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The Free State lies in the heart of South Africa,
with the Kingdom of Lesotho nestling in the
hollow of its bean-like shape. Between the Vaal
River in the north and the Orange River in the
south, this immense rolling prairie stretches
as far as the eye can see. The capital, Bloemfontein,
has a well-established institutional, educational
and administrative infrastructure, and houses
the Supreme Court of Appeal. The province has
a well-known university and many other training
institutions. Important towns include Welkom,
the heart of the gold-fields and one of the
few completely preplanned cities in the world;
Odendaalsrus, another gold-mining town; Sasolburg,
which owes its existence to the petrol-from-coal
installation established there; Kroonstad, an
important agricultural, administrative and educational
centre; Parys on the banks of the Vaal River;
Phuthaditjhaba, well known for the beautiful
handcrafted items produced by the local people;
and Bethlehem, gateway to the Eastern Highlands
of the Free State. The road network density
of the province is the third-highest in the
country. The national road, which is the artery
between Gauteng and the Western and Eastern
Cape, passes through the middle of the Free
State.
The Free State is the third-largest province
in South Africa, but it has the second-smallest
population and the second-lowest population
density. It houses some 2,8 million people on
about 129 480 km˛ of land. The main languages
spoken are Sesotho and Afrikaans. Some 16% of
people aged 20 years or older have received
no schooling. The official unemployment rate
according to Statistics South Africa is 23,3%.
Many of the towns display a mix of culture clearly
evident in street names, public buildings, monuments
and museums. Dressed sandstone buildings abound
on the Eastern Highlands, while beautifully
decorated Sotho houses dot the grasslands. Some
of South Africa's most valued San rock art is
found in the Free State. The districts of Bethlehem,
Ficksburg, Ladybrand and Wepener have remarkable
collections of this art form.
This summer-rainfall region can be extremely
cold during the winter months, especially towards
the eastern mountainous regions where temperatures
can drop as low as 9,5 ēC. The western and southern
areas are semidesert. Known as the granary of
the country, the Free State has cultivated land
covering 3,2 million ha, while natural veld
and grazing cover 8,7 million ha. Field crops
yield almost two-thirds of the gross agricultural
income of the province. Animal products contribute
a further 30%, with the balance coming from
horticulture. Ninety percent of the country's
cherry crop is produced in the Ficksburg district,
while the two largest asparagus canning factories
are also situated in this district. Soya, sorghum,
sunflowers and wheat are cultivated, especially
in the eastern Free State, where farmers specialise
in seed production. About 40% of the country's
potato yield comes from the high-lying areas
of the Free State.
The Free State contributes about 16,5% to South
Africa s total mineral output. The mining industry
is the biggest employer in the Free State and
is responsible for some 22,6% of GGP of the
province. Investment opportunities are substantial
in productivity-improvement areas for mining
and related products and services. South Africa
is the world's largest producer of gold. A more
than 400-km long gold reef, known as the Goldfields,
stretches across Gauteng and the Free State,
the largest goldmining complex being Free State
Consolidated Goldfields with a mining area of
32 918 ha. Some 82% of the region's mineral
production value is derived from this activity,
primarily in the Goldfields region, which comprises
the districts of Odendaalsrus, Virginia and
Welkom. Roughly 30% of South Africa's gold is
obtained from this region, and the province
qualifies for fifth position as a global producer.
The Harmony Gold Refinery situated in Virginia
is allowed to sell one-third of its total annual
gold production to jewellery manufacturers,
and has the facilities to ensure that the correct
quality is maintained at all times. 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 production of the
country, while considerable concentrations of
uranium occurring in the goldbearing conglomerates
of the gold-fields are extracted as a by-product.
Bituminous coal is mined in the province and
converted to petrochemicals at Sasolburg. Diamonds
from this region, extracted from kimberlite
pipes and fissures, are of a high quality. The
largest deposit of bentonite in the country
occurs in the Koppies district.
The Free State, best known for its maize production
has, in the last decade, reduced its dependency
on the primary sector, and has become a manufacturing
economy. Some 14% of the province's manufacturing
is classified as high-technology industries,
which is the highest percentage of all the provincial
economies. This growth in high-tech industries
is significant in the context of the changing
contribution of the gold-mining industry to
the GGP.
The province's three-tier development strategy
centres on competitiveness, empowerment, capacity-building
and beneficiation. Manufacturing is the second-largest
sector in the regional economy. Among the most
important activities are the chemical products
manufactured by Sasol and the further beneficiation
of agricultural products. A wide variety of
industries have developed around the production
of basic chemicals from coal. |
