The unveiling of three monuments over the past weekend posed sacred moments where civilian victims, murdered by the infamous Bushveldt Carbineers (BVC) during the Anglo Boer War (1899- 1902), were remembered.

It also heralded the introduction of the third and final phase of the involvement of well-known local historian Mr Charles Leach.

In the first or military phase, Leach and the Zoutpansberg Skirmishes and Heritage Foundation established monuments at Fort Edward and Vliegenpan. The second or civilian phase comprised the research, discovery and unveiling of civilian monuments at Fort Edward and the civilian monument for Reverend C A DHeese and his Ndebele driver, who were both murdered after witnessing some of the other murders.

By 2009, all the known graves of the 36 murder victims had been found. Leach and a whole ‘family’ of people sharing his passion to unveil the correct facts of the history of the Anglo Boer war, including the atrocities committed primarily by the BVC during the occupation of the Spelonken, had worked tirelessly. The third phase could be termed the preservation phase.

“We want to get history documented in granite, for future generations to know what it is all about. We took 108 years to get the story right, so let’s keep it right!” Leach said on June 25.

It was significant that two of the three top experts on the Anglo Boer War in South Africa, and therefore in the world, participated in the tour. They are Prof Fransjohan Pretorius of the University of Pretoria and Prof Louis Changouin. The third expert, Prof Jackie Grobler, could not be present. Prof Malie Smuts, granddaughter of Rev Heese, also honoured the group with her presence.

On June 26 and 27, the whole tour group from far and wide set out to witness the unveiling of the three monuments. At Valdezia, a Vercuil descendant, Mr Dennis Eveleigh, unveiled the monument in honour of six civilians who were shot on July 2, 1901 by a BVC patrol under command of Sergeant Major Morrison. They were J J Vercuil (31), F G J Potgieter (18), J C Greyling (25), J J Geyser (65), P J Geyser (12) and a Van Heerden man.

The poignant story of the death of Van Staden and his two sons on September 7, 1901, always touches deeply. Their grave is on the farm of Mr Poog Henning, who unveiled the new monument.

“Not only with the unveiling, but every time I go there, I relive the whole story and see it in my mind´s eye,” Henning said. This is a story that Charles has retold many times. The youngest Van Staden son, Chris (12), was in a wagon, dying of fever, probably malaria. A BVC patrol that included Lts ‘Breaker’ Morant and Peter Handcock, ordered the father and the oldest son Roelf (18) to dig a grave. The father was shot while standing in the grave. Roelf ran away, but was shot and thrown on top of the father. The sick Chris was brought out of the wagon and a joiner was ordered to shoot him. The youngest Van Staden was buried on top of his brother and father. An eyewitness, Scotch Mahange, who worked for Charlie Bristow, later identified the place of the grave and when the shallow grave was dug up, the three were found buried in the order that the eyewitness had said.

“The Van Staden murders happened after the BVC attended the burial of Rev Heese … and they still shot these innocent people,” Leach said.

At Mooketsi, Mr George Short unveiled a monument in honour of Floris Visser (20), shot at Koedoesrivier on August 10, 1901, by a BVC patrol under command of Lt Morant. The monument also honoured the two Grobler boys, Jan Derk (14) and Jacobus Daniel (6), shot by a BVC patrol under command of Lt Hannam. They were shot on August 22 on Blass Perreira’s farm, which now belongs to George and Ramona Short.

An important rediscovery of the grave of eight Boers shot on 23 August, 1901, at Ballymore, occurred in 2009 and slipped by relatively unnoticed. On that black day of August 23, the highest score of 13 murders was recorded in one day - the eight Boers, including four Dutch teachers, as well as three unnamed black men, and Rev Heese and his Ndeblele driver. The terrain where the eight were buried is still barred by sekelbos, but the plan is to unveil a monument there in the not-too-distant future. One other monument in the Mooketsi area is still to follow.

“The groundwork is now complete. There is nothing more to discover, only to research and document what has been done. By unveiling these monuments, history is preserved for the next generation,” Leach said.