Mmabatho

Mmabatho
Mmabatho Mmabatho Mmabatho
Coordinates:25°51′S25°38′E
Country	South Africa
Province	North West
District	Ngaka Modiri Molema
Municipality	Mahikeng
Area
• Total	18.47 km2(7.13 sq mi)
Population (2011)
• Total	38,297
• Density	2,100/km2(5,400/sq mi)
Racial makeup (2011)
•Black African	95.9%
•Coloured	2.0%
•Indian/Asian	1.0%
•White	1.0%
• Other	0.1%
First languages(2011)
•Tswana	89.6%
•English	1%
•Sotho	3.6%
•Xhosa	2.8%
• Other	2%
Time zone	UTC+2(SAST)
Postal code(street)	2735
PO box	2790
Area code	018

Mmabatho(Tswanafor "Mother of the People" ) is the former capital of theNorth-West ProvinceofSouth Africa.During theapartheidera, it was the capital of the former "Bantustan"ofBophuthatswana,separated from the adjacentMafekingwhich temporarily remained outside Bophuthatswana.

Following the end of apartheid in 1994, Bophuthatswana was integrated into the newly established North-West Province and Mmabatho was proclaimed the provincial capital. However, Mmabatho's status as the provincial capital was short-lived. Later in 1994, the North West provincial legislature voted to rename the capital toMahikeng(the town of Mafikeng having been merged with Mmabatho in 1980 and treated as a suburb of Mmabatho between 1980 and 1994), reducing Mmabatho to a suburb of Mafikeng. The city is an enclave within the latter.

Mmabatho contains many provincial government buildings, a shopping complex called Mega City and a Sports Stadium formerly called the Independence Stadium. TheNorth-West University,formerly the University of Bophuthatswana, is located in Mmabatho.

Situated just south of the Botswana border, the town is connected by main roads to South Africa's national capital ofPretoriain the east and toGaborone,the capital ofBotswana,in the north. A railway runs north and south from the neighbouring town of Mafikeng. The city is served byMmabatho International Airport,handling flights to and fromJohannesburg.