Centurion, Gauteng
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Centurion is a town in Gauteng Province, South Africa, located between Pretoria and Midrand (Johannesburg), and part of the City of Tshwane Metropolitan Municipality. It is located at the intersection of the N1 and N14 highways. The R21 also passes through Centurion.
The Waterkloof Air Force Base, as well as the Swartkops Air Force Base (which includes the South African Air Force Museum) are located in the town.
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[edit] History
[edit] Pre-Historic
Fossils discovered at the Sterkfontein Caves show that homonids lived in the vicinity of Centurion between 2 to 3 million years ago. The Sterkfontein Caves, a World Heritage Site, is less than 50 km from Centurion, near the town of Krugersdorp.
However, the earliest evidence of modern human habitation in the Centurion area does not go this far back. It dates back to 1200 AD when black African communities settled in this area. They cultivated lands, grazed their cattle, made earthenware containers and smelted iron.
[edit] 19th Century
From 1825 to 1826 the Matabele peoples defeated the Bakwena tribe and settled along the banks of the Magalies River under the leadership of Mzilikazi.
In 1841 the Erasmus family arrived and settled in the area that would later become Centurion. Daniel Jacobus Erasmus settled on the farm Zwartkop, Daniel Elardus Erasmus on the farm Doornkloof and Rasmus Elardus Erasmus developed the farm Brakfontein. Several of the suburbs like Erasmia, Elardus Park, Zwartkop and Doornkloof were named after these 19th century owners of the land and their properties.
In 1849 Rev Andrew Murray visited the farm Doornkloof and christened 129 babies, heard the confession of their faith of 29 new members of the Reformed Church and the next day, 29 December 1849, celebrated communion.
In 1889 Alois Hugo Nelmapius bought the northern and north-eastern portions of the farm Doorkloof and named it after his daughter Irene (who died 1961).
[edit] First Anglo-Boer War
As part of the First Boer War, the battle for Rooihuiskraal (Afrikaans for "Red House Kraal") took place in 1881 here. A Boer commando under the leadership of D.J. Erasmus Jr defeated Colonel Gildea, or "The Blasted Colonel" as they called him, the British Officer Commanding of the Pretoria Garrison. After the cornered British garrison tried to escape to Natal to join General George Pomeroy Colley, the Boers entrenched themselves behind a stone wall surrounding the animal stockade, and wounded the colonel in the backside, who was standing upright in his stirrups. This was no doubt a serious blow to British morale!
[edit] Second Anglo-Boer War
During the Second Boer War the Irene Concentration Camp was established in 1901 on the farm Doornkloof, as part of the British scorched earth policy, where Boer women and children were housed under extremely poor conditions. By the end of the war in 1902, roughly 2000 of the 4500 inhabitants were dead. The Irene Camp Cemetery can be found on this site today.
[edit] 20th Century
The town of Irene was established in 1902 when 337 plots were laid out on the farm Doornkloof. Jan Smuts later owned this farm, and died there in 1950. The Smuts House is a museum today, and regularly hosts open air fleamarkets on its grounds.
Centurion developed from the initial Lyttelton Township that was marked out on the farm Droogegrond in 1904. Lyttelton Manor Extension 1 was established in 1942. These two townships initially resorted under the Peri Urban Board in Pretoria.
Centurion was granted City Council status in 1962 as Lyttelton. It was formed by combining the areas of Doornkloof, Irene and Lyttelton.
In 2000, the Centurion local government became part of the newly-created City of Tshwane Metropolitan Municipality, which also includes Pretoria, and the town ceased to have its own Town Council.
[edit] Name Change
Lyttelton was renamed Verwoerdburg in 1967, after Hendrik Verwoerd, the socalled "architect of apartheid".
The politically neutral name Centurion has no significance, and was presumably chosen by residents in 1995 to match the name of the Centurion Park (now called SuperSport Park) cricket ground, located in the area after the end of apartheid. Following the end of Apartheid, the Indian township of Laudium and surrounding suburbs including Erasmia and Claudius, which were formerly a part of Pretoria, were made part of Centurion. A black township, called Olievenhoutbosch was created in Centurion at around the same time.
[edit] Rapid Growth
Centurion has come a long way from being a sleepy southern suburb of Pretoria, with smallholdings and large open spaces. Having experienced stupendous growth since 1994, like the rest of urban South Africa, many businesses have relocated there, and property development is boosting the ever expanding city limits. This development has meant there is now little break between the outskirts of Pretoria to the north, and Midrand and Johannesburg to the south. The Gauteng Provincial Government envisages that, according to current growth trends, much of the Gauteng province will be city by 2015.
[edit] Infrastructure
Today Centurion features modern shopping malls (Centurion Mall), several entertainment spots, a theatre, golf courses and a driving range. The Unitas hospital is the largest private hospital on the African continent (including helipad) and is part of the Netcare group. Technology companies like DENEL, Siemens, SAAB Grintek Technologies, Telkom and others are located here.
[edit] Climate
Centurion is located on the Highveld like Johannesburg and Pretoria and has a similar climate, with dry, sunny winters (max daytime temperature around 20ºC dropping to a crisp average minimum of 5ºC) , and warm to hot summers (October - April) tempered by late-afternoon showers often accompanied by spectacular thunder and lightning. Hailstorms are not uncommon either. Summer temperatures range from the mid 20's to the mid 30's (º Celsius). Centurion's weather tends to follow the slighly warmer Pretoria, when compared to that of Johannesburg.
The Hennops River flows through the heart of Centurion, and causes occasional flooding when heavy rainfall has occurred.
Suburbs of Centurion include Lyttelton, Clubview, Irene, Raslouw, Sunderland Ridge and Rooihuiskraal.
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