Welkom, South Africa's newest and the second largest city in the Free State, was laid out in 1947 on the farm Welkom. It became a municipality in 1961 and a city on 14 February 1968.

Welkom is like no other city in South Africa. It was designed by William Backhouse, town and regional planning consultant tot the Anglo American corporation of South Africa, as a garden city with a commercial center built around a central square. Stop streets and traffic lights were eliminated and more than one million trees planted. The city and immediate surroundings are dominated by the headgears and reduction plants of several gold and uranium mining companies, including St Helena, Welkom, Western Holdings, Free State Geduld, President Brand, President Steyn, and Erfdeel- Dankbaarheid. A surface and underground tour of the gold mines is the highlight of a visit to Welkom.

The mines are very deep and flooding of the shafts is an ever-present threat. Enormous quantities of water, slightly saline, have to be pumped to the surface where they collect in hollows to form pans. Bird life on these pans is prolific. Species include flamingo, the sacred ibis, Egyptian goose, Muscovy duck, marsh owl, and many seagulls. The two most popular pans are Flamingo on the airport road, and Theron within the municipal boundary, which has been developed as a park.

Some of the water from the mines is desalinated and used for domestic purposes. The 557 square km district was proclaimed in 1954. The main agricultural activities are maize production and dairying.

In the year of its 21st birthday of 14 February 1955, Welkom received city status, and celebrated this event with the opening of the magnificent Civic Centre. This building consists of and office block, a banquet hall, the ultramodern Ernest Oppenheimer Theatre, and a Clock Tower, which has shaped into a tourist attraction hosting the Welkom publicity Association.

Tourists visiting Welkom are struck by the beautifully planned and well laid out city. Set in rolling green parklands & shady trees. Long sweeping boulevards flanked by wide pavements are linked by large traffic circles. Not a single traffic light is to be seen in the CBD.

A city of beauty and function interlaced with parks flanked by bird sanctuaries. The residents of this young city enjoy the advantages of a modern, planned environment. Most of the residential suburbs have their own shopping and commercial centres, parks, schools, churches, sports facilities, clubs, etc. In addition, hardly anybody is more than a ten minute walk from any of these facilities.

Riebeeckstad

This township, 5 km north of Welkom, was developed in the 1950s as a satellite residential town for those who prefer not to live among the headgears of the goldmines in Odendaalsrus, Welkom or even Allanridge.

This garden city was also designed on the most modern city planning principles.

Contact:

Welkom publicity Association: http://www.welkompublicity.co.za/ and Welkom, Matjhabeng in the Free State and South Africa: http://www.rsa-overseas.com/about-sa/matjhabeng.htm