WakkerstroomLabuschagne

Wakkerstroom is a small town, perched on the south-eastern escarpment of the Transvaal. The settlers chose it on account of the good summer grazing and the relatively healthy climate. It was close enough to the middleveld and loweveld for farmers to trek down annually with their herds in winter when the highveld grass would not be as nutritious. In the summer they would trek back to the high escarpment, where parasites and horsesickness would be much less of a problem.

Wakkerstroom lies at an elevantion of 5,900 feet, which makes for a relatively cold winter climate by South African standards. Some of the surrounding pountain peaks are around 7,000 feet high, and can be periodically covered in snow during the winter.

In the days before the settlers came, the high plateau would have been covered with millions of game. Mostly springbuck, eland, blesbuck, blue and black wildebeest (gnu), ostriches, ostriches, white rhino, zebra and Cape buffalo. In the winter time, the migratory animals would drain from the highveld in what must have been the greatest animal migration in Africa.

The plateau had only a few places which allowed easy access to the loweveld, and at these bottlenecks, the animals converged in numbers that defy description. To this very day, there is a spot along the road between Wakkerstroom and Luneburg where the last erosion gullies caused by the hooves from the great migrations can still be seen.

Wakkerstroom town, south view, as seen from the train station. The town is situated next to a vast bog or vlei, which is one of the most prized birdwatching spots in South Africa. December 2003.

Old Barclays Bank, today First National Bank. Through this tiny bank millions of pounds and Rands passed during the wool boom years. It is still relatively unchanged. December 2003.

Old hotel, now newly restored. At this hotel, LJ (Len) Labuschagne met president Paul Kruger (probably during one of his presidential election campaigns). President Kruger ruffled his hair as he passed and said: "Dag Knaap!" Len laughed as he told this story, and added: "Maar hy was darem maar 'n lelike man!" December 2003.

Marthinus Wessel school where IH (Herman) Labuschagne received his primary school education. December 2003.

Old Wakkerstroom post office. Not much has changed since then. Photo submitted by Rentia Landman. Rentia's father, Mr. Reid, used to be a teacher in Wakkerstroom. He and his students spent two weeks creating the famous ox-waggon on the mountain in the background.

Wydgelegen, farm of IH (Herman) Labuschagne and JM (Johanna) Vermaak, between Wakkerstroom and Amersfoort. The countryside is typical of the high plateau--a gentle rolling landscape with good summer grazing and an unusually healthy climate. Severely cold in winter, but extremely pleasant in summer. This farm owned by a Labuschagne family member. until the end of 2004.

The Wakkerstroom hotel is on the far right, with green roof. The other buildings used to be stores where just about anything could be bought at one time or another. Today the shops are dilapidated and neglected.

The town hall which had been built under the a term of George Augustus Kolbe as mayor. Some of the locals called it "Die Wit Olifant"--"The White Elephant."

What had for many years been an extremely run-down building across the Dutch Reformed church, is now a beautifully restored building.

Wakkerstroom Dutch-Reformed church.

Cat in the bar. This friendly feline greeted visitors on the bar counter of the Weaver's Nest restaurant, just outside town on the Piet Retief road.

Wakkerstroom Burges tydens die Anglo-Boeroorlog. Bron: SA Nasionale Argief. Bydraer: H Labuschagne.

Wakkerstroom kommando tydens die oorlog teen Magato. Bron: SA Nasionale Argief. TAB 3749. Bydraer: H Labuschagne.

The surrender was a heart-breaking moment for all the Boers who had at one time thought that Great Britain could be beaten off. The handful of burghers who were still left in the field were now called "Bitter-enders." They had endured until the bitter end. At the Boer meetings that preceded the signing of the Peace of Vereeniging in Mei 1902, many Boer leaders had reported that large numbers of their men did not have mounts or rifles or ammunition anymore. Food was constantly scarce, and some men were wearing sack cloth and sheep skins owing to a shortage of clothing. These pictures show the surrender of the Wakkerstroom Commando.

It was 2 June 1902 at Wakkerstroom Nek, when the Wakkerstroom commando came to hand in their weapons. Notice the long line of rifle stocks in the centre of the picture. It was a bitterly cold time of winter at this altitude and the men are dressed as warmy as possible.

A British officer oversees the handing in of the Wakkerstroom commando's weapons. Burghers living in the frontier regions were allowed to keep their arms as means of protection against neighbouring tribes.

After their weapons were handed in, each man reluctantly had to take the oath of allegiance to the British crown.This picture shows the burghers without the weapons which had been their constant companions for many months in wind and rain. Men who never shed a tear throughout the entire war, were seen weaping like little children when the end of their cause was announced. Notice the young boy in in the picture. Many boys of as young as even 10 or 12 joined the commandos, since if they were captured by British columns, they were often sent to prisoner of war camps anyway. The son of General Louis Botha himself, was an example. At 12 years of age, he accompanied his father on commando, with his father's faithful assistant, Moos van Buuren, as his caretaker.

General Louis Botha excused himself from the formalities surrounding the post-peace signing affairs, and travelled to Wakkerstroom by train in order to spend his last free night with his burghers in the veld. Accommodation was available in the town, but the Boers preferred to sleep in the bitter cold outside, rather than join the celebrations in Wakkerstroom. A few British tents were pitched, and the general joined his men beneath the stars. They spent the night very quietly and thoughtfully, softly singing hymns, whilst listening to the boisterous sounds of festivities in Wakkerstroom. For many it was still too hard to believe that the struggle was finally over and that all had been lost.

Some were thinking about how long it would be before they would be able to resume the fight for their independence. Most, however, were just glad the war was over, and couldn't see much in the future anymore. Everywhere the question on people's lips were: "Where do we go from here?"

Further reading: http://www.wakkerstroom.org.za/background.asp
Historical bacground of Wakkerstroom.

Data on this site is managed using Legacy genealogical software.

Legacy 5.0 is a full-featured professional genealogy program that helps you track, organize, print, and share your family history. Includes source documentation, dozens of beautiful reports, expert merging capabilities, To Do list, pictures, videos, Web page creation, spell checking, Internet searching, relationship calculation, name tag printing and more. The program imports and exports standard GEDCOM files as well as directly reads PAF files.

Hit Counter