| Odendaalsrus | |
| Pushpin Map: | South Africa Free State#South Africa |
| Coordinates: | -27.8667°N 67°W |
| Subdivision Type: | Country |
| Subdivision Name: | South Africa |
| Subdivision Type1: | Province |
| Subdivision Name1: | Free State |
| Subdivision Type2: | District |
| Subdivision Name2: | Lejweleputswa |
| Subdivision Type3: | Municipality |
| Subdivision Name3: | Matjhabeng |
| Subdivision Type4: | Main Place |
| Established Title: | Established |
| Established Date: | 1912 |
| Leader Title: | Councillor |
| Area Footnotes: | [1] |
| Area Total Km2: | 42.1 |
| Population Total: | 63743 |
| Population As Of: | 2011 |
| Population Density Km2: | auto |
| Demographics Type1: | Racial makeup (2011) |
| Demographics1 Title1: | Black African |
| Demographics1 Info1: | 93.1% |
| Demographics1 Title2: | Coloured |
| Demographics1 Info2: | 0.3% |
| Demographics1 Title3: | Indian/Asian |
| Demographics1 Info3: | 0.3% |
| Demographics1 Title4: | White |
| Demographics1 Info4: | 6.1% |
| Demographics1 Title5: | Other |
| Demographics1 Info5: | 0.1% |
| Demographics Type2: | First languages (2011) |
| Demographics2 Title1: | Sotho |
| Demographics2 Info1: | 68.8% |
| Demographics2 Title2: | Xhosa |
| Demographics2 Info2: | 13.4% |
| Demographics2 Title3: | Afrikaans |
| Demographics2 Info3: | 7.7% |
| Demographics2 Title4: | Tswana |
| Demographics2 Info4: | 2.5% |
| Demographics2 Title5: | Other |
| Demographics2 Info5: | 7.7% |
| Timezone1: | SAST |
| Utc Offset1: | +2 |
| Postal Code Type: | Postal code (street) |
| Postal Code: | 9480 |
| Postal2 Code Type: | PO box |
| Postal2 Code: | 9480 |
| Area Code Type: | Area code |
| Area Code: | 057 |
Odendaalsrus is the oldest gold mining town in the Lejweleputswa District Municipality in the goldfields of the Free State province in South Africa.
It started out in 1912 as a ramshackle collection of farms and a central church that became a town. In April 1946 gold was struck on the farm Geduld near the town. This discovery was mentioned in Alan Paton's novel Cry, the Beloved Country.
On 5 December 2000, Odendaalrus was incorporated into the Matjhabeng Local Municipality along with the city of Welkom and the towns of Allanridge, Hennenman, Ventersburg and Virginia.
Odendaalsrus celebrated its 100th anniversary in 2012. It is a town located on the Goldfields close to a couple of mines, and a large Harcos farm producing chickens and eggs.
Kutlwanong Location is a township located about 10 km outside Odendaalsrus, between Welkom and Allanridge, established to house black people during the apartheid era. Kutlwanong is divided into 16 sections, namely: k1, k2, k3, k4, k5, k6, k7, k8, k9, k10 and block 1, block 2, block 4, block 5, block 6, and block 7. The first people to live there were a group of Black people from Hospital Park; 2 km from Odendaalsrus. Where they were evicted and forced to live in separate sections according to their ethnicity creating conflict between tribes. Reason for eviction is said to be the closeness of the black suburb to the town. It falls under the Municipality of Lejweleputsa. It is known for political activist such as Sipho Mutsi, and producing soccer stars such as Kamohelo Mokotjo, Khotso Moleko, Abram "Wire" Nteo, Vuyisile Wana as well as the musical artist Lebohang Matooane popularly known as Dray Rsa, Neo Matla popularly known as Snaker Da Ray and many more