Bloemfontein

Bloemfontein developed as an administrative settlement in the dry grassland interior, becoming the capital of the Orange Free State and later the seat of South Africa’s national appeal court. Established as a British military outpost in 1846, it grew through government functions and the railway connection completed in 1890. Its judicial role is associated with the Supreme Court of Appeal, rather than the Constitutional Court.

The city’s urban history also records the systematic separation of residential communities. The removal of residents from Waaihoek and the development of Batho and Heidedal show how displacement reshaped its neighbourhoods, alongside the administrative and transport infrastructure of the centre.