Classroom lesson 路 Three capitals馃嚳馃嚘 South Africa

Three capital cities

Why South Africa has not one capital, but three

Camps Bay beach and the Twelve Apostles mountain range near Cape Town

Photo 路 Wikimedia Commons

What is it?

Most countries have one capital city - the one main place where the government meets. South Africa has three. The government's work is split between Pretoria, Cape Town and Bloemfontein, so each of the three cities is officially a capital.

Tell me more

Pretoria, in the north of the country, is where most government leaders have their offices. It is often called the 'executive capital'. The city is famous for its purple jacaranda trees, which turn whole streets into a sea of purple flowers each spring.

Cape Town, on the southern coast, is where the country's law-makers meet to talk about new rules - so it is called the 'legislative capital'. Cape Town sits between Table Mountain and the sea and is one of the most photographed cities in the world.

Bloemfontein, roughly in the middle of the country, is where the country's biggest court is based, so it is called the 'judicial capital'. Its name means 'fountain of flowers' in Afrikaans, and the city is famous for its rose gardens.

Why three capitals? When South Africa first became one country in 1910, different important places each wanted to keep their special role. Sharing the job between three cities was the fair solution - and it has stayed that way ever since.

In the classroom

Walk your class through this in 15 minutes.

Talk together

Discussion prompts

  1. 01Why might a country choose to share important jobs between more than one city?
  2. 02If we were going to split our country's important buildings across three towns, which jobs would go where?
  3. 03What kind of city does each of South Africa's three capitals sound like? Which one would you want to visit?
Try this

Classroom activity

On an outline map of South Africa, mark the three capital cities in three different colours. Label what each one is in charge of. Around the edge of the map, draw one thing each city is famous for - jacaranda trees, Table Mountain, rose gardens.

More about South Africa

Other things that make South Africa special

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