X-Nico

5 unusual facts about Union Buildings


Cape Garrison Artillery

On the successful conclusion of the South West Africa Campaign, many members of the CGA joined the Heavy Artillery Brigade of the South African Overseas Expeditionary Force, which served with great distinction in France and was later commemorated by the South African Heavy Artillery memorial below the Union Buildings in Pretoria.

Union Buildings

Lord Selborne and H.C. Hull, a member of the first Union Cabinet, chose Meintjieskop as the site for Baker's design.

In 1856 Andries Francois du Toit (1813–1883), in exchange for a Basuto pony, acquired part of the farm, which he named 'Arcadia' and on which the Union Buildings were later constructed.

The British high commissioner at the time, Lord Selborne, remarked;

The concept of an acropolis and a building that agreed with renowned British Architect sir Christopher Wren's theory that a public building should be a national ornament which establishes a nation, draws people and commerce and makes people love their country easily persuaded the then powers that be, who were at the time, preoccupied with the ideal of establishing a new and united nation.


South African Police Memorial

The South African Police Memorial is located in the grounds of the Union Buildings in Pretoria and commemorates officers of the South African Police Service who died in the line of duty.


see also

Albertina Sisulu

On 9 August 1956, Sisulu joined Helen Joseph and Sophia Williams-De Bruyn in a march of 20,000 women to the Union Buildings of Pretoria in protest against the apartheid government's requirement that women carry passbooks as part of the pass laws.