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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.
The mayor of Cape Town, Thomas Ball, laid the cornerstone of the City Hall on 29 August 1900, but the Hall was only opened in 1905. It was designed by architects Reid and Green from Johannesburg and was built in Italian Renaissance style, one of the last major Victorian buildings to be erected in Cape Town. Cape Town City Hall is one of our oldest and most central public spaces and home to the Cape Philharmonic Orchestra.

Pietermaritzburg is the Capital and second-largest City, in the Province of KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa. It was founded in 1838 and named after two leaders of the Voortrekkers: 'Pieter Retief and Gert Maritz', who had arrived here in 1837. The Village was later taken over and made into a British military garrison, as a defence in case of attacks.

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This day in history

Find out who was born, who died and other significant events from this day in history

History in Images

One of the organisers of the 1956 Women's March, Lilian Ngoyi
A young victim of the atrocities committed by Belgium in the Congo stands next to a missionary. 
Image Source:
www.wikimedia.org
Riot police play a game of soccer with youths in Nyanga on 27 August 1976. Photo by John Paisley
Image Source:
www.lib.uct.ac.za
A certificate of slavery for an infant named Sophie, dated 1827 Cape of Good Hope. 
Image Source:
www.theculturetrip.com
Riot police attempt to block the way of workers leaving a May Day meeting at Khotso House in Johannesburg in May 1985. 
Image Source:
www.digitalcollections.lib.uct.ac.za
A family sits outside the front door of their District Six home in Cape Town in the 1970s, prior to their forced removal. Photograph by Jansje Wissema. 
Image Source:
www.digitalcollections.lib.uct.ac.za