The Free State is the golden province. Its main products are either literally gold (the precious mineral) or golden in colour (wheat and maize), and the image most closely associated with the province is the gleaming peak guarding the entrance to the Golden Gate National Park.

The Free State’s major industry, other than mining and agriculture, revolves around the huge petrochemical complex that defines the northern town of Sasolburg. As a key base for Sasol, the producer of synfuels from coal, waxes and chemicals, the town is a major contributor to South Africa’s manufacturing sector. ChemCity is a downstream business-incubator project promoting the sustainable use of by-products from Sasol’s many plants.

The Free State is centrally located in South Africa, sharing a boundary with six other provinces and the neighbouring country of Lesotho. Important road and rail links traverse the province, including two of the busiest national highways, the N1 (Cape Town to Johannesburg) and the N3 (Durban to Johannesburg). The province intends to exploit this strategic position through two major initiatives: the N8 Corridor development and the Harrismith Logistical Hub (HLH).

Bloemfontein is in the middle of the N8 route, linking Kimberley in the Northern Cape (west) with the Lesotho capital of Maseru in the east. Places such as the busy domestic Bloemfontein Airport and the Botshabelo industrial area are earmarked for development.

The HLH intends to make a virtue of what is now a very crowded intersection of the N3 and N5 highways, which carry huge volumes of freight. A multimodal hub is planned, which will not only stimulate further enterprise but ease congestion.

The Free State landscape is characterised by wide open spaces in the west and beautiful valleys in the foothills of the Maluti Mountains in the east. It is sparsely populated, with less than three million people, who mostly live in the north and east of the province. Sotho is the most widely spoken language, followed by Afrikaans. The region receives its rainfall in summer but sometimes the west and south can experience drought.

The province is relatively well watered, however, with the Vaal and Orange rivers defining its northern and southern boundaries. In addition, a network of smaller rivers that wends its way through the area and run-off from hills and mountains ensure that the good soils of the area are well irrigated.

The Gariep and Vaal dams are major sources of water and venues for recreation, as are the Free State’s lesser dams such as Sterkfontein, Allemanskraal and Kalkfontein. Tourism and aquaculture are just two of the sectors that are increasingly looking to the Free State’s water bodies as potential income generators.

Mining (11%) and agriculture (6.7%) collectively comprise nearly 20% of the provincial gross domestic product (PGDP), but manufacturing (12.7% in 2003 according to Statistics South Africa, Stats SA) is growing as the province tries to wean itself off primary production and gear itself to beneficiation and export.

The Free State economy is very commodity price driven, given the importance of gold, agriculture and fuels. This makes it vulnerable when the economy takes a turn for the worse, driving down demand. This is why the province is making a strong effort to strengthen its manufacturing sector and to increase capacity in areas like agri-processing. Timber processing, furniture-making, crafts, leather tanning and fishing comprise some of the targeted formal industries, and informal activity is being encouraged in food and beverages, repair work, home-based clothing manufacture and household textiles.

The services sector (financial, insurance, real estate and business) comprised 14.5% according to Stats SA’s 2003 survey, while wholesale, retail and accommodation were worth 10%. The construction sector was a negligible 1.3%, a figure which will almost certainly have increased in recent times. The province’s former premier reported, in early 2009, that the economic growth rate in the province in 2006 was 4.3%.

The province is the fifth-largest gold producer in the world, with 12 mines accounting for 30% of South Africa’s production. The Harmony Jewellery School in Virginia is being used as the focus point of a jewellery hub in that area. Diamond production is on the increase in the Free State.

A large percentage of South Africa’s agricultural production – particularly grains – originates in the Free State. More than half the nation’s sorghum, nearly half the sunflower, and between 32% and 37% of all wheat, maize, potatoes and groundnuts come from the fertile plains of the western and northern Free State, while the valleys of the east produce almost all of South Africa’s cherries and asparagus. Livestock and flowers are other important agricultural products.

Bloemfontein is the provincial capital, South Africa’s sixth-largest city and the seat of the Supreme Court of Appeal. Known as the City of Roses, it is an attractive town, which more than one survey has identified as the best place to live in South Africa. The Vodacom Park stadium, in Bloemfontein, will host matches in the Confederations Cup in 2009 and the Fifa World Cup in 2010.

Other important towns are Sasolburg (petrochemicals), Kroonstad (agriculture), Welkom and Odendaalsrus (mining), and Bethlehem and Clarens (Eastern Highlands tourism).

The Free State is divided into five district municipalities, each of which has its own distinctive character.

Motheo District Municipality
Local municipalities: Mangaung, Mantsopa, Naledi
Principal towns: Bloemfontein, Botshabelo, Thaba Nchu, Ladybrand, Wepener
Population: 728 261

This central region is the most urbanised of the Free State districts and contributes approximately one third of the province’s GDP. The capital city of Bloemfontein is part of the Mangaung Municipality, which also comprises Botshabelo. The Supreme Court of Appeal, the University of the Free State, the Central University of Technology, Grey College and several other educational institutions are based in Bloemfontein. It has two airports and several museums, including the largest fire-service museum in the country and the only one of its kind in the southern hemisphere.

The annual Macufe Festival attracts many thousands of visitors and Bloemfontein is growing in popularity as a conference and exhibition venue. Community and financial services constitute the bulk of the city’s revenue. It has an industrial area and provides services to the extensive agricultural areas that surround it.

Botshabelo has a population of close to half a million and its position, 55km from Bloemfontein, is a classic example of the ideological planning of the apartheid era. Democratic local governments have sought to kick-start development with attractive investment packages, with the result that more than 150 factories now operate in the area. Thaba Nchu has long been associated with tourism, especially through its proximity to the Maria Moroka Nature Reserve and the location of casinos in the town, but lightindustrial development is taking place at the Selosesha Industrial Park.

Further to the east, and forming the final stop-off point in South Africa for any traveller going to Lesotho, is the busy town of Ladybrand. Tweespruit is a major sunflower-seed production centre and the steel bridge over the Caledon River at Wepener is a national monument.

Xhariep District Municipality
Local municipalities: Kopanong, Letsemeng, Mohokare
Principal towns: Trompsburg, Koffiefontein, Zastron, Philippolis, Fauresmith, Edenburg, Smithfield, Rouxville
Population: 135 248

The southernmost region of the Free State is a largely dry area with open grasslands, although it is also home to the Gariep Dam, South Africa’s largest. Crops are produced in the northern parts of the district, whereas sheep farming dominates in the south. Trompsburg has the second-biggest sheepshearing barn in the country.

Diamonds, gravel and clay are mined at Koffiefontein. Jagersfontein is one of the first places where diamonds were found and it has its own version of the Big Hole to prove it. It also has a number of buildings designed by the distinguished architect, Herbert Baker.

Festivals that help market the region are run by several small towns like Philippolis and Smithfield, and the Jacobsdal Landzicht winery is winning plaudits. A black-empowerment project was successfully run whereby a new bottling plant for the winery was established. There are several sites where San rock paintings can be viewed and the area is a good place for any person interested in the Anglo-Boer War, as there are many commemoration sites and museums.

Lejweleputswa District Municipality
Local municipalities: Masilonyana, Matjhabeng, Nala, Tokologo, Tswelopele
Principal towns: Welkom, Virginia, Boshof, Christiana, Bultfontein, Bothaville, Theunissen
Population: 657 013

Mining constitutes the major part of the GDP of this region, also known as the Free State Goldfields. This makes it one of the biggest contributors to the provincial economy, but it is also the most important maize-growing area in South Africa.

Bothaville is the self-proclaimed Mielie Capital of South Africa, but it is a name that is well earned. Apart from being the urban hub around which maize fields stretch for hundreds of kilometres and which fill its enormous silos, the town also hosts one of the biggest agricultural festivals, the Nampo Harvest Festival, as well as annual maize industry conferences. It is also where Grain SA has its headquarters.

Mining town Welkom is the major urban centre in the district, with a campus of the Central University of Technology and a Further Education and Training college. The Phakisa Freeway provides an exciting venue for race-car driving and the Goldfields Casino serves excitement of a different sort.

The town of Virginia is the site of a jewellery school, and it is intended that this will form the nucleus of a jewellery-beneficiation hub. Tractors are manufactured in the town of Hoopstad, but manufacturing is not particularly well developed.

The area has some conventional tourist assets, such as a holiday resort on the Allemanskraal Dam, the Goldfields Wine Cellar in Theunissen and the Willem Pretorious Game Reserve, but the potential for growth in the sociohistorical sector of tourism is probably greater. Apartheid activist and former wife of icon Nelson Mandela, Winnie Madikizela- Mandela, lived in internal exile in Brandfort for many years and there are several Anglo-Boer War memorials in the area. Winburg also has a Voortrekker Monument.

Fezile Dabi District Municipality
Local municipalities: Mafube, Metsimaholo, Moqhaka, Ngwathe
Principal towns: Sasolburg, Parys, Kroonstad, Frankfort, Heilbron, Viljoenskroon
Population: 460 313

Sasolburg is the economic driver in this district, which has a border with Gauteng in the north in the form of the Vaal River. Sasol is the company that turns coal into synthetic fuel. Although those functions are now performed at Sasol sites outside the province, coal is still mined and there is still an important refinery at Sasolburg. Increasingly, the Free State complex has become the place where related products are made – chemicals, waxes, fertilisers and solvents.

The town of Heilbron is another important industrial centre and Frankfort does important agricultural-processing work.

A good proportion of South Africa’s grain crop is sourced from this district and, when the vast fields of sunflowers and cosmos flowers are in bloom, a marvellous vista is created. This district has terrific potential, especially being so close to the populous Gauteng. The Vaal River presents endless opportunities for yachting, rafting and resort-based enterprises. Parys is a charming town and Vredefort is home to a World Heritage Site – the Vredefort Dome, which is where an ancient meteor crashed to Earth.

Thabo Mofutsanyana District Municipality
Local municipalities: Dihlabeng, Maluti-a- Phofung, Nketoana, Phumelela, Setsoto
Principal towns: Phuthaditjhaba, Bethlehem, Clarens, Harrismith, Reitz, Lindley, Vrede, Ficksburg
Population: 725 939

Tourism and fruit farming are the two principal economic activities of this area, which is characterised by beautiful landscapes: two mountain ranges (the Maluti and the Drakensberg), wetlands in the north, wellwatered river valleys and the plains of the north and west. The most famous asset is the Golden Gate National Park, situated on the northern edge of the Free State.

Industrial activity is undertaken at Harrismith and Phuthaditjhaba, where the Free State Development Corporation is promoting employment-generating investment. The commercial centre of the district is Bethlehem, while Clarens and Ficksburg have become famous for their artists and cherries respectively. Most of the small towns of the district are switching on to the benefits tourism can bring, although agriculture is still strong. Ficksburg has two asparagus factories and, together with nearby Marquard, produces 90% of South Africa’s cherries. The north of the district has many sunflower-seed farms.

The Basuto cultural village in Qua-Qua (Phuthaditjhaba) provides an outlet for the creative expression of many people through beautifully made crafts, and various Bushman rock paintings can be seen as illustrations of the artistic skills of much earlier inhabitants of the area.

KEY CONTACTS
Free State Development Corporation: www.fdc.co.za
Free State Investment Promotion Agency: www.fipa.org.za
Free State Provincial Government: www.fs.gov.za
Free State Tourism Authority: www.freestatetourism.org