Reddersburg is a small sheep and cattle farming town in the
Free State province of
South Africa
South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the southernmost country in Africa. It is bounded to the south by of coastline that stretch along the South Atlantic and Indian Oceans; to the north by the neighbouring coun ...
on the
N6 National Route 60 kilometres south of
Bloemfontein.
History
The town was established around the Reformed Church Reddersburg, which was established on the farm Thorbeck on 7 May 1859. The church counsel bought the farm Vlakfontein to establish the town. The name is
Afrikaans
Afrikaans (, ) is a West Germanic language that evolved in the Dutch Cape Colony from the Dutch vernacular of Holland proper (i.e., the Hollandic dialect) used by Dutch, French, and German settlers and their enslaved people. Afrikaans gr ...
and means "Saviour's Town", from "God is our Saviour". The town was managed by the church until 1894 when it was handed over to the municipality on agreement that a hereditary tenure of 33 pounds sterling must be paid by the municipality to the church on an annual basis.
During the
Second 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 So ...
, Reddersburg was the site of one of the last victories for the Boer forces over the British. Troops led by General
Christiaan de Wet attacked a convoy of 600 of the
Royal Irish Rifles on April 4, 1900, and obtained their surrender the next day.
[Thomas Pankenham, ''The Boer War'' (Random House, 1979) p417]
The Sarie Marais Hotel is one of the landmarks in the town.
File:Old CNO school, Reddersburg.JPG, Old CNO school
File:21 Boshof street, Reddersburg.JPG, 21 Boshof street
References
Populated places in the Kopanong Local Municipality
Populated places founded by Afrikaners
Populated places established in 1861
1861 establishments in the Orange Free State
{{FreeState-geo-stub