Gauteng: Northern Gauteng
Overview
Northern Gauteng is a mostly agricultural and mining area to the north east of Pretoria.
The principal towns are Bronkhorstspruit, a small farming town 50km east of Pretoria,
situated along the N4 highway towards Witbank, and Cullinan, a small town 30 km
east of Pretoria.
In 1858, a group of Voortrekkers settled in the Bronkhorstspruit creek, which was
originally called Kalkoenkransrivier ('turkey ridge river'). In June 1897, the South
African Republic gave its approval for the town, then already named Bronkhorstspruit
by locals.
Sir Thomas Cullinan discovered a rich diamond pipe in the area in 1902 and
soon afterwards, on 25 June 1905, the famed Cullinan Diamond, the largest in the
world at 3,106 carats (621 g), was discovered by Frederick Wells, surface manager
of the Premier Diamond Mining Company. It was bought by the Transvaal government
and presented to King Edward VII of England.
Things to do and see
Cultura Park, a suburb of Bronkhorstspruit,
hosts the largest Buddhist temple in the Southern Hemisphere. This the South African
headquarters of the Humanistic Buddhist order. Here they celebrate the Chinese New
Year and are open to the public for a weekend and long retreats.
In Cullinan the
St George's Anglican stone church was designed by Sir Herbert Baker, and is well
worth a visit. Those interesting in World War II history should also visit the area
as the largest allied POW camp in Africa was established in Cullinan, and till today
the graves of 264 Italian POW's are still preserved.
Climate
On the border between Gauteng, Mpumalanga, and Limpopo, Northern Gauteng has a wonderfully
mild climate of summer rainfall, winter sunshine and warm day time temperatures
for the whole year.
Accomodation
The Northern Gauteng area boasts many venues for conferences, team building, weddings,
game viewing, hiking and birding, restaurants, shebeens (local african beer pubs),
museums, water activities, jewellery, art & craft studios and shops, theatres
and festivals.
Towns
Bronkhorstspruit, Cullinan