Ladybrand is a small agricultural town in the Free State province of

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the Southern Africa, southernmost country in Africa. Its Provinces of South Africa, nine provinces are bounded to the south by of coastline that stretches along the Atlantic O ...

, situated 18 km from

Maseru Maseru is the capital and largest city of Lesotho. It is also the capital of the Maseru District. Located on the Caledon River, Maseru lies directly on the Lesotho–South Africa border. Maseru had a population of 330,760 in the 2016 census. T ...

, the capital of

Lesotho Lesotho, formally the Kingdom of Lesotho and formerly known as Basutoland, is a landlocked country in Southern Africa. Entirely surrounded by South Africa, it is the largest of only three sovereign enclave and exclave, enclaves in the world, t ...

. Ladybrand is one of five towns that forms the Mantsopa Local Municipality. Founded in 1867 following the

Basotho The Sotho (), also known as the Basotho (), are a Sotho-Tswana ethnic group indigenous to Southern Africa. They primarily inhabit the regions of Lesotho, South Africa, Botswana and Namibia. The ancestors of the Sotho people are believed to h ...

Wars, it was named after Lady (Catharina) Brand, the wife of the president of the

Orange Free State The Orange Free State ( ; ) was an independent Boer-ruled sovereign republic under British suzerainty in Southern Africa during the second half of the 19th century, which ceased to exist after it was defeated and surrendered to the British Em ...

Johannes Brand Sir Johannes Henricus Brand, (popularly known as Sir Jan Brand and sometimes as Sir John Henry Brand or Jan Henrick Brand; 6 December 1823 – 14 July 1888) was a lawyer and politician who served as the fourth President (government title), ...

. The settlement of Ladybrand was created by Voortrekkers to give them control over the territories conquered and captured after the above-mentioned Basotho war. In 1900, during the

Second Anglo-Boer War The Second Boer War (, , 11 October 189931 May 1902), also known as the Boer War, Transvaal War, Anglo–Boer War, or South African War, was a conflict fought between the British Empire and the two Boer republics (the South African Republic an ...

, Ladybrand came under the control of the British.

Notable residents

Kobie Coetsee Hendrik Jacobus Coetsee (19 April 1931 – 29 July 2000), known as Kobie Coetsee, was a South African lawyer, National Party politician and administrator as well as a negotiator during the country's transition to universal democracy. Biograp ...

- lawyer, National Party politician and administrator as well as a negotiator during the country's transition to democracy. *

Nico Diederichs Nicolaas Johannes "Nico" Diederichs, (17 November 1903 – 21 August 1978) served as the third state president of South Africa from 1975 to 1978. Education and career After completing school, he attended Grey University College between 1921 ...

State President of South Africa The State President of the Republic of South Africa () was the head of state of South Africa from 1961 to 1994. The office was established when the country 1960 South African republic referendum, became a republic on 31 May 1961, outside the ...

from 1975 to 1978. * Lehlohonolo Majoro - Cape Town City FC striker 1986–present * Wagga Wagga Likoebe - Kaizer Chiefs winger 1977-82 * Pule Lechesa - poet, literary critic, essayist * Lefa Tsutsulupa - Morokwa Swallows midfielder 1975-2013 * Jurie van Vuuren (born 1993) - rugby union player for the Tel Aviv Heat

References

External links

* Populated places in the Mantsopa Local Municipality Populated places founded by Afrikaners Populated places established in 1868 1868 establishments in the Orange Free State {{FreeState-geo-stub