Monuments

Three times in its history, the Free State went to war against the Basutos and their king, Moshoeshoe. That was 1858, 1865-66 and 1867-68. It was a turbulent time for both sides, which included the time in between the wars.

In this article I am reporting on some of the trekker monuments, graves and fortifications that still exist from that time. This is not a complete collection, it is just items I have come across in my travels.

First a summary of the historical events. Conflict between the Basutos and the trekkers started as the first trekboers crossed the Orange River to seek better pastures.

The confusing boundary situation between the Basutos and the Free State

Underlying the conflict was the confusing situation regarding the boundary between the Free State and the Basutos. The map above illustrates this. There was the Napier line, the Warden line, the various attempts in between to get some agreement and finally the present borders. When the first trekboers came over the Orange River they saw this as empty, uninhabited land, but the Basutos viewed it as the land of their ancestors. When the British took over the Free State in 1848, the Warden line was declared as the boundary between the Free State and the Basutos. Little heedance was given to this border by the...

A stunning new mosaic with a message of Ubuntu has brought hope and dignity to a landmark site which has in recent times been mired in squalor and decay. Highly visible to passing traffic, the small park occupies a busy corner opposite Darras Centre in  Kensington.

After suffering repeated vandalism, the war memorial that occupied the space was successfully restored and relocated to Bezuidenhout Park earlier this year. Now settled at its new site, the war memorial has been given a new lease of life in spacious and tranquil surroundings.

The vandalised Bezuidenhout Valley War Memorial in 2018

Dignity restored:  the Bezuidenhout War Memorial at its new home in Bezuidenhout Park (Mayat-Hart Architects)

Back at the mini-park, the newly-created mosaic wall marks the site where the old memorial stood, which continues as a place of memory and reflection.  A side panel carries an outline image of monument, with the words:

First erected on this site in the 1920s, the Bezuidenhout Valley War Memorial remembers men of this suburb who died in World...

Memorials in the modern era have sometimes taken on different aspects, because public opinion has moved from the original lionisation as more awareness has been given to differing opinions and views.

The Rhodes Must Fall protest and subsequent removal of his statue at the University of Cape Town may be considered to have been the forerunner of what has become a global movement. Perhaps now is an appropriate time to contemplate some of those that exist in the west coast region of South Africa. It is not my premise to decide whether they retain relevance or not.

It is notable to first consider that there are no public memorials to the Stone Age peoples, San and Khoekhoe, slaves or the forced removals that occurred in the area, not in the accepted, conventional sense at any rate. There might be an argument that sites such as middens containing evidence of early inhabitants, stone age tools, human remains and paintings might be considered as memorials, but we are conscious they were not specifically constructed as places of memories.

So, a random look at some of the existing commemorations.

San paintings on Kasteelberg in the Riebeek Valley. The overhang contains images of Eland and other fauna that was endemic before agriculture...

On 14 March 2020, the Vice-Chancellor and Principal of the University of Pretoria, Professor Tawana Kupe officially unveiled the Pierre van Ryneveld memorial stone in its third location at the university’s Hillcrest Experimental Farm Campus

Van Ryneveld Air Force Monument

Pierre van Ryneveld Memorial Stone

On 4 February 1920, Sir Pierre van Ryneveld and Sir Quintin Brand set out from London to South Africa to pioneer the first trans-Africa flight. The Mediterranean crossing took 11 hours in a Vickers Vimy (the Silver Queen). Their first forced landing was in Wadi Halfa in present-day Sudan. The plane was unusable and a second Vimy (the Silver Queen II) was delivered 11 days later. The duo took off from Cairo. On 6 March 1920, the Silver Queen II crashed while attempting to take off at Bulawayo. A third aircraft (a De Havilland DH9) was flown to...

In Church Square, Pretoria, stands a statue of President Paul Kruger flanked by four bronze sculptures of Boers. They spent nearly twenty years, from 1902 to 1921, in England before being returned to South Africa eventually to take up their position on the square in 1954. The general belief has been that Lord Kitchener, Commander-in-Chief of the British forces in South Africa from 1901 to the end of the war ‘stole’ these statues as ‘spoils of war’. This view has been espoused by biographers of Kitchener, such as Philip Magnus in 1958 who incorrectly claimed the statues were returned in 1909. John Pollock, Kitchener’s most thorough biographer records that it was ‘opponents of Kitchener in his controversy with Curzon in India [who] had spread the rumour that he had removed “statues of Kruger and other famous Boers from public squares in Bloemfontein and Pretoria”.’ The statues were placed at the Royal Engineer Brompton Barracks in Chatham until 1913 when two of them were removed to Kitchener’s estate at Broome near Canterbury in Kent before all four found their way to Church Square in 1953. 

Paul Kruger Statue (Anne Samson)

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In 1811 Joseph de Maistre wrote that every nation gets the government it deserves. By extension then, it also get the heritage it merits, and as building after building in our city centres continue to fall before the demolisher’s hammer, many South Africans have been left wondering exactly what they have done to warrant the destruction of so many of their memories.

To many, 1994 marked a turning point in our history, when we had the opportunity of leaving behind the horrors perpetuated by racism and Apartheid and embracing a bright new rainbow future, free from the guilt and recriminations of past events. Regrettably such an approach requires that many hard realities be put into abeyance, and it has not always been possible to ignore the bitter legacy that our ancestors have handed down to us. 

A South African flag is waved in front of the Chamber of Mines Building in Johannesburg (The Heritage Portal)

The metaphorical flow of history is linear and does not have sharp corners or U-turns. Instead it moves inexorably through time, and while the lies and dark secrets of our colonial past may lie hidden for a while, eventually history will open them to the light of critical examination and the fresh air of open debate. Then, like...

On 26 July 2018 concerned stakeholders including representatives from the Johannesburg Heritage Foundation (Kathy Munro), the Kensington Residents Association (Isabella Pingle) and the  Johannesburg East Joint Plans committee (Andre Marais) met with Eric Itzkin, Zoleka Ntobeni, Councillor Carlos Da Rocha and Cebo Mhlongo of the City. We paid a site visit to the Bez Valley War Memorial. This is the First World War War memorial commemorating the 64 men of Bezuidenhout Valley who lost their lives while fighting or serving on battlefields and theatres of war in France, South West Africa, East Africa, North Africa and the Middle East. They were soldier volunteers for the British Empire and Allied cause in the war against Germany and the Central powers between 1914 and 1918. The first name on the central panel of names on the granite plinth was Sir George Farrar of Bedford Court who died following a tragic railway accident in the South West African campaign.

Painting of Bedford Court

The men commemorated on the memorial were all white and many of immigrant descent or first generation South Africans. Those were the racial, cultural and social restrictions of that era. Black members of the SA Native Labour Corp who were also volunteers and service men are now remembered and commemorated at various memorials across the city and all who served are remembered at the Cenotaph on Beyers Naude Square. The...

The passages below, taken from the City of Joburg's heritage inventory form, reveal the captivating history behind the Indian War Memorial. The three metre high sandstone memorial stands at the summit of the Observatory Ridge with majestic views over the surrounding suburbs.

View over the eastern suburbs from the Observatory Ridge (The Heritage Portal)

The memorial commemorates the sacrifices of Indian auxiliaries who lost their lives during the Anglo-Boer War of 1899-1902. It is the oldest war memorial in Johannesburg, unveiled on 31 October 1902, five months after peace was declared. In total some 9 000 men were brought out from India to bolster the British forces. They took up non-combatant functions as stretcher-bearers, farriers (‘nalbands”), veterinary assistants, grooms, orderlies, ammunition and water carriers and washermen.  

The Memorial from below (The Heritage Portal)

An Indian detachment staffed a large remount camp in the valley below the memorial site, in what is now Bezuidenhout Park. Up to 4 000 horses could be accommodated at Bezuidenhout Valley’s large central remount station...

The sculpture shows a soldier in kilt and Scottish regalia. It fits in most dramatically with its position on a rising site on the triangular ground where St Andrew’s and Ridge Road meet. Visually it is very satisfying. It may not be a great work of art, but it is certainly a fine memorial, beautifully proportioned and well executed.

South African Scottish Memorial (The Heritage Portal)

The memorial was designed by William Tait Conner, a Scottish architect born in Glasgow who moved to Johannesburg in 1903 (click here for fascinating details from Artefacts). He served with the Transvaal Scottish in the First World War, attaining the rank of major. His partner A. Hamilton was killed in the conflict. Tait Connor won the competition to design the War Memorial in Boksburg, but gave his services freely for this work in 1922.

[NB - See the comments section for clarification on this paragraph] The sculptor was Arthur Taylor, who must have been a man of some eminence in Aberdeen. Alf Beattie, a member of the South African Scottish and a survivor of the Battle of Delville Wood, had known Taylor when he had grown up in Aberdeen. He wrote to his old friend and suggested he sculpt a SA Scottish...

This month it was my pleasure to visit Sappersrus. The occasion was a gathering of the tourism association of the Hartbeestpoort Dam/Magaliesberg area to meet and learn about Sappersrus and its history and attend a small memorial ceremony. We enjoyed excellent hospitality and a lunch in the well-designed lapa close to the water. I was asked to deliver a short talk on the Battle of the Somme, Delville Wood and memorialization. Our hosts were Irene Small and Ashley Williams, who run the Sappers facility and Foundation. They keep the faith of past traditions, recruit new members and educate people about the Sappers and their role in World War II and other South African military engagements. Their task is to continue the charitable work of the Sappers Foundation (as the older Sappers Association is now known) and promote the Heritage Centre. Sappersrus also offers weekend accommodation to anyone wanting a break in pleasant country surroundings.

Sappersrus is located on the road from Hartbeestpoort Dam to Magaliesberg on the north bank of the Magalies River. It is at this point that the river flows into Hartebeespoort Dam. It is about 42 kms from Pretoria and about 1 hour 15 minutes drive from Randburg. It is very accessible and the roads from all directions are excellent.

The history of Sappersrus dates back to the Second World War and the comradeship among the South African Engineers Corp. The Sappers were the engineers of the army and South African Sappers saw service in East Africa, North Africa and in Italy...