Nguni-speaking settlers, who later became known as the Ndebele (a Sotho word meaning "refugees"), were probably the first inhabitants of the Apies River valley. They named the river after one of their chiefs, Tshwane (a Ndebele word for "little ape"), which was translated in Afrikaans to 'Apies'.
During the difaqane in the KwaZulu-Natal area, another band of refugees arrived in this area under the leadership of Mzilikazi. They were forced to abandon their villages in their flight from a regiment of Zulu raiders in 1832.
Pretoria Settlement
The founding of the settlement of Pretoria in 1855 can be seen as marking the end of the Boer people's settlement movements of the Great Trek. The Volksraad agreed to the establishment of the town called Pretoria on 16 December 1855 and this date is regarded as Pretoria's birthday.
Prior to the Volksraad decision, there was some disagreement about what to call the place. Pretoriusdorp, Pretoriusstad and Pretoria-Philadelphia were some suggestions. A Latin suggestion for the name was Pretorium. But most South Africans are probably relieved that the name Pretoria was finally adopted.
Pretoria was the choice of Marthinus Wessel Pretorius, who wished to honour the memory of his father, Commandant-General Andries Pretorius, the Voortrekker hero of Blood River and Boer negotiator with Britain at the Sand River Convention, which acknowledged the independence of the Transvaal.
A bid by Potchefstroom, 300 kilometres to the west of Johannesburg, to bocome the capital of the Transvaal failed.
Pretoria As Capital
The Volksraad parliament was established in Pretoria, and the town became the seat of government on 1 May 1860.
Relations between the "uitlanders" of the gold mining industry in Johannesburg and the leaders of the Transvaal Republic (ZAR) were often strained. But the Boer leaders were able to maintained control over the mines and the ZAR prospered due to the growing revenues.
Anglo Boer War
During the First Anglo Boer War, Republican forces besieged the city in December 1880 and March 1881. The Pretoria Convention, a peace treaty that ended the war, was signed in Pretoria on 3 August 1881.
The Jameson Raid, an ill conceived plan to take over the Transvaal, failed. This caused an even more distrusting and suspicious atmosphere that ultimately lead to the Second Anglo Boer War in 1899, which the Boers lost.
Winston Churchill was imprisoned in the Staats Model School in Pretoria during the Second Anglo Boer war, but was able to escape to Mozambique. The city surrendered to British forces under Frederick Sleigh Roberts on 5 June 1900 and the Anglo Boer War was ended with the signing of the Peace of Vereeniging on 31 May 1902.
The Second Boer War resulted in the end of the Zuid Afrikaanse Republic and start of British hegemony in South Africa.
Union And Republic
The Boer Republics of the ZAR and the Orange Free State were united with the Cape Colony and Natal Colony in 1910 to become the Union of South Africa, with Pretoria as the administrative capital and Cape Town as the legislative capital. Between 1860 and 1994, Pretoria was also the capital of the Transvaal Province.
Pretoria achieved official city status on 14 October 1931. When South Africa became a republic in 1961, Pretoria remained its administrative capital.
While Johannesburg was the scene of many dramatic incidents, Pretoria was the place where Apartheid was actually administered.
Pretoria Central Prison was the location of Death Row in South Africa. Solomon Mahlangu, a resident of Mamelodi Township outside Pretoria, was one of the youngest black anti-apartheid activists to be hung here for political activity in 1976. A square in Mamelodi Township was named after Mahlangu, and a dramatic statue erected, commemorating his life. A number of white anti-apartheid activists were also incarcerated at Pretoria Central Prison. The longest serving of these, was activist Denis Goldberg, who served some 20 years.
A number of people, convicted of atrocities during the apartheid years, received very long sentences and are now imprisoned at Pretoria Central Prison.
The turreted Palace of Justice was the scene of one of the most famous of South Africa's major political trials, the Rivonia Trial. During the Rivonia Trial, a number of people, including Nelson Mandela, were charged with treason, found guilty, and subsequently incarcerated.
The sad story come full circle, with a happy ending, when Nelson Mandela was inaugurated as the first President of the new democratic South Africa, at the Union Buildings in Pretoria, in 1994.
Pretoria Today
In 2000 Pretoria's municipal government became part of the larger City of Tshwane Metropolitan Municipality.
