...
by
Basotho
The Sotho (), also known as the Basotho (), are a Sotho-Tswana ethnic group indigenous to Southern Africa. They primarily inhabit the regions of Lesotho, South Africa, Botswana and Namibia.
The ancestors of the Sotho people are believed to h ...
. It named after the hloko/bohloko grass found in the area''
Diheteropogon filifolius''.
History
Bethlehem was founded in 1864. In 1900, 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 ...
by Henco Cronje, Bethlehem temporarily served as the seat of the
Orange Free State
The Orange Free State ( ; ) was an independent Boer-ruled sovereign republic under British suzerainty in Southern Africa during the second half of the 19th century, which ceased to exist after it was defeated and surrendered to the British Em ...
government.
Society and culture
Museums, provincial heritage sites and memorials
A number of
heritage sites are located in Bethlehem:
* 14 President Burgers Street
* A B Baartman Wagon House
* Loch Athlone Dam Wall
* Main Building of the Bethlehem Technical College
* Nederduitse Gereformeerde Mother Church
* Old Magistrates Court
* Old Nederduitse Gereformeerde Mission Church parsonage
* Old Nederduitse Gereformeerde Mission Church
* St Andrews Presbyterian Church
* St Augustine Anglican Church
* Strapps Shop
* The Seminary
* Town Hall
* Wooden Spoon Restaurant
Schools
*Villiers Combined High School
*Tiisetsang High School
*Ntsu Secondary School
*Thabo-Thokoza Secondary School
*L.K Ntlabathi Secondary School
*Jordania Primary School
*Truida Kestell Primary School
*Graanveld Primary School
*Bethlehem Comprehensive School
*Bodikela intermediate School
*Bethlehem Voortrekker High School
*Bohlokong Primary School
*Nthute Primary School
*Motshepuwa Primary School
*Rehopotswe Primary School
*New Horizon College
*Impumelelo Primary School
*Impucuko Primary School
*Khanyeng Intermediate School
*Witteberg High School
*Bethlehem Combined School
Climate
Shopping
Bethlehem has many shopping centres like any other town in the Free State. Bethlehem is the main center of the eastern Free State where people from other towns do their shopping, the main shopping malls are:
* ''Dihlabeng'' mall
* ''Sechaba'' Mall (Previously Metropolitan life Centre prior to November 2018)
With the shopping in this town also characterized by typical high street shopping with majority of shops situated along the Muller, Cambridge, Louw, Church, High and other surrounding streets.
Sport
Premiership and
National First Division
The South African Championship, officially known as the Motsepe Foundation Championship for sponsorship reasons, is the second-highest league of South African football after the South African Premiership. Both the South African Championship and ...
clubs
Free State Stars and Super Eagles F.C. were based in Bethlehem and played their home games at
Goble Park. Bethlehem is also the birthplace of several notable
rugby union
Rugby union football, commonly known simply as rugby union in English-speaking countries and rugby 15/XV in non-English-speaking world, Anglophone Europe, or often just rugby, is a Contact sport#Terminology, close-contact team sport that orig ...
players, including
Tom van Vollenhoven
Karel Thomas van Vollenhoven (29 April 1935 – 21 October 2017) was a South African rugby league and rugby union footballer who played in the 1950s and 1960s. He enjoyed a prolific rugby league career with English club St. Helens after switchi ...
,
Jannie du Plessis,
Bismarck du Plessis,
Frans Steyn, and
Bongi Mbonambi, who was born in nearby ''Bohlokong''.
Economy
The Saulspoort Dam receives water from the
via the Lesotho Highlands Water Scheme ">Lesotho Highlands Water Project">Lesotho Highlands Water Scheme
Bethlehem is a retail, medical, and educational hub for the Eastern Free State. It has three private hospitals and three star Frontier hotel, Casino and Entertainment Centre located near the Dihlabeng Mall and Bethlehem Aerodrome.
Industry
Bethlehem hosts several industries including
Coca-Cola
Coca-Cola, or Coke, is a cola soft drink manufactured by the Coca-Cola Company. In 2013, Coke products were sold in over 200 countries and territories worldwide, with consumers drinking more than 1.8 billion company beverage servings ...
,
South African Breweries
South African Breweries (officially The South African Breweries Limited, informally SAB) is a major brewery headquartered in Johannesburg, South Africa and was a wholly owned subsidiary of SABMiller until its interests were sold to Anheuser-Bu ...
and
Nestlé
Nestlé S.A. ( ) is a Swiss multinational food and drink processing conglomerate corporation headquartered in Vevey, Switzerland. It has been the largest publicly held food company in the world, measured by revenue and other metrics, since 20 ...
, as well as petroleum and engineering companies.
Health
* Huisarts en Kie (Private)
* ''Dihlabeng'' Regional Hospital (public)
* ''Phekolong'' Hospital (Public)
* Hoogland Medi-Clinic (Private)
* Bethlehem Medical Centre (Semi-Private)
* Nurture Corona Hospital (Semi-private)
* Du Pisani Biokineticists (Private)
* Several government clinics also in the townships of ''Bohlokong, Thorisong,'' ''Vuka, Phumlamqasha'', Old Location, ''Giyani'' and Bakenpark.
Media
Newspapers
*
EFS Issue
*
Ystervark Newspaper
Radio
*
Maluti FM
*
Dihlabeng FM
Transportation
Road
Bethlehem is located on the
N5 to the provincial capital
Bloemfontein
Bloemfontein ( ; ), also known as Bloem, is the capital and the largest city of the Free State (province), Free State province in South Africa. It is often, and has been traditionally, referred to as the country's "judicial capital", alongsi ...
via
Senekal
Senekal is a town situated on the banks of the Sand River (Free State), Sand River in the eastern part of the Free State (South African province), Free State province of South Africa. It was named after Commandant FP Senekal, who led the encro ...
and
Winburg to the
N1. Other roads in the town are
R76 to
Kroonstad
Kroonstad ( in Afrikaans) is a town in Free State, South Africa, consisting of the following suburbs:
Brentpark,
Constantia,
Constantia Park,
Dawid Malanville,
Elandia,
Gelukwaarts,
Goedgedacht,
Heuningspruit,
Industria,
Jordania,
Koek ...
(north-west) and the
R26 to
Reitz and
Fouriesburg (north-east and south) respectively, and just outside the town, the
R712 and
R714 to
Clarens (south) and
Warden
A warden is a custodian, defender, or guardian. Warden is often used in the sense of a watchman or guardian, as in a prison warden. It can also refer to a chief or head official, as in the Warden of the Mint.
''Warden'' is etymologically ident ...
(east) respectively.
Rail
Bethlehem is located on the main railway line between
Bloemfontein
Bloemfontein ( ; ), also known as Bloem, is the capital and the largest city of the Free State (province), Free State province in South Africa. It is often, and has been traditionally, referred to as the country's "judicial capital", alongsi ...
and
Durban
Durban ( ; , from meaning "bay, lagoon") is the third-most populous city in South Africa, after Johannesburg and Cape Town, and the largest city in the Provinces of South Africa, province of KwaZulu-Natal.
Situated on the east coast of South ...
. This railway line transports passengers and freight.
Air
Bethlehem is served by a small airport (
Bethlehem Airport) with chartered daily flights to
Bloemfontein
Bloemfontein ( ; ), also known as Bloem, is the capital and the largest city of the Free State (province), Free State province in South Africa. It is often, and has been traditionally, referred to as the country's "judicial capital", alongsi ...
and
Johannesburg
Johannesburg ( , , ; Zulu language, Zulu and Xhosa language, Xhosa: eGoli ) (colloquially known as Jozi, Joburg, Jo'burg or "The City of Gold") is the most populous city in South Africa. With 5,538,596 people in the City of Johannesburg alon ...
.
Bethlehem Airshow Fire Disaster
On 7 September 2024 a fire broke out at Bethlehem Air show 2024 destroying 30 vehicles. The incident occurred at the Bethlehem Airfield when a spectator left a burning coal unattended. The
Democratic Alliance in the Free State accused the Dihlabeng municipality of negligence.
[https://fs.da.org.za/2024/09/da-will-hold-the-dihlabeng-local-municipality-accountable-in-bethlehem-air-show-fire-incident]
Coats of arms
Municipal (1)
By 1931, the municipal council had assumed a coat of arms.
[The arms were depicted on ]
cigarette card
issued in 1931. The arms were registered with the Orange Free State Provincial Administration in October 1958.
[Orange Free State ''Official Gazette'' 41 (10 October 1958).]
The arms were: ''Party per chevron Azure and Gules, a chevron Or, in chief between two springboks couped at the neck respecting each other, proper, a mullet of the third, and in base three maize cobs, the outer ones pilewise, all proper''. In layman's terms, the shield depicted a golden chevron between a gold star and two springboks' head on a blue background, and three maize cobs on a red background.
Municipal (2)
A new coat of arms was designed in the 1980s. It was registered at the
Bureau of Heraldry in June 1989.
[https://archive.today/20120629122538/http://www.national.archsrch.gov.za/sm300cv/smws/sm300dl]
The arms were: ''Per chevron, Azure and Gules, a chevron Or between in chief a mullet and in base two bars wavy, Argent'' (i.e. a golden chevron between a silver star on a blue background and two wavy silver stripes on a red background).
The crest was three golden ears of wheat with blue stalks and leaves, tied together with a red band; the motto was ''Conjuncti prosperamus''.
Notable people
*
Faan Fourie (born 1982), cricketer
*
Bongi Mbonambi (born 1991), South African professional rugby union player
*
Teboho Mokoena (born 1997), soccer player. Plays for
Mamelodi Sundowns
Mamelodi Sundowns Football Club (simply known as Sundowns) is a South African professional football club based in Mamelodi, Pretoria in the Gauteng province that plays in the Premiership, the first tier of South African football league syste ...
and
South Africa national football team
The South Africa national soccer team represents South Africa in men's international soccer and is run by the South African Football Association, the governing body for soccer in South Africa. Nicknamed Bafana Bafana (The Boys in Zulu), the ...
.
*
Sipho Mbule (born 1998), soccer player. Plays for
Mamelodi Sundowns
Mamelodi Sundowns Football Club (simply known as Sundowns) is a South African professional football club based in Mamelodi, Pretoria in the Gauteng province that plays in the Premiership, the first tier of South African football league syste ...
and
South African national football team.
References
External links
Bethlehem InformationDihlabeng Local Municipality
{{Authority control
Populated places in the Dihlabeng Local Municipality
Bethlehem, South Africa
Bethlehem is a city in the eastern Free State province of South Africa that is situated on the Liebenbergs River (also called Liebenbergs Vlei) along a fertile valley just north of the Rooiberg Mountains on the N5 road. It is the fastest growi ...
Populated places established in 1859
1859 establishments in the Orange Free State