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...
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...
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...
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...
Sports Village – Olympic medal champ This article was compiled as a commission from the NWU, Records, Archives and Museums and is published here with their permission. The Sports Village, built in 2010, stands next to the Fanie du Toit Sports Grounds of the...
This article first appeared on the website theheritageportal.co.za on 10 November 2015 and was reprinted in my book Stories of Potchefstroom that was published in 2018. This is an article in the series on the declared heritage sites of Potchefstroom. About two decades...
Arguably one of the most beautiful heritage buildings in Potchefstroom is the Landdrost-, Post- en Telegraafkantoor (Magistrate, Post and Telegraph Office) in Greyling (OR Tambo) Street next to the Church Square. Although nowadays defaced by unsightly security...
Imagine a place where you can experience the immediate effect of all possible feel-good hormones. The Boskop Yacht & Aquatic Club epitomises this. It is a place of outstanding natural beauty, but moreover, it is a club where generations of families have...
Potchefstroom Dam – many activities, many memories Today the tranquil body of water that is the Potchefstroom Dam presents many beautiful vistas. Over many years it had been a very popular recreational resort. During the lockdown its grassy picnic spots remained...
Water was the reason why Potchefstroom was founded where it still is now. When Andries Hendrik Potgieter, the Voortrekker leader, visited the area 1835, he was impressed by the abundant water supply of the Mooi River, which he named as such. (See my article: What is...