Ladybrand is a small agricultural town in the Free State

Free State

The Free State is a province of South Africa. Its capital is Bloemfontein, which is also South Africa's judicial capital. Its historical origins lie in the Orange Free State Boer republic and later Orange Free State Province. The current borders of the province date from 1994 when the Bantustans...

 province of South Africa

South Africa

The Republic of South Africa is a country in southern Africa. Located at the southern tip of Africa, it is divided into nine provinces, with of coastline on the Atlantic and Indian oceans...

, situated 18 km from Maseru

Maseru

Maseru is the capital of Lesotho. It is also the capital of the Maseru District. Located on the Caledon River, bordering South Africa, Maseru is Lesotho's only sizable city, with a population of approximately 227,880 . The city was established as a police camp and assigned as the capital after the...

, the capital of Lesotho

Lesotho

Lesotho , officially the Kingdom of Lesotho, is a landlocked country and enclave, surrounded by the Republic of South Africa. It is just over in size with a population of approximately 2,067,000. Its capital and largest city is Maseru. Lesotho is a member of the Commonwealth of Nations. The name...

. Ladybrand is one of five towns that forms the Mantsopa Local Municipality. Founded in 1867 following the Basotho

Basotho

The ancestors of the Sotho people have lived in southern Africa since around the fifth century. The Sotho nation emerged from the accomplished diplomacy of Moshoeshoe I who gathered together disparate clans of Sotho–Tswana origin that had dispersed across southern Africa in the early 19th century...

 Wars, it was named after Lady Catharine Brand, the mother of the speaker of the Cape Province

Cape Province

The Province of the Cape of Good Hope was a province in the Union of South Africa and subsequently the Republic of South Africa...

 legislative assembly, Sir Christoffel Brand.

The settlement of Ladybrand was created by Voortrekkers

Voortrekkers

The Voortrekkers were emigrants during the 1830s and 1840s who left the Cape Colony moving into the interior of what is now South Africa...

 to give them control over the territories conquered and captured after the above mentioned Basotho war. In 1900, during the Second Anglo-Boer War

Second Boer War

The Second Boer War was fought from 11 October 1899 until 31 May 1902 between the British Empire and the Afrikaans-speaking Dutch settlers of two independent Boer republics, the South African Republic and the Orange Free State...

, Ladybrand came under the control of the British.

Notable residents

• Kobie Coetsee
  Kobie Coetsee
  Hendrik Jacobus Coetsee was a South African lawyer, National Party politician and administrator as well as a negotiator during the country's transition to democracy....
  
   - South Africa
  South Africa
  The Republic of South Africa is a country in southern Africa. Located at the southern tip of Africa, it is divided into nine provinces, with of coastline on the Atlantic and Indian oceans...
  
  n lawyer
  Lawyer
  A lawyer, according to Black's Law Dictionary, is "a person learned in the law; as an attorney, counsel or solicitor; a person who is practicing law." Law is the system of rules of conduct established by the sovereign government of a society to correct wrongs, maintain the stability of political...
  
  , National Party
  National Party (South Africa)
  The National Party is a former political party in South Africa. Founded in 1914, it was the governing party of the country from 4 June 1948 until 9 May 1994. Members of the National Party were sometimes known as Nationalists or Nats. Its policies included apartheid, the establishment of a...
  
   politician
  Politician
  A politician, political leader, or political figure is an individual who is involved in influencing public policy and decision making...
  
  and administrator as well as a negotiator during the country's transition to democracy.