In the article below, Jaco Mattheyse explores the history behind a well-known Krugersdorp landmark: the old Police Station on Commissioner Street. He begins by unpacking the social and political landscape of the town in the 1890s.

At the time, the District Township (known today as Krugersdorp North) was little more than a skeletal settlement with a few streets and scattered buildings. Yet, it managed to avoid becoming a ghost town because it retained some permanent residents and held political legitimacy as an administrative centre. Its existence, however, had minimal impact on the British residents of the Stand Township (today’s Krugersdorp CBD). Local newspapers and archives make few references to the District Township, and most mentions of ‘Krugersdorp’ in historical records refer solely to the Stand Township.

While the Stand Township had a distinctly British character with a predominantly English-speaking population, it remained under the governance of the Dutch-speaking officials of the Zuid-Afrikaansche Republiek (ZAR), or Transvaal Republic. The Republican police force, the ZARPs, enforced the law, and the local courts were presided over by landdrosts. The key official in the town was the gold commissioner (Mijn Kommissaris), who issued mining claims and stand licenses and, for all practical purposes, acted as the town’s mayor. A small but prosperous Dutch-speaking middle class of professionals, shopkeepers, merchants, and traders also lived in the Stand Township, ensuring a noticeable Dutch presence.

This created an equilibrium between the Dutch-speaking officials who controlled the local state apparatus and the English-speaking commercial elite who dominated the town’s economic and social life—an arrangement that mirrored the relationship between the District and Stand Townships.

By the 1890s, Krugersdorp had grown into a permanent settlement. Along with the new train station and grander government buildings erected on the Market Square, a police station was constructed in 1897 to meet the needs of a growing population and rising crime. Yet, the police station was more than a mere response to practical necessity—it also symbolised the growing Boer national chauvinism that emerged in the wake of the gold discoveries and the subsequent enrichment of the ZAR government.

Though built in the western section of the town—seemingly undermining the argument that it was meant to project Boer power onto the English-speaking mining population—the station can still be viewed as a symbol of Boer authority. This becomes clearer when considering the ideological significance of the town’s east-west spatial axis, just as the north-south axis carried symbolic meaning.

Initially, the site of today’s Department of Home Affairs was considered for the police station, as that marked the western edge of town. Ultimately, the second and final site chosen was lower-lying and more removed from the mines, possibly because the land was cheaper. Still, symbolic considerations likely influenced this choice.

Architecturally, the police station was quintessentially Republican, featuring Dutch Neo-Renaissance gables, ornate sandstone detailing, and red brick walls. To reinforce its message of Boer nationalism, the foundation stone was laid by President Paul Kruger himself. Measuring 26 metres in length, the substantial building projected Republican power effectively. The Republican police were tasked not only with maintaining law and order but also with preserving Boer control over an increasingly restless Uitlander (foreigner) population on the West Rand. The station formed part of a complex that included a large stable block, which has unfortunately been lost over time.

The first station commander was Sergeant Sarel Eloff, the grandson of President Kruger and son of Frikkie Eloff. The building was unique in the old Transvaal; outside of Pretoria and Johannesburg, it was rare for towns to boast such a grand police station. None of the smaller Transvaal towns could match it.

Additionally, several police residences were built in the District Township’s ‘sacred’ north, constructed in the same distinctive Republican red brick. This placement symbolically connected the north and west parts of the town, further embedding the visual markers of Republican authority. The combination of these new buildings—positioned to the south, west, and north—and their architectural style created a powerful visual reminder of Boer Republican power. This was reinforced by the sight of Boer commandos parading through the streets and the visibility of the Republican Vierkleur flag at strategic points around the town. As a result, the predominantly British commercial hub, centred on the Luipaardsvlei Estate and G.M. Co. Ltd., found itself ‘surrounded’ by an assertive, nationalist Transvaal Republican environment.

This spatial strategy was deepened by the establishment of the Boer residential area of Burghershoop, also founded in 1897. Located on the town’s western periphery, Burghershoop consisted of free ‘government’ stands intended for impoverished, marginalised Dutch-speaking Boers. Many of these settlers had been displaced from the land during the 1890s due to the capitalist transformation of agriculture, which converted traditional sharecropping (bywoner) arrangements into wage labour relationships. The devastating rinderpest outbreak in the late 1890s further contributed to the settlement’s growth.

The founding of Burghershoop, the western positioning of the police station, the Transvaal Republican architectural styles, and the visible nationalist displays by the Krugersdorp Commando all signal an intentional imposition of Boer nationalist ideology onto what had previously been a more cosmopolitan town.

Later, the old police station was converted into sleeping quarters for the police after a newer station was built next door. Like the old train station, it was plastered and painted white at some stage. By the 1980s, the building had become severely dilapidated but was eventually restored to its original appearance.

Plans were made to repurpose it as a museum, but unfortunately, this never materialised. The building remains largely vacant to this day and is once again starting to show signs of age and neglect.