Location

Gauteng Province, south of Johannesburg

This large town, set on the banks of the Vaal River some 60 kilometres from Johannesburg, sprang to prominence a century ago when the peace terms that brought the Anglo-Boer war to an end were concluded there (though the actual treaty was signed at Melrose House, Pretoria). Vereeniging translates from the Afrikaans as 'company', a reference to its origins as a colliery centre in the early 1880s. The initial impetus for its growth, however, was the establishment of a power station in 1909 and, four years later, the commissioning of Union Steel's giant plant. It's now one of the country's biggest and busiest heavy industrial (coal, steel) and manufacturing (cables, steel tubing, farm implements, bricks) areas. It also, needless to say, has all the modern amenities, offering plenty of opportunities for sport, recreation and leisure.

The wider area includes the huge high-density town of Sebokeng, the smaller Evaton industrial and residential development, and the substantial town of Vanderbijlpark, named after one of South Africa's leading scientists and industrial pioneers.

Highlights

Museum On display are weapons, costumes, glassware and fossils extracted from the coal seams. The peace treaty of Vereeniging is featured in photos.

Vaal River and Dam These delineate the border between Gauteng and Free State Provinces. The dam is wide, deep and bilharzia-free (that is, one can bathe quite safely in its waters), ideal for and much used by watersports enthusiasts of various kinds. The river-banks, or parts of them anyway, are a delight for stroller and picnicker. Sporting facilities include two fine golf courses.

Klip River Terrace The terrace ranks as one of the world's most important Stone Age sites, discovered by the noted South African archaeologist Clarence van Riet Lowe. A civil engineer by profession, Lowe (1894-1956) is remembered more for his part-time research into the distant past than for the 100-plus bridges he built. In one especially productive five-year period he identified and recorded more than 300 sites, most of them rich in stone implements of the Smithfield type.

Nearest towns

Johannesburg lies to the north; Sebokeng and Vanderbijlpark to the west.

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VEREENIGING

Locations
Highlights
Nearest Towns


PROVINCES

Western Cape
Gauteng
Eastern Cape
Free State
Kwazulu Natal
Mpumalanga
Northern Cape
Northern
North West