View source for Phuthaditjhaba

{{Short description|Place in the province of Free State, South Africa}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=April 2022}}
{{Infobox settlement
| name                    = Phuthaditjhaba
| image_skyline           = Mandela park shopping centre.jpg
| image_caption           = Mandela Park shopping centre
| pushpin_map             = South Africa Free State#South Africa
| pushpin_map_caption     = Location of Phuthaditjhaba<br/>in Free State province##Location of Phuthaditjhaba<br/>in South Africa
| pushpin_relief          = 1
| coordinates             = {{coord|28|32|00|S|28|49|00|E|region:ZA|display=inline,title}}
| subdivision_type        = [[Country]] 
| subdivision_name        = [[South Africa]]
| subdivision_type1       = [[Provinces of South Africa|Province]] 
| subdivision_name1       = [[Free State (province)|Free State]]
| subdivision_type2       = [[List of districts of South Africa|District]] 
| subdivision_name2       = [[Thabo Mofutsanyana District Municipality|Thabo Mofutsanyana]]
| subdivision_type3       = [[List of municipalities of South Africa|Municipality]] 
| subdivision_name3       = [[Maluti a Phofung Local Municipality|Maluti a Phofung]]
| subdivision_type4       = Main Place
| established_title       = Established
| established_date        = 1974
| leader_party            = ANC
| leader_title            = Councillor
| area_footnotes          = <ref name="census2011">{{cite web |url=http://census2011.adrianfrith.com/place/472008 |title = Main Place Phuthaditjhaba |work=Census 2011}}</ref>
| area_total_km2          = 23.83
| elevation_m             = 1646
| population_footnotes    = <ref name="census2011" />
| population_total        = 54661
| population_as_of        = 2011
| population_density_km2  = auto
<!-- demographics (section 1) -->
| demographics_type1      = Racial makeup (2011)
| demographics1_footnotes = <ref name="census2011" />
| demographics1_title1    = [[Bantu peoples of South Africa|Black African]]
| demographics1_info1     = 99.0%
| demographics1_title2    = [[Coloureds|Coloured]]
| demographics1_info2     = 0.2%
| demographics1_title3    = [[Indian South African|Indian]]/[[Asian South African|Asian]]
| demographics1_info3     = 0.5%
| demographics1_title4    = [[White South African|White]]
| demographics1_info4     = 0.1%
| demographics1_title5    = Other
| demographics1_info5     = 0.2%
<!-- demographics (section 2) -->
| demographics_type2      = [[First language]]s (2011)
| demographics2_footnotes = <ref name="census2011" />
| demographics2_title1    = [[Sotho language|Sotho]]
| demographics2_info1     = 88.8%
| demographics2_title2    = [[Zulu language|Zulu]]
| demographics2_info2     = 4.4%
| demographics2_title3    = [[South African English|English]]
| demographics2_info3     = 2.0%
| demographics2_title4    = [[South African Sign Language|Sign language]]
| demographics2_info4     = 1.5%
| demographics2_title5    = Other
| demographics2_info5     = 3.3%
<!-- blank fields (section 2) -->
<!-- Other information -->
| timezone1               = [[South African Standard Time|SAST]]
| utc_offset1             = +2
| postal_code_type        = [[List of postal codes in South Africa|Postal code]] (street)
| postal_code             = 9866
| postal2_code_type       = [[Post-office box|PO box]]
| postal2_code            = 9869
| area_code_type          = [[Telephone numbers in South Africa|Area code]]
| area_code               = 058
}}
'''Phuthaditjhaba''' (previously '''Witsieshoek'''), is a town in the [[Free State (province)|Free State]] province of [[South Africa]]. It is located in a section of the [[Drakensberg]] mountains ([[Maloti Mountains|Maloti]] in the Sesotho language). It borders the province of [[KwaZulu-Natal]] to the south east and the independent country of [[Lesotho]] to the south west. The town was capital of the ''[[bantustan]]'', or homeland, of [[QwaQwa]]. When apartheid ended, the town became part of the Free State province.

==History==
The frequent snow on the [[Drakensberg]] mountain peaks surrounding the town led the [[San people|San]] to call the region QwaQwa ''(whiter than white)''. The Afrikaners named the town ''Witsieshoek'' in honour of Oetse (also spelled Witsie and Wetsi), a [[Kholokoe people|Makholokoe]] chief who lived there from 1839 to 1856.<ref name=dsapn>{{cite web|title=Dictionary of Southern African Place Names (Public Domain)|url=https://archive.org/details/DictionaryOfSouthernAfricanPlaceNames|publisher=Human Science Research Council|page=478|access-date=2014-01-09}}</ref> The name Phuthaditjhaba is a [[Sotho language|Sesotho]] name that means ''meeting place of the tribes''. It is located on the banks of the [[Elands River (Wilge)|Elands River]].<ref>[http://www.routes.co.za/fs/phuthaditjhaba/index.html Free State - Phuthaditjhaba] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120419170747/http://routes.co.za/fs/phuthaditjhaba/index.html |date=2012-04-19 }}</ref>

The area was historically inhabited by [[Bantu peoples of South Africa|bantu]] clans of the [[Sotho people|South Sotho]], namely the [[Kholokoe people|Makholokoe]], [[Bataung]], [[Bakoena]] and the [[Batlokoa]].
The Orange Free State government settled these people there in the 1870s after concluding a peace settlement with their leaders. In 1926 the Orange Free State government placed the [[Batlokoa]] under the authority of the [[Bakoena]] but gave each group its own regional authority in 1930. In 1969 they were combined into a single territorial authority, which was replaced two years later by a legislative assembly. Qwaqwa was granted self-government in 1974.

In 1974 it became capital of the ''[[bantustan]]'' (or "homeland") of QwaQwa. When the apartheid system was abolished in South Africa in 1994, it became part of the Free State province.

The town is the formal gateway to rural QwaQwa. Service provision in the area is difficult - the land is mountainous and homes in remote areas lack access to basic services. It is the poorest area in the Free State Province. The Mofumahadi Manapo Mopeli Regional Hospital is located here.
[[File:The view of Manapo Hospital from Setsing.jpg|thumb|280px|left|View of the Mofumahadi Manapo Mopeli Hospital]]

==Sports==
The town is the birthplace of the [[Premier Soccer League]] side club [[Free State Stars]]. Although the club has since relocated to [[Bethlehem, Free State|Bethlehem]], it still plays its important games at the much larger [[Charles Mopeli Stadium]]. The town has two other professional soccer teams, namely Maluti FET College FC and  African Warriors FC who both use the Charles Mopeli Stadium as their homeground. The teams both participate in the [[National First Division]], with Maluti FET College FC making their debut in the division.

==See also==
*[[Bolata, Free State|Bolata]]
*[[Witzieshoek revolt|Witzieshoek Revolt]]
*[[Makwane]]
*[[QwaQwa]]
*[[Tseki]]
*[[Tshiame]]
*[[Harrismith]]

==References==
{{Reflist}}

{{Thabo Mofutsanyana District Municipality}}
{{Authority control}}

[[Category:Populated places in the Maluti a Phofung Local Municipality]]


{{FreeState-geo-stub}}