A history of the Cathedral Parish of Witbank continued

2.Leraatsfontein becomes Witbank in 1896

Actual systematic mining at Witbank only started in 1896 when Samuel Stanford,together with the Neumann Group,established the company Witbank Colliery Limited, and sank the first shaft on the farm Witbank. Earlier the farm was generally known as Swartbosch although the official name was Leraatsfontein. It was given the name Witbank because it was not so cumbersome and because of the large quartz rock which,in the words of Thomas Baines," loomed like a wagon tent in the distance." Because of the poor agricultural conditions,the owner of the farm,Jacob Taljaard,made a precarious living and as a result,his neighbours named the farm " Hongerplaas."

The town Witbank was laid out in 1903 by Witbank Colliery Limited and in the same year Samuel Stanford erected the first wood and iron building ,consisting of a shop and hotel. Witbank Colliery Limited controlled the town until 9 April 1906 when a health committee was appointed. On 13 May 1910 a village council was elected and on the 8 November 1914 the town was granted muncipal status. The mining of coal did not initially result in a population increase.But with the advent of the railwayline between Pretoria and Lourenco Marques ( now Maputo) the mining industry was firmly placed on an economic basis, and thereafter the population increased considerably.

The First Catholic Settlers