Reitz, Free State

The original town, Reitz, lies upon the northwestern hillside. On the opposite hill lies the town's township, Petsana.

The population data of Reitz (as of the 2011 Census):[3]

    Population = 3362

    Population group:
    White (54.1%)
    Black African (43%)
    Other (1.6%)
    Indian or Asian (0.7%)
    Coloured (0.62%)

    First language:
    Afrikaans (55.24%)
    Sesotho (31.96%)
    isiZulu (5.45%)
    English (2.88%)
    Other (1.39%)
    isiXhosa (1.01%)
    Setswana (0.76%)
    Sign language (0.76%)
    Sepedi (0.25%)
    isiNdebele (0.25%)
    Xitsonga (0.03%)

Petsana's population data (as of the 2011 Census)[4] is:

    Population = 16,821

    Population group:
    Black African (99.44%)
    Coloured (0.22%)
    Other (0.12%)
    Indian or Asian (0.12%)
    White (0.10%)

    First language:
    Sesotho (73.42%)
    isiZulu (22.56%)
    Sign language (1.14%)
    isiXhosa (1.05%)
    Afrikaans (0.61%)
    English (0.48%)
    Other (0.32%)
    isiNdebele (0.15%)
    Setswana (0.11%)
    Xitsonga (0.10%)
    Sepedi (0.05%)
    Siswati (0.01%)

Petsana is a mainly residential area with schools and small shops and businesses, but very few industrial work sites. Most of the working population either goes out daily to work on farms in the area or they work in town. Reitz has an industrial area, most notably the steel and farming equipment construction company, Van Zyl's Staalwerke. Reitz is also home to the headquarters of the co-op group, VKB. The VKB Group is a modern, dynamic agricultural enterprise that has, since its establishment in 1919, continuously focused on accomplishing solutions for the changing and diverse needs of agricultural producers and related stakeholders. It addresses the basic needs for agricultural inputs, mechanization, handling and marketing of grain, financing and insurance.[5] Another company that employs a lot of local workers is Grain Field Chickens. A subsidiary of VKB Argiculture (Pty) Ltd, Grain Field is a technologically advanced abattoir, currently slaughting between 800 000 to 850 000 chickens per week.[6]

VKB's grain silos at the hamlet of Daniëlsrus, some 25 km south of Reitz

The town has one of the largest maize silos in the southern hemisphere and is a major maize growing community.[7]

Founded in 1889,[7] the town was previously known as Singer's Post, its name was changed to Amsterdam, and again to its current name Reitz after the Orange Free State president, Francis William Reitz.

Reitz is located in the north-eastern part of the Free State province, 300 kilometres (190 mi) north-east of Bloemfontein and 180 kilometres (110 mi) south of Johannesburg. It lies roughly halfway between the towns of Bethlehem and Frankfort, at an elevation of 1,630 metres (5,350 ft).

• https://web.archive.org/web/20090206235601/http://www.routes.co.za/fs/reitz/index.html