New Museum for NWU
The newly refurbished museum of the North-West University was officially opened on Thursday, 5 November 2026. History of the NWU Museum Early in the 1920’s the initiative to create a museum at the PUC was launched by a teacher at the Potchefstroom Gimnasium, Mr JV...
Is Potchefstroom really the oldest town across the Vaal River?
This was a question I recently had to answer after somebody had heard over the radio that Klerksdorp made the claim to be the oldest town in the old Transvaal. The debate about which town would be the oldest one across the Vaal River had been going on for many decades...
Timeline of the history of Potchefstroom
Many people use this website to traverse the history of Potchefstroom. This timeline will put events into perspective and in their respective places. The original was compiled by the staff of the Potchefstroom Museum many years ago. I have amended and augmented it. It...
Voortrekker graves on the Bult have never been removed
The existence of a Voortrekker cemetery on the Bult that had never been removed has caused much discussion lately. This was after my interview with Potchcast on the subject. I originally wrote an article about this for the Herald in their supplement to celebrate...
The 1910 Post Office Building – practical and beautiful
The building, now known as the “Old Post Office”, was initially planned to be a Government Building, housing numerous government departments. It stands just off the corner of Greyling Street (now OR Tambo) and Wolmarans Street, facing the church square. The architect...
Wild animals in our midst
The recent arrival of a hippopotamus in the Potchefstroom area sounds as farfetched as can be, but is true! Before this one appeared, the last wild hippos were killed in the area during the last quarter of the 19th century. One of the two main fountains supplying...
Mimi Coertse – ties with Potch more than music
Following the passing away of Mimi Coertse on Monday, 27 April, she was remembered fondly as one of the best classical singers ever to come from South Africa. She was born in Durban on 12 June 1932. One of her first concerts was at the age of 19 with the late Gé...
Nathan Kirsh – the richest man from Potchefstroom
The sale of Nathan Kirsh’s company, Jetro Restaurant Depot Business, for R500 million was recently announced. The Bloomberg Billionaires Index noted this as his biggest asset. After the sale, he was regarded as richer than the well-known Johann Rupert. The Bloomberg...
First time from the Cape to Cairo
After discovering letters written to the Herald in 1912 about the first successful trip by motor vehicle across the Drakensberg, I wrote an article for Weg/Go! about it. I later discovered the tale about an attempt to travel by car from Cape Town to Cairo, which ended...
CV Bate – founder of the Potchefstroom Herald and owner for half a century
This article is dedicated to Mr Richard Bate, great-grandson of CV Bate, who resides in the United Kingdom and who contacted me in November 2025 with a request for information on his great-grandfather. He, however, provided me with information that I have been wanting...