Oudstryders’ Monument

Also known as Cottesloe Monument, Veterans’ Monument

Last Updated: July 15, 2025

Oudstryders Monument looking north March 2025 Marc Latilla

Oudstryders Monument loose stones March 2025 Marc Latilla

Oudstryders Monument northern aspect March 2025 Marc Latilla

Oudstryders Monument southern aspect March 2025 Marc Latilla

Oudstryders Monument western aspect March 2025 Marc Latilla

About Oudstryders’ Monument

The monument honours Boer veterans of the Anglo-Boer South African War, 1899 – 1902. Small plaques cover all four sides of the monument, a two metre-tall rectangular structure, spilling over onto the base. The memorial is crowded with inscriptions, set on a patchwork of small plates of different sizes and of various materials: sandstone, granite, slate, soapstone, etc. There are 41 small plaques to men who fought in the war.

It stands on the crest of the ridge, on the south-eastern corner of the New Nation School, overlooking the old Gas Works. Access to the monument is problematic, since there is no path: visitors have to cross the rocky outcrops, stepping over or around a broken-down fence.

Address

East end of First Street, Vrededorp, adjoining Cottesloe

History

The monument honours Boer veterans of the Anglo-Boer South African War.

It was unveiled on the grounds of the Cottesloe Primary School as part of the Voortrekker Centenary celebrations in Johannesburg on 3 December 1938:

“In early December 1938 a group of elderly men moved slowly up the Brixton Ridge overlooking the Gas Works, each weighed down by a slab of sandstone, slate or granite. Nearly every plaque was awarded a place on a crude, two and a half metre stone construction on a rocky outcrop, though some were relegated to its base”. (Sue Krige)

The memorial was initiated by the chairman of the Monument Committee of veteran combatants, Mr Gert Jooste, and unveiled by the City’s former Mayor, Maldwyn Edmund. It was preceded by a rock piling ceremony by veteran combatants and ex-prisoners of war on 19 November 1938. Commandant Koos Jooste unveiled the cornerstone of the monument at 08:00 on 3 December during a visit by the ox wagons on their way to Crosby.

Valued archival materials were placed in an old three-legged pot, placed in the monument and covered with masonry. Amongst others the following:

Die Transvaler, 19 November 1938; (newspaper)
Copy of a photo of President Kruger as well as the original plate from which it was created.
Christmas card with the Voortrekker Monument
Die Vaderland, (newspaper)19 November 1938 with a photo of the veteran combatants monument
The Rand Daily Mail, 19 November 1938
Commemoration book from the Transvaal Teachers’ Association
Die Kerkblad, Almanac of 1938 (Reformed Church of Johannesburg north)
Dutch and Afrikaans Psalm book
Book of church minister Andrew Murray, donated by the Christian Student Society
Brochure of Johannesburg, visitor’s guide, map and list of hotels and boarding houses, donated by the Johannesburg Publicity Society
Dutch Bible and hymn book
An Afrikaans Bible, donated by minister and Mrs. Bezuidenhout of the Dutch Reformed Church congregation, Vrededorp
Magazine of the SA Railways and harbours, November 1938
Die Taalgenoot (ATKV) magazine
Die Voorligter and a map of the Ox Wagon Trek, donated by Mr. GH Jooste.

Statement of Significance

“At first glance, this monument appears to be an embarrassing relic of the past. Stand there long enough and you are drawn into the stories embedded in it. There is the extraordinary fate of the Pienaar family, a father and four brothers, prisoners of war in Bermuda, St. Helena, Portugal, and closer to home, Newcastle. And ‘Korporal D J. Du Toit’, a Boer spy sentenced to death, but later exiled to ‘Bellary,’ India for the duration of the war. The plaque materials tell their own stories. Wealthy oudstryders, like Du Toit, bought granite, and engraved lengthy epitaphs. Others were more economical. Those stories dominate. Poorer veterans merely etched a few words in fragile slate or sandstone. “What I find most significant is the nature of the monument. No famous artist designed it. It is the simple physical sum of the gifts and memories [of] a group of individuals who fought and suffered together. It stands unsignposted on a hill, in plain sight, yet unnoticed by motorists on the M7. Nevertheless, even in its obscurity, it contains both the stories of the past and the possibilities for future forms of commemoration”. (Sue Krige)

Inscription

Legal Status

Protected under Section 37 of the National Heritage Resources Act (Public Monuments and Memorials). “Public monuments and memorials must, without the need to publish a notice to this effect, be protected in the same manner as places which are entered in a heritage register …”