The Face of South Africa -- 7 Pretoria, also in the Transvaal, became the administrative seat of government in 1910 when the provinces became one Union. The Union Building, seen in this picture, which houses the main civil services of the country, stands on a hill overlooking the city - a building of beauty and distinction, with an air of decision and sincerity of purpose which it imparts to the whole city. Pretoria has its industrial side also, and, as a contrast, its flowers, its roses, and its iacaranda trees which, seen from the hill, cast a soft blue haze over the city below. August 26, 1948.