Volksrust

Name

Volksrust is on the N11 between Ermelo (100Km) and Newcastle (75Km), on the border between Mpumalanga and Kwazulu-Natal. The town is to the west of the Balele Mountains. Laingsnek is on the N11 to Newcastle. Amajuba Mountain lies to the southwest of the town.

The town's elevation is 1655m.

Attractions

Also see the neighbouring towns

Mahawane Dam offers watersport and fishing.

The Slang River Falls is 13 kilometers from Volksrust.

Architecture

Volksrust Station and Customs Building

The Volksrust Station and Customs Building was built with sandstone in 1885. The building was used as border control and Customs Office.

Things to do

Sport: paragliding

Bird watching

History

First Anglo-Boer War: 1880 - 1881

The First Anglo-Boer War was fought for about 4 months from 16 December 1880 to 23 March 1881. This war is also known as the First Transvaal War of Independence, as it was fought by the Boers to regain their freedom after the Birtish annexed their territory.

On the 12th of April 1877, the British under command of Sir Theophilus Shepstone annexed the Zuid-Afrikaansche Republiek, which eventually lead to the Boers taking up arms against the British about 3 years later in 1880.

Major-General Sir George Pomeroy Colley (1835 - 1881)

In 1880 Colley was assigned high commissioner and general commander for South East Africa. His particular command was for British Kaffraria, the name used in Colonial times for the districts now known as King Williams Town and East London. His main assignment was to "contain rebel Boers", which really meant imposing British rule on the Dutch Europeans (the Boers) which moved away from the British territories into the interior of Southern Africa.

The Commandant-General of the Boer troops was Piet Joubert, who fought three battles against Colley, and won all three.

Petrus (Piet) Jacobus Joubert (1831- 1900)

Battle of Laing's Nek - 28 January 1881

Laing's Nek in the Drakensberg Mountain Range, is roughly 20Km south of the present town Volksrust. Colley had an army of 1'216 officers and men, including about 150 cavalry of the Mounted Squadron. Joubert had a force of about 2'000 men.

The battle was fought on 28 January 1881. The Boer settled on Table Mountain at Laing's Nek. The battle lasted about 2 hours, after which the British retreated. It was reported that 84 British were killed, and 14 Boers.

At another battle about 20Km south of the present town of Volksrust at the Ingogo River (then called Schuinshoogte) the British troops under Colley were defeated again.

Around noon 8 February 1881 Colley's men spotted some Boers under command of General N J Smith and Commandant J D Weilbach, and opened fire. The Boers did not retreat as expected, but instead counter-attacked. The battle continued for most of the afternoon. Before the British were over-ran by the Boers, a thunderstorm errupted, and this as well as the approching dawn provided cover for Colley's troops to escape.

Battle of Amajuba - 27 February 1881

The decisive battle in this war was fought on Amajuba Mountain, which lies southwest of Volksrust.

About 15Km southwest of Volksrust is a hill called Amajuba, named by the Zulu King Shaka. The name Amajuba means Place of the Doves.

By mid-February British reinforcements arrived, and Colley launched another attempt to break through the Boer lines. During the dark of night of 27 February 1881 his troops climbed Majuba, and surprised the Boers when dawn arrived. Despite the intial surprise, and the advantage of high ground, by mid-day the Boers had captured the hill. Colley was one of the casualties.

After this battle, the British requested a peace treaty with the Boers, and the Zuid-Afrikaansche Republiek was established. The peace treaty was signed with Kruger at O'Neil's Cottage on 6 March 1881. O'Neil's Cottage is about 30Km southeast of Volkrust, and was the home of Eugene O'Neill.

Volksrust is Dutch for Nation Rest and was given because the peace made after this First Anglo-Boer War (16 December 1880 to 23 March 1881). The Boer commandos of the Zuid-Afrikaansche Republiek could now rest from the war. An alternative legend states that the name was given for the location at which the Boer troups rested after the battle.

A treaty between the Boers and British was signed in 1894 to determine the borders of the Zuid-Afrikaansche Republiek. Conditions of the treaty were negotiated by the Boer JH Hofmeyr.

As neither the Boers nor the British would sign this on the other party's soil, it was decided to have the ceremony on "neutral" territory on the railway bridge (afterwards known as the Convention Bridge) across the Grensspruit (Border Creek), which runs between the then Zuid-Afrikaansche Republiek and the Natal Colony. Ruins of the bridge are still visible today. During the signing Pres Paul Kruger sat on the Transvaal Republiek side of the border, while the British High Commissioner, Sir Henry Brougham Loch (1827 – 1900), sat on the British side. The bridge is now a National Monument.

Henry Loch (1827 – 1900)

In the last decades of the Dutch-Boer Republics, Volksrust served as a border town between Zuid-Afrikaansche Republiek and the Natal Colony.

The town of Volksrust was established seven years after the First Anglo-Boer War in 1888 on the border with Natal.

During the Second Anglo-Boer War (1899-1902), the British built a concentration camp here. A memorial to the camp can be seen in Voortrekker Street.

Volksrust became a municipality in 1904.

Nature

Volksrust is in the transitional region between the central grasslands of the Highveld (Highveld grasslands ecoregion WFF AT1009 ecoregion) and the Drakensberg Mountain Range (Drakensberg montane grasslands, woodlands and forests ecoregion WWF AT1004).

Average annual rainfall: 683mm

Average temperature:

Summer: 12 - 30°C
Winter: -5 - 20°C
Snow occasionally falls in winter.

Economy

Farming: maize, sunflower, sorghum, sheep, cattle, milk, sandstone quarries.

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