The Johanna van der Merwe Voortrekker Monument Association (JvdM VT) is in the process of adopting the Emma Park Koppie (where the Monument is located) and will maintain it in future.
The koppie was visited by the Johanna van der Merwe wagon on 10 December 1938 as part of the Symbolic Oxwagon Trek organized by the ATKV (Afrikaanse Taal- en Kultuurvereniging). On that day a stone cairn was laid with stones provided by the public and the Johanna van der Merwe wagon was pulled over a slab of cement imprinting the wheel tracks of the wagon. One of the guest speakers was Mr. T.S. Schlebusch.
Many of the monuments built to commemorate the 1938 Voortrekker Centenary Trek started out with the laying of a stone cairn by the public on the day that the town was visited by the wagons participating in the Symbolic Ox-wagon Trek. The monument itself was usually built at a later stage and often the stones that formed part of the stone cairn were used to build the monument. The Emma Park monument was made of large sandstone blocks with a sandstone obelisk pointing to the sky, rather than with the smaller stones of the stone cairn.
This monument was erected in 1939 to commemorate the arrival of the symbolic oxwagon Trek at the Koppie from the Cape.
On 19 May 2018 the South African War Grave Society (SAWGS) and the JvdM VT organized a cleanup of the Koppie. Below are a few photographs of the team in action.
Please contact sawgsociety@gmail.com for more information about the project. Donations are very much appreciated:
- SAWGS FNB Northcliff,
- Account No.: 627 49 410 718,
- Branch Code: 253-705
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