My Free State My Pride
The Bloemfontein Children’s Choir celebrated its 25th anniversary during September 2012 and comprises of between 60 and 70 children from eight to 17 years of age.The choir has a national and international reputation and has broadcast on radio and television locally and abroad on various occasions. It has also worked with and performed under the baton of international conductors. It has participated in various international festivals, including in a unique International Children’s Choir Festival for Friendship, along with choirs from other war-torn countries – such as Ireland, Israel and Russia –in Stockholm in June 1997 and also at the “Day of the African Child”.
The choir has toured abroad several times and won many prestigious international awards. In April 2004 the choir represented South Africa at the international choir festival America Cantat IV in Mexico City. During a concert tour in September 2004 the choir visited, and performed with, various acclaimed international choirs such as The Male Choir of St. Petersburg, Adolf Fredrik’s Girls’ Choir (Sweden), Nidaros Cathedral Boys’ Choir (Trondheim, Norway), Tapiola Children’s Choir (Finland), and the Estonian Television Girls’ Choir (Tallinn). In 2008, the Bloemfontein Children’s Choir was invited as one of four children’s choirs in the world to participate in the UNESCO program for music and peace, Song Bridge Waykayama 2008.
Bloemfontein is the capital, and home to South Africa’s Supreme Court of Appeal, the University of the Free State, and the Central University of Technology. Important towns include Welkom, the heart of the Goldfields and one of the few completely preplanned cities in the world; Odendaalsrus, another gold-mining town; Sasolburg, which gets its name from the petrochemical company Sasol; Kroonstad, an important agricultural, administrative and educational centre; Parys, on the banks of the Vaal River; Phuthaditjhaba, a vast and sprawling settlement known for its beautiful handcrafted items; and Bethlehem, gateway to the Eastern Highlands of the Free State.
The Department of Economic Development, Tourism & Environmental Affairs and the Free State Development Corporation concluded a Memorandum of Understanding with Transnet to establish intermodal freight facilities that will result in a reduction in road transportation and carbon footprint. The Bloemfontein facility will be responsible for bringing the manganese cargo from PMG Mining in the Northern Cape, load it into containers and transport it to the Durban port by rail from where it is then shipped to China and processed into hardened steel.
The project involves an investment of R220m and is expected to create 400 direct job opportunities – and a further 300 to 500 indirect jobs opportunities in various support industries feeding the project. Transnet has estimated that transportation costs to the industry will be reduced by 20% if rail is utilised. The number of road trucks transporting manganese from the Northern Cape, through the Free State, to the ports will also be reduced by 58823 trips annually.
A summer-rainfall region, the Free State can be extremely cold during the winter months, especially towards the eastern mountainous regions. The western and southern areas are semi-desert. A beautiful range of hills near Parys in the northern Free State is actually part of the Vredefort Dome, the largest visible meteor-impact site in the world. Formed two billion years ago when a meteorite 10 kilometres wide slammed into the earth, the Vredefort Dome is one of South Africa’s seven Unesco World Heritage sites.
In the northeastern Free State, nestled in the rolling foothills of the Maluti mountains, the Golden Gate Highlands National Park is the province’s prime tourist attraction. The park gets its name from the brilliant shades of gold cast by the sun on the spectacular sandstone cliffs, especially the imposing Brandwag or Sentinel Rock, which keeps vigil over the park.
The sandstone of this region has been used for the lovely dressed-stone buildings found on the Eastern Highlands, while decoratively painted Sotho houses dot the grasslands. Some of South Africa’s most valued San (Bushman) rock art is found in the Free State, particularly in the regions around Bethlehem, Ficksburg, Ladybrand and Wepener. South Africa’s national road, the artery between Gauteng and the Western and Eastern Cape, cuts through the centre of the Free State. Before democracy in 1994, the province was known as the Orange Free State. An independent Boer republic in the 19th century, it became a province under the Union of South Africa in 1910.
The Free State Sport Science Institute specializes in a number of disciplines such as sport science, injury rehabilitation, sport nutrition & exercise synchronization, biomechanics & sport psychology. The disciplines are extremely dynamic and the FSSSI has highly sophisticated equipment that plays a vital role in assisting athletes and preparing them effectively for competition and thereby ultimately increasing their chances of success. The staff at FSSSI uses an integrated approach that allows a comprehensive support service that is tailored to suit the individual performance goals and specific needs of each athlete. These services, programs and facilities of the FSSSI are specifically developed towards helping athletes, coaches and sport managers to realize their true potential through an affordable and accessible high performance service delivery system.
The Mangaung String Programme is a string music development programme initiated by the Free State Musicon in July 1997 under the directorship of the well renowned musician, Peter Guy. The programme targets children from historically disadvantaged backgrounds from the greater Bloemfontein area, predominantly Mangaung but has recently been expanded to other parts of the Province.
In 2009 the Belgian String Orchestra, Violet organised a nationwide fundraising initiative, called the ‘Buskers for Bochabela’ with the support of radio channel Klara, Jeugd en MuziekVlaanderen and the Music Academies of Flanders. During the fundraising, a group of 18 musicians from the Programme also went to Belgium. They played concerts all over Flanders together with the Violet orchestra. A successful return tour was organized in 2010 to Austria and Belgium. The Programme recently featured in the September issue of the international music magazine The Strad as well as being written up in a United Nations Journal of Music and Society.
The Vredefort Dome is the world’s largest and oldest known meteorite impact site and is a UNESCO World Heritage Site whilst the Memel wetland area has been declared a Wetland of International Importance (RAMSAR).
The Sand du Plessis Theatre Complex is without doubt the most versatile entertainment and event venue in the Free State. It comprises of both the Sand du Plessis Auditorium as well as the smaller Andre Huguenet Theatre. The auditorium of the Sand du Plessis Theatre is unique in South African theatre architectural design. Provided with continental seating (no centre aisle), and separate entrances for various rows, the auditorium has no distinct balcony but is divided into four staggered seating areas, each giving its occupants a sense of intimate surroundings, while together (viewed from the stage) giving the impression of space and majesty. The auditorium has 964 seats.
The SA Doping Control Laboratory (SADoCoL), located at the University of the Free State, is the only one of its kind in South Africa, and one of only two in Africa.
Sasol’s enterprise development vehicle, Sasol ChemCity, together with the executive mayor of the Metsimaholo municipality and other key role-players, launched Phase One of their Eco Industrial Park in Sasolburg during October 2011. Situated in the industrial hub of the Free State, the site will provide a reliable supply of utilities, support services and infrastructure, to ensure an environment that is conducive to successful production, logistics and marketing. Sasol ChemCity has aligned and integrated with the Metsimaholo and FezileDabi Municipalities’ Integrated Development Plans which aim to stimulate the local economy through sustainable job creation opportunities and attracting investment into the area. The multi million rand site will ensure the occupants receive the benefits of a conventional industrial park with an additional benefit of being environmentally friendly.
One of the primary attributes, which sets the park apart, is its ability to minimize its carbon footprint with a long-term strategy to implement carbon reduction projects. Mechanisms are in place for entrepreneurs to utilize alternate building technologies, solar geysers, solar panels and other eco- friendly tools. By bringing revolutionary thinking to the conventional buzz around industrial parks, the project hopes to promote a green building philosophy in other regions, in time to come.
Tandjiesberg is one of South Africa’s 12 Rock Art National Monuments. This is a small, spectacular shelter with over 500 Bushman rock paintings. See bees, birds, cattle, exotic elephant, a frenetic medicine dance, animated human figures, rain-animals and the enigmatic ‘weird white’ tradition. Archaeological excavations establish that Bushmen lived here for at least 1 000 years. Located between Ladybrand and Clocolan, it is an important pilgrimage site among the impressive ‘teeth’ of sandstone.
The Free State University and the Central University of Technology are the two tertiary academic centres of excellence in the Free State Province.
Investigating In the Free State
Mining is the province’s major employer. A gold reef over 400 kilometres long, known as the Goldfields region, stretches across Gauteng and the Free State. South Africa is the world’s largest gold producer, and the country’s largest gold-mining complex is Free State Consolidated Goldfields, with an area of 330 square kilometres. The province has 12 gold mines, producing 30% of South Africa’s output and making it the fifth-largest producer of gold slot gacor in the world. The Harmony Gold Refinery and Rand Refinery are the only two gold refineries in South Africa.
Gold mines in the Free State also supply a substantial portion of the total silver produced in the country, while considerable concentrations of uranium occurring in the gold-bearing conglomerates of the Goldfields are extracted as a byproduct. Bituminous coal is mined and converted to petrochemicals at Sasolburg. The Free State also produces high-quality diamonds from its kimberlite pipes and fissures, and the country’s largest deposit of bentonite is found in the Koppies district.
Bloemfontein is the capital, and home to South Africa’s Supreme Court of Appeal, the University of the Free State, and the Central University of Technology. Important towns include Welkom, the heart of the Goldfields and one of the few completely preplanned cities in the world; Odendaalsrus, another gold-mining town; Sasolburg, which gets its name from the petrochemical company Sasol; Kroonstad, an important agricultural, administrative and educational centre; Parys, on the banks of the Vaal River; Phuthaditjhaba, a vast and sprawling settlement known for its beautiful handcrafted items; and Bethlehem, gateway to the Eastern Highlands of the Free State.
Lucrative opportunities for the export of jewellery exist in markets such as the US, Canada, Norway and Switzerland, which have provided preferential access to South African jewellery manufacturers. The Free State Goldfields region is seen as a cluster area for gold jewellery. Harmony Gold, through direct supplies of gold to mass producers, creates a large opportunity and favourable disposition for the prospective investor.
The challenge facing this industry is to promote and develop an internationally known indigenous jewellery industry and brand, to move away from unmounted diamond exports towards higher value-added jewellery products. Scope exists for the manufacturing of upmarket rings, earrings, necklaces, bracelets, anklets and brooches made from gold, silver, and precious and semi-precious stones. The focus should be on high quality products with unique designs
A summer-rainfall region, the Free State can be extremely cold during the winter months, especially towards the eastern mountainous regions. The western and southern areas are semi-desert. A beautiful range of hills near Parys in the northern Free State is actually part of the Vredefort Dome, the largest visible meteor-impact site in the world. Formed two billion years ago when a meteorite 10 kilometres wide slammed into the earth, the Vredefort Dome is one of South Africa’s seven Unesco World Heritage sites.
In the northeastern Free State, nestled in the rolling foothills of the Maluti mountains, the Golden Gate Highlands National Park is the province’s prime tourist attraction. The park gets its name from the brilliant shades of gold cast by the sun on the spectacular sandstone cliffs, especially the imposing Brandwag or Sentinel Rock, which keeps vigil over the park.
The sandstone of this region has been used for the lovely dressed-stone buildings found on the Eastern Highlands, while decoratively painted Sotho houses dot the grasslands. Some of South Africa’s most valued San (Bushman) rock art is found in the Free State, particularly in the regions around Bethlehem, Ficksburg, Ladybrand and Wepener. South Africa’s national road, the artery between Gauteng and the Western and Eastern Cape, cuts through the centre of the Free State. Before democracy in 1994, the province was known as the Orange Free State. An independent Boer republic in the 19th century, it became a province under the Union of South Africa in 1910.
Since 1989, the Free State economy has moved from dependence on primary sectors such as mining and agriculture to an economy increasingly oriented towards manufacturing and export. Some 14% of the province’s manufacturing is classified konsultan interior as being in high-technology industries – the highest of all provincial economies. The northern Free State’s chemicals sector is one of the most important in the southern hemisphere.
Petrochemicals company Sasol, based in the town of Sasolburg, is a world leader in the production of fuels, waxes, chemicals and low-cost feedstock from coal. Sasol is the world leader in Fischer-Tropsch technology, a catalyzed chemical reaction in which carbon monoxide and hydrogen are converted into liquid hydrocarbons, producing a synthetic petroleum substitute for use as synthetic lubrication oil or as synthetic fuel.
Agriculture dominates the Free State landscape, with cultivated land covering 32 000 square kilometres, and natural veld and grazing a further 87 000 square kilometres of the province. It is also South Africa’s leader in the production of biofuels, or fuel from agricultural crops, with a number of ethanol plants under construction in the grain-producing western region. Field crops yield almost two-thirds of the gross agricultural income of the province. Animal products contribute a further 30%, with the balance generated by horticulture.
Ninety percent of the country’s cherry crop is produced in the Ficksburg district, which is also home to the country’s two largest asparagus canning factories. Soya, sorghum, sunflowers and wheat are cultivated in the eastern Free State, where farmers specialise in seed production. About 40% of the country’s potato yield comes from the province’s high-lying areas.
The Free State’s advantage in floriculture is the opposing seasons of the southern and northern hemispheres. The province exports about 1.2 million tons of cut flowers a year. Soil conditions in several areas of the Free State are ideal for floriculture. South Africa also has advantages in production technology, quality control and transport infrastructure.
The province contains a vast spread of industrial and commercial properties, ranging from unused mining facilities to massive industrial parks. These buildings are available at highly competitive rates. These include standard and custom-built factories, industrial incubators, shopping centres, small industrial parks, office blocks, and so on.