Information on Brits, North West, South Africa

Brits is a large town situated in a fertile, citrus-producing area in the North West Province. The region is irrigated by the Hartbeespoort Dam. It is close to the City of Tshwane Metropolitan Municipality and has the same dialling code as Pretoria. Brits is a centre for agriculture, as well as home to several industries.

The town also plays an important role in South Africa’s mining industry with most of South Africa's platinum coming from the Brits and Rustenburg districts, which together produce more platinum than any other single area in the world. In addition, there is a large vanadium mine in the district.

The De Wildt Cheetah and Wildlife Centre, renowned for its success in breeding and studying cheetah, king cheetah, brown hyena, suni, blue duiker and wild dogs is situated in the small town of De Wildt, just east of Brits. Approximately seven kilometers south of Brits is an old Karee tree. Under the tree is where a peace accord was signed between several factions to stop the civil war.

Brits was founded in 1924 on the farm Roode Kopjes and was named after Johannes Nicolaas Brits. The armistice treaty for the Transvaal civil war was signed in 1864 beneath a karee tree just to the south of Brits. A speech by General Hertzog in 1912 at the nearby De Wildt railway station led to the formation of the National Party.