Polokwane, formerly known as Pietersburg, is the capital city of the Limpopo Province of South Africa. The city lies along the N1 National Route and is South Africa’s largest metropolitan complex in the Great North and its commercial and industrial center. It was one of the nine host cities of the 2010 FIFA World Cup.
Polokwane is part of the Polokwane Local Municipality within the Capricorn District Municipality of Limpopo Province.
Polokwane lies on 23º 54′ south latitude and 29º 28′ east latitude, 50 km south of the Capricorn region and 360 km from the nearest coast. The city is 1,774 km from Cape Town and 343 km from Johannesburg if you take the N1 highway to the North and more or less half way between Pretoria (Tshwane) and the Zimbabwean border.
In the 1840’s, Voortrekkers under the leadership of Andries Potgieter founded a town named Zoutpansbergdorp 100 km north-west of present-day Polokwane. The town which was later named Schoemansdal, was thrown of gaurd with strong opposition from the local Nguni tribes. They were harnessed with health problems and eventually the Voortrekkers were forced to abandon the town. The new town was named Pietersburg in honour of the Voortrekker leader Petrus Joubert. It was proclaimed in 1886.
Polokwane has thus enjoyed over a century of history and abundance and has grown promptly given its adjacency to Gauteng and the rich agricultural distict surrounding it. The town of Pietersburg earned city status on 23 April 1992 and was renamed Polokwane, meaning ‘Place of Safety’ in 2002.
Polokwane can boast with it’s fine weather, excellent accommodation and a busy, friendly population, making it the ideal business or holiday destination in the heart of the Limpopo Province in South Africa.
The City of Polokwane is home to the following townships and suburbs; Annadale, Bendor Park, Flora Park, Polokwane Ext 44 (Greenside), and Westenburg.