Free State Property

Free State is South Africa’s most central province and bordered top and bottom by the Vaal and Orange Rivers, with Lesotho to the west.  The provincial capital is Bloemfontein, whose name is a testament to the beautiful flowers, particularly roses that the area is famous for.  The city is an important centre for education and is home to the Constitutional Court and the Supreme Court of Appeal.

Being in the centre of the country, the province is the meeting place of many of the major transport routes, including the N1 from Johannesburg to Cape Town that slices diagonally right through the middle of the Freestate.  Also a gold mining hub, Welkom is the centre of this industry and lies near the same reef mined in Johannesburg’s Witwatersrand area.

Unlike most of the country, the Free State is relatively flat, apart from the mountainous area that forms part of the Eastern Highlands.  The mixture of grazing land and large fields lend themselves well to the agricultural industry, with the cultivation of maize and sorghum, sunflowers and soya, as well as wheat, cherries and asparagus some of the main cash crops.  Ficksburg is home to an annual cherry festival that attracts visitors from all over the country.  Virginia, Kroonstad, Parys and Bethlehem are other important towns found in the Freestate.