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 o ...

(or military area) in

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 ...

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 ...

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 Lord Kitchener may refer to: * Earl Kitchener, for the title * Herbert Kitchener, 1st Earl Kitchener Horatio Herbert Kitchener, 1st Earl Kitchener, (; 24 June 1850 – 5 June 1916) was a senior British Army officer and colonial administrator. ...

laid the cornerstone on 12 June 1902. Today the installation is home to: * the South African Army College, * the South African National Defence College under Rear-Admiral Laura Janse van Vuuren

, * the

National Ceremonial Guard The National Ceremonial Guard (NCG) is an honor guard battalion of the South African National Defence Force serving during ceremonies involving the President of South Africa, Deputy President of South Africa, Minister of Defence and Military Vetera ...

and Band, * the Military Police School, *

1 Military Hospital 1 (one, unit, unity) is a number representing a single or the only entity. 1 is also a numerical digit and represents a single unit of counting or measurement. For example, a line segment of ''unit length'' is a line segment of length 1. ...

, * Bagaka Regiment, * Ukhosi Parachute Engineer Regiment, * Madzhakandila Anti-Aircraft Regiment, * 1 Military Printing Regiment, * Tshwane Regiment (Motorised Infantry), * Steve Biko Artillery Regiment (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 the smallest semiprime and composite number, and is considered unlucky in many East Asian cultures. In mathematics Four is the smallest c ...

Names and history

Founded around 1905 by the

British Army The British Army is the principal land warfare force of the United Kingdom, a part of the British Armed Forces along with the Royal Navy and the Royal Air Force. , the British Army comprises 79,380 regular full-time personnel, 4,090 Gur ...

, and called Roberts Heights after

Field Marshal Field marshal (or field-marshal, abbreviated as FM) is the most senior military rank, ordinarily senior to the general officer ranks. Usually, it is the highest rank in an army and as such few persons are appointed to it. It is considered a ...

Lord Roberts. The area was subsequently renamed Voortrekkerhoogte ("

Voortrekker The Great Trek ( af, Die Groot Trek; nl, De Grote 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 beyon ...

Heights") in 1939 by the government of the

Union of South Africa The Union of South Africa ( nl, Unie van Zuid-Afrika; af, Unie van Suid-Afrika; ) was the historical predecessor to the present-day Republic of South Africa. It came into existence on 31 May 1910 with the unification of the Cape, Natal, Tran ...

, 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 a ...

, at a time of growing

Afrikaner nationalism Afrikaner nationalism ( af, Afrikanernasionalisme) is a nationalistic political ideology which created by Afrikaners residing in Southern Africa during the Victorian era. The ideology was developed in response to the significant events in Afri ...

. On 19 May 1998, following the end of

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

, it was renamed again, as Thaba Tshwane. Thaba Tshwane should not be confused with the much larger

City of Tshwane Metropolitan Municipality The City of Tshwane Metropolitan Municipality (also known as the City of Tshwane) () is the metropolitan municipality that forms the local government of northern Gauteng Province, South Africa. The Metropolitan area is centred on the city of Pr ...

, created in 2000, which includes Pretoria and the Thaba Tshwane military base.

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