Only an hour and a half’s drive from Johannesburg you can find Potchefstroom, but the small Northwestern town could not be more drastically different from the City of Gold, according to Danielle Clayton of Harcourts Potchefstroom.
According to Clayton the town has a history of attracting students from far and wide, just like it did the Voortrekkers in 1838. The town is the second oldest settlement of people from European descent in the now defunct Transvaal. Its name originates from the founder of the town, Andries Potgieter. The word “chef” refers to the leader of the Voortrekkers and the “stroom” refers to the banks of the Mooi River where the town is situated.
The more popular areas to find property for sale in Potchefstroom are centered around the suburb “Die Bult,” where you will also find the beautiful university. Potch also boasts numerous monuments and old colonial-style properties, and lies within close reach of Parys which is popular with water-sport lovers, hikers and antiques hunters. Wedding venues are plentiful, the university’s botanical gardens and park are frequently used for picnics, and the town’s business and industrial districts are “booming”. Clayton adds that the town’s property capital growth is enviable by most standards and that the crime rate is pleasingly low.
Clayton concluded with the fact that “there is something special about Potch. It’s suffused with history and culture and everybody knows everybody else – but not in a bad way. There’s a strong sense of community and it’s said that if you have ever lived in here, you’ll always come back. I should know. I came back and I have no intention of leaving any time soon.”
