Vereeniging, Gauteng
Encyclopedia
Vereeniging is a city in Gauteng province, South Africa
. It is also one of the constituent parts of the Vaal Triangle
region and was formerly situated in the Transvaal
province. The name Vereeniging is derived from the Dutch
word meaning "association" or "union".
(north) and Sasolburg
(south). The city is currently one of the most important industrial manufacturing centres in South Africa, with its chief products being iron, steel, pipes, bricks, tiles and processed lime.
The predominant language in Vereeniging is Afrikaans
, followed closely by English
and Sesotho.
. Much of its early growth was due to the nearby coal
mines.
The city is known for being the location where the Treaty of Vereeniging
ending the Second Boer War
(1899-1902) was negotiated. During this conflict, a concentration camp was set up by the British
military in the area. The concentration camp at Vereeniging was set up in September 1900, and by October 1901 housed 185 men, 330 women, and 452 children. Conditions at the camp were very poor, water was brought by cart (there was no direct water supply) and only 24 latrines. Most inmates lived in bell-tents but there was a dispensary and a school. Today, the site of the concentration camp has been replaced by the Maccauvlei Golf Course.
Vereeniging was one of the first municipalities in South Africa to provide better housing for Africans. Near Vereeniging is the predominantly black community of Sharpeville, Gauteng
, the site of the Sharpeville massacre
in 1960.
Since 1994, Vereeniging has been the home of southern Africa's annual LED Festival.
, steel
, pipes, bricks, tiles and processed lime
. Several coal
mines are also still situated in the area, with reserves being estimated at four billion tons. Other mines nearby extract fire-clay
, silica and building stone. Vereeniging also has several Eskom
thermal power plants that supply electricity
to the nearby gold
mines.
Vereeniging has been mentioned jokingly as the town in South Africa which has the most vehicle dealerships per square metre.
Vereeniging consists of 20 suburbs:
Since 1999, Vereeniging has been part of the Emfuleni Local Municipality, along with Vanderbijlpark and the smaller Three Rivers.
Map of Three Rivers
and Mpumulanga experienced a higher than normal rainfall. This resulted in the need to release more water from the nearby Vaal dam
. As a consequence, Vereeniging and the rest of the towns downstream were flooded.
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...
. It is also one of the constituent parts of the Vaal Triangle
Vaal Triangle
The Vaal Triangle is a triangular area of land formed by Vereeniging, Vanderbijlpark and Sasolburg - together they comprise a substantial urban complex in South Africa...
region and was formerly situated in the Transvaal
Transvaal Province
Transvaal Province was a province of the Union of South Africa from 1910 to 1961, and of its successor, the Republic of South Africa, from 1961 until the end of apartheid in 1994 when a new constitution subdivided it.-History:...
province. The name Vereeniging is derived from the Dutch
Dutch language
Dutch is a West Germanic language and the native language of the majority of the population of the Netherlands, Belgium, and Suriname, the three member states of the Dutch Language Union. Most speakers live in the European Union, where it is a first language for about 23 million and a second...
word meaning "association" or "union".
Geographical information
Vereeniging is situated in the southern part of Gauteng Province, and neighbors Vanderbijlpark (to the west), Three Rivers (east), MeyertonMeyerton, Gauteng
Meyerton is a small town lying 15 km north of Vereeniging in Gauteng, South Africa. Situated in the local municipality of Midvaal and the district municipality of Sedibeng.-History:...
(north) and Sasolburg
Sasolburg
Sasolburg is a large industrial town in the far north of the Free State province of South Africa. Sasolburg is further sub-divided into three areas: Sasolburg proper, Vaalpark and Zamdela...
(south). The city is currently one of the most important industrial manufacturing centres in South Africa, with its chief products being iron, steel, pipes, bricks, tiles and processed lime.
The predominant language in Vereeniging is Afrikaans
Afrikaans
Afrikaans is a West Germanic language, spoken natively in South Africa and Namibia. It is a daughter language of Dutch, originating in its 17th century dialects, collectively referred to as Cape Dutch .Afrikaans is a daughter language of Dutch; see , , , , , .Afrikaans was historically called Cape...
, followed closely by English
English language
English is a West Germanic language that arose in the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms of England and spread into what was to become south-east Scotland under the influence of the Anglian medieval kingdom of Northumbria...
and Sesotho.
History
The city was founded in 1892 and is situated on the banks of the northern loop of the Vaal RiverVaal River
The Vaal River is the largest tributary of the Orange River in South Africa. The river has its source in the Drakensberg mountains in Mpumalanga, east of Johannesburg and about 30 km north of Ermelo and only about 240 km from the Indian Ocean. It then flows westwards to its conjunction...
. Much of its early growth was due to the nearby coal
Coal
Coal is a combustible black or brownish-black sedimentary rock usually occurring in rock strata in layers or veins called coal beds or coal seams. The harder forms, such as anthracite coal, can be regarded as metamorphic rock because of later exposure to elevated temperature and pressure...
mines.
The city is known for being the location where the Treaty of Vereeniging
Treaty of Vereeniging
The Treaty of Vereeniging was the peace treaty, signed on 31 May 1902, that ended the South African War between the South African Republic and the Republic of the Orange Free State, on the one side, and the British Empire on the other.This settlement provided for the end of hostilities and...
ending the Second 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...
(1899-1902) was negotiated. During this conflict, a concentration camp was set up by the British
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
military in the area. The concentration camp at Vereeniging was set up in September 1900, and by October 1901 housed 185 men, 330 women, and 452 children. Conditions at the camp were very poor, water was brought by cart (there was no direct water supply) and only 24 latrines. Most inmates lived in bell-tents but there was a dispensary and a school. Today, the site of the concentration camp has been replaced by the Maccauvlei Golf Course.
Vereeniging was one of the first municipalities in South Africa to provide better housing for Africans. Near Vereeniging is the predominantly black community of Sharpeville, Gauteng
Sharpeville, Gauteng
Sharpeville is a township situated between two large industrial cities of Vanderbijlpark and Vereeniging in southern Gauteng, South Africa...
, the site of the Sharpeville massacre
Sharpeville massacre
The Sharpeville Massacre occurred on 21 March 1960, at the police station in the South African township of Sharpeville in the Transvaal . After a day of demonstrations, at which a crowd of black protesters far outnumbered the police, the South African police opened fire on the crowd, killing 69...
in 1960.
Since 1994, Vereeniging has been the home of southern Africa's annual LED Festival.
Trade and industry
The city's motto is Per Pacem ad Industriam ("Through peace to industry"). It is currently one of the most important industrial manufacturing centres in South Africa, with its chief products being ironIron
Iron is a chemical element with the symbol Fe and atomic number 26. It is a metal in the first transition series. It is the most common element forming the planet Earth as a whole, forming much of Earth's outer and inner core. It is the fourth most common element in the Earth's crust...
, steel
Steel
Steel is an alloy that consists mostly of iron and has a carbon content between 0.2% and 2.1% by weight, depending on the grade. Carbon is the most common alloying material for iron, but various other alloying elements are used, such as manganese, chromium, vanadium, and tungsten...
, pipes, bricks, tiles and processed lime
Lime (mineral)
Lime is a general term for calcium-containing inorganic materials, in which carbonates, oxides and hydroxides predominate. Strictly speaking, lime is calcium oxide or calcium hydroxide. It is also the name for a single mineral of the CaO composition, occurring very rarely...
. Several coal
Coal
Coal is a combustible black or brownish-black sedimentary rock usually occurring in rock strata in layers or veins called coal beds or coal seams. The harder forms, such as anthracite coal, can be regarded as metamorphic rock because of later exposure to elevated temperature and pressure...
mines are also still situated in the area, with reserves being estimated at four billion tons. Other mines nearby extract fire-clay
Clay
Clay is a general term including many combinations of one or more clay minerals with traces of metal oxides and organic matter. Geologic clay deposits are mostly composed of phyllosilicate minerals containing variable amounts of water trapped in the mineral structure.- Formation :Clay minerals...
, silica and building stone. Vereeniging also has several Eskom
Eskom
Eskom is a South African electricity public utility, established in 1923 as the Electricity Supply Commission by the government of South Africa in terms of the Electricity Act . It was also known by its Afrikaans name Elektrisiteitsvoorsieningskommissie . The two acronyms were combined in 1986 and...
thermal power plants that supply electricity
Electricity
Electricity is a general term encompassing a variety of phenomena resulting from the presence and flow of electric charge. These include many easily recognizable phenomena, such as lightning, static electricity, and the flow of electrical current in an electrical wire...
to the nearby gold
Gold
Gold is a chemical element with the symbol Au and an atomic number of 79. Gold is a dense, soft, shiny, malleable and ductile metal. Pure gold has a bright yellow color and luster traditionally considered attractive, which it maintains without oxidizing in air or water. Chemically, gold is a...
mines.
Vereeniging has been mentioned jokingly as the town in South Africa which has the most vehicle dealerships per square metre.
Suburbs and municipality
In the census of 2001 the population of Vereeniging was recorded as 73,283.Vereeniging consists of 20 suburbs:
- Duncanville
- Duncanville Proper
- RisivilleRisivilleRisiville is located on the northern side of Vereeniging, Gauteng, South Africa. Although Risiville is sometimes mentioned as a suburb of Vereeniging, Risiville is in fact not a suburb of Vereeniging, but falls under the Midvaal Local Authority...
- PeacehavenPeacehavenPeacehaven is a town and civil parish in the Lewes district of East Sussex, England. It is located above the chalk cliffs of the South Downs approximately six miles east of Brighton city centre, on the A259 road...
- Arcon Park
- Arcon Park Proper
- Unitas Park
- Vischgat
- Sonland Park
- Steel Park
- Homer
- Roodt's Gardens
- Three Rivers
- Three Rivers ProperThree Rivers ProperThree Rivers Proper is a suburb of Vereeniging, Gauteng, South Africa.The suburb lies on the eastern side of the Klip River and is bordered by Three Rivers East to the east and Three Rivers to the north...
- Three Rivers EastThree Rivers EastThree Rivers East is a suburb of Vereeniging, Gauteng. The suburb lies on the eastern most end of the city and is bordered by the Sugarbush river to the south and east and by an eco estate called Summerview Estate to the West....
- Sharpeville
- Leeuhof
- Falcon Ridge
- Uitvlugt
- Waldrift
- Leeuhof
- Bedworthpark
- Ku Bali
- Fisheagle estate
Since 1999, Vereeniging has been part of the Emfuleni Local Municipality, along with Vanderbijlpark and the smaller Three Rivers.
Map of Three Rivers
Healthcare
Various health services are available in Vereeniging. The majority of these services are located in or near the major medical centres. These include:- Vereeniging Medi-Clinic
- Midvaal Private Hospital
- Kopanong Hospital
- Sebokeng Hospital
- Sebokeng Private Hospital
Education
- 3 Rivers Christian Academy (English medium - ACE)
- Milton Primary (English medium)
- Suikerbos Laerskool (Afrikaans medium)
- Handhawer Laerskool (Afrikaans medium)
- Sonland Park Laerskool (Afrikaans medium)
- Unitas Park Laerskool (Afrikaans medium)
- Selborne Primary (English medium)
- Arcon Park Primary (English medium)
- Three Rivers Laerskool (English & Afrikaans)
- Vryheidsmonument Laerskool (Afrikaans medium)
- Risiville Laerskool (Afrikaans medium)
- Vereeniging High (Afrikaans medium)
- Three Rivers High (Afrikaans & English)
- Vereeniging Technical High (Afrikaans medium)
- Overvaal High (Afrikaans medium)
- Riverside High (English medium)
- General Smuts High (English medium)
- Word of Life School (English medium - CIE)
Tertiary institutions
- A campus of the University of South AfricaUniversity of South AfricaThe University of South Africa is a distance education university, with headquarters in Pretoria, South Africa. With approximately 300 000 enrolled students, it qualifies as one of the world's mega universities.-History:...
- Damelin College
- Sedibeng College
- It is also close to the North-West University's Vaal Campus, and the Vaal University of TechnologyVaal University of TechnologyVaal University of Technology is a tertiary institution in South Africa. It attracts students from all over the country. It is one of the largest residential Universities of Technology, with about 15,000 students, 300 programs, all primarily taught in English. The campus and facilities are...
in Vanderbijlpark.
Trivia
- F.W. de KlerkFrederik Willem de KlerkFrederik Willem de Klerk , often known as F. W. de Klerk, is the former seventh and last State President of apartheid-era South Africa, serving from September 1989 to May 1994...
was first elected to the South African parliament in 1969 as the member for Vereeniging. - Bles BridgesBles BridgesBles Bridges , born Lawrence John Gabriel Bridges, was a much loved South African singer. He became known as Bles Bridges, as his Irish granddad called him Bles , due to his very thin hair from an early age....
, a well known Afrikaans country singer, also stayed in Vereeniging, until his death in 2000. - Charl SchwartzelCharl SchwartzelCharl Adriaan Schwartzel is a South African professional golfer who plays on the PGA Tour, European Tour, and the Sunshine Tour. He won the 2011 Masters Tournament. Schwartzel's highest world ranking has been number seven, in May 2011....
(the 2011 US Masters champion), Morne MorkelMorne MorkelMorné Morkel is a cricketer who plays Test and limited overs cricket for South Africa. He is a right-arm fast bowler with "genuine pace" according to former South African fast bowler Allan Donald, and a useful lower order left-handed batsman. Some believe he has the ability to become a genuine...
and Albie MorkelAlbie MorkelJohannes Albertus Morkel , better known as Albie Morkel, is a South African cricketer. He is an all-rounder who bowls right-arm- medium fast and bats left-handed. He is famous for his six hitting abilities in Twenty20 cricket...
attended Vereeniging High. - Although named after Vereeniging, the Treaty of Vereeniging was actually signed at Melrose HouseMelrose HouseMelrose House is a stately mansion located in Pretoria, South Africa. Built in 1886 by the prosperous Pretoria businessman George Jesse Heys. it was named after the famous Melrose Abbey in Scotland. Melrose House gained fame during the Second Boer War when Lord Roberts requisitioned it as the...
, PretoriaPretoriaPretoria is a city located in the northern part of Gauteng Province, South Africa. It is one of the country's three capital cities, serving as the executive and de facto national capital; the others are Cape Town, the legislative capital, and Bloemfontein, the judicial capital.Pretoria is...
. - General Smuts High School, one of the English language schools found in Vereeniging, was named after the famous General Smuts of the League of NationsLeague of NationsThe League of Nations was an intergovernmental organization founded as a result of the Paris Peace Conference that ended the First World War. It was the first permanent international organization whose principal mission was to maintain world peace...
fame. - It is said that Mohandas K Gandhi was briefly incarcerated in the old town jail, the ruins of which were visible in the grounds of Handhawer Primary School.
- The motto of the city is "Per Pacem ad Industriam" ("Through peace to industry").
Crime
The latest crime statistics for Vereeniging Police Precinct was issued by the South African Police Service (SAPS) in September 2010. The SAPS crime report showed the following information:| Type of crime | 2008/2009 | 2009/2010 |
|---|---|---|
| Burglary at non-residential premises | 302 | 348 |
| Burglary at residential premises | 505 | 797 |
| Theft of motor vehicle and motorcycle | 586 | 609 |
| Carjacking | 48 | 77 |
| Truck hijacking | 31 | 37 |
Flooding 2011
In December 2010 and January 2011 the southern part of GautengGauteng
Gauteng is one of the nine provinces of South Africa. It was formed from part of the old Transvaal Province after South Africa's first all-race elections on 27 April 1994...
and Mpumulanga experienced a higher than normal rainfall. This resulted in the need to release more water from the nearby Vaal dam
Vaal dam
The Vaal Dam in South Africa was constructed in 1938 and lies 77 km south of OR Tambo International Airport Formerly Jan Smuts Airport, then renamed Johannesburg International Airport in 1994, before being renamed yet again on 27th October 2006 as ORT. The lake behind the dam wall has a...
. As a consequence, Vereeniging and the rest of the towns downstream were flooded.