|
|
Question
#44511. joezhou300
asks:
What is the official capital of South Africa?
|
TabbyTom
|
According to several pretty authoritative sources, including Whitaker’s Almanac, South Africa has:
An administrative capital at Pretoria (the seat of the executive);
A legislative capital at Cape Town (the seat of the parliament)
A judicial capital at Bloemfontein (the seat of the judiciary)
This situation apparently goes back to the formation of the Union of South Africa in the early twentieth century. It was felt that siting the capital in a single province would give that province too much clout over the others, so the functions of government were split up among the capitals of Transvaal, Cape Province and the Orange Free State.
Feb 20 04, 5:10 PM
|
jonty129
|
Correct. They where spread across three provinces due to the fact that animosity between the Orange Free State/Transvaal and the Cape Province. This animosity dates back to the days when the Dutch left the cap colony, after the British had taken control of the colony. The Dutch formed the two provinces, Orange Free State and The Transvaal. In 1899 the animosity and hatred led to a three year war between the Boers (Dutch) and the British, which the British won, after a gruelling two-year long guerilla war. The first year was seen as 'conventional' warfare. In 1910, the British allowed the formation of the Union (31 May 1910) and the government decided to seat the executive, legislative and judicial powers in separate provinces to try and avoid discontent. The first prime minister was Botha.
Apr 03 06, 5:21 AM
|
|
Fun Trivia | 
Quizzes | 
Games
| 
People | 
Services | 
Help | 
Me
Sign up for your FREE FunTrivia ID! Compete,
play free games, and meet people! Click here...
Have a question that you want answered? Are you able to answer questions from other FunTrivia guests? Then you have come to the right
place!