Former Botshabelo Training Institute

Botshabelo wsa the major spiritual, cultural and educational centre which played a significant role during the Sekhukuni, the Mapoch, First Boer and the Second Boer Wars. In 1865, the mission station at Gerlachshoop closed and German missionaries Rev. Alexander Merensky and Rev. Heinrich Grutzner traveled with their refugees to Middelburg. In January 1865, Merensky purchased a farm called Boschhoek. The farm was later renamed "Toevlugt" (Botshabelo in Northern Sotho) which means "A City of Refuge". The Botshabelo Mission Station was located 12km north-west of the present day town of Middelburg. It was one of the most prosperous Berlin Mission Stations in the former Transvaal.

Originally a place of refuge for Christians, the Mission Station grew into an important and rather influential center where the Gospel was widely proclaimed among the black people. Initially homes were built for the missionaries and their followers. A stone fort (Fort Wilhelm) was constructed to protect the community against attacks from Chief Sekukhuni, and during the first and second Boer Wars. As the number of converts grew larger, a church was built in 1868 to accommodate up to 2000 people. Further extensions to the church were added in 1870. The church building also served as a lecture room for the training of Black teachers. Botshabelo was largely self-sufficient and was expanding rapidly. There was a general dealer shop, a large mill a small distance away, fields with furrows, a bookbindery and a blacksmith shop.

In 1875 a school was erected and the first building is still known as the Practice school. The Seminary was established in 1878 by Rev. Winter who was also appointed as Principal of the Seminary. Teachers who had completed their teaching courses were expected to train for a year as evangelists at the Seminary before they could be appointed as teachers and preachers. The poor conditions of school buildings at Botshabelo was due to, among others, the inadequate financing of Black Education in the rural areas. The primary aim of education at Botshabelo was to evangelise and convert the Ba-Pedi tribe who had fled the wrath of chief Sekhukhuni. Religious instruction played an important role at the training college. The missionary R.F Güstav Trumpelmann and his student, Abraham Serote, translated the bible in Sepedi (North Sotho). The publication in 1904 by the British and Foreign Bible Society of this combined effort was the first complete Bible in an indigenous language. In 1906 the Botshabelo Training Institution was founded and in 1907 it was registered with the Department of Education. The Botshabelo Training Institution catered for many African people. It played a role in developing Black languages. Between 1906 and 1954, the college trained evangelist teachers for the former Lebowa homeland in particular and for other regions of South Africa in general. After 1953, Mission schools were transferred to the then Department of Bantu Education. As a result, in 1954 the Botshabelo Institution and its hostels were transferred. In 1976 Botshabelo was closed down.