Bloemfontein is the capital city of the Free State in South Africa and also the judicial capital, and one of the three national capitals together with Pretoria and Cape Town. Bloemfontein is widely and poetically known as the city of roses. The city's Sesotho name is Mangaung, meaning place of cheetahs. Bloemfontein has been included in the Mangaung Local Municipality since 2000
Bloemfontein is a historically predominantly Afrikaner settlement, although it was officially founded as a fort by British army major Henry Douglas Warden as a British outpost in 1846. At that point, it was occupied by various groups of peoples including Cape Colony Trek Boers, Basotho and Griqua.
Although modern day Bloemfontein has a reputation for its flowers, the origin of the city's name is uncertain. Popular legends include Jan Blom (1775–1858), a Korana KhoiKhoi leader who inhabited the area, while another story tells of an ox named Bloem, owned by one of the first pioneer farmers that was taken by a lion near a fountain on his property. Bloemfontein literally means fountain of flowers.
The area changed to the Orange River Sovereignty from 1848 to 1854 and eventually in 1854-1902 to the Orange Free State Republic. From 1902 to 1910, it served as the capital of the Orange River Colony. It became the Judicial capital of the Union of South Africa in 1910.
Warden originally chose this site largely because of its proximity to the main route to Winburg, the absence of horse sickness and the vast open country. Bloemfontein was originally the farm of Johannes Nicolaas Brits, owner and first inhabitant of Bloemfontein who sold the farm to Maj Warden.
Numerous public buildings that remain in use today were constructed. Largely due to the excellent governance of the Republic, and the compensation from the British for the loss of the diamond rich Griqualand area. In 1890, a railway line was built to connect Bloemfontein to Cape Town.
South African War and Second Anglo-Boer War
In 1899, the city was the site of the Bloemfontein Conference. The conference was a final attempt to avert a war between Britain and the South African Republic. With its failure, the stage was set for war. The rail line from Cape Town provided a centrally located railway station, and proved critical to the British in occupying the city later.
On 13 March 1900, following the Battle of Paardeberg, British forces captured the city and built a concentration camp near to house Boer women and children. The National Women's Memorial, on the outskirts of the city, pays homage to the 26,370 women and children as well as 1,421 old men (including 14,154 black people, though some sources feel that the records are unsatisfactory and that this number could be as high as 20,000) who died in these camps in various parts of the country.
Until 1994, the city was the sole judicial capital of South Africa. It remains the seat for the Supreme Court Of Appeal (formerly the Appellate Division of the Supreme Court) and is widely regarded as the judicial capital. It is also an administrative centre with many private hospitals and educational institutions.
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