Editing Bloemfontein (section)

===Apartheid era (1948–1994)===

When the National Party won the [[1948 South African general election|1948 South African national government elections]], they began implementing the policy known as [[apartheid]]. The policy was built on separate development of ethnic groups, and racial segregation was enforced. In Bloemfontein, residential segregation had begun in the 19th century with the passing of Ordinance 1 of 1860, which determined that no non-white, without written permission from the landlord (British government), had the right to occupy urban land in towns where local municipalities did not yet exist. On 3 June 1861, the council demarcated three locations in the following areas; the black population was to move to the area that lay to the right of a neighbourhood that was known as Kaffirfontein, Coloureds were to move to the [[Waaihoek]] Black residential area on the eastern outskirts of the town. The inhabitants of these settlements had to pay the so-called hut tax and grazing rights tax.<ref name= "bloemfotein1">{{cite web|url=http://www.sahistory.org.za/article/bloemfontein-segregated-city|publisher=SA History Online| title=Bloemfontein the Segregated city|date=2011-03-30}}</ref> This laid the foundation for the implementation of residential urban segregation as envisaged by the architects of apartheid.

When the [[South Africa]]n [[apartheid]] government passed the [[Group Areas Act]] of 1950, the Bloemfontein municipality put into effect changes in the racial set-up of the city. The municipality demolished the Cape Stands residential area, which was occupied by the city's [[Coloureds|coloured population]], and moved the residents to [[Heidedal]]. However, due to Coloureds living in such proximity to black people, [[Interracial marriage|intermarriages across racial lines]] occurred, resulting in a partially mixed population in [[Heidedal]] and [[Mangaung Metropolitan Municipality|Mangaung]]. In 1952, the Bloemfontein municipality began building new residential areas for the city's black population. New residential areas to separate ethnic groups such as [[Sotho people|Sotho]], [[Xhosa people|Xhosa]] and [[Tswana people|Tswana]] were formed. The residential areas were jointly known as Mangaung.<ref name= "bloemfotein1"/>  Phahameng, a [[Sotho people|Sotho]] township, was the first formal housing projects to be approved by the municipality in 1956. Physical buffers such as the railway line and roads were put into place to separate black ethnic groups, the white and coloured population. Eleven thousand housing structures, of which approximately 6,000 were government-built rental accommodations, were erected in Mangaung between 1952 and 1968.<ref name="bloemfotein2">{{cite web|url=https://www.uniassignment.com/essay-samples/cultural-studies/review-of-apartheid-in-bloemfontein-verno-cultural-studies-essay.php|publisher=Uni Assignment|title=Review of Apartheid in Bloemfontein Verno Cultural Studies Essay|access-date=5 December 2017|archive-date=1 October 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211001150408/https://www.uniassignment.com/essay-samples/cultural-studies/review-of-apartheid-in-bloemfontein-verno-cultural-studies-essay.php|url-status=dead}}</ref>

In 1968, Mangaung faced severe housing shortages when as many as 3,000 to 6,000 housing units were needed. To counter this problem, a 55&nbsp;km eastward expansion called [[Botshabelo, Free State|Botshabelo]] was added in 1979. The Bloemfontein municipality channelled off all black urbanisation to [[Thaba 'Nchu]] and Botshabelo, which were developed as a source of cheap labour for the city of Bloemfontein. A subsidised bus service was established, and Botshabelo was declared a decentralisation point, meaning it was designated to become an industrial development point to reduce the distance between the place of employment and the place of residence.

In 1988, approximately 14,500 people were commuting daily between [[Botshabelo, Free State|Botshabelo]] and Bloemfontein. This meant that 55% of Botshabelo's workforce was employed outside the city.<ref name= "bloemfotein3">{{cite web|url=https://impulscentrum.be/south_africa/mod4_fringe/lesson11.asp|publisher=Impuls centrum|title=Apartheid and housing in Mangaung and Botshabelo|access-date=5 December 2017|archive-date=6 December 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171206074617/https://impulscentrum.be/south_africa/mod4_fringe/lesson11.asp|url-status=dead}}</ref> In 1994, after the disestablishment of the apartheid government, Bloemfontein, Botshabelo, and Thaba Nchu became part of [[Motheo District Municipality]]. The [[Motheo District Municipality]] was disestablished on 18 May 2011, and Mangaung was upgraded to become an autonomous metropolitan municipality with Bloemfontein as the main seat.