Vereeniging

Description

Vereeniging is a city in Gauteng province that is part of the Vaal Triangle. The city is well known for being the location where the Treaty of Vereeniging that ended the Second Anglo-Boer War (1899-1902) was negotiated. During this conflict, a concentration camp was set up by the British military in the area.

The city was founded in 1892 and much of its early growth was due to the nearby coal mines. In fact, the name Vereeniging is derived from the Afrikaans word meaning "union". The city is currently one of the most important industrial manufacturing centres in South Africa, with its chief products being iron, steel, pipes, bricks, tiles and processed lime. Several coal mines are also situated in the area, with reserves being estimated at 4 billion tons. Other mines nearby extract fire-clay silica and building stone. Vereeniging also has several Eskom thermal power plants that supply electricity to the nearby gold mines.