| Bronkhorstspruit | |
| Pushpin Map: | South Africa Gauteng#South Africa#Africa |
| Coordinates: | -25.805°N 28.7464°W |
| Subdivision Name: | South Africa |
| Subdivision Name1: | Gauteng |
| Subdivision Name3: | City of Tshwane |
| Subdivision Type4: | Main Place |
| Established Title: | Established |
| Leader Title: | Councillor |
| Area Footnotes: | [1] |
| Area Total Km2: | 3.11 |
| Elevation M: | 1375 |
| Population Total: | 3720 |
| Population As Of: | 2011 |
| Population Density Km2: | auto |
| Demographics1 Title1: | Black African |
| Demographics1 Title2: | Coloured |
| Demographics1 Title3: | Indian/Asian |
| Demographics1 Title4: | White |
| Demographics1 Title5: | Other |
| Timezone1: | SAST |
| Utc Offset1: | +2 |
| Postal Code Type: | Postal code (street) |
| Postal Code: | 1020 |
| Postal2 Code Type: | PO box |
| Postal2 Code: | 1020 |
| Area Code Type: | Area code |
| Area Code: | 013 |
Bronkhorstspruit is a town 50 km east of Pretoria, Gauteng, South Africa along the N4 highway towards eMalahleni. It also includes three townships called Zithobeni, Rethabiseng and Ekangala. On 18 May 2011, the Tshwane Metropolitan Municipality took over the municipal administration from the abolished Kungwini Local Municipality, which makes Bronkhorstspruit part of Tshwane.
In 1858, a group of Voortrekkers settled beside the Bronkhorst Spruit creek, which was originally called Kalkoenkransrivier ('turkey cliff river'). The town was laid out on land of the farm Hondsrivier in 1904 owned by C.J.G. Erasmus and was initially named after him.[2] [3] It adopted the name Bronkhorstspruit in 1935.
On 20 December 1880 it was the scene of the Battle of Bronkhorstspruit, an important event in the early days of the First Boer War when a Boer Commando ambushed a British army column, 94th Regiment of Foot, near the present town en route from Lydenburg to Pretoria.
There is disagreement about where the town got its name from. Some believe it was named after the farmer J.G. Bronkhorst, while others say that it was named after the plant, bronkors (Afrikaans for watercress), that grew in the region of the creek.[4]
Bronkhorstspruit was the seat of the Metsweding District Municipality as well as the Kungwini Local Municipality. Then, on the day of South Africa's 2011 general elections (18 May 2011), the entire Metsweding District ceased to be its own municipality and became part of the Tshwane Metropolitan Municipality.
Ten kilometers to the south of the town lies the Bronkhorstspruit Dam.[4]
Being an agricultural area, maize, sorghum, groundnuts, sunflower seeds, sheep and cattle are grown and raised.[4]
Fire clay is as well as coal mined in the area.[4]
Cultura Park, a suburb of Bronkhorstspruit, hosts the largest Buddhist temple in Africa. Nan Hua Temple houses the South African headquarters of the Fo Guang Shan sect, a Humanistic Buddhist order.[5]