Akasia

Akasia is a complex of suburbs in the north of Pretoria, part of the City of Tshwane Metropolitan Municipality. The area surrounding Akasia is largely semi-rural and is Akasia itself is built on former agricultural holdings.

The first suburb to be built in Akasia is The Orchards. The Orchards was established as a residential township in 1904 and an old Dutch-Reformed Church was in the center of the neighborhood. As the City of Pretoria grew in light of industrial expansion in the 1960's more houses were constructed in the northern semi-rural holdings today known as Akasia. The turning point in the urban development of Akasia was the establishment of the Roslyn industrial complex in the early 1970's. Roslyn became a significant industrial complex housing large industrial corporations such as Nampac (c), BMW, South African Breweries and Nissan. With the growth of the manufacturing complex came a need for a large skilled and semi-skilled workforce nearby and by the late 1970's the small agricultural holdings in the area were being purchased and transformed into residential offerings with tree lined streets and green parks.