Mokopane

Mokopane, also known as Potgietersrus, is a town in the Limpopo province of South Africa. The town name was changed to Mokopane in 2003 in honour of a local Ma Nrebele leader, King Mghombane Gheghana, who ruled the area before being conquered by the Voortrekkers. Mokopane is the Northern Sotho form of the king’s name, and is hence erroneous, even though the majority language in the area is Northern Sotho. Five kingdoms in the vicinity of the town are Kekana (Moshate), Langa (Mapela), Lebelo (Garasvlei) and Langa (Bakenburg). It is still referred to as Potgietersrus or “Potties”. Two hours from Gauteng by road, the town acts as a getaway destination and as a stop-over for travelers en route to Botswana, Zimbabwe and Kruger National Park. The area is typical bushveld with many Vachellia and Senegalia trees (formerly part of the acacia genus) as well as aloes, which blooms in June and July. The Zebediela Citrus Estate, 55 km to the southeast, is one of the largest citrus farms in the southern hemisphere. In 1852, Mokopane was called Vredenburg, which means “the town of peace” thus named by the Voortrekkers, a pioneering group of Afrikaners who had trekked north-eastward from the Cape Colony in the 19th century into South Africa's interior. Later, in 1858, the Voortrekker legacy continued when the town was renamed Pietpotgietersrust, in honour of Piet Potgieter, who had been fatally wounded in the Makapan Cave attack that took place four years prior. He was the eldest son of the Voortrekker leader Andries Potgieter. The memorialised town name was later shortened to Potgietersrus. As the years progressed, many factors such as malaria and hostility between the Voortrekkers and the Ndebele people caused the trekkers to abandon the Potgieterus settlement in 1870. Later the site would be re-occupied from 1890 onward. The historic and archaeologically significant Makapansgat caves are situated 15 km north of the town. Recovery of Homo habilis habitation has been made at these caves. Remains of Australopithecus africanus have also been found at the caves.