The city of Pietersburg was founded in the gold rush of the 1880’s. The site of the city was initially owned by the Zuid Afrikaanse Volksraad who purchased the eastern half of a large farm known as Sterkloop in 1884. Pietersburg was named after a well known General, Petrus (Piet) Jacobus Joubert. On the 31st of July 1886 Landdros (Magistrate) Dietlof Siegfred Mare wrote his first official letter from the magistrates court and the town was officially recognized. The main street through the city centre is known as “ Landdros Mare Street” to this day.
In February 2002, the city was renamed Polokwane – a Northern Sotho word which means “Place of Safety.” It is a city with more than a century of phenomenal growth and prosperity.