The suburb of Wapadrand is situated in the East of Pretoria and has recently been converted into a security village due to the unacceptable levels of crime in the area. All access to Wapadrand is through traffic booms. The Wapadrand Security Village is bordered  to the North by Lynnwood Road and in the East by Hans Strydom Avenue. The suburb is just a few minutes drive from the Faerie Glen Nature Reserve and the Menlyn Park Shopping Mall, and is conveniently placed for prospective travellers to or from Mpumalanga, the N4 highway lying just to the North.

Pretoria itself was founded in 1855 by Marthinus Pretorius, a leader of the Voortrekkers, who named it after his father Andries Pretorius. During the First Boer War, the city was besieged by Republican forces in December 1880 and March 1881. The peace treaty, which ended the was, was signed in Pretoria on 3 August 1881 at the Pretoria Convention. Pretoria achieved official city status in 1931.