Fochville is a farming and mining town located in the

Gauteng Gauteng ( ) is one of the nine provinces of South Africa. The name in Sotho-Tswana languages means 'place of gold'. Situated on the Highveld, Gauteng is the smallest province by land area in South Africa. Although Gauteng accounts for only ...

province of South Africa. It is part of the

Merafong City Local Municipality Merafong City Local Municipality is a local municipality in West Rand District Municipality, Gauteng, South Africa. Its boundaries encloses some of the richest gold mines in the world. It is situated about 65 km from Johannesburg and is ser ...

, which also includes Kokosi,

Carletonville Carletonville is a town in Gauteng and the seat of the Merafong City Local Municipality in the West Rand District Municipality in Gauteng, South Africa, just north of the richest gold-mining area in the world. At 3,749 m, Western Deep Levels h ...

and

Khutsong Khutsong is a township on the West Rand of South Africa, and scene of widespread unrest starting in February 2006. It is situated close to the town of Carletonville, in the Merafong City Local Municipality of the Gauteng province. With a terrible ...

. The area surrounding Fochville contains Sotho or

Tswana Tswana may refer to: * Tswana people, the Bantu speaking people in Botswana, South Africa, Namibia, Zimbabwe, Zambia, and other Southern Africa regions * Tswana language, the language spoken by the (Ba)Tswana people * Bophuthatswana, the former ba ...

ruins. Tlokwe Ruins are the remains of Sotho-Tswana settlements on the hills surrounding Fochville that were inhabited until the 1820s.

Boer War The Second Boer War ( af, Tweede Vryheidsoorlog, , 11 October 189931 May 1902), also known as the Boer War, the Anglo–Boer War, or the South African War, was a conflict fought between the British Empire and the two Boer Republics (the Sou ...

hero Danie Theron was killed 5 km north of the town. The town itself was established as an agricultural centre in 1920 and was named after the

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

commander-in-chief of the Allied forces in

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic, Pacific and Indian Oceans. Its metropolitan area ...

Marshal of France Marshal of France (french: Maréchal de France, plural ') is a French military distinction, rather than a military rank, that is awarded to generals for exceptional achievements. The title has been awarded since 1185, though briefly abolished ( ...

Ferdinand Foch Ferdinand Foch ( , ; 2 October 1851 – 20 March 1929) was a French general and military theorist who served as the Supreme Allied Commander during the First World War. An aggressive, even reckless commander at the First Marne, Flanders and Ar ...

Education

Fochville has two primary schools and one high school.

Culture

Sports, including cricket, rugby, squash, yoga, and kickboxing are typically played at the Gert van Rensburg Stadium. The town is also home to a bird farm and a trout hatchery.

Attack

In September 2012, the settlements near Fochville were subject to an ethnically motivated attack. Shacks were razed. Four people were killed and another six injured. The attack took place following a dispute over boundaries between two rival factions. The attackers used knobkierries,

petrol Gasoline (; ) or petrol (; ) (see ) is a transparent, petroleum-derived flammable liquid that is used primarily as a fuel in most spark-ignited internal combustion engines (also known as petrol engines). It consists mostly of organic c ...

cans and traditional

spear A spear is a pole weapon consisting of a shaft, usually of wood, with a pointed head. The head may be simply the sharpened end of the shaft itself, as is the case with fire hardened spears, or it may be made of a more durable material fasten ...

s and

daggers A dagger is a fighting knife with a very sharp point and usually two sharp edges, typically designed or capable of being used as a thrusting or stabbing weapon.State v. Martin, 633 S.W.2d 80 (Mo. 1982): This is the dictionary or popular-use def ...

Tourist attractions

In early mining days, Western Deep Levels struck a stream of sulphurous water, which to this day surges out of the borehole. Renosterfontein is a farm with old Tswana kraals, a traditional African village and the ruins of a house that belonged to the brothers of President

Andries Pretorius Andries Wilhelmus Jacobus Pretorius (27 November 179823 July 1853) was a leader of the Boers who was instrumental in the creation of the South African Republic, as well as the earlier but short-lived Natalia Republic, in present-day South Africa ...

. The Tlokwe Ruins are the remains of Sotho-Tswana settlements on the hills surrounding Fochville. They were used until the inhabitants were driven away by

Mzilikazi Mzilikazi Moselekatse, Khumalo ( 1790 – 9 September 1868) was a Southern African king who founded the Mthwakazi Kingdom now known as Matebeleland, in Zimbabwe. His name means "the great river of blood". He was born the son of Mashobane kaMan ...

in the 1820s. Monuments can be found in the area of Fochville. The Voortrekker Plaque, located to the south west, marks the site of an early

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 ...

fortification of 1842. The Theron Memorial is a memorial to Boer scout Danie Theron who was killed in 1900 during an engagement with a British detachment.

References

External links

* {{West Rand District Municipality Populated places in the Merafong City Local Municipality Mining communities in South Africa