Page 185 - The Diary of A. H. W. Behrens

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1900
The commandos of the boers and the British moved through Bethanie or passed it. De Wet, followed by the British, moved over the Olifants to the Rustenburg Dish, where they were divided in the “fat” and the “lean” camps. The former moved over the Crocodile River to Pretoria District, the lean camp moved via Bethanie to the salt pan in the Pretoria bushveld where they rested for a few months and then returned to the Free State. In Bethanie they behaved well, were hungry and tired, but did not rob us but bought from us what they wanted. The boer commandos took oats, maize etc. against “Goodfors” from commanders and officers. We never got a penny for anything!
In December 1900, a commando under Kemp and Beyers came through Bethanie during the night and set up camp near Makolokoe. The next night they moved up the mountains on this side of Sterkstroom just above Marikana and let a convoy of 250 wagons from Pretoria to Rustenburg pass peacefully into the mountains. Then they shot from a hiding place a few animals of every span and in this way brought chaos into
the entire convoy, shot the accompanying troops and seized everything. The place is called Moordnek to this day where there is a small cemetery along the road. We could hear the canons in Bethanie. The English convoy had travelled from Jericho along the Olifants to Zoutpansdrift and there they burnt all my wheat and houses. My entire harvest!