Reitz is a small

maize Maize ( ; ''Zea mays'' subsp. ''mays'', from es, maíz after tnq, mahiz), also known as corn (North American and Australian English), is a cereal grain first domesticated by indigenous peoples in southern Mexico about 10,000 years ago. The ...

wheat Wheat is a grass widely cultivated for its seed, a cereal grain that is a worldwide staple food. The many species of wheat together make up the genus ''Triticum'' ; the most widely grown is common wheat (''T. aestivum''). The archaeologi ...

and

cattle Cattle (''Bos taurus'') are large, domesticated, cloven-hooved, herbivores. They are a prominent modern member of the subfamily Bovinae and the most widespread species of the genus ''Bos''. Adult females are referred to as cows and adult ma ...

farming town located in the east of the Free State province of

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 ...

Town and township

The original town, Reitz, lies upon the northwestern hillside. On the opposite hill lies the town's township, Petsana. The population data of Reitz (as of the 2011 Census): Population = 3362 Population group: White (54.1%) Black African (43%) Other (1.6%) Indian or Asian (0.7%) Coloured (0.62%) First language: Afrikaans (55.24%) Sesotho (31.96%) isiZulu (5.45%) English (2.88%) Other (1.39%) isiXhosa (1.01%) Setswana (0.76%) Sign language (0.76%) Sepedi (0.25%) isiNdebele (0.25%) Xitsonga (0.03%) Petsana's population data (as of the 2011 Census) is: Population = 16,821 Population group: Black African (99.44%) Coloured (0.22%) Other (0.12%) Indian or Asian (0.12%) White (0.10%) First language: Sesotho (73.42%) isiZulu (22.56%) Sign language (1.14%) isiXhosa (1.05%) Afrikaans (0.61%) English (0.48%) Other (0.32%) isiNdebele (0.15%) Setswana (0.11%) Xitsonga (0.10%) Sepedi (0.05%) Siswati (0.01%)

Local economy

Petsana is a mainly residential area with schools and small shops and businesses, but very few industrial work sites. Most of the working population either goes out daily to work on farms in the area or they work in town. Reitz has an industrial area, most notably the steel and farming equipment construction company, Van Zyl's Staalwerke. Reitz is also home to the headquarters of the co-op group, VKB. The VKB Group is a modern, dynamic agricultural enterprise that has, since its establishment in 1919, continuously focused on accomplishing solutions for the changing and diverse needs of agricultural producers and related stakeholders. It addresses the basic needs for agricultural inputs, mechanization, handling and marketing of grain, financing and insurance. Another company that employs a lot of local workers is Grain Field Chickens. A subsidiary of VKB Argiculture (Pty) Ltd, Grain Field is a technologically advanced abattoir, currently slaughting between 800 000 to 850 000 chickens per week.

Agriculture

VKB's grain silos at the hamlet of Daniëlsrus, some 25 km south of Reitz The town has one of the largest maize silos in the southern hemisphere and is a major maize growing community.

History and name

Founded in 1889, the town was previously known as Singer's Post, its name was changed to Amsterdam, and again to its current name Reitz after the

Orange Free State The Orange Free State ( nl, Oranje Vrijstaat; af, Oranje-Vrystaat;) was an independent Boer sovereign republic under British suzerainty in Southern Africa during the second half of the 19th century, which ceased to exist after it was defeat ...

president,

Francis William Reitz Francis William Reitz, Jr. (Swellendam, 5 October 1844 – Cape Town, 27 March 1934) was a South African lawyer, politician, statesman, publicist, and poet who was a member of parliament of the Cape Colony, Chief Justice and fifth State Presid ...

Location

Reitz is located in the north-eastern part of the Free State province, north-east of

Bloemfontein Bloemfontein, ( ; , "fountain of flowers") also known as Bloem, is one of South Africa's three capital cities and the capital of the Free State province. It serves as the country's judicial capital, along with legislative capital Cape To ...

and south of

Johannesburg Johannesburg ( , , ; Zulu and xh, eGoli ), colloquially known as Jozi, Joburg, or "The City of Gold", is the largest city in South Africa, classified as a megacity, and is one of the 100 largest urban areas in the world. According to Dem ...

. It lies roughly halfway between the towns of

Bethlehem Bethlehem (; ar, بيت لحم ; he, בֵּית לֶחֶם '' '') is a city in the central West Bank, Palestine, about south of Jerusalem. Its population is approximately 25,000,Amara, 1999p. 18.Brynen, 2000p. 202. and it is the capital o ...

and Frankfort, at an elevation of .

Nearby towns

The nearest settlements or towns and their respective distances are listed here:http://pagenation.com/world/Reitz%20(Free%20State)_28.43_-27.79.map
/ref> * Daniëlsrus – 25 km *

– 49.9 km * Frankfort – 58.2 km *

Heilbron Heilbron is a small farming town in the Free State province of South Africa which services the cattle, dairy, sorghum, sunflower and maize industries. Raw stock beneficiation occurs in leisure foods, dairy products and stock feeds. It also se ...

– 75.5 km * Villiers – 87.5 km *

Vrede Vrede is a town in the Free State province of South Africa that is the agricultural hub of a 100 km² region. Maize, wheat, mutton, wool, beef, dairy products and poultry are farmed in the region. History In 1863 one J. H. Krynauw bought ...

– 90.3 km

References

Helpful links

https://web.archive.org/web/20090206235601/http://www.routes.co.za/fs/reitz/index.html
{{Authority control Populated places in the Nketoana Local Municipality Populated places established in 1889