Op 12 April word die ZAR deur Brittanje geannekseer. Die doel was om
die Transvaal uiteindelik in te sluit by ‘n Federasie van Britse
Kolonies in Suid-Afrika.

Na verskeie verwikkelinge word daar tydens ‘n volksbyeenkoms op 15
April 1879 o.a. besluit:

a. “dat die Volk van die Suid-Afrikaanse Republiek nooit onderdane van
Haar Majesteit was nie en dit ook nie wil wees nie…”
b. “dat die Volk verlang dat die regering van die Suid-Afrikaanse
Republiek, wie se werksaamhede gestaak is, dit so spoedig moontlik
weer sal hervat”

Daar is besluit dat die Republiek weer herstel sou word by ‘n
byeenkoms wat op 6 April 1880 te Paardekraal gehou sou word.

Die vergadering by Paardekraal het om twee redes nie plaasgevind nie.
Die eerste was die Kaapse Goewerneur Frere se besluit om wetgewing in
te dien om voorsiening te maak vir ‘n konferensie oor federasie wat
ook die Transvaal sou insluit. Paul Kruger en Piet Joubert word
gevolglik Kaap-toe gestuur om propaganda teen die beoogde wetgewing
te gaan maak. Die feit dat die wetgewing nie aanvaar is nie, was tot
‘n hoë mate te danke aan die twee here se optrede.

‘n Tweede saak wat daartoe gelei het dat die beplande
Paardekraal-byeenkoms van 6 April 1880 nie plaasgevind het nie, was ‘n
verkiesing wat in Brittanje op hande was. Tydens sy verkiesingsveldtog
het die opposisieleier Gladstone die bestaande regering onder Disraeli
se beleid teen die Transvaal heftig aangeval. Nadat dit op 10 April
1880 bekendgeword het dat Gladstone die verkiesing gewen het, het die
Transvalers gehoop dat die nuwe regering hulle onafhanklikheid sal
erken. Die hoop het egter beskaam en in Junie, terwyl Kruger en
Joubert nog in die Kaapkolonie was, ontvang hulle nuus dat alhoewel
Gladstone bereid is om selfbestuur aan die Transvaal toe te ken, die
herstel van hulle onafhanklikheid buite die kwessie was.

Kruger het tot op daardie stadium nog telkens daarin geslaag om die
heethoofde onder die Transvalers wat gedreig het om tot wapengeweld
oor te gaan te oorreed om daarvan af te sien ten gunste van vreedsame
pogings. Dit raak egter nou al moeiliker vir hom. Die vergadering wat
op 6 April sou plaasgevind het, is nou geherskeduleer vir 8 Januarie
1881.

‘n Insident wat op 11 November 1880 plaasgevind het was egter een van
die redes waarom die vergadering na 8 Desember 1880 vervroeg is. Ene
Piet Bezuidenhout is gedagvaar om sy belasting te betaal. Hy was egter
nie bereid om sekere kostes wat betrekking gehad het op die
dagvaardiging te betaal nie. Daarop het die Landdros van Potchesftroom
op die wa beslag gelê en sou dit op 11 November – vandag 129 jaar
gelede – opgeveil word. Kommandant Piet Cronje en ‘n aantal burgers
het egter die wa geneem en dit aan sy eienaar terugbesorg.

In Kommandant J.D. Weilbach en C.N.J. du Plessis se boek Geschiedenis
van de migranten-Boeren en van den Vrijheids-oorlog uitgegee in 1882
in Kaapstad word die insident as volg beskryf (sien meegaande skanderings uit die boek)

“Omtrent een half uur voor den verkoop verzamelden zich de burgers om
de wagen. De heer P. Bezuidenhout klom op denzelven en sprak de
vergaderden toe, hun te kennen gevende, dat zij moestenw eten, dat de
wagen daar nu stond voor rekening van het Gouvernement, en dat dezelve
moest verkocht worden; maar dat hij niet onwillig was om te ebtalen,
indien de landdrost Goetz niet te veel van hem gevorderd had. Naadt
nog veel gesproken was, kwam heer P. Cronje manmoedig met zijnde rede
voor den dag, en gaf duidelijk te kenenn, dat hij den wagen niet zou
laat verkoopen. Hij moedigde verder de burgers aan om eenparig die
zaak voor et staan. Er word nog iets onder de burgers gesproken, en
toe werd alles stil.

Toen men Banket met een nooit te vergeten groote pijp in den mond en
zijn boek in de hand zag aankomen, end en wagen naderen om zijn werke
te doen, was een blik van ernst blijkbaar op een ieders gelaat,
terwijl er duidelijk angst te lezen was op het gezigt van Banket. Regt
parmantig, zooals vele Holalnders zijn, klom hij op den wagen, las er,
volgens de wet, iets voor, en begon de koopers op te roepen tot een
bod voor den wagen. Verder hoorde men niets meer, want toen kwam
Banket met een wonderlijk fatsoen den wagen af. Of hij op zijn hoofd
of op zijn voeten op de aarde te land gekomen is, weet ek niet; want
een ieder kan zicht voorstellen welk een beweging er toen was.

Landdrosts Goetz naderde nu ook de prachtige vendutie, waarschijnlik
om de burgers aan te manen, de verkooping te laten doorgaan; maar
iemand maakte zijn regtehand tot een ronden bol hield dien voor den
neus van den landdrost. Ik wist niet of hij er aan moest ruiken, dan
of het iets anders beteekende, maar de landdrost verwijderde zich. Een
jonge Engelscman kwam bij Banket, en zeide hem “You must do your
duty,” maar schielijk koos ook hij het hazenpad. Nog vele andere
snelle en vreemde bewegingenpasseerden in dat onbeschrijfelijk
ogenblik.

Ik meen, dat er daarop door den heer Cronje order werd gegeven om den
wagen te nemen. De manhaftige burgers namen den wagen als een man,
draafden er mede het plein af alsof het niets was, de Kaapsche
Handelsbank voorbij, en de Kerkstraat op, waar ergens een span ossen
gereed stond om den wagen verder weg te voeren.

De verstandige lezer sal met mij moeten instemmen, dat er nu iets
ernstigs gebeurd was. De geheel stad babbelde, en een enkel woord gaf
dikwijls aanleiding tot twisten. Potchefstroom was dien dag omgekeerd.
Zelfs de lanndrost wreef zijn handen en krabde zich achter het oor.
Hij ging den boerenwinkel, die naast het kantoor is, binnen en gaf aan
den heer Malherbe zijn leedwezen te kennen over de dingen die gebeurd
waren. Hij zeide dat hy onvermijdelijk zijn resignatie zou gaan
inzenden als landdrost van Potcheftsroom, en een nogal twistachtig
gesprek ontstond ook daar.

Na deze gebeurtenis was het de vraag van den dag, “Wat zal er nu
gebeuren?” Ik voor mijzelven kwam, na ernstige overweging, tot het
beslist oordeel, dat niets anders dan den uitslag kon wezen dan
oorlog; want ik meende dat du de kroon van Groot Brittanje toch
eenmaal door de verdrukte Afrikaanders was onteerd, en op zoodanige
wijze, dat het nu van alle kanten verpligt zou worden om zonder
aarzelaan zijn magt, en zijn wet zoo spoedig mogelijk uit te oefenen
over de rebellen, zooals het ons durft noemen.”

Die vet was inderdaad nou in die vuur. CFJ Muller merk in sy 500 Jaar
SA Geskiedenis op dat Kruger nou aan die koloniale sekretaris George
Hudson laat weet “dat hy die volk nie langer in bedwang kon hou nie en
dat dit nou nie meer ‘n saak tussen die Britse regering en Cronje en
Bezuidenhout en die was was nie, maar ‘n saak tussen die Britse
regering en die ZAR geword het.”

Op 16 Desemebr bekragtig die burgers (daar kon soveel as 10 000 van
hulle bymekaar gewees het) by Paardekraal ‘n besluit van die
volkskomitee wat op 15 Desember geneem is dat die ZAR se
onafhanklikheid herstel moet word. So het die Eerste Anglo Boere
Oorlog uitgebreek.

Bronne:

CFJ Muller: Vyfhonder Jaar Suid-Afrikaanse Geskiedenis, Academica, 1980
n Kommandant J.D. Weilbach en C.N.J. du Plessis se boek Geschiedenis
van de migranten-Boeren en van den Vrijheids-oorlog, Kaapstad, 1882

Search this this unique list of voters brings back to life a rich and lively part of our history. In 1927 Johannesburg had recovered from the 1st World War and the Randlords were creaming revenue from the gold industry as well as rental from the influx of migrant workers.

At the time when mining had peaked and the majority of voters were were farmers, miners, engineers, civil servants, retired persons and even a Professional Golfer called Frederick Nuttley who has now been long forgotten about.

Surname listed in this collection:

Abbott , Acheson , Adam , Adams , Adamson , Adcock , Addison , Adler , Aird , Alder , Aldworth ,
Alexandra , Allan , Allison , Allsopp , Allsworth , Ambrose , Anderson , Andreini , Andrew , Angus
, Antel , Armstrong , Arnold , Arnott , Arvidson , Ashley , Atherstone , Atkinson , Auret , Axsel
, Aylmer , Ayres , Ayris , Backeberg , Backer , Badenhorst , Bagg , Bagge , Bailey , Baines ,
Baker , Baldwin , Bales , Bam , Bannink , Bantjes , Barker , Barkhuizen , Barlow , Barnes ,
Barnett , Barrett , Barrow , Barry , Bartlet , Basson , Bateman , Bates , Bayne , Beale ,
Beardsworth , Beaucham , Becker , Beckley , Beeforth , Beeson , Beith , Belford , Bell , Belllis ,
Belshaw , Benjamin , Benner , Bennett , Bennie , Bensdorp , Benzie , Bergh , Bernadie , Bernstein
, Berson , Bertram , Bester , Bestwick , Bethell , Beukes , Beves , Beyers , Bezuidenhout ,
Biccard , Bidgood , Bidwell , Biedman , Bierman , Bihl , Bilbrough , Billett , Bischoff , Bishop ,
Bissett , Black , Blackett , Blackie , Blagden , Blagien , Blake , Blane , Bloem , Boast , Bobrow
, Bolger , Boltman , Bolus , Bonser , Bonthuys , Booker , Boot , Booth , Booysen , Booysens ,
Borchardt , Bosch , Boshoff , Bosman , Bostock , Boswell , Botes , Botha , Bothma , Botma , Bouwer
, Bovill , Bowden , Bowers , Bowles , Bowman , Bowyer , Boyd , Boyett , Brabant , Brady ,
Braidwood , Bramley , Brampton , Branthwaite , Brebner , Bredenkamp , Breedt , Breet , Breitz ,
Brent , Breton , Brick , Bridger , Briel , Briggs , Bright , Brill , Brink , Brinkworth , Brits ,
Broad , Broadbent , Brodie , Brokensha , Brolin , Brook , Brooke , Brookes , Brookes  , Brooks ,
Brown , Brown  , Brownridge , Bruce , Bruton , Bruyns , Bryan , Bryden , Buchanan , Buchler , Buck
, Budler , Bullen , Bullock , Buncombe , Bunge , Burbury , Burchell , Burge , Burger , Burke ,
Burnett , Burton , Bush , Bust  , Butcher , Butler , Butt , Button , Buys , Buyskes , Byrne ,
Caithness , Caldwell , Callanan , Calvert , Calvert  , Cameron , Cammidge , Campbell , Cariss ,
Carlow , Carlse , Carmont , Carney , Carr , Carstens , Carter , Cartwright , Cary , Catto , Catton
, Cave , Cawse , Celliers , Chadwick , Chamberlain , Champan , Champion , Chandler , Chapman ,
Chappell , Chavasse , Cherrington , Cheves , Chivers , Christiane , Christie , Christie  ,
Cilliers , Claassen , Clair , Clapham , Clapham  , Clark , Clarke , Clarke-Walker , Clarke-Walter
, Clarkson , Classens , Clayden , Clemence , Clements , Clemmesen , Clench , Cliffe , Clifford ,
Cloete , Cloughly , Clow , Cochran , Cochrane , Cockburn , Coetsee , Coetzee , Coetzer , Coker ,
Colborne , Cole , Coleman , Colledge , Colling , Collinge , Collins , Colly , Coltart , Colville-
Reeves , Colvin , Comber , Commins , Compton , Connell , Conradie , Conrath , Conroy , Cook , Cook
, Cooke , Cooks , Coom , Cooper , Copeland , Corbett , Corbitt , Cordier , Cork , Cornall ,
Cornelesen , Corrigan , Corry , Cortie , Cottrell , Cottrill , Court , Courtney , Coventry , Cowes
, Cox , Craggs , Cramer , Crane , Crankow , Cranswick , Crate , Craven , Crawford , Creighton ,
Crettaz , Crighton , Critchlow , Croft , Crofton , Cronje , Crooks , Crosby , Cross , Cruddas ,
Cruse , Cruywagen , Cubitt , Cuninghame , Cunningham , Curnow , Currie , Curry , Curtin , Curtis ,
Cussons , Dadswell , Dagg , Dale , Dalgleish , Daniels , Dart , Davie , Davies , Davin , Davis ,
Dawson , De Beer , De Boer , De Bruin , De Bruyn , De Hart , De Jager , De Jong , De Klerk , De
Kock , De Leeuw , De Meillon , De Ruig , De Smidt , De Villiers , De Vries , De Waal , De Wet , De
Winnaar , De Witt , Dean , Deane , Deeble , Deekjeschen , Delaporte , Dennal , Denny , Densum ,
Denysschen , Derksen , Dessington , Devine , Devonport , Dewar , Deysel , Dicks , Dickson , Dietze
, Dinnes , Dismore , Dittberner , Dixon , Dobbs , Dobson , Dodds , Dodson , Doel , Dom , Donaldson
, Doorewaard , Dorney , Dougan , Douglas , Douthwaite , Dowker , Downs , Dreyer , Driscoll , Drost
, Droste , Drummond , Du Plessis , Du Plooy , Du Preez , Du Toit , Dudley , Duffus , Dumas ,
Duncam , Duncan , Dunn , Dunston , Durand , Duthie , Dutton , Duvenage , Duvenhage , Dyer , Dyke ,
Eastwood , Eccles , Eckstein , Edwards , Ehlers , Elder , Elderkin , Eldridge , Elks , Ellcombe ,
Ellcome , Ellenberger , Ellingson , Ellis , Ellman , Els , Else , Elske , Ely , Emmerson , Emslie
, Engel , Engela , Engelbrecht , Ennals , Enslin , Erasmus , Eriksen , Esdaile , Esson ,
Esterhuizen , Evans , Evert , Everton , Ewert , Fabel , Fahrenheim , Fairbanks , Fallet , Fardully
, Farley , Farrell , Faulkner , Fearnhead , Fell , Fennessy , Ferguson , Fergusson , Ferrar ,
Ferreira , Ferreiro , Ferrier , Fick , Field , Fielders , Finch , Findlay , Fishburne , Fisher ,
Fisk , Fison , Fitchet , Fitt , Fitzgerald , Fleischer , Flemming , Fletcher , Florias , Flowerday
, Foley , Folley , Folly , Foot , Forbes , Forni , Forrett , Forster , Forsyth , Foster , Fouche ,
Fourie , Fouston , Fox , Foxcroft , France , Francis , Franklin , Fraser , Freeman , French ,
Fritsche , Froneman , Fryer , Fulbech , Fulbeck , Fulton , Furlong , Galbraith , Galphin , Gardner
, Gardyne , Garnett , Garrell , Garvie , Gascoigne , Gaul , Gaul  , Gauld , Gavin , Gay , Gearing
, Gebhard , Geddes , Gedye , Geel , Geldenhuys , George , Geraghty , Gerber , Germaine , Gibb ,
Gibb  , Gibbon , Gibbs , Gibon , Gibson , Giesken , Gildenhuys , Gill , Gillies , Gipson , Glasson
, Glendon , Glenn , Glover , Glynn , Godbeer , Godbold , Godlonton , Goldby , Golding , Goldsmith
, Good , Goodman , Goodrich , Goodwin , Goosen , Gordon , Gosch , Gough , Gower , Graham , Grant ,
Grassmann , Graupner  , Gray , Greeff , Green , Greenwood , Greig , Grenau , Grenfell , Grettaz ,
Greve , Grevelink , Greybe , Greyling , Griessel , Griffin , Griffiths , Grobbelaar , Grobler ,
Groenewald , Grohman , Grosvenor , Grove , Groves , Guest , Guilford , Gull , Gumbley , Gunning ,
Gunningham , Gurney , Gyngell , H(a)rman , Haig , Hailaby , Hall , Halsted , Hamilton , Hancock ,
Handgrove , Hands , Hanekom , Hann , Harby , Hardie , Harding , Hardwicke , Hardy , Harley ,
Harmse , Harries , Harris , Harrison , Hart , Hartman , Hartz , Harvey , Harwin , Haskell ,
Haskill , Haswell , Hatfield , Hattingh , Haupt , Hauptfleisch , Havenga , Havengam , Hawkins ,
Haworth , Hay , Hay(y) , Haylett , Haywood , Heath , Heathcote , Heathfield , Heavingham ,
Heberden , Hedge , Heeger , Heermans , Hefer , Heggie , Henderson , Henley , Henning , Henrey ,
Henry , Herbst , Hershowitz , Heugh , Hewlett , Heyneke , Hibbert , Hibbins , Hickey , Higgerty ,
Higgins , Highnam , Hilarius , Hill , Hills , Hilson , Hirtzel , Hitchcock , Hoadley , Hobkirk ,
Hodge , Hodgkinson , Hodkinson , Hoffe , Hoffman , Hofman , Hofmeyr , Hogan , Hohne , Hollaghan ,
Holland , Holliday , Hollister , Holloway , Holmes , Honey , Hookham , Hoole , Hoon , Hope ,
Hopley , Horn , Hornby , Horst , Horswell , Hosken , Houndsworth , Howard  , Howell , Howes ,
Howie , Hucklebridge , Hudson , Hudson-Reed , Huggins , Hughes , Hugo , Hull , Hulley , Humphrey ,
Humphreys , Hunt , Hunter  , Hurd , Hurley , Hurndall , Hutchinson , Huth , Hutley , Hutson ,
Hutt-Brenning , Hutton , Hynd , Ibler , Imhofe , Imhoffe , Inglis , Ingram , Ingram  , Ion ,
Irmscher , Irving , Irwin , Israel , Itzekowitz , Ives , Ivey , Jackson , Jacobie , Jacobs , Jahr
, James , Jamieson , Jankes , Jankes  , Janse Van Niewenhuizen , Janse Van Rensburg , Jansen ,
Jansen Van Vuuren , Jardine , Jarvis , Jeffery , Jeffrey , Jenkins , Jenkinson , Jeppe , Jerling ,
Jessen , Jessup , Joffe , John , Johnson , Johnston , Johnstone , Jones , Jones  , Jonk , Jooste ,
Jopling , Jopling  , Jordaan , Joubert , Jurrius , Jutan , Kaiser , Kamp , Kannemier , Kaspersen ,
Kean , Kearsley , Keeble , Keenan , Keet , Keevy , Keith , Keith  , Kelsey , Kelynack , Kemnuir ,
Kemp , Kenmuir , Kennedy , Ker , Kerling , Kerr , Kew , Kew  , Kewley , Key , Keyworth , Kidger ,
Kift , Killips , Kinder , King , King  , Kirby , Kirchner , Kitai , Kitto , Kleinhans , Klem ,
Kleynhans , Klopper , Klopper  , Kloppers , Knapp , Knight , Knox , Koch , Koehane , Koekemoer ,
Koen , Kohler , Kok , Koll , Kolm , Kolver , Kope , Koppel , Kotze , Kramer , Kraukamp , Krause ,
Kretzschmar , Krige , Kroucamp , Kruger , Kruger  , Kuin , Kunfer , Kunhardt , Kupfer , Kurk , La
Merton , Laburn , Labuschagne , Lagerwey , Lahner , Lamb , Lamplough , Lane , Lange , Lange  ,
Langenhorst , Langlands , Langley , Langstaffe , Lardner-Burke , Lategan , Latham , Laurence ,
Lawlor , Lawrence , Lawrie , Lawson , Le grange , Le Roux , Lee , Leech , Legg , Leggat , Lehman ,
Leigh-Taylor , Leishman , Lellyett , Lenten , Lenton , Leslie , Lessing , Lester , Letcher , Levin
, Levin  , Levitan , Lewies , Lewis , Lezard , Libera , Liberty , Liebach , Liebenberg , Lightbody
, Linde , Lindenberg , Lindhorst , Linfoot , Ling , Lingenfelder , Linn , Lippiatt , Lister ,
Little , Littlejohn , Lloyd , Lock , Locke , Logie , Lombard , Londt , Longmore , Longworth ,
Looker , Loots , Lord , Losper , Lotter , Louis , Louw , Love , Lovegrove , Lovell , Lowe , Loxton
, Lubbe , Lucas , Lust , Luyt , Luzock , Lyall , Lyon , Mabille , Macdonald , MacFarlane ,
MacGillivray , Machin , MacInnes , MacInnes  , MacKay , MacKie , Maclead , MacLeod , MacPherson ,
MacTaggart , Madden , Magnus , Maguussen , Mahony , Mai , Maier , Makings , Malan , Malcolm ,
Mallandain , Malloch , Manadue , Manee , Manfield , Mann , Mansfield , Manson , Marais , March ,
Marcoso , Maree , Maritz , Marks , Marlin , Marsh , Marshall , Martin , Martins , Marx , Maré ,
Mason , Massie , Masterax , Mastoraks , Mathey , Mattei , Matthews , Matthysen , Maunder , May ,
Maynard , Mayne , Maynier , McAllister , McCallum , McCarthy , McConaghy , McCulla , McCulloch ,
McCullock , McDermott , McDonald , McDonnell , McDowell , McFadzean , McFarlane , McGrath ,
McIntosh , McIver , McKelvey , McLaren , McLean , McLennan , McLintock , McMaster , McMenemey ,
McMullen , McNamara , McRobb , McSwiney , McWilliam , Medcalf , Meerholz , Meikle , Meins ,
Meintjes , Mellamphy , Mellet , Mellor , Melvill , Mennie , Mentis , Mentz , Mercer , Merkin ,
Metcalfe , Metrowich , Mexson , Meyburgh , Michel , Michie , Middel , Middlemas , Millar , Millard
, Miller , Millet , Millin , Milne , Minaar , Minnaar , Minne , Minshull-Ford , Mitchell , Moig ,
Moir , Mole , Moller , Mollett , Moloney , Molyneux , Monk , Montgomery , Moodie , Moolman , Moore
, Moreland , Morey , Morison , Morris , Morrison , Morrogh , Mortassagne , Morton , Moss , Mostert
, Mudd , Mulder , Mulders , Mullcoly , Muller , Mulligan , Mundell , Munro , Murgatroyd , Murphy ,
Murray , Musgrave , Myburg , Myburgh , Nancekivell , Napier , Narman , Naude , Neate , Neave ,
Nebit , Needham , Neethling , Neily , Nel , Nell , Nelson , Nethersole , Nettell , Neumann , Nevin
, Newcome , Newell , Newman , Newson , Newth-Lawrence , Nibloe , Nicholas , Nicholson , Nicol ,
Nicolas , Nielson , Nieman , Niemand , Niesewand , Nieswand , Noble , Norden , Norman , Norton ,
Not Given , Notten , Nourse , Nuttley , Nye , O'Brien , O'Donovan , O'Driscoll , O'Neil , Oates ,
Obermeyer , Ochse , Oelofse , Ogilivie , Olckers , Oldham , Olive , Oliver , Olivier , Ollerenshaw
, Olsfanger , Onderstall , Oosterberg , Oosthuizen , Oosthuysen , Opperman , Orford-Smith , Orpen
, Ortmann , Osborne , Owen , Owles , Oxenham , Padmore , Page , Paige , Paine , Pannell ,
Pansegrouw , Parkerwood , Parkes , Parkinson , Parkyns , Parr , Parrock , Parrymore , Parsons ,
Pascoe , Paskin , Patlansky , Paton , Patten , Paul , Paulsen , Paxton , Pay , Payne , Peacock ,
Peake , Pearce , Peddie , Pedler , Peel , Peerman , Peile , Peirce , Pelser , Pemberton , Pengelly
, Penhaligon , Penn , Pennells , Pennels , Penny , Pentz , Percival , Pereira , Perks , Perring ,
Peters , Peterson , Petrie , Philip , Phillips , Phillips-White , Phillipson , Pienaar , Pierce ,
Pieters , Pieterse , Pietersen , Pilkington , Pindray , Pink , Pinkerton , Piper , Pirie , Piton ,
Pitts , Planje , Plath , Platt , Platte , Plumbridge , Podesta , Pomfret , Pool , Porritt , Porter
, Potgieter , Potter , Poultney , Powell , Power , Prangley , Pratt , Pretorius , Price , Prince ,
Prinsloo , Pryce , Pryor , Prytz , Purvis , Pyper , Quinn , Quirie , Raath , Rabie , Radcliffe-
Brown , Radley , Radloff , Raine , Ralston , Ramsay , Ramsden , Raney , Rankin , Rankine , Rattray
, Raubenheimer , Raukin , Rawlings , Rawlins , Rawson , Rayment , Read , Redman , Reece-Edwards ,
Reed , Rees , Reid , Reilly , Reinecke , Remnant , Renaud , Rengger , Renton , Retallack , Retief
, Reunert , Reynders , Reynecke , Reyneke , Reynolds , Rheerders , Rhrades , Rich , Richards ,
Richens , Richter , Ricklan , Riddick , Ridley , Rieker , Rigby , Righthouse , Rimmell , Riordan ,
Ritchie , Roach , Robert , Roberts , Robertson , Robinson , Robinson-Oddy , Rocher , Rockey ,
Roets , Rogenson , Rogers , Rontgen , Roodt , Rooke , Roos , Rose , Rose-Innes , Rosen , Rosen-
Dahl , Ross , Rossiter , Rost , Rother , Roux , Rowe , Rowlands , Rowley , Roxmouth , Rubenstein ,
Ruck , Rudd , Rudolph , Runnalls , Rusgrove , Russell , Sacks , Sahli , Salmon , Saltman , Sanders
, Saner , Sangster , Santon , Sargeant , Saunders , Saville , Savory , Sawers , Sawyer , Saxby ,
Sayer , Scallan , Scandrett , Schabert , Schamotta , Scheepers , Schiff , Schikkerling ,
Schloefeldt , Schluter , Schmidt , Scholtz , Schonken , Schormann , Schourie , Schroeder , Schutte
, Schyff , Scott , Scott  , Scullard , Seabell , Seaward , Seccombe , Semple , Serretta ,
Serrurier , Seton-Burn , Shaddick , Shakeshaft , Shanks , Shapiro , Sharman , Sharp , Shaw ,
Sheard , Shearer , Sheasby , Sheblom , Sheldon , Shelton , Sheppard , Sher , Sheridan , Shilvoch ,
Shimwell , Shipton , Short , Shrive , Siebert , Siemers , Silpert , Silpert  , Simmonds , Simons ,
Simpson , Sinclair , Singer , Skews , Skinner , Slabbert , Slatter , Sloane , Smale , Small ,
Smart , Smit , Smith , Smith  , Smuts , Snellgrove , Snow , Snyman , Soekoe , Sogget , Solomon ,
Souter , South , Southall , Southey , Southwell , Spalding , Spargo , Spark , Sparrow , Spence ,
Speyer , Spong , Spreadborough , Springer , Spruyt , Squibb , Stableford , Stander , Stanley ,
Stanton , Starsheim , Steen , Steenkamp , Steffensen , Stegmann , Stephen , Stephens , Sterling ,
Stevens , Stevenson , Steward , Stewart , Steyn , Stickells , Stiglingh , Stipp , Stirk , Stirling
, Stock , Stocken , Stocks , Stohr , Stoker , Stokes , Stokoe , Stopforth , Stoughton , Stourton ,
Stow , Stratford , Strauch , Streak , Streso , Stress , Strombeck , Strong , Strugnell , Struwig ,
Strydom , Stumme , Sturgeon , Stuthridge , Subke , Sucksmith , Sullivan , Surname , Sutcliffe ,
Sutton , Swanepoel , Swanepoel  , Swann , Swart , Sworder , Symons , Tagg , Taljaard , Tandy ,
Tarlton , Tasserow , Taylor , Taylor  , Tayner , Te Water , Teague , Templeton , Tennant ,
Terburgh , Tetley , Thackeray , Theron , Thomas , Thomas  , Thompson , Thomson , Thornton , Thorpe
, Thresher , Tiffin , Tillemans , Timmerman , Timmins , Timms , Tintinger , Tocher , Todd ,
Toerien , Tomlinson , Townsend , Toxopeus , Tracy , Trahair , Treeby , Treurnicht , Tribolet ,
Tritsch , Troutman , Trull , Truter , Tucker , Tullis , Tunmer , Turnball , Turner , Twilley ,
Tyndall , Udwin , Ueckermann , Ulyate , Ungerer , Urquhart , Uys , Van As , Van Aswegen , Van
Bargen , Van Bart , Van Beljon , Van Biljon , Van der Berg , Van der Heever , Van der Hoff , Van
der Hoven , Van der Linde , Van der Linder , Van der Merwe , Van der Schyff , Van der Spuy , Van
der Walt , Van der Westhuizen , Van Deventer , Van Dyk-Mathey , Van Eck , Van Eeden , Van Eyk ,
Van Eyssen , Van Graan , Van Heerden , Van Jaarsveldt , Van Leent , Van Namen , Van Niekerk , Van
Oordt , Van Rensburg , Van Rhyn , Van Rooy , Van Rooyen , Van Ry , Van Schoor , Van Schoor  , Van
Soelen , Van Staden , Van Til , Van Tilburg , Van Tonder , Van Vuuren , Van Winkel , Van Wyk , Van
Wyngaard , Van Zyl , Vandrau , Vaughan , Venter , Verdi , Vereueil , Verity , Vermeulen ,
Verrinder , Verseput , Verwey , Vickers , Viljoen , Vine , Vineer , Visagie , Visscher , Visser ,
Viviers , Vivyan , Vogel , Vogl , Vogt , Von Maltitz , Von Seidel , Vorster , Vortsman  , Vos ,
Vosloo , Wade , Wagenaar , Wagner , Wagstaff , Waite , Wakeford , Waldeck , Waldek , Walker ,
Wallace , Walter , Walters , Walters  , Wandrag , Wannenburgh , Ward , Warne , Warner , Warren ,
Warwick , Wasserzug , Watkins , Watson , Watts , Waugh , Weaver , Webb , Webber , Weber , Weeber ,
Weichtman , Weigelt , Weil , Weimer , Weir-Smith , Wells , Welman , Welsh , Wemyss , Wentworth ,
Wernich , Werth , West , Westley , Westmacott , Wetton , Weyer , Whalley , Wheater , Wheeler ,
Wheleham , Whitaker , Whitbourne-Blake , Whitcher , White , Whitefield , Whitehead , Whitehorn ,
Whitley , Whitlock , Whitmore , Wiese , Wiggell , Wiggett , Wiiley , Wilde , Wilesmith , Wilkins ,
Williams , Williamson , Willis , Wills , Wilmer , Wilmot , Wilson , Wilter , Wiltshire , Windsor ,
Wise , Wissink , Withnell , Witt , Woest , Wolstenholme , Wood , Woods , Woodward , Wooley , Woolf
, Wordsworth , Wright , Wrigley , Wyatt , Zagnoiev , Zeller , Ziegler , Zietsman , Zurich , Zwaan
, Zwarenstein ,

Who could vote in Johannesburg in 1927?

All male persons complying with the following qualifications could be registered as voters:

According to the constitution of 1858 provided that every ‘White male citizen aged 21 years or over was entitled to vote, subject to his being a member of the Dutch Reformed Church.

In the same year, however, this religious qualification was amended to read 'irrespective of his religious persuasion' In 1890 the age qualification was reduced to 16 years, presumably to counterbalance the Uitlanders who were becoming naturalised in large numbers.

After the annexation of the O.F.S. and the Transvaal the qualifications for voters in these colonies were amended to extend the franchise to every male White British subject aged 21 or over, provided that he had been resident for at least six months in the electoral division in which he applied for registration. The position in 1910 when the four provinces were united was accordingly that in the O.F.S. and Transvaal only White males could be registered as voters without complying with any educational requirements.

In Natal, Coloureds and Whites could be registered without qualifications, while in the Cape all enjoyed the franchise, irrespective of race or colour, if they could comply with the property and educational requirements.

It was compulsory for every White citizen aged 18 or over to register as a voter. No one is registered in an electoral division unless he has actually resided there on the date of completion of his application. Nor is any person entitled to be registered as a voter or to cast a vote if he has been found guilty of:

1. high treason or murder;
2. any other crime and been sentenced to imprisonment without the option of a fine; and
3. if he has been declared insane by a court

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Op 17 Februarie 1838 het Dingaan se impi’s die niksvermoedende Voortrekkers langs die Bloukrans- en Boesmansriviere aangeval. Ongeveer 300 Voortrekkers en 200 van hulle bediendes is vemoor.

In Stefanus Hofmeyr se boek Twintig Jaren in Zoutpansberg, Kaapstad, 1890 (hy was sendeling onder die Buyse van die Noord-Transvaal) staan die volgende: “In de blanke gemeente door mij bediend, is er een grijsaard, P. du Preez genaamd, die tydens den moord van Dingaan, bij eene terugkomst van de jagt, zijne vrouw en 7 kindeern op de wreedaardigste vermoord, geslagt en verminkt vond, behalve dat al wat hij toen nog bezeten had, geroofd of vernield was. Hoevelen zullen zoo iets vergeten; en toch ik
heb zoo menigmaal, dien eerwaardigen ouden Vader, die jaren lang ouderling was bij ons – Kaffers met alle ernst hooren vermanen en aansporen, om, bij tijds, hunne toevlucht tot den Heiland te nemen.”

Op bl. 340 van SA Geslagsregisters, Deel 8 verskyn die volgende inligting:

b6c4d2e6f5 Pieter Daniel Andries Salomon DU PREEZ * c. 1807 = 19.8.1809 +
Weltevreden, dist Zoutpansberg (Pietersburg) 5.10.1889 X Graaff-Reinet 3.9.1826 Louisa Johanna Margaretha JACOBS XX Wilhelmina Petronella Christina PRETORIUS = 27.8.1809 (wed. v Jacobus J.P.P. HUGO wat saam met Retief vermoor is) d.v. Willem PRETORIUS en Petronella Christina BOTHA XXX Gertruida Aletta BOTHA * Beaufort-Wes 30.11.1823 + Weltevreden, dist. Zoutpansberg (Pietersburg) 5.10.1889 dv. Theunis Johannes BOTHA en Gertruida Aletta Maria BRONKHORST

g1 Pieter Daniel Andries Salomon * 7.4.1827 = Graaff-Reinet +c. 1838,
vermoor deur Zoeloes in Natal saam met sy moeder, susters en broers

g2-g3 ? ook vermoor deur Zoeloes in c. 1838

g4 Johanna Cecilia Hendrina * 17.2.1831 + ook vermoer deur Zoeloes in c.
1838

g5 Johannes Lodewicus Philippus Hermanus * 3.10.1832 + ook vermoor deur
Zoeloes in c. 1838

g6-7 ? ook vermoor deur Zoeloes in c. 1838

g8 Daniel Johannes Lodewicus Hermanus, wat die moord oorleef het deurdat sy
kleurlingoppaster met hom die bosse ingevulg het + Tvl. c. 1854 X Hester
Susanna Catharina Elizabeth VAN HEERDEN * Tvl. c. 1855

Op ble. 191en 192 van A Dreyer se boek Die Kaapse Kerk en die Groot Trek, Kaapstad 1929 is ‘n lys van die vermoordes. Die volgende inskrywing het betrekking: Piet du Preez (wat jagtende was) – Getal van Vermoordes – Man: 0; Vrou:1 en Kind: 7 Daar word ook genoem dat 40 mans, 56 vrouens, 185 kinders en ongeveer 250 “bediendes, insluitende Zulu veewagters met families” vermoor is.
Sien die lys hierby aangeheg.

‘n Vosloo patriarg en Die 1922 Mynstaking

Op 10 Maart 1922 kondig Generaal Smuts krygswet af nadat stakende werkers o.a. polisiekantore en myne aangeval het. Hulle het die dag ook verskeie kere op Genl. Smuts se voertuig gevuur. Ten spyte van swaar verliese het die Polisie dapper weerstand gebied totdat vrywilligers opgeroep kon word om die oproermakers aan te vat.

Een van die groot aanleidende oorsake van die staking was die feit dat die regering opgehou het om die sogenaamde “gold premium” te betaal. Dit was ‘n subsidie wat in die depressie-jare na die einde van die Eerste Wêreld Oorlog en weens verhoogde myn-kostes beskikbaar gestel is om hoër lone aan mynwerkers en werkers in verwante bedrywe te kon gee. Die werkers wou nie aanvaar dat hulle lone verlaag moes word nie en op 28 Desember 1921 het hulle begin staak.

Daar was ook ‘n sterk rasse-ondertoon omdat die mynbase Swartmense in halfgeskoolde poste in diens begin neem het. Die kleurslagboom sou voortaan slegs vir geskoolde arbeid geld. Die stakers was baie radikaal. Bob Waterson ‘n volksraadslid van die Arbeidersparty het in die tyd voordat krygswet afgekondig is ‘n vergadering gehou met Tielman Roos, leier avn die Nasionale Party in die Transvaal en nog tien NP LV’s en vyf Arbeidersparty LV’s. Nadat die stakers se plan aan die vergadering voorgelê is, is dit verwerp en Roos het gesê dat hy niks te doen wil hê met revolusie nie.

Die meerderheid van die leiers avn die stakers was Engelssprekendes maar daar was ook Afrikaners onder hulle. Smuts het die stakers in Benoni uit die lug aangeval en verder is ook masjiengewere, bomme en tenks gebruik. Aan die einde van die staking wat op 17 Maart afgelas is, was 43 lede van die leër, 29 polisiebeamptes en 81 burgelrlikes dood. Meer as 650 mense is beseer. Weens laer lone wat na die staking aan halfgeskoolde werkers betaal is het 15 000 blanke mynwerkers hulle werk verloor. Agtien mans is ter dood veroordeel van wie uiteindelik net C.C. Stassen, S.A. Long, H.K. Hulle en J.D. Lewis opgehang is.

Die politieke prys wat Smuts vir die hantering van die staking betaal het, was dat hy die 1924 verkiesing verloor het. My kennismake met die staking in geskiedenis-klasse op skool het my altyd met ‘n simpatieke gesindheid teenoor die stakers gelaat. Ek is weliswaar nie ‘n kenner van die onderwerp nie, maar wonder vandag – nou dat ek ‘n wyer beeld het van wat tydens die staking gebeur het – hoe Smuts wel moes omgegaan het met so ‘n radikale aanslag?

In my boek oor die Vosloo-familie het ek die volgende geskryf oor Gideon Gysbertus Stephanus Vosloo (geb. 1892) se belewenis tydens die staking:

“Een van die Queenstown-Vosloos wat ook na die Witwatersrand verhuis het op soek na ‘n beter lewe vir hom en sy gesin was Gideon Gysbertus Stephanus (1892). Johann Dirk (1945) vertel van sy pa se oom Gideon se kortstondige verblyf op die Goudvelde: “Oom Gideon het in 1920 Johannesburg toe getrek en by die Spoorweë gaan werk. In 1922, ten tyde van die mynstaking, het hy blykbaar heel onskuldig naby die stasie op sy fiets gery toe hy in die kruisvuur tussen die stakers en die polisie beland. ‘n Koeël het ‘n gat in sy baadjie geruk en hy is skrams in die bo-arm gewond. Toe die stof gaan lê, het hy opgestaan, huis toe gegaan en sy familie op die eerste trein Oos-Londen toe gesit. Hy het onmiddellik al sy sake in Johannesburg afgehandel en toe self op die trein geklim. Hy het nooit weer ‘n voet in die Transvaal gesit nie.”

Johann verwys na hom as “die patriarg van ons lyn van die familie” en vertel dat hy later ‘n seevakansieoord by Cintza naby Oos-Londen besit het. Hy vertel ook dat oom Gideon “gedurende die depressiejare en die tyd van die ‘verarmde blanke’ na verskeie van sy familie – hul kinders en selfs vriende omgesien het. Hulle het by hom en tant Nellie gebly (soms ‘n paar jaar), is versorg, skool toe gestuur ens.”

Bronne:

SESA, Deel 9, ble. 245-246.
Giliomee, H en Mbenga, B (reds): Nuwe Geskiedenis van Suid-Afrika, Tafelberg, 2007
Jacobs, DM: Die Vosloos, Nuttige Landsburgers, Deel 2

Johan Izak Jacobus Fick born on  at Kruisfontein, Olifantshoek, Grahamstown dist., 22.9.1816 – † Ficksburg, 22.9.1892), Orange Free State Commandant-General, was five generations removed from the German founder of the family, Anton Fick, of Lichtenau, near Paderborn, and the second of the four sons born to Paul Hendrik Fick (bapt. 4.8.1776) and his wife Elsie Meyer (bapt. 3.12.1780).

His youth was spent, during an eventful pioneering period, on the eastern Cape frontier. There was little regular schooling, and such education as he received was mainly at the hands of his strict parents and an itinerant schoolmaster. In later life he had a most facile pen but was never able to understand English. While he was still young the death of his father made it necessary for him to assist his eldest brother with the farming. At the age of eighteen he served in the Sixth Frontier War (1834-35) and was twice superficially wounded. Though opposed to the eastern frontier policy of Lord Glenelg,* he adopted a ‘wait and see’ attitude, and remained in the Colony for some years after his mother, two younger brothers and their neighbours had joined Piet Uys’s* party on the Great Trek to the interior. On 5.5.1837 he married Susanna Christina Johanna Fourie (1820-1894), of Uitenhage, who bore him five daughters and six sons, among them being the later Orange Free State commandant, Paul Hendrik Fick, of Ficksburg.

At the end of 1839, after the birth of his eldest son, F. also left the Cape Colony and, after a brief sojourn just beyond the Orange, in what is now the district of Senekal, followed the trail of the Voortrekkers to the Natal Republic. Farming near Umkomaas, he became friendly with Andries Pretorius,* whom he followed when Pretorius quitted Natal late in 1847. For some weeks his trek party halted on the Vaal River while he and his brother, Coenraad Fick, reconnoitred the Transvaal as far as the Marico River, after which he turned back to the Transorangia, and eventually settled in the Caledon River valley.

In 1848, when Pretorius, at the request of the people of Winburg, moved south from the Magaliesberg in an attempt to reverse the annexation of the Transorangia, he appointed a very unwilling F. field-cornet of his district, near present Rosendal. Alarmed by Pretorius’s threats against ‘loyalists’, F. accompanied the commando which engaged Sir Harry Smith’s* force at Boomplaats. In the chaos following the Boer defeat he fled the field on foot, only to be fined 200 rixdollars for his part in the campaign against the British. This experience led him to accept British authority and remain loyal to the new government. Consequently Maj. H. D. Warden* soon made him a field-cornet and, despite his district’s aversion to British rule, F. did his best to carry out his instructions. Before the battle of Viervoet, when the Boers would not help Warden against the Basuto, F. made the mistake of attempting to force the Boers to turn out on commando. The majority, led by Comdt Frederik P. Senekal,* refused, and it was with the merest handful that Fick experienced the humiliation of the defeat at Viervoet in June 1851. After this his pleas on behalf of the ‘Senekal rebels’ induced the British authorities to commute all death sentences to fines. But his continued loyalty to the British regime made him unpopular among his own people.

Initially F. opposed Britain’s intended abandonment of the Orange River Sovereignty but later, having changed his views, he served as one of the Winburg delegates of the Council of Representatives, the members of which negotiated with Sir George Russell Clerk* and signed the Bloemfontein Convention in February 1854.

Before the O.F.S. was a year old he was again prominent, entering Bloemfontein with a commando at the behest of the Volksraad to demand the keys of the residency from deposed President J. P. Hoffman.* The following year F. served as a field-cornet under Senekal during the campaign against Witsi.* In 1857 he led the Winburg commando at the time of the Renoster River incident, when civil war between the Transvaal and the Orange Free State was averted at the last moment.

F. opposed the O.F.S. declaration of war on Moshweshwe* in 1858, partly because of disease among his cattle, but more particularly because he did not regard the O.F.S. as being equal to such an undertaking. So as to be out of reach of the Basuto he trekked, with his cattle, to the neighbourhood of Kroonstad. He returned to public life in June 1858 when he accompanied a Transvaal deputation under S. J. P. Kruger* to Moshweshwe, with whom an agreement was concluded. Thereafter F. again retired to the background until October 1864, when he accompanied the Cape Governor, Sir Philip Wodehouse,* while the O.F.S. – Basuto-land border was being demarcated.

On the outbreak of the second war with the Basuto in 1865, F. was elected Commandant-General. With the aid of Comdt C. J. de Villiers,* he took Paulus Moperi’s* kraal, Mabolela, and breached the defensive line round the mountain stronghold of Thaba Bosigo with successive victories at Leeuwspruit and at Berea, and over Masupha.*

On 8.8.1865 an unsuccessful attack was made on Thaba Bosigo, after which dissension arose, as the southern commandos, which had not been present at F.’s election, would not recognize him as Commandant-General. Comdts Louw Wepener* and De Villiers also held F. responsible for the failure of the first attack on Thaba Bosigo, the result of incorrect information about the precise point of attack. During this quarrelling the military council decided to mount a second attack on the mountain fastness with volunteers under Wepener, who died a hero’s death when the assault proved a fiasco.

F. was, in consequence, accused of incompetence, of having opposed the storming of Thaba Bosigo, and of having vacillated before withdrawing, at the time when he should have been hastening to the aid of Wepener on the mountain slope. Several memorials demanding his dismissal were received by the Volksraad, especially from the southern Free State. But he was given an opportunity to defend himself and retained his post.

After a fruitless siege of twenty-seven days F. left Thaba Bosigo, joined a Transvaal commando under Kruger, overran Malapo’s* kraal, and systematically destroyed the Basutos’ crops prior to annexing the Conquered Territory to the Free State.

Shortly after this the Transvaal commando left for home as a result of a quarrel about the division of captured cattle, while the O.F.S. half-heartedly continued the war. F. failed to maintain discipline and the burghers granted them-selves leave at Christmas, so giving the Basuto the opportunity to invade the O.F.S. and threaten various villages such as Winburg. Early in 1866 F. renewed his attack, driving back the Basuto almost to the Drakensberg range. Malapo surrendered and decided that he and his followers would become subjects of the O.F.S., while Moshweshwe was also compelled to make peace and undertake to guarantee that the Conquered Territory would remain part of the O.F.S.

Subsequently F. assisted in the demarcation and occupation of the Conquered Territory. He did not play a prominent part in the third Basuto War (1867-68) but helped, as an ordinary burgher, to clear infiltrators out of the Conquered Territory. The peace of Aliwal North brought his military career to an end in 1869. He settled on the farm Paul Ficksberg in the Conquered Territory, from where he was occasionally heard of when, for example, he advocated a frontier guard and the establishment of communities, villages and districts in the Conquered Territory, and when he powerfully supported the movement for closer union with the Transvaal. In 1869 Ficksburg was named after him in his honour by the burghers of his district.

Well-built, with a military bearing, and experienced in war on the Cape frontier, F. was an ideal choice as leader against the Basuto. But he employed over-cautious negative tactics, was not always diplomatic, and tended to be indecisive at moments of crisis. The latter weakness led to the justifiable accusation that he had failed to render timely aid on the slopes of Thaba Bosigo to Louw Wepener, whose impulsive nature differed so radically from F.’s.

Shortly before the commemorative ox-wagon journeys in 1938, the centenary year of the Great Trek, the mortal remains of F. and his wife were re interred at the foot of the Fick monument in Ficksburg by their grandsons, Mathhys Daniel Fick and Izak Fick.

There are portraits of F. (infra), in De Volkstem, in Conradie and in Viljoen.

Nicolaas Pieter Johannes Jansen (Siener) Van Rensburg born at *Rietkuil, Wolmaransstad dist., 30.8.1864 – †Rietkuil, Wolmaransstad dist., 11.3.1926), Boer clairvoyant, was the son of Willem Jacobus and Anna Catherina van Rensburg. Van R. was taught to read and write by his mother and had his first ‘vision’ at the age of seven, when he assuaged her fears that an attack would be made by the farm-workers during her husband’s absence.

When he was eighteen he and his brothers took part (1882) in an expedition led by Gen. P.J. Joubert * against Nyabêla *. Van R. contracted malaria during this campaign, which lasted from 30.10.1882 to 10.7.1883, and his health suffered a temporary setback.

He gained renown as a clairvoyant during his lifetime and particularly during the Second Anglo-Boer War (1889-1902) and the Rebellion of 1914. On the outbreak of the war (11.10.1899) he was generally known as ‘Oom Niklaas’, although he was only thirty-five at the time. He served mainly under General J.H. de la Rey* and it was after the battle of Kraaipan (12-13.10.1899) in the vicinity of Taungs, while De la Rey’s commando was on its way to Kimberley, that he had his famous vision of war. He saw fleeing women and scorched earth, and the vision affected him so much that when he was found under a sage bush the next day his wild eyes and dishevelled hair bore witness to the spiritual torment he had undergone.

Van Rensburg Family Tree

He spent a brief period in hospital at Boshof for treatment of a septic wound in his hand before joining General P.A. Cronjé’s commandos, and was lucky enough to escape when Cronjé surrendered on 27.2.1900. After roaming about for a time, Van R. joined up with De la Rey’s commandos once more. He fought in the battle of Ysterspruit near Klerksdorp on 28.2.1902, and from a vision of ‘the Red Bull wounded and defeated’ predicted De la Rey’s famous victory over Lord Methuen’s forces at the battle of Tweebos (7.3.1902). It is said that one of Van R.’s forecasts had prevented the capture of General J.B.M. Hertzog* and W.J.C. Brebner* at the end of February that year. Shortly after this his vision of a great assembly of waggons was interpreted as the conclusion of the peace treaty. He had numerous visions after the war, but for him the most terrifying was the one in which he saw General De la Rey’s death and burial.

Van R. participated in the Rebellion towards the end of 1914 and accompanied the commando under General J.C.G. Kemp which was to join forces with General S.G. (Manie) Maritz*. The rebel commando engaged the government forces at Kuruman on 8.11.1914. Shortly afterwards he was captured and spent the major part of 1915 in prison with Harm Oost* and other rebels. He foresaw his release from prison on 20.12.1915 a few days before it occurred. Back on his farm ‘Rietkuil’ he continued to have visions, those concerning the influenza epidemic (October 1918) and the death of General Louis Botha on 27.8.1919 being the most important.

Van R. became a legendary national figure. His fellow-citizens and some of the military officers interpreted his visions as events which would assail their people in the future. Many of his predictions were recorded and spread throughout the country and some even related to the Second World War (1939-45). He himself never interpreted his own prophecies.

A small, retiring man of frail physique, Van R. was buried on his farm two days after his death. On 8.1.1884 in Potchefstroom the Reverend Dirk van der Hoff* had married him to Anna Sophia Kruger. They had four sons and six daughters, but there is no grandson to carry on the family name.

A marble bust of Van R.’s face by Fanie Eloff* is in the possession of Mr H.F. van Broekhuizen of Pretoria and a bronze bust by G. de Leeuw can be seen in the library of the Potchefstroom College of Education. A book in which some of his predictions (15.8.1916-26.1.1926) were recorded by his daughter, Anna Sophia Badenhorst, and objects made by Van R. during his imprisonment are kept in the S.P. Engelbrecht Museum of the NH Kerk in Pretoria. A photograph of Van R. appears in SESA (infra). Z. L. PRETORIUS

Footnotes: *

Transvaal Arch., Pta.: Estate no. 59760; – J. J. VAN DER WESTHUIZEN. ‘Collected prophecies of Seer van Rensburg’ in Arch. of the history of the Western Transvaal, P.U.; – L. S. AMERY, The Times history of the war in South Africa. 1899-1902. V.4. Lond., 1906; – S. BOTHA. Profeet en krygsman. Die Iewensverhaal van Siener van Rensburg. Jbg., 1941; – G. D. SCHOLTZ, Die Rebellie 1914-1915. Jbg., 1942; – H. OOST, Wie is die skuldiges? Jbg., 1956; – J. MEINTJES, ‘Boodskapper van die onbekende Siener van Rensburg’, Dagbreek, 17.12.1967-31.12.1967; – SESA. V. 11. C.T., 1975; – Private information: Mrs A.S. Badenhorst (daughter), Rietkuil, Ottosdal.

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