| Senwabarwana | |
| Other Name: | Bochum |
| Native Name: | Borkum |
| Pushpin Map: | South Africa Limpopo#South Africa |
| Coordinates: | -23.271°N 29.123°W |
| Subdivision Type: | Country |
| Subdivision Name: | South Africa |
| Subdivision Type1: | Province |
| Subdivision Name1: | Limpopo |
| Subdivision Type2: | District |
| Subdivision Name2: | Capricorn |
| Subdivision Type3: | Municipality |
| Subdivision Name3: | Blouberg |
| Subdivision Type4: | Main Place |
| Established Title: | Established |
| Leader Title: | Councillor |
| Area Footnotes: | [1] |
| Area Total Km2: | 23 |
| Population Total: | 12306 |
| Population As Of: | 2011 |
| Population Density Km2: | auto |
| Demographics Type1: | Racial makeup (2011) |
| Demographics1 Title1: | Black African |
| Demographics1 Info1: | 98.83% |
| Demographics1 Title2: | Coloured |
| Demographics1 Info2: | 0.06% |
| Demographics1 Title3: | Indian/Asian |
| Demographics1 Info3: | 0.37% |
| Demographics1 Title4: | White |
| Demographics1 Info4: | 0.02% |
| Demographics1 Title5: | Other |
| Demographics1 Info5: | 0.69% |
| Demographics Type2: | First languages (2011) |
| Demographics2 Title1: | Northern Sotho |
| Demographics2 Info1: | 89.41% |
| Demographics2 Title2: | Tsonga |
| Demographics2 Info2: | 0.71% |
| Demographics2 Title3: | Other |
| Demographics2 Info3: | 1.43% |
| Demographics2 Title4: | English |
| Demographics2 Info4: | 1.41% |
| Demographics2 Title5: | Venda |
| Demographics2 Info5: | 1.21% |
| Timezone1: | SAST |
| Utc Offset1: | +2 |
| Postal Code Type: | Postal code (street) |
| Postal Code: | 0790 |
| Postal2 Code Type: | PO box |
| Postal2 Code: | 0790 |
| Area Code Type: | Area code |
| Area Code: | 015 |
Senwabarwana, also known as Bochum, is a town in the Blouberg Local Municipality of the Capricorn District Municipality in the Limpopo province of South Africa. The town is the seat of the Blouberg Local Municipality. It is located about 93 km northwest of the city Polokwane.
The colonial name may refer to the German industrial city of Bochum or be a corruption of Bochim, a biblical name (Judges 2:1 and 5). The place was named by the German missionary Carl Franz and his wife Helene to a mission station they established here in 1890.[2] The majority language group of the area is Northern Sotho people and they refer to themselves as Bahananwa. They call the town Senwabarwana, a commemorative name for an incident that took place in a pond where the Khoi people found and drank water in their travelling, thus passing by. Due to their height they are proclaimed dwarfs by natives which literally means Morwana in Northern Sotho (Sepedi) and in a plural form is Barwana, hence "Sen-wa-barwana".
German missionary Carl Franz and his wife Helene founded a hospital that used to cater for people with leprosy. The missionary station was part of the attempts of the Berlin Missionary Society to Christianize Southern Africa in the 19th century. The hospital is now known as Helene-Franz hospital.[3] It has a bad reputation because of its high mortality rates and it is often referred to by old people as "the hospital of death".
The place is also known for its diverse people from chieftaincies such as Ga-Manthata, Ga-Matlala, Ga-Mmalebogo, Makgababeng, Moletši and the small town of Mogwadi.