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Date: 1895 Type: Monument Status: Extant   Click to view large map Coordinates: 28°30'53.32" S 28°25'15.74" E Alt: 1812m

See more photographs Slag van Naauwpoort Monument. Battle of Naauwpoort 29 Sept. 1865. Erected by the J. Unions and the public. Unveiled 16 Dec 1895 by Commandant H.J. Bruwer. The Batlokwa (Wild cat people) tribe of the Basotho nation led by a fierce Chiefteness called Mantatisi attacked a group of Trek Boers near to the present day Harrismith. A commando of three to four hundred men under the command of Paul Kruger were dispatched by the South-African Republic (ZAR) on the 9 September 1865 to remove these attacker from Witzieshoek. This they did by driving the Basotho through the Golden Gate onwards to the present day Clarens. On 28 September the Commando decided to make camp for the night on the farm Boshoek. It was late (about 10 pm) when they arrived and it was a particularly cold and miserable evening. Contrary to normal Boer military practices of the time a laager was not set up, the men sleeping in the wagons where they had been outspanned and of the others sleeping in a nearby donga. The horses were not hobbled, a costly mistake. Early on the morning of the 29 September under the cover of darkness and a light rain, Basotho warriors under the command of two chiefs, Lesoeana and Slanggaal fell upon the unsuspecting Boers, killing five men of the Commando. In the initial confusion, the unhobbled horses fled. Under difficult circumstances the Commando managed to re-group and drive the Basotho back through Naauwpoort Nek, (two kilometres away) inflicting heavy casualties on the fleeing warriors. The pursuing Boers wanted to pursue the Basotho through the Nek, but Paul Kruger had a grudging respect for the Basotho and knew that they could have an ambush set up on the Clarens side of the Nek. The word was sent out and more men came to join the Commando from the surrounding towns of Bethlehem, Paul Roux, Senekal as well as other nearby settlements and within two days there were a large number of well armed men that drove the Basotho out of the valley. The five deceased Boers were buried where they died. Only three graves are identifiable today. It is thought that two of the men were exhumed by loved ones some years later and buried on family farms somewhere in the Transvaal Republic. All that remains today is a badly overgrown graveyard with a rusty fence and gate as well as few sandstone pillars that at one time formed the enclosed area where the monument stood. Some years ago a local farmer, Neil van Schalkwyk, unearthed the sign-post that showed the way to the monument and moved it to his farm to preserve for posterity. The monument that stands on the square today was originally erected on the site where the battle took place and near to where the men where buried. It was unveiled on the 16 December 1895 (the Voortrekker Day of the Covenant) before a large crowd. The monument was moved to coincide with the silver jubilee of Clarens in 1962 and was re-unveiled by the then State President, the honourable C R Swart. (Extracted and edited from The diary of a village idiot – Battle of Naauwpoort Nek). (See also Wikipedia)