Bothaville is a maize farming town situated near the Vaal River in the Lejweleputswa DM of the Free State province, South Africa. It is situated 6km east of the Vaal, on the bank of its Vals River tributary. Bothaville and the adjacent Kgotsong township have a total of approximately 80,000 residents.[1]
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A 'church town', Botharnia, was established in 1891 on a portion of Gladdedrift farm, by Voortrekker JP van Wyk who left Pretoria after religious persecution. The town was renamed Bothaville in 1893, after Theunis Louis Botha, the original owner of the farm.[2]
The Battle of Doornkraal took place some distance south of town on 6 November 1900. Doornkraal Monument is a granite memorial built in honour of Boers who died here in the surprise attack by British soldiers. Some of the Boer soldiers were buried in a communal grave.
The town received municipality status in 1914. It was recently amalgamated into the Nala Municipality, along with Wesselsbron and a part of the Vetvaal rural council.[3]
Bothaville is in the Maize Triangle, thus surrounded by vast maizelands, some irrigated from the Vals and Vaal rivers. Other agricultural activities are sheep, sunflower, wheat and ground-nuts.
The NAMPO agricultural trade show, known as Nampo Harvest Day or Nampo Oesdag, has been held annually at Bothaville since 1974. Described as one of the largest in the world, it attracted some 60,000 visitors in recent years. It is held in the middle week of May at Nampo Park just north of town. The show, organised by Grain South Africa (GSA), features a large variety of agricultural machinery and livestock.[4]