African Reservations

Centurion (previously known as Verwoerdburg, after Hendrik Frensch Verwoerd) is located between Pretoria and Midrand (Johannesburg). Formerly an independent municipality, with its own town council, it is now part of the City of Tshwane Metropolitan Municipality. It is located at the intersection of the N1 and N14 highways.

The Waterkloof Air Force Base, as well as the Swartkop Air Force Base (which includes the South African Air Force Museum) are located in Centurion. Fossils discovered at the Sterkfontein Caves show that hominids lived in the vicinity of Centurion between 2 to 3 million years ago. The Sterkfontein Caves, a World Heritage Site, is less than 50km from Centurion, near the town of Krugersdorp. However, the earliest evidence of modern human habitation in the Centurion area does not go this far back. It dates back to 1200 AD when black African communities settled in this area. They cultivated lands, grazed their cattle, made earthenware containers and smelted iron.