Pretoria City Guide

Pretoria City is located in the northern part of Gauteng Province, South Africa and is one of the country’s three capital cities, serving as the executive (administrative) and official de facto capital; the others being Cape Town, the legislative capital, and Bloemfontein, the judicial capital. Pretoria is contained in the City of Tshwane Metropolitan Municipality as one of several constituent former administrations (among which also Centurion and Soshanguve), and therefore sometimes incorrectly referred to as Tshwane — this contentious issue is still being decided.

History of Pretoria
Ngoni-speaking settlers, who later became known as the Ndebele were probably the first people to recognize the suitability of the river valley which was to become the location of the future city of Pretoria for settlement. During the difaqane in Natal, another band of refugees arrived in this area under the leadership of Mzilikazi. However, they were forced to abandon their villages in their flight from a regiment of Zulu raiders in 1832. Pretoria itself was founded in 1855 by Marthinus Pretorius, a leader of the Voortrekkers, who named it after his father Andries Pretorius. The elder Pretorius had become a national hero of the Voortrekkers after his victory over the Zulus in the infamous Battle of Blood River. Andries Pretorius also negotiated the Sand River Convention (1852), in which Britain acknowledged the independence of the Transvaal. It became the capital of the South African Republic (ZAR) on 1 May 1860. The founding of Pretoria as the capital of the South African Republic can be seen as marking the end of the Boers’ settlement movements of the Great Trek. During the First Boer War, the city was besieged by Republican forces in December 1880 and March 1881. The peace treaty which ended the war was signed in Pretoria on 3 August 1881 at the Pretoria Convention. When South Africa became a republic in 1961, Pretoria remained its administrative capital. After the creation of new municipal structures across South Africa in 2000, the name Tshwane was adopted for the Metropolitan Municipality that includes Pretoria and surrounding towns. Pretoria previously had a rather sinister image as “the capital of Apartheid South Africa”. However, Pretoria’s political reputation was changed with the inauguration of Nelson Mandela as the country’s first black President at the Union Buildings in the same city. In 1994 after the fall of the Apartheid regime Peter Holmes Maluleka was elected to be the transitional mayor of Pretoria, until the first democratic election held later that year, making him the first black mayor of the capital of South Africa.

Pretoria Attractions
Although Pretoria has a strong Afrikaner flavour, English is used widely here. You can also hear a combination of languages spoken on the streets – anything from south Sotho to Mandarin. The Union Buildings, the Voortrekker Monument, the University of South Africa and the State Theatre are all architectural attractions that give Pretoria its character. So does Loftus Versfeld, one of the most famous sports stadiums in South Africa.
Worth a view are the Pretoria Zoo and the Tswaing crater in the Tswaing Nature Reserve, where a meteor slammed into the earth. The National Zoological Gardens – known to the locals simply as “the zoo” – is a fetching stretch of greenery located right in the heart of the city, on the banks of the Apies River.
The Transvaal Museum in Paul Kruger Street tells of the area’s natural history. The Rietvlei Nature Reserve and Rietvlei Dam are home to small antelope, lovely trees and scenic picnic spots. The Wonderboom Nature Reserve borders the Magaliesburg area and is rich in historical artifacts. The National Cultural History Museum is also rich in expressions of rock art, Ndebele murals and various historic gold and silver artifacts.

Pretoria Hotels
Pretoria hotels caters for all tastes from budget to 5-star hotels, resorts and inns, boutique cottages and luxurious guesthouses to self-catering apartments.
Pretoria hotels feature luxury facilities and services a traveller would expect of an hotel. These Pretoria Hotels and Lodges offer en-suite rooms and public areas, including a guest lounge and dining area where breakfast and dinner are available. Pretoria’s hotels include Moindis Guesthouse, Hotel 224, The Woodpecker Inn, Pretoria Hotel, Pretoria Hof Hotel, Coral Tree Inn, Lombardy Estate Boutique Hotel, Roy’s Lodge & Safaris, Isiphiwo Guest Lodge, Casa Toscana Lodge, DéJà-Vu Pretoria, La Maison Guesthouse, Cascades Guest House, Edelweiss Estate and Avalon Guest House.