Vereeniging

Vereeniging is situated in the southern part of Gauteng Province, and forms the southern portion of the Pretoria-Witwatersrand-Vereeninging (PWV) conurbation, and its neighbors are Vanderbijlpark (to the west), Three Rivers (east), Meyerton (north) and Sasolburg (south). The city is currently one of the most important industrial manufacturing centres in South Africa, with its chief products being iron, steel, pipes, bricks, tiles and processed lime.

The predominant language in Vereeniging is Afrikaans, followed closely by English and Sesotho.

The blockhouse in Vereeniging built by the British during the Second Boer War.

In 1879, George William Stow was commissioned by the Orange Free State government to look for coal deposits in the Bethlehem district[2]^:17 With no deposits found he moved northwards to Maccauvlei on the Vaal River and then crossed the river to the Transvaal side. On the farm Leeuwkuil, he found a coal deposits twelve feet thick.[2]^:17 But the Orange Free State government believed that it was too far away and there was a lack of transport so turned down the idea of mining.[2]^:17 Stow settled in Kimberley in order to find a job where he met Samuel Marks who realized after hearing the formers story, the opportunity for coal at the Kimberley diamond fields for energy generation.[2]^:17 Marks formed the De Zuid Afrikaanshe en Oranje Vrystaatsche Kolen and Mineralen Vereeniging (South African and Orange Free State Coal and Mineral Association) and sent Stow to purchase the farms where the coal was found.[2]^:17 On the 25 November 1880 he purchased the farm Leeuwkuil for £5,000 and 12,000 acres.[2]^:18 Marks' agent J.G. Fraser would purchase the farm Klipplaatdrift of 6,000 acres from Karl August Pretorius in October 1881 for £15,500. This was opposite the farm Maccauvlei.[2]^:18 From 1881, coal was taken by ox-wagon to Kimberley and by 1882 there was so much development that there was a need to survey a village on the two farms and the Volksraad agreed naming it after the company's shortened name Vereeniging.[2]^:18

The city's motto is Per Pacem ad Industriam (Through peace to industry). It is currently one of the most important industrial manufacturing centres in South Africa, with its chief products being iron, steel, pipes, bricks, tiles and processed lime. Several coal mines are also still situated in the area, with reserves being estimated at four billion tons. Other mines nearby extract fire-clay, silica and building stone. Vereeniging also has several Eskom thermal power plants that supply electricity to the nearby goldmines.

Vereeniging has been mentioned jokingly as the town in South Africa which has the most vehicle dealerships per square metre.

In the census of 2001 the population of Vereeniging was recorded as 73,283.[3]

Vereeniging consists of 29 suburbs, of which 7 forms part of Three Rivers:

Since 1999, Vereeniging has been part of the Emfuleni Local Municipality, along with Vanderbijlpark and the smaller Three Rivers.

Map of Three Rivers

Various health services are available in Vereeniging. The majority of these services are located in or near the major medical centres. These include:

• Vereeniging Medi-Clinic
• Midvaal Private Hospital
• Kopanong Hospital
• Sebokeng Hospital
• Nkanyezi Private Hospital
• Johan Heyns Hospital

• F.W. de Klerk was first elected to the South African parliament in 1969 as the member for Vereeniging.
• Bles Bridges, an Afrikaans country singer, stayed in Vereeniging until his death in 2000.
• Charl Schwartzel (the 2011 US Masters champion), Morné Morkel and Albie Morkel attended Vereeniging High.
• Actor, comedian, filmmaker, presenter and singer Leon Schuster was born in Vereeniging on May 21, 1951.
• Deon Dreyer, a cave diver who perished in Bushman's Hole in 1994, was raised in Vereeniging.
• Gerald Raymond Bosch, Born: 12 May 1949, Vereeniging. Played Fly-Half for The Springboks 1974 -1976

The latest crime statistics for Vereeniging Police Precinct was issued by the South African Police Service (SAPS) in September 2010. The SAPS crime report[4] showed the following information:

In December 2010 and January 2011 the southern part of Gauteng and Mpumulanga experienced a higher than normal rainfall. This resulted in the need to release more water from the nearby Vaal dam. As a consequence, parts of Vereeniging, Three Rivers and the rest of the towns downstream were flooded.

• 
  Flooding along Sugarbush Drive, Three Rivers Proper
• 
  Brandmuller Avenue in Three Rivers Proper

Vereeniging coat of arms (1955)

Vereeniging established a municipality in 1912. By 1931, the town council had assumed an emblem depicting bridge across a river, and two clasped hands.

The town council obtained a coat of arms from the College of Arms in October 1955, registered it with the Transvaal Provincial Administration in October 1957[5] and with the Bureau of Heraldry in June 1987.[6]

The arms were : Sable, on a fess wavy Or a barrulet wavy Tenne, the fess between in chief a thunderbolt between two picks, Or, and in base a steel pipe palewise proper between two cogwheels, also Or. In layman's terms, the design is a black shield displaying, from top to bottom, a golden heraldic thunderbolt between two picks, a wavy orange stripe edged in gold, and an upright golden pipe between two cogwheels.

The crest was a dove of peace perched on two clasped hands; the supporters were a lion and a zebra standing on a grassy base strewn with veld flowers; and the motto was Per pacem ad industriam.

• Emfuleni Municipality
• Vaal Triangle Info
• Crime Report Vereeniging 2010