Mabopane is a residential suburb in

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 count ...

. It is situated in the Tshwane Metropolitan Municipality, to the north of

Pretoria Pretoria () is South Africa's administrative capital, serving as the seat of the executive branch of government, and as the host to all foreign embassies to South Africa. Pretoria straddles the Apies River and extends eastward into the foot ...

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 ...

History

Proclamation

Mabopane was proclaimed in 1959 as a black-only residential settlement by the then Transvaal administration. Before its proclamation, the area was under the administration of Transvaal government little more than grazing lands with small communities in Boekenhoutfontein (which later became Block A), Winterveld and Hebron. The initial residents of Boekenhoutfontein were victims of forced removals from Wallmansthal, Lady Selborne, Boekenhoutkloof and other farm areas around Pretoria. With the financing coming from the South African government the first blockhouses were constructed similarly to those found in Soweto, beginning with Block A which had two-roomed houses, Block B, Block C, Block D and Block E. The areas within Mabopane were planned according to the class of its citizens; for example Block D ( with many mansions which housed the politically connected) in comparison to Block E (blockhouses).

Bophuthatswana

Mabopane was incorporated into the bantustan of

Bophuthatswana Bophuthatswana (, meaning "gathering of the Tswana people"), officially the Republic of Bophuthatswana ( tn, Riphaboliki ya Bophuthatswana; af, Republiek van Bophuthatswana), was a Bantustan (also known as "Homeland"; an area set aside for me ...

from 1977 to 1994. Parts of Mabopane, Blocks F, G and H became Soshanguve to house the Non-Tswana residents of Mabopane during the Bantustan rule. Many institutions and projects were undertaken under the Presidency of

Lucas Mangope Kgosi Lucas Manyane Mangope (27 December 1923 – 18 January 2018) was the leader of the Bantustan (homeland) of Bophuthatswana. The territory he ruled over was distributed between the Orange Free State – what is now Free State (province), Free ...

of Bo