Pretoria Travel Guide  Pretoria © girolame  Pretoria is
affectionately known as the Jacaranda City due to the profusion
of Jacaranda trees, which colour the city a rich purple with
their blossoms every spring. It is located 56 miles (90km) from
Johannesburg, although this drive can take up to two hours in
the infamous traffic between the two cities. Pretoria is South
Africa's administrative capital and one of the country's more
attractive cities; its relatively ordered and picturesque urban
centre forms a stark contrast to its much more chaotic neighbour
of Johannesburg.  Pretoria was founded in 1955 and named after
Andries Pretorius, the boer leader at the Battle of Blood River
where the Voortrekkers defeated the Zulus under King Dingaan.
But since 1994, the city is best known as the administrative
capital of South Africa, and as home to the iconic Union
Buildings where Nelson Mandela was sworn in as the country's
first democratically elected president. Although Pretoria is, to
the surprise of foreign visito