Louis Trichardt, formerly known as Makhado, is a town situated along the N1 National Route in the Limpopo Province of South Africa.
The town is at the foot of Hanglip, in the Soutpansberg mountain, and is the centre of the Makhado Local Municipality with the Vhembe District Municipality.
Louis Trichardt is located about 437 km from Johannesburg and one hour’s drive from the Zimbabwean border at Beitbridge.
Louis Trichardt is located in a fertile region where litchis, bananas, mangoes and nuts are produced.
The town was known for a time as Makhado, but it was changed back to Louis Trichardt. Elim, Tshikota and Madombidzha townships surround the town in all directions.
Louis Trichardt’s most spoken languages are are Tshivenda, Xitsonga, Afrikaans and English.
History
Like many other towns in South Africa, Louis Trichardt had its origins in Voortrekker settlement of the area. Two groups of Trekkers reached the Soutpansberg mountain range in 1836, one under the leadership of Louis Tregardt (born near Oudtshoorn, South Africa, 10 August 1783 and another under Lang Hans van Rensburg. Van Rensburg decided to lead his group to Sofala (near current Beira), Mozambique, but his entire party was killed en route.
Trigardt and his group stayed near the mountain, camping near what eventually became the town of Louis Trichardt. They planted crops and started exploring the area northwards in an attempt to locate Van Rensburg and his group. After spending a year in the area, they decided to head for the fort at Delagoa Bay, a journey that took them 7 months to complete, during which more than half the group perished (including Tregardt himself).
Other trekkers soon settled nearby, at Schoemansdal, clashing with the Venda people who dwelt there. The town of Trichardtsdorp was finally founded in February 1899. The Trekkers settled on the northern part of what would later become a town while the Venda people resided at the southern part, about 800 meters apart. When the Trekkers decided to build a town they moved the Venda people and opened business premises in the exact area. Several streets were named for Boer leaders. It has been noted, that these often commemorate those who were freemasons, like Piet Retief, as freemasonry had a strong presence in the early town and its vicinity.
The Venda people moved in different directions but most were moved to the dry lands, west of the town, that would later become known as Madombidzha, and they later expanded their settlements further west along the mountain. Their area would grow over the years and was shared amongst two chiefs. The area is well known as Ha-Sinthumule/Kutama or simply Dzanani 2. Amongst the youth the name “Western” is fairly popular, which emphasizes that the area constitutes the western limit of the Venda tribe.