Botshabelo

Botshabelo, meaning "a place of refuge", is a large t ownship set up in 1979 by t he t hen apart heid
government . It is locat ed 45 km east of Bloemfont ein in t he present -day Free St at e province of
Sout h Africa. Bot shabelo is now t he largest t ownship in Free St at e.

Bot shabelo
Township

Ndebele Teachers Training

Country South Africa
Province Free State
Municipality Mangaung
Area
 • Total 103.98 km2 (40.15 sq mi)
Population
 • Total 181,712 (2,011)
Area code 051
History

As many people moved away from t he farms in t he Free St at e, t hey looked for places t o st ay in
t he region of Thaba Nchu, anot her homeland under t he old Bophut at swana government .[1][2]

The policy governing Bophut at swana at t he t ime clearly st at ed t hat Bophut at swana belongs t o
t hose who are of Tswana t ribe. As a result , all ot her t ribes, mainly Sot ho and Xhosa, were housed
at a squat t er camp named “Kromdraai”. Kromdraai was init iat ed by a man who was only referred
t o as "Khoza". He was selling a st and for only 50 cent s around t he year of 1976.

Lat er on t he government of Bophut at swana st art ed t o st rongly condemn t he development of

t hat area and worked hard t hrough t heir police force during t he day and night , st riving t o dispat ch
everybody living in t he region and who is not a Tswana. As t he pressure mount ed for t he people
of Kromdraai, Khoza fled and he was no longer t o be seen.

In 1979, t he t hen Prime Minist er of QwaQwa, Kennet h Mopeli t oget her wit h t he apart heid
government found a place for all t he people of Kromdraai at a farm called Onverwacht . All t he
people who were not Tswana st art ed t o move t o Onverwacht for free, and lat er on when t hey
st art ed t o set t le in t he area paid ZAR80 for a st and. Lat e in 1980 t o early 1981 t he name
Onverwacht st art ed t o disappear and people st art ed t o call t heir place by t he name of
Bot shabelo, t his name given by Julius Nkoko.

Economy

Bot shabelo has a large indust rial park wit h large companies locat ed t here. The economy of t his
t ownship is based on product ion of food, clot hing and ot her goods. The poult ry producing
company [Supreme poult ry Pt y (Lt d)] is locat ed here. Capit ec Bank and Shoprit e has t hree
branches and supermarket s in t his t ownship respect ively.

Transport

Bot shabelo is served by 'Int erst at e Bus Lines' commut er buses and 'Big Sky Coaches', bot h
t raveling local and long dist ances on a daily basis. The t ownship is locat ed on t he main railway
line bet ween Bloemfont ein and Maseru, as well as on t he main road bet ween t he t wo t owns. The
t ownship st ill has unnamed st reet s, but t he development of upgrading and naming of st reet s and
roads are underway. There is also a new t axi rank at t he newly built Bot shabelo Mall.
Shopping

Bot shabelo has a new regional shopping mall near t he indust rial park. The mall is anchored by
Shoprit e, Woolwort hs, Pick n Pay, Cashbuild, Truwort hs and Foschini Group st ores. This new
shopping dest inat ion has over 80 st ores including banks and rest aurant s like KFC and Hungry Lion.
The mall is owned by t he Libert y Propert y Group and Khora invest ment s. It is locat ed at Cnr N8
road & Jazzman Mokhot hu highway. Ot her shopping cent res are: Nort hern cent re, Shoprit e
cent re, Addy's Plaza, and Rea-hola shopping cent re also known as Fairways.

Education

Bot shabelo has over 65 primary and secondary schools. Mot heo FET College has a sat ellit e
campus in t his t ownship.

Sports

Bot shabelo is one of t he t owns t hat have produced soccer players for t he Premier Soccer
League (PSL), especially for Bloemfont ein Celt ics, players such as James Madidilane, Dit heko
Mot ot o, t he lat e Abram Raselemane, Nt ho Moshe, Mot seot hat a November, Ace Gulwa, Lefu
Nyapuli, Moeket si Sekola, Teboho Salemane and ot hers. Kaizer Sebot helo St adium is t he main
sport ing venue in Bot shabelo wit h a capacit y of 20 000 seat s, including a sport ing arena where
indoor sport s are played, as well as a newly revamped recreat ional swimming pool open t o t he
public.
And also t here is a Foot ball Tournament That has been est ablished by Ba2cada namely
BA2CADA Soccer t ournament t aking place at Sect ion "H”

Notable people

Fikile Mbalula, polit ician, born in Bot shabelo[3]

Nyakallo Leine ba2cada radio personalit y

References

1. Murray, Colin (1987). "Displaced Urbanization: South Africa's Rural Slums". African Affairs. Oxford
University. 86 (344): 311–329. JSTOR 722745 (https://www.jstor.org/stable/722745) .
 2. Tomlinson, Richard; Krige, Skip (1997). "Botshabelo: Coping With the Consequences of Urban
Apartheid". International Journal of Urban and Regional Research. international journal of urban and
regional research. 21 (4): 691–705. doi:10.1111/1468-2427.00109 (https://doi.org/10.1111%2F1468-2
427.00109) .

3. "Profile: Fikile Mbalula" (https://www.africa-confidential.com/profile/id/3692/Fikile_Mbalula) . Africa

Confidential. Retrieved 11 July 2020.

External links

Media relat ed t o Bot shabelo, Free St at e at Wikimedia Commons

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Last edited 5 days ago by 154.114.16.29