An Industrial and Commercial heartland, the City derived its name after the Farm; 'Welkom'. Welkom was founded in 1948 by Sir Earnest Oppenheimer, (who was the De Beers mining magnet.)
Welkom is the second-largest City in the Free State Province of South Africa. It is located about 140 Kilometers, North East of Bloemfontein. Welkom is also known as: 'Circle City, City Within A Garden and Matjhabeng'.
It attained Municipal status in 1961 and was declared a City in 1968.
One of the organisers of the 1956 Women's March, Lilian Ngoyi