Watched over by the imposing Majuba Mountain, this town lies on the border of KwaZulu-Natal, Mpumalanga and the Free State, forming the northern gateway to the Battlefields Route. Dirk Uys’s sister, Dorie de Jager, named the town Volksrust (People’s Rest) after the battle-weary Boer soldiers came to the town to recover from the trauma of the First War of Independence. The town also boasts a rich railway history.
History And Architecture
Convention Bridge: In November 1894, negotiations between President Paul Kruger and Sir Henry Loch, British Commissioner for South Africa, took place in a coach parked in the middle of the bridge that marked the Transvaal/Natal border.
Wall of Remembrance: A total of 772 Boer detainees, most of them children, perished in the concentration camp at Volksrust. Walls of Remembrance are located in the centre of town and in the local cemetery.
