Rosendal, Free State

Rosendal
Rosendal  Rosendal shown within Free State Show map of Free State (South African province) Rosendal Rosendal (South Africa) Show map of South Africa Rosendal Rosendal (Africa) Show map of Africa
Coordinates: 28°30′S 27°55′E / 28.500°S 27.917°E / -28.500; 27.917Coordinates: 28°30′S 27°55′E / 28.500°S 27.917°E / -28.500; 27.917
Country	South Africa
Province	Free State
District	Thabo Mofutsanyane
Municipality	Dihlabeng
Established	1908
Area[1]
• Total	8.5 km2 (3.3 sq mi)
Population (2011)[1]
• Total	4,132
• Density	490/km2 (1,300/sq mi)
Racial makeup (2011)[1]
• Black African	97.1%
• Coloured	0.7%
• Indian/Asian	0.2%
• White	2.0%
• Other	0.1%
First languages (2011)[1]
• Sotho	94.4%
• Afrikaans	3.1%
• Sign language	1.1%
• Other	1.4%
Time zone	UTC+2 (SAST)
Postal code (street)	9720
PO box	9720
Area code	058

Rosendal is a small farming town and arts colony 49 km north of Ficksburg in the Free State province of South Africa which was founded in 1908. It has become a popular tourist destination, known for spectacular scenery, including the surrounding mountains, and is home to a community of artists and small business owners. The town has a number of attractive buildings and early-20th-century homes. There are several art galleries, a (magnificent) antique store, and several small cafes cum restaurants, including one that hosts live theatre.

The Eastern Free State was first occupied by indigenous San and Khoi people, as evidenced by the many examples of rock art in caves on the farms surrounding Rosendal. By the early 1800s, a series of highly decentralised Basotho chiefdoms had emerged in the area. Through the twin pressures of the massive Zulu kingdom's expansion from the east, known as the Difaqane, and the arrival of the Voortrekkers from the south, the various chiefdoms came together under the leadership of King Moshoeshoe. Universally praised as a skilled diplomat and strategist, he was able to wield the disparate chiefdoms and refugee groups escaping the Difaqane into a cohesive nation. There is evidence around Rosendal of sacred places and mountain fortresses used by the BaSotho during this period.

Hunters, adventurers and missionaries from the Cape probably already arrived in the area in the 1820s, but Cape farmers only came in large numbers during the Great Trek, from about 1837. As the republic of the Orange Free State expanded various Boer-Basotho wars were fought and the Basotho pushed eastwards across the Caledon river, before a British protectorate, Basotholand, was declared.

The town came into being, like many in rural South Africa, when local farmers petitioned for a Church to be built within reasonable distance. Rosendal is 40 and 43 km from Senekal and Ficksburg, respectively, the distance that could be ridden in a day on horse back. A town was laid out in 1911 and declared a municipality in 1914, built upon a farm donated by a widow, Ms Botha, who chose the name Rosendal, "valley of roses".

A Church, a bank, post office, school and hotel were built and a plan laid out for what was intended to be a sizeable settlement. Lacking a railway stop, isolated by the Witteberg mountains to the east and being in an thinly populated area, Rosendal did not fulfil the early promise of becoming a city or large town. Today this accounts for its unique low density character. Visitors will notice a grid pattern of streets with a small number of homes spread out with great distance between them, creating the sensation of being in open countryside even when in the middle of town. From the 1950s onward Rosendal entered a period of decline with businesses and services closing and population falling. This began to reverse from the late 1990s when a small group of writers, artists and adventurers began to call it home.

Today there are roughly 100 people living full-time in what is the historic town area as well as weekend or recreational home owners from Johannesburg, Bloemfontein and internationally. For a place of its size it is diverse and cosmopolitan with residents who have professional careers nationally and abroad. It remains a small Free State farming town in character in which there are farmers, farm workers, artists and weekenders.

The old Apartheid era geography is still apparent and Rosendal village is physically separated from Mautse, the former township, which is a vibrant, proud community or 8000 or more people. Mautse had its origins in apartheid planning as the residence of domestic and other workers, many of whom were uprooted from homes in or on the outskirts of Rosendal itself. Historic Mautse, most of which is made up of brick homes and RDP houses, is situated alongside new and growing sections of the settlement, the largest of which is Matatie where most homes are tin shacks. These are not suitable for the harsh climate of cold winters and hot summers. Firewood is a scarce resource and people walk further and further afield to gather winter fuel.

Mautse is a growing community with a high school and primary school, government offices, a stadium, community centre and many small businesses. Labour shedding by farms in recent years, accelerated by tighter regulation, has produced farm to town migration, as well as preference by workers to be closer to schools, services and shops. Most farm workers in the area now live in Mautse itself rather than on farms directly. Apart from farm labour, employment opportunities are limited and the educated and ambitious depart for South Africa's cities to pursue careers.

Rosendal-Mautse is a pleasant and relaxed place to live and people here know each other and get along.

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