EPIC BATTLES IN THE DOME

Join us for an exciting talk and trail to visit the Dome. There is an amazing range of battlefields in this area, from tribal wars through the Voortrekker / Matabele period to the Boer Wars, the 1914 Rebellion and rightwing revolts, Sharpeville and the Struggle against apartheid. The unique geographical position and landscapes of the Vredefort Dome have placed this region at the heart of SA's tumultuous history for centuries.

See full Vredefort Dome battlefields outline.

As recently as 2002, rightwingers allegedly hatched plans to blow up the Vaal Dam and start a white revolution.

This is just one episode from the dramatic history of the Dome region. The river, the people, and the Dome - the Vaal River valley is rich in historical associations, comparing at least equally with KwaZulu Natal and the Western Cape as a cauldron of major developments in the story of South Africa.

Tumultuous is hardly the word to describe this extraordinary past. It's a combination of war, revolution, peacemaking and reconciliation involving world famous as well as little known people and events.

For centuries the Vaal valley and the Dome with its ring of mountains have lain at the centre of major migratory routes. It was here at the rampaging armies of Mzilikazi and the land-grabbing Voortrekkers first came into conflict. Migrants of a very different sort were the diamond diggers and later Klondike miners who rushed here when gold was discovered in the Witwatersrand strata of the Dome at roughly the same time as in Johannesburg. Here, though, the paydirt was little. The invasion of the Uitlanders led in turn to the Anglo-Boer war of 1899-1902. Subsequently, several of the Boer generals rebelled against the government in 1914 - one was even drowned in the Vaal. Much more recently, the Sharpeville massacre occurred near Vanderbijlpark and the ANC attacked Sasolburg during the anti-apartheid struggle. It was from here that a teenager called Stompie Sepei - who grew up in the Parys township of Tumahole - left to join Winnie Mandela's "Soccer team" in Soweto and there met his end.

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These and many other events continue to reverberate through modern South Africa. Our guide, the writer Graeme Addison, can show you where events happened, telling about the personalities, the technologies and the outcomes of key events, including:

- prehistoric conflict and co-operation between Bushmen, Khoi and Bantu tribes

- The "Cat Queen" MaNtatisi and her refugee army

- the Difaqane ("the crushing"): a period of extreme suffering

- the arrival of Mzilikazi and the Voortrekkers - wars and alliances

- the diamond- and gold-rush eras and conflicts over land and minerals

- the two Anglo Boer wars (1880 and 1889-1902)

- the Rebellion of 1914

- the Rand Revolt of 1922

- Trade unions struggles of the 1930s-90s

- The Ossewa Brandwag and rightwing radicalism, 1910-2007

- The anti-apartheid era, Sharpeville 1960

- The Soweto Uprising 1976 and its aftermath

- Guerilla attacks on Sasolburg oil plant

- Post-apartheid developments

The mining and industrial heartbeat of Gauteng depends entirely on the Vaal River along with the mineral and agricultural wealth of the surrounding areas. Without the Dome crater event - which preserved the gold in the ground - and without the river, there would be no SA economic giant today. The amazing tapestry of peoples, ideologies and issues make for an unfolding tale of conflict, settlement and co-operation that is woven into the fabric of modern South Africa.

At Otters Haunt we have devoted several years to researching tour routes around the battlefields of this unique area. There are many marked and unmarked battlefields, which it would take weeks to see in detail. We can show you what there is and help you to plan your routes. Contact us to discuss your interests.