Check out Potchefstroom - Mooi Rivier Mall - Northwest South Africa

Check out Potchefstroom - Mooi Rivier Mall - Northwest South Africa

Potchefstroom (Afrikaans pronunciation: [pɔtʃɛfˈstruəm], colloquially known as Potch, is an academic city in the North West Province of South Africa. It hosts the Potchefstroom Campus of the North-West University. Potchefstroom is on the Mooi Rivier (Afrikaans for "pretty river"), roughly 120 km (75 mi) west-southwest of Johannesburg and 45 km (28 mi) east-northeast of Klerksdorp.

Potchefstroom, founded in 1838 by the Voortrekkers, is the second-oldest European settlement in the Transvaal. The oldest European settlement is Klerksdorp, about 40 km (25 mi) west. Some historians challenge this, because the first settlement was in the "upper regions of the Schoon Spruit" (believed to have been between Klerksdorp and Potchefstroom). However, Potchefstroom was the first to develop into a town.
Until 1840, the towns of Potchefstroom and Winburg and their surrounding territories were a Boer Republic known as the Republic of Winburg-Potchefstroom. Voortrekker leader Andries Hendrik Potgieter was elected as chief commandant.