Page 303 - The Diary of A. H. W. Behrens

146
1926 – 1930
The Waaikraal gold mine caused quite a stir and the shares
went down and the company went bankrupt because of mismanagement, irresponsible mismanagement. A thunderstorm above the mine brought down water floods that flooded the underground work. No capital was available to get the mine back to work and the directors sold everything in order to
pay back borrowed money. One Jew still had a contract for a percentage of the yield but understood nothing of it and gave it up. The government bought the farm and a certain Mr Balogh from Marikane bought the mineral rights. The mine is good, the gold is there, perhaps somebody else can try to work the mine properly. I still hold a couple of hundred shares that have lost their value. Balogh has many thousands. But through the mine
I and my children got land and a livelihood that we could never have dreamt of and the promise of Jesus in Matthew 19 was completely fulfilled. Praise the Lord, my soul, and forget not all his benefits.
1943
On 16 May we celebrated our birthdays and were in good health. Gussi Behrens with Ida his wife and three children and H. Backeberg and two children of Wulfes came by car. We received letters, telegrams and many telephone calls and in the afternoon many visitors from Brits. It was really nice and pleasant.