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.
ARTICLES
BOOK REVIEWS
Stephen Coan’s The Buried Man can only be described as magisterial. It is the culmination of decades of patient, methodical, and deeply informed scholarship. Coan has lived with, traced, and tracked H. Rider Haggard for much of his adult life, and this monumental volume represents the distillation of that long engagement. It is unlikely to be surpassed for a very long time.
BLUE PLAQUES
On 3 June 1900 a British column of 4,500 horsemen under Lieutenant General John French were advancing to occupy Pretoria. On this spot they were ambushed by a Boer commando led by General Sarel du Toit. The narrow Kalkheuwel Pass (now the R512) prevented guns and reinforcements from moving to the front line. Skirmishes continued all night.