Piet Retief, officially eMkhondo, is a town situated in a

timber Lumber is wood that has been processed into dimensional lumber, including beams and planks or boards, a stage in the process of wood production. Lumber is mainly used for construction framing, as well as finishing (floors, wall panels, w ...

-growing region in Mpumalanga province,

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the Southern Africa, southernmost country in Africa. It is bounded to the south by of coastline that stretch along the Atlantic Ocean, South Atlantic and Indian Oceans; to the ...

. It is the seat of the Mkhondo Local Municipality. It is located not far from the Eswatini border.

History

The town was founded by the

Voortrekker The Great Trek ( af, Die Groot Trek; nl, De Grote Trek) was a Northward migration of Dutch-speaking settlers who travelled by wagon trains from the Cape Colony into the interior of modern South Africa from 1836 onwards, seeking to live beyo ...

s in 1883 and named it after the Voortrekker leader, Piet Retief, who was killed by the

Zulus Zulu people (; zu, amaZulu) are a Nguni ethnic group native to Southern Africa. The Zulu people are the largest ethnic group and nation in South Africa, with an estimated 10–12 million people, living mainly in the province of KwaZulu-Na ...

under their King

Dingane Dingane ka Senzangakhona Zulu (–29 January 1840), commonly referred to as Dingane or Dingaan, was a Zulu chief who became king of the Zulu Kingdom in 1828, after assassinating his brother Shaka. He set up his royal capital, uMgungundlovu, ...

's orders, after a negotiation for land failed. In 1886, the inhabitants of the town declared the '' Klein Vrystaat'' (''Little Free State''), which contained a population of only 72. This republic existed until 1891, when it was incorporated into the

South African Republic The South African Republic ( nl, Zuid-Afrikaansche Republiek, abbreviated ZAR; af, Suid-Afrikaanse Republiek), also known as the Transvaal Republic, was an independent Boer Republic in Southern Africa which existed from 1852 to 1902, when it ...

. The town became a

municipality A municipality is usually a single administrative division having corporate status and powers of self-government or jurisdiction as granted by national and regional laws to which it is subordinate. The term ''municipality'' may also mean the go ...

in 1932. Its main tourist attraction is the

Dutch Reformed Church The Dutch Reformed Church (, abbreviated NHK) was the largest Christian denomination in the Netherlands from the onset of the Protestant Reformation in the 16th century until 1930. It was the original denomination of the Dutch Royal Family and ...

that was designed by the architect

Gerard Moerdijk Gerard Leendert Pieter Moerdijk (Zwaershoek farm near Nylstroom, Transvaal, 4 March 1890 – Nylstroom, 29 March 1958), also known as Gerard Moerdyk, was a South African architect best known for designing the Voortrekker Monument in Preto ...

and built in 1921.

Climate and economy

The area has an annual rainfall of 1000 mm. Its main economic activities are

paper Paper is a thin sheet material produced by mechanically or chemically processing cellulose fibres derived from wood, rags, grasses or other vegetable sources in water, draining the water through fine mesh leaving the fibre evenly distrib ...

and wattle bark production as well as mica,

kaolin Kaolinite ( ) is a clay mineral, with the chemical composition Al2 Si2 O5( OH)4. It is an important industrial mineral. It is a layered silicate mineral, with one tetrahedral sheet of silica () linked through oxygen atoms to one octahedral ...

and

iron Iron () is a chemical element with Symbol (chemistry), symbol Fe (from la, Wikt:ferrum, ferrum) and atomic number 26. It is a metal that belongs to the first transition series and group 8 element, group 8 of the periodic table. It is, Abundanc ...

mining Mining is the extraction of valuable minerals or other geological materials from the Earth, usually from an ore body, lode, vein, seam, reef, or placer deposit. The exploitation of these deposits for raw material is based on the economic ...

Name change

On 2 February 2010, South African Arts and Culture minister

Lulu Xingwana Lulama "Lulu" Marytheresa Xingwana (born 23 September 1955) is a South African politician who served as Minister for Women, Children and People with Disabilities from November 2010 to May 2014. Previously she held the position of Deputy Ministe ...

approved a state decision for Piet Retief to be renamed to eMkhondo. Like many other post-

apartheid Apartheid (, especially South African English: , ; , "aparthood") was a system of institutionalised racial segregation that existed in South Africa and South West Africa (now Namibia) from 1948 to the early 1990s. Apartheid was ...

name changes in South Africa, the incident remains controversial. Most residents are uncertain what the new name means, and have argued that "Piet Retief" did not evoke widespread public offence, as did Verwoerdburg. Prominent Afrikaner groups, including the

Freedom Front Plus The Freedom Front Plus (FF Plus; af, Vryheidsfront Plus, ''VF Plus'') is a right-wing political party in South Africa that was formed (as the Freedom Front) in 1994. It is led by Pieter Groenewald. Its current stated policy positions include a ...

, have promised to contest the change.

People

* Jack Diamond, architect, born in Piet Retief *

Heino Kuhn Heino Gunther Kuhn (born 1 April 1984) is a South African cricketer who has played for the national team. He has played for Titans and Northerns in South African domestic cricket and in March 2018 signed a Kolpak contract with Kent County Cri ...

South Africa national cricket team The South Africa national cricket team, also known as the Proteas, represents South Africa in men's international cricket and is administered by Cricket South Africa (CSA). South Africa is a full member of the International Cricket Council ...

player *

Sandra Laing Sandra Laing (born 26 November 1955) is a South African woman who was classified as Coloured by authorities during the apartheid era, due to her skin colour and hair texture, although she was the child of at least three generations of ancestor ...

, woman who was born to white parents but reclassified as coloured during the apartheid era in South Africa, born in Piet Retief * Jabulani Mbatha, lifetime Chief, died in Mkhondo in 1945 * Dumisani Msibi, footballer * Ntokozo "K.O" Mdluli, musician (rapper), Teargas member *

Pretty Yende Pretty Yende (born 6 March 1985) is a South African operatic soprano. She has performed leading roles at opera houses internationally, including La Scala and the Metropolitan Opera. Early life and education Born in Piet Retief, Mpumalanga, ...

, opera soprano * Ntandoyenkosi Kunene, Miss SA 2016

References

External links

Town's website
{{Authority control Populated places in the Mkhondo Local Municipality Populated places established in 1883