WINBURG

'Winburg' is a small mixed farming town in the Free State province of South Africa.
Winburg is the oldest proclaimed town (1837)in the Oranje Vrystaat, South Africa and thus civilization north of the Orange River.

Contents

History

History

When the Voortrekkers reached the area of Winburg, there were no other tribes or inhabitants. The nearest community was that of a Tswana (black) tribe under Chief Makwana at Thaba Nchu, 60km south east of the town and the Mosotho tribes in the mountains of the current Lesotho, 100km east of the town.
The trade of cattle for land between the Vaal and Vet Rivers, undertaken by Andries Pretorius and the Bataung Chief Makwana in 1836, led to the settlement of a dispute between the black tribes. The Voortrekkers offered protection for Chief Makwana from the Tswana tribes, against the Mosotho tribes habouring in the mountains of the current Lesotho and stealing the cattle of the Bataung tribe. In exchange for continued protection the Voortrekkers were offered the land between the VET and Vaal Rivers.
The Voortrekker leaders had a small disagreement as to where to establish a town. A vote was held under the Burgers and Andries Pretorius's group won and elected to establish the town in its current position and to call it WINBURG, due to the Dutch word WINNEN, which means to win.
Winburg acted as a settlement and religious centre. WINBURG was originally selected as the site for the main Voortrekker Monument but Pretoria won favour and a five tiered secondary Voortrekker (settler) monument was built on the outskirts of Winburg instead, in the 1950's. It carries the names of the Voortrekker (settler) leaders: Uys, Potgieter, Pretorius, Retief and Maritz. The length of the tiers are in relation to the distances traveled by the five settler groups. On the 16th of December, the day on which the descendants of the Boer settlers celebrate the battle of Blood River, the sun passes directly over the monument and a plaque with a Christian religious message at the base is illuminated. The monument is built near the site of the birth-house of Martinus Theunis Steyn who was president of the Boer Republic of the Orange Free State.
The town was the site of a concentration camp for women and children captured by the English during their campaign of Scorched Earth. during this war the whole Orange Free State (Oranje Vrystaat) was set alight by the British soldiers and all life stock where either killed of claimed by Her Majesty's soldiers.
Many of these woman and children died due to malnutrition and contagious diseases, while kept in tents without any infra structure or protection during the bitter cold winters of 1899 - 1901.
The woman and children where abducted from farms, belonging to civilians acting as soldiers, who elected not to accept the annexation of their land by Queen Victoria and Millner.
Millner is known for his campaign in Afghanistan and India, where he also used the scorched earth method to subdue the Afghans and Indians.
Very few of the English soldiers guarding the camp suffered the same fate. The woman and their fighting husbands and sons even brought food for the British garrisons stationed at the town.
The now famous General Koos De La Rey was born in the district of Winburg on the farm Doornfontein. Gen De La Rey was the leading Boer General from the West Transvaal in 1899 - 1901. Gen De La Rey was as famous in Transvaal (ZAR) as General Christiaan Rudolph De Wet was in the Oranje Vrijstaat Republic, under President Steyn.
The Orange Vrijstaat Republic derived its name from the House of Orange in Holland, who had close links with the Burgers / Voortrekkers.
Winburg had a black armed commando supporting the British soldiers during the war of 1899 - 1901, which killed many white women and children in the district.
The first shots of the Rebellion in 1916, against the government's involvement in South West Africa / Duits Wes / Namibia, where fired in the district of Winburg.
The first President of the Republic of South Africa, which gained independence from Britain, in 1961, was Charles Robberts Swart. Pres Swart was born and went to school in Winburg.
The European community ( Boer / Whites ) of Winburg is famous for the differences in political heritage. The town was divided into two camps, due to their support to either the South African Party of Gen Jan Smuts, or the National Party of Dr DF Malan. This led to the division of the Dutch Reformed Church (NG KERK), into two separate congregations, KLIP KERK ( Build from sandstone) and which was the original church for the NG Kerk and RIETFONTEIN KERK. Bitter feuds were fought between supporters of the two parties. The KLIPKERK supporters demolished the Rietfontein Church project several times.
In later years this division was almost erased. The National Party's (NP - under the infamous FW de Klerk) support and later abdication to the ANC (ruling party of South Africa ), led to a new division in the community. The old lines where re-erected and the church divided again. With most people electing to sit on the line, some started their own church, the Afrikaanse Protestantse Kerk. The new division was now between NP supporters and Conservative Party (CP - under the respected leadership of dr Andries P. Treurnicht) supporters, who elected to stand tall against another annexation of their land.
The town is situated next to the N1 highway, which links Cape Town to Johannesburgand 120km from Bloemfontein. Winburg is in the centre between the Orange and Vaal rivers.
The white and black communities in Winburg, as in most South African towns, still lead segregated lives, a remnant of cultural differences.
Social interaction between the white and black groups is being pushed by an official integration agenda from the ANC government. This has led to the downfall and collapse of many modern facilities in Winburg, of which the previous prestigious school and orphanage, are just two examples.
Cultural differences will keep Whites and Black apart, which is respected on both sides of the colour line running through South Africa.
The town's economy is dwindling and its just a ghost town to what it was before 1994. Winburg was a very neat town, known for its good school, concrete streets, sandstone church, orphanage, fully equipped hospital, many professional inhabitants and businesses, agricultural cooperations, yogurt milk and butter factories, good community health services, social support structures, quality sport and recreational facilities, caravan park, hotels and Rietfontein water reservoir in the Laaispruit and of course the Voortrekker Monument and museum. The current state of maintenance of these facilities is evident to every tourist. The museum and monument is falling apart and no plan is envisaged to save it for future generations.
The current ANC dominated municipality does little to maintain standards and the infra structure of the town, which is evident in most parts of the current day South Africa of 2007.