Polokwane Heritage
Polokwane is geographically located on the
Pietersburg plateau. The altitude, geography,
rainfall and vegetation vary substantially from
place to place on the plateau, with the result that
over the millennia it has always been a suitable
habitat for humans to live in. The archaeological
record takes us back to more than a million years
ago when early hominids roamed the plateau, leaving
behind their hand-axe and cleaver stone age tools.
They where followed by archaic humans and even the
first modern humans of the middle stone age from
about 250 000 – 30 000 years ago. For the last few
thousand years the plateau was inhabited by the
San/Bushmen people who left their legacy in the form
of beautiful rock art images on the granite outcrops
surrounding Polokwane. Approximately 1 100 – 800
years ago the first black farmers settled the area,
probably co-existing with the San people. They left
few traces behind, but their villages can still be
identified by the particular pottery remains found
on the sites. For some reason they disappeared, only
to be followed by the first Sotho speaking people in
the 15th and 16th century AD and by the 17th century
the first Ndebele speaking people arrived on the
scene. With some major movement of people and
intricate alliance forming the Sotho and Ndebele
people co-existed here until the arrival of the
first Dutch/Afrikaans settlers in the mid 1800’s.
Some of the first farms established by them in 1848
were for example, Zandrivier, Doornbult and Klipdam.
These were people who had stayed behind when Hendrik
Potgieter trekked through the area to the
Zoutpansberg. Earlier treks that passed here were
those of Hans van Rensburg and Louis Trichardt.
In 1871 gold was discovered and the first gold
mine in the old Transvaal was established at
Eersteling about 30 km south of Polokwane City, near
the then Marabastad (now Eerstegoud), which was then
the centre of all activity in the area. There was a
church, hotel and Magistrates office.
Polokwane City was officially established on 31
July 1886 when Landros (magistrate) Dietlof Marč
opened the Magistrates offices in the new town then
called Pietersburg. The town was already laid out by
the surveyor von Wielligh in 1884. The first church
was built in 1890, first school in 1889 and the
railway station in 1899. The first Post Coach
arrived in Pietersburg in 1889.
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