Thaba Tshwane is a

military base A military base is a facility directly owned and operated by or for the military or one of its branches that shelters military equipment and personnel, and facilitates training and operations. A military base always provides accommodations for ...

(or military area) in

Pretoria Pretoria ( ; ) is the Capital of South Africa, administrative capital of South Africa, serving as the seat of the Executive (government), executive branch of government, and as the host to all foreign embassies to the country. Pretoria strad ...

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 ...

Units and facilities

The oldest building in the complex is the South African Garrison Institute, what is now known as the Army College. Lord Kitchener laid the cornerstone on 12 June 1902. Today the installation is home to: * the

South African Army College The South African Army College is a training unit of the South African Army. History Origin of military training in South Africa South African military training can be traced back to 1786 when the ''Militere Kweekskool'' was established by ...

, * the

South African National Defence College South is one of the cardinal directions or compass points. The direction is the opposite of north and is perpendicular to both west and east. Etymology The word ''south'' comes from Old English ''sūþ'', from earlier Proto-Germanic ''*sunþaz' ...

under Rear-Admiral Laura Janse van Vuuren

, * the National Ceremonial Guard and Band, * the

Military Police School A military, also known collectively as armed forces, is a heavily armed, highly organized force primarily intended for warfare. Militaries are typically authorized and maintained by a sovereign state, with their members identifiable by a di ...

, *

1 Military Hospital 1 (one, unit, unity) is a number, numeral, and glyph. It is the first and smallest positive integer of the infinite sequence of natural numbers. This fundamental property has led to its unique uses in other fields, ranging from science to sp ...

, * Bagaka Regiment, * Ukhosi Parachute Engineer Regiment, *

Madzhakandila Anti-Aircraft Regiment The Madzhakandila Anti-Aircraft Regiment (MAAR), formerly 44 Light Anti-Aircraft Regiment, is an air defence regiment of the South African Army The South African Army is the principal Army, land warfare force of South Africa, a part of t ...

, * 1 Military Printing Regiment, * Tshwane Regiment (Motorised Infantry), *

Steve Biko Artillery Regiment The Steve Biko Artillery Regiment (formerly 18 Light Regiment) is an airborne artillery regiment of the South African Artillery. First Call Up (Camp): 1978 Took place 13 November to 8 December 1978 at the Army Battle School at Lohatla. At the t ...

(Artillery Formation) and *

4 Survey and Map Regiment 4 (four) is a number, numeral and digit. It is the natural number following 3 and preceding 5. It is a square number, the smallest semiprime and composite number, and is considered unlucky in many East Asian cultures. Evolution of the Hi ...

. *Army Support Base Garrison

Names and history

Founded around 1905 by the

British Army The British Army is the principal Army, land warfare force of the United Kingdom. the British Army comprises 73,847 regular full-time personnel, 4,127 Brigade of Gurkhas, Gurkhas, 25,742 Army Reserve (United Kingdom), volunteer reserve perso ...

, and called Roberts Heights after

Field Marshal Field marshal (or field-marshal, abbreviated as FM) is the most senior military rank, senior to the general officer ranks. Usually, it is the highest rank in an army (in countries without the rank of Generalissimo), and as such, few persons a ...

Lord Roberts. The area was subsequently renamed Voortrekkerhoogte ("

Voortrekker The Great 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 beyond the Cape's British colonial adminis ...

Heights") in 1939 by the government of the

Union of South Africa The Union of South Africa (; , ) was the historical predecessor to the present-day South Africa, Republic of South Africa. It came into existence on 31 May 1910 with the unification of the British Cape Colony, Cape, Colony of Natal, Natal, Tra ...

, following the beginning of the building of the nearby

Voortrekker Monument The Voortrekker Monument is located just south of Pretoria in South Africa. The granite structure is located on a hilltop, and was raised to commemorate the Voortrekkers who left the Cape Colony between 1835 and 1854. It was designed by the ar ...

, at a time of growing

Afrikaner nationalism Afrikaner nationalism () is an Ethnic nationalism, ethnic nationalistic political ideology created by Afrikaners residing in Southern Africa during the Victorian era. The ideology was developed in response to the significant events in Afrikaner ...

. On 19 May 1998, following the end of

apartheid Apartheid ( , especially South African English: , ; , ) was a system of institutionalised racial segregation that existed in South Africa and South West Africa (now Namibia) from 1948 to the early 1990s. It was characterised by an ...

, it was renamed again, as Thaba Tshwane.

References

External links

The 1998 speech by South Africa's Minister of Defence on the renaming of Voortrekkerhoogte to Thaba TshwaneExperiences at Voortrekkerhoogte Military base in 1984

Thaba Tshwane Thaba Tshwane is a military base (or military area) in Pretoria, South Africa. Units and facilities The oldest building in the complex is the South African Garrison Institute, what is now known as the Army College. Lord Kitchener laid the corn ...

Military installations of South Africa {{SouthAfrica-mil-stub