Welkom is the second largest city in the Free State Province of South Africa and the youngest city in South Africa. It was founded in 1947 and grew at an immense pace on account of the enormous development of the neighboring gold mines. The Afrikaans word Welkom means welcome and the name suits it indeed as it is a very welcoming city due to the innovative methods used in its planning and building.
In 1946 the province of the Free State in South Africa was shaken to learn about the discovery of gold on a farm about 150 km from Bloemfontein and subsequently the mining industry began to develop very quickly in the vicinity
Sir Ernest Oppenheimer who was, at that time, chairman of Anglo American undertook the planning of Welkom and his attention has resulted in a very well functioning city with each suburb having its own shopping and commercial centers. Residents have the convenience of never having to walk more than 10 minutes to reach these centers.
Experts from around the world have come to study the traffic flow in the city which has been cleverly planned using traffic circles and very few stop streets and the non existence of traffic lights, resulting in an easy flow of traffic. Welkom has become the envy of many other cities and is often referred to as the “circle city”
Despite the fact that the city of Welkom is relatively new there are some interesting monuments to see such as the WWII monument, the Voortrekker memorial and the Afrikaans language monument.
The countryside around the area of Welkom, South Africa is known as “The Golden Country” because of the dazzling golden hues that emerge during the ripening of the corn fields and the sun’s rays hit the sandstone hills. The Vaal River runs through this area supplying all the necessary irrigation for the crops as well as providing some lovely resort destinations for visitors to the area.