NATURAL & HISTORICAL SITES

3 : 24 Rivers: Internment

In 1901 the British, who had not been successful in dislodging the Boers at Sandrivierspoort, came upon a group of Boer women and children in the vicinity of 24 Rivers, where they had gathered together for safety having had their homes and possessions destroyed. The British forces had had the Tarentaalstraat Pass pointed out to them by a National Scout in the hope of surprising Beyers and his command. The women and children were gathered up and sent to the concentration camp at Nylstroom (Modimolle). By the war’s end 544 women and children had died of disease; they are buried in the poignant commemorative cemetery in Modimolle.