Centurion Information, Accommodation, Restaurants, Business Directory and Properties for Sale

From Verwoerdburg to Centurion

The town of Irene was established in 1902 when 337 plots were laid out on the farm Doornkloof. Jan Smuts later owned this farm, and died there in 1950. The Smuts House is a museum today, and regularly hosts open air fleamarkets on its grounds.

Centurion developed from the initial Lyttelton Township that was marked out on the farm Droogegrond in 1904. Lyttelton Manor Extension 1 was established in 1942. These two townships initially resorted under the Peri Urban Board in Pretoria.

Centurion was granted City Council status in 1962 as Lyttelton. It was formed by combining the areas of Doornkloof, Irene and Lyttelton.

In 2000, the Centurion local government became part of the newly-created City of Tshwane Metropolitan Municipality, which also includes Pretoria, and the town ceased to have its own Town Council.

photo by Danie - click for more

Name Change

Lyttelton was renamed Verwoerdburg in 1967, after Hendrik Verwoerd, the so-called "architect of apartheid".The surrounding areas, as they grew, came under the same name and Lyttelton became known as one of the suburbs of Verwoerdburg. Others included Clubview, Eldoraigne, Wierda Park, Zwartkops and their extensions.

The politically neutral name Centurion has no significance, and was presumably chosen by residents in 1995 to match the name of the Centurion Park (now called SuperSport Park) cricket ground, located in the area after the end of apartheid. Following the end of Apartheid, the Indian township of Laudium and surrounding suburbs including Erasmia and Claudius, which were formerly a part of Pretoria, were made part of Centurion. A black township, called Olievenhoutbosch was created in Centurion at around the same time.

Rapid Growth

Centurion as we know it today has certainly come of age. The time when this was but a sleepy southern suburb of Pretoria, with smallholdings and large open spaces, has long passed. The area has experienced tremendous growth since 1994 and many businesses have relocated here. Property development has ensured that the city limits are expanding on a continuous basis.

Due to this growth, the Gauteng Provincial Council envisages that much of the Gauteng Province will be one city by 2015.

Infrastructure

Centurion features modern shopping malls (the biggest being Centruion Mall), various entertainment spots, a driving range and golf courses and the well known cricket grounds, Supersport Park. Several hotels are present in the area as well as a host of other accommodation establishments.

The UNITAS hospital is the largest private hospital on the African continent, complete with helipad and forms part of the Netcare Group.

Well known technology companies such as Denel, Siemens, SAAB Grintek Technologies and Telkom are also located in Centurion.