56-667: Ficksburg is a town situated at the foot of the 1,750 meter high Imperani Mountain in Free State province, South Africa . The town was founded by General Johan Fick in 1867 who won the territory in the Basotho Wars. He laid out many erven and plots that could be bought at a reasonable price. It is located on the north bank of the Mohokare River , which separates it from the town of Maputsoe in Lesotho . The town
112-467: A coat of arms as he pleases, as long as he does not infringe on the rights of others (i.e. the arms are not too similar to arms already in use by someone else) and the proposed arms conform to basic heraldic principles. The State Herald approves of and registers arms under the authority given by the Heraldry Act. In addition to registering coats of arms, badges, and other heraldic representations,
168-599: A festive Cherry Ball and the crowning of the Cherry Queen, however, events have changed over time. Harry Pickston contacted German missionaries in South Africa enquiring about growing cherries in the country for the first time. In the year 1905, a year after Harry Pickston had enquired about cherries, the first cherry trees were planted in South Africa on the farm 'Platkop' in the Clocolan district. The variants of
224-744: A green cross on a gold background (below). The crest was an arm holding a torch, issuing from a golden mural crown. The motto remained Virtus in arduis . Ficksburg is known in South Africa as the Cherry Town and the Cherry Capital of the world. The festival is arguably the oldest crop festival in South Africa. The Ficksburg Cherry Festival happens during the third week of November annually. It takes place in November every year. The festival has been held for over 45 consecutive years and
280-400: A public hospital. They are able to reach far-flung areas in only 45 minutes and deliver a high level of care on scene. On 31 October 2018, Free State Emergency Medical Service launched an additional 65 road ambulances to augment the fleet. The Free State has many public and private hospitals. The province is the granary of South Africa, with agriculture central to its economy, while mining on
336-672: A public register, to issue registration certificates and, since 1980, to advise the government on heraldic matters. Together with the Heraldry Council , it forms part of the National Archives and Records Service (formerly called the State Archives Service), which is currently under the authority of the Minister of Sports, Arts and Culture . Under South African law , everyone has the right to bear
392-536: A wide variety of guesthouses and B&Bs and an exclusive 3-star hotel serves as accommodation for tourists visiting the town. The hotel has a French-style restaurant which serves a wide variety of cuisine and has an a la carte menu. There are other restaurants as well. Ficksburg is known as "The Gateway to the Mountain Kingdom Of Lesotho". Lesotho is an enclaved country in the central part of South Africa. From Ficksburg you can depart to
448-691: A yield of 10 tons per hectare. The maraschino cherry, a sweet cherry, originated in Yugoslavia and northern Italy where traders added a liqueur to a cherry called the “Marasca.” The first Ficksburg Cherry Festival happened in 1968 and was started by the local Jaycees. The festival offers a variety of events that cater for different age groups. These events include children's entertainment, wine & chocolate pairing, stalls, various competitions, sporting activities like golf & soccer, workshops, exhibitions, product sales and all things associated with cherries. Popular local performers, that has performed at
504-687: Is Bloemfontein , which is also South Africa 's judicial capital. Its historical origins lie in the Boer republic called the Orange Free State and later the Orange Free State Province . The current borders of the province date from 1994 when the Bantustans were abolished and reincorporated into South Africa. It is also the only one of the four original provinces of South Africa not to undergo border changes, apart from
560-795: Is Maqueen Letsoha-Mathae of the African National Congress (ANC), who has held the position since 2024. The provincial legislature is elected every five years by a system of party-list proportional representation and meets at the Vierde Raadsaal in Bloemfontein . The politics of the Free State has been dominated by the ANC since the end of Apartheid. The ANC has won a majority of the vote in every provincial election since 1994. The most recent provincial election
616-550: Is also known as the asparagus region of South Africa, where hundreds of tons of asparagus are harvested from September. Other kinds of fruit like peaches, apricots, cherries and apples are also grown in the region. Livestock is also an important industry in the region. There are numerous dairy farms in the countryside. Ficksburg is the seat of the Setsoto Local Municipality which includes the towns of Clocolan , Marquard and Senekal . The total population of
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#1732771863407672-634: Is based in Bloemfontein , the provincial capital. The Free State Division of the High Court of South Africa also sits in Bleomfontein. Like South Africa's other provinces, the Free State has a parliamentary system of government, with the provincial premier elected by the Free State Provincial Legislature . The premier then selects the members of the provincial Executive Council (cabinet). The current premier
728-519: Is evidenced by the shift of tertiary institutions such as the University of the Free State from solely using Afrikaans as the medium of instruction to using both Afrikaans and English, and eventually only English. The population of the Free State is overwhelmingly Christian . As of the 2022 census, 92.7% of the population described themselves as Christians , the third-highest proportion among South Africa's provinces. Among other religions, 4.9% of
784-641: Is found in the Free State, particularly in the regions around Clarens , Bethlehem , Ficksburg , Ladybrand and Wepener . Bureau of Heraldry The Bureau of Heraldry is the South African heraldic authority , established in Pretoria on 1 June 1963. It is headed by a State Herald (known unofficially as the National Herald since 2004) and its functions are to register arms, badges, flags and seals (as well as names and uniforms), to keep
840-569: Is one of the most important in the southern hemisphere. Petrochemicals company Sasol , based in the town of Sasolburg , is a world leader in the production of fuels, waxes, chemicals and low-cost feedstock from coal. In the northeastern Free State, nestled in the rolling foothills of the Maluti mountains, the Golden Gate Highlands National Park is the province's prime tourist attraction. The park gets its name from
896-528: Is one of the top ten Maize producers in the world (12,365,000 tons as of 2013 ). Field crops yield almost two-thirds of the gross agricultural income of the province. Animal products contribute a further 30%, with the balance generated by horticulture. Ninety percent of the country's cherry crop is produced in the Ficksburg district, which is also home to the country's two largest asparagus canning factories. Soya, sorghum, sunflowers and wheat are cultivated in
952-589: Is the only province in which native Sotho-speakers form a majority of the population. It is also the province with the third-highest proportion of Afrikaans speakers, after the Western Cape and the Northern Cape . Sesotho is the dominant home language in most of the province. Zulu is the major language in the far eastern municipality of Phumelela . Setswana is the main language in Tokologo in
1008-661: The 'cherry mampoer' (South African 'Moonshine') competition. There are also events and activities surrounding the Ficksburg Cherry Festival that can be attended during November including the White Mischief Cruise which sails around the Meulspruit dam on the "White Mischief " with seating for 22 people. There are also heritage steam train rides, and heritage tractors to see, at Sandstone Estates 14 kilometers away. Visitors can also see game in
1064-672: The 1930s and throughout the "war years" the editor of the Ficksburg News was Harold Lloyd, whose son, Michael, also a journalist, became well known as the editor of The Star, The Natal Mercury and the Diamond Fields Advertiser, among other leading newspapers. After suffering many tribulations as a prisoner-of-war, he became an Anglican priest and, at the time of his death, was the rector of St. Alban's Church in Kimberley. Both Lloyds were responsible for kindling in
1120-596: The 2,726 European immigrants born in non- British states, 1,025 came from the Russian Empire , mainly Jews . In 1904 whites made up a majority in most settlements, namely Ficksburg (52.3%), Wepener (60.2%), Ladybrand (60.0%), and Kroonstad (51.6%), and made up a substantial minority in Bloemfontein (45.7%) and Winburg (36.3%). In the 2022 census, 72.3% of the population reported their first language as Sotho , 10.3% as Afrikaans , 5.5% as Xhosa , 5.3% as Setswana , and 1.5% as English . The Free State
1176-636: The Bureau keeps records of names, uniforms, and badges (which include some corporate arms) previously registered by the Department of the Interior (1935–1959) and the Department of Education, Arts & Sciences (1959–1963). Anyone, regardless of nationality or place of residence, may register arms with the Bureau. Since 1980, it has also been authorised to register the arms of official bodies in foreign countries. Originally, applications had to be approved by
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#17327718634071232-453: The Ficksburg municipal council had assumed a pseudo-heraldic coat of arms. The shield was divided in two, the upper half depicting the Roman goddess Ceres holding a torch above her head, in a landscape setting, and the lower half depicting a maize cob and three ears of wheat on a blue background. The motto was Virtus in arduis . The council registered a new, and heraldically better, design with
1288-404: The Free State also supply a substantial portion of the total silver produced in the country, while considerable concentrations of uranium occurring in the gold-bearing conglomerates of the goldfields are extracted as a byproduct. Bituminous coal is also mined, and converted to petrochemicals at Sasolburg. The Free State also produces high-quality diamonds from its kimberlite pipes and fissures, and
1344-569: The Free State province. It is an important agricultural region where crops like corn and mealies ( maize ) and asparagus are grown. The most important part of the annual crop of Ficksburg is the harvesting of the cherries on the numerous cherry farms surrounding the town. The cherries are harvested from October to December. Annually in November the Cherry Festival is held. The festival stretches over 3 days and attracts up to 30,000 people. The festival presents family shows and activities like
1400-539: The Heraldry Council before the Bureau could register them, but the power of approval was delegated to the State Herald in 1969, though he can still refer applications to the council (or, since 1980, its Heraldry Committee) when necessary. In 1980, the National Herald was authorised to delete arms from the register, either on an applicant's request or, in the case of official, municipal or corporate arms, if
1456-664: The Katse Dam in Lesotho. This dam is important to South Africa, because it annually provides hundreds of millions of liters of water to the industrial and commercial hub of Gauteng Province . The dam is also a very scenic area and is situated 3,000 m (9,842 ft) high up in the Maluti Mountains of Lesotho. The dam is very popular for boating and fishing and is visited by thousands of tourists every year which have to gain access to Lesotho through Ficksburg. The region
1512-543: The National Archives website. Naturally, the Bureau itself has a coat of arms which were adopted in 1965. The blazon is Azure, three escutcheons Or, on a chief of the second the South African lion . In layman's language this means that the shield is blue, it displays three smaller golden shields, and across the top is a gold horizontal strip displaying the red lion that formed the crest of the old South African national coat of arms. The Bureau arms are depicted on
1568-683: The Orange Free State Provincial Administration in June 1967 and at the Bureau of Heraldry in September 1969. The new arms were: Per chevron Gules and Or, in chief two garbs Or and in base a cross humette Vert; on a chief Or two sprigs of cherry fructed proper . In layman's terms, the shield displayed a golden chevron (bearing two sprigs of cherry) between two golden wheatsheaves on a red background (above) and
1624-639: The Thaba Imperani Nature Reserve 8 km from Ficksburg on the Hammonia road. The game reserve borders the Meulspruit Dam. Free State (South African province) The Free State ( Sotho : Freistata ; Afrikaans : Vrystaat [ˈfrɛistɑːt] ; Xhosa : iFreyistata ; Tswana : Foreistata ; Zulu : iFuleyisitata ), formerly known as the Orange Free State , is a province of South Africa . Its capital
1680-469: The brilliant shades of gold cast by the sun on the spectacular sandstone cliffs, especially the imposing Brandwag or Sentinel Rock, which keeps vigil over the park. The sandstone of this region has been used for the lovely dressed-stone buildings found on the Eastern Highlands, while decoratively painted Sotho houses dot the grasslands. Some of South Africa's most valued San (Bushman) rock art
1736-496: The country's largest deposit of bentonite is found in the Koppies district. Since 1989, the Free State economy has moved from dependence on primary sectors such as mining and agriculture to an economy increasingly oriented towards manufacturing and export. Some 14% of the province's manufacturing is classified as being in high-technology industries – the highest of all provincial economies. The northern Free State's chemicals sector
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1792-452: The east experience frequent snowfalls, especially on the higher ranges, whilst the west can be extremely hot in summer. Almost all precipitation falls in the summer months as brief afternoon thunderstorms , with aridity increasing towards the west. Areas in the east around Harrismith , Bethlehem and Ficksburg are well watered. The capital, Bloemfontein , experiences hot, moist summers and cold, dry winters frequented by severe frost. In
1848-422: The eastern Free State, where farmers specialise in seed production. About 40% of the country's potato yield comes from the province's high-lying areas. The main vegetable crop is asparagus, both white and green varieties. Although horticulture is expanding and becoming increasingly export-orientated, most produce leaves the province unprocessed. The Free State's advantage in floriculture is the opposing seasons of
1904-498: The entire area is 125,751. Many South African figures, like author Marie Warder , were born in Ficksburg. The Ficksburg News began publication as a community newspaper in the early 1900s and, after a hiatus in the 1970s, resumed in its present form in 1979. The town also has a community radio station that broadcasts to the surrounding towns of Fouriesburg, Clocolan and Ladybrand. Sesoto FM broadcast 24 hours per day in Sesotho. In
1960-410: The festival continues to grow each year. The festival attracts almosta 30,000 visitors each year and plays an integral role in tourism as it creates employment and is the small town's largest marketing tool. The event has benefited the town in profits of over R15 million annually through food, accommodation, shopping, and entertainment. The early traditional events of the festival included a street parade,
2016-542: The festival include Jaunita du Plessis, Ezulka van Zyl, Glaskas, Romanz, Marimba Band, Refentse, The Soweto String Quartet and the Lipizzaner horses from Johannesburg. However, performers are announced annually. The Festival also offers special tours of the surrounding cherry and asparagus farms where visitors can see the harvesting and production process of cherries in the community. Visitors can also participate in cherry picking on local farms. A festival favorite includes
2072-474: The herding of sheep, horse rides, camel rides, helicopter flips, steam train rides at Sandstone Estate, tours through town to see the sandstone building architecture which Ficksburg is well known for. There are also tours of the surrounding countryside, tours to the cherry and asparagus farms where people are shown everything about the industry, and airplane trips to the Katse Dam in Lesotho. The town also has
2128-549: The northern section are home to kudu , red hartebeest , southern white rhinoceros and buffalo . The Southern African wildcat , black wildebeest , zebra , eland , white rhinoceros and wild dog can be seen at the Soetdoring Nature Reserve near Bloemfontein . The South African cheetahs were reintroduced in the Free State for the first time in June 2013 after a hundred years of regional extinction, at Laohu Valley Reserve near Philippolis . Following
2184-428: The northwest, and in and around the area of Thaba Nchu . Afrikaans is widely spoken throughout the province, as a first language for the majority of whites and coloureds (who constitute a minority) and as a second or third language by Sesotho, Setswana and Xhosa speakers. Although there are relatively few native English speakers, English is becoming increasingly important as the language of business and government. This
2240-501: The office was established in 1963: The Bureau has a small staff complement: the National Herald, the Assistant National Herald, a Chief Heraldic Artist, a few artists, an administrative assistant, and a cleaner. The Bureau has had four homes since its inception. Since 1989 it has been housed in the National Archives building in Pretoria . Although the State Herald has been called the National Herald since 2004,
2296-476: The organisation concerned no longer exists. Appeals against the National Herald's decisions can be made to the Heraldry Committee . In the 1970s, the Bureau registered between 60 and 90 arms and badges per year. The number increased sharply in the mid-1980s, reaching a peak of 148 in the 1987–88 reporting year. It declined in the early 1990s, and returned to 1970s levels. (These figures do not include
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2352-539: The planted cherries included Giant Heidelfinger, Elton, Early Red, Early River, and Bing. This specific cluster of cherries is still grown in the area today. Some of the original cherry trees that were planted in 1905 can still be found on the farm. It is estimated that there are over 500 hectares of cherry trees in the Eastern Free State mainly in the Ficksburg, Clocolan and Fouriesburg area. There are approximately 250 cherry trees per hectare which average
2408-414: The population are black Africans who speak Sotho as a first language. The vast majority of White people in the Free State are Afrikaners . The proportion of whites in the province has shrunk considerably since the nineteenth century. In 1880 the white population made up 45.7% of the total population. In 1904 this had fallen to 36.8%. Of the 142,679 people in 1904, only 60% were born in the province. Of
2464-514: The population stated that they practiced Traditional African religions, and 0.5% of the population described themselves as Muslim . 1.4% of the population described themselves as being atheist, agnostic, or having no religious affiliation. The Free State Province is divided into one metropolitan municipality and four district municipalities . The district municipalities are in turn divided into 19 local municipalities : The Free State's major towns include: The Free State provincial government
2520-439: The prior census in 2011 . It recorded the slowest population growth among South Africa's nine provinces between 2011 and 2022. It is also the second-least populous and second-least densely populated province. The median age is 28, an increase of 3 years from 2011. In the 2022 census, 88.9% of the population described themselves as Black African , 8.0% as White , 2.6% as Coloured , and 0.4% as Indian/Asian . The majority of
2576-520: The registrations of defence force unit arms and insignia, of which the Bureau has registered more than 1000 since the 1960s.) The illustrated blazons (written descriptions in technical terms) of applications for registration are published in the South African Government Gazette . Blazons (but not illustrations) of arms registered at the Bureau and its predecessors up to the end of the year 2000 are available online through
2632-564: The reincorporation of Bantustans, and its borders date from before the outbreak of the Boer War . The Free State is situated on a succession of flat grassy plains sprinkled with pastureland, resting on a general elevation of 3,800 feet only broken by the occasional hill or kopje . The rich soil and pleasant climate allow for a thriving agricultural industry. The province is high-lying, with almost all land being 1,000 metres above sea level. The Drakensberg and Maloti Mountains foothills raise
2688-560: The reintroduction of an adult female South African cheetah in early 2016, three wild cheetah cubs were born for the first time in Laohu Valley Reserve in February 2017, making the three new cubs the first cheetahs born in the wild since their disappearance from the Free State province in over a century. The Free State experiences a continental climate , characterised by warm to hot summers and cool to cold winters. Areas in
2744-436: The rich goldfields reef is its largest employer. Agriculture dominates the Free State landscape, with cultivated land covering 32,000 square kilometres, and natural veld and grazing a further 87,000 square kilometres of the province. It is also South Africa's leader in the production of biofuels, or fuel from agricultural crops, with a number of ethanol plants under construction in the grain-producing western region. South Africa
2800-431: The seal on each registration certificate and, in the 1960s and early 1970s, they were depicted in full colour at the head of the certificate too. The State Herald (called unofficially the National Herald since 2004) is a civil servant, and is the head of the Bureau of Heraldry, an ex officio member of the Heraldry Council, and a member of the National Archives' directorate. There have been four state/national heralds since
2856-405: The southeast, the Free State borders seven districts of Lesotho : Domestically, it borders the following provinces: The Free State borders more districts of Lesotho and more provinces of South Africa than any other province. It is traversed by the northwesterly line of equal latitude and longitude. As of the 2022 census , the Free State had a population of 2,961,864, an increase of 8.0% from
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#17327718634072912-432: The southern and northern hemispheres. The Free State is also rich in mineral wealth, gold representing 20% of the world's total gold production. Mining is the province's major employer. The province has 12 gold mines, producing 30% of South Africa's output and making it the fifth-largest producer of gold in the world. The Harmony Gold Refinery and Rand Refinery are the only two gold refineries in South Africa. Gold mines in
2968-673: The terrain to over 2,000 m in the east. The Free State lies in the heart of the Karoo Sequence of rocks, containing shales , mudstones , sandstones and the Drakensberg Basalt forming the youngest capping rocks. Mineral deposits are plentiful, with gold and diamonds being of particular importance, mostly found in the north and west of the province. The flats in the south of the reserve provide ideal conditions for large herds of plain game such as black wildebeest and springbok . The ridges, koppies and plains typical of
3024-584: The well-known writer, Marie Warder, the desire to become a journalist. A rarity for French tourists visiting Ficksburg is that it has a repeater for Radio France International (RFI) in the case of Ficksburg, because of the multitude of French missionaries in the neighboring country of Lesotho. Radiomonde Français International broadcasts 24 hours per day in French and English on 96.5 FM Stereo exclusively to Ficksburg. The BBC World Service radio station broadcasts from London 24 hours per day on 90.2 FM Stereo. By 1931,
3080-458: Was held in 2024 . The ANC again won the election, albeit with a sharply reduced majority. The Democratic Alliance (DA) retained its position as the province's second largest party and official opposition , with a significant increase in its share of the vote. The results of the 2024 provincial election are as follows: The Free State is the only province in South Africa that operates a free 24-hour dedicated rotor-wing aeromedical service from
3136-519: Was later proclaimed a municipality in 1891. The last Governor-General of the Union of South Africa and the first State President of South Africa , Charles Robberts Swart was imprisoned here by the British in 1914 and released one day before his scheduled execution. Ficksburg, after Bethlehem (the chief administrative town) is the second busiest and important town in the Eastern Free State region of
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