WITBANK

town, Mpumalanga province, South Africa, east of Pretoria. Established in 1890, it is at the centre of a coal-mining area in which more than 20 collieries operate. During the South African War, the young soldier-journalist Winston Churchill hid in a colliery near Witbank after his escape from Pretoria. Witbank attained town status in 1910. In 1972 the capacity of the Witbank Dam, on the Great Olifants River, was increased from 17,000,000 to 108,000,000 cubic m (22,000,000 to 141,000,000 cubic yards). The town has grown rapidly around heavy industry, and a power plant at the dam supplies electricity to a wide area. Pop. (1985) 41,784.