Latest blue plaque unveiled in Rensburg

Tony Burisch of the Heidelberg Heritage Association unveiled the latest heritage site at 34 DF Malan Street, Rensburg, on March 25.

The sponsor of the plaque, Wynand Bezuidenhout, has been living in the house for three years. The previous owner was a Mrs du Plessis.

The house was one of the first houses built in Rensburg in 1907.

Rensburg dates back to around 1897 and was at one time a town itself, but because it was so close to Heidelberg, it was incorporated into Heidelberg.

Rensburg was named after Hendrik Petrus Francois Janse van Rensburg (1863-1906), born in Winburg, Free State. He donated part of his farm, Houtpoort, to the Boers after the Second Anglo Boer War.

Janse van Rensburg represented Heidelberg on the ZAR Volksraad from 1895 to 1899. He signed the Oath of Neutrality with the British and was the president of the burger peace committee.

Other members of the peace committee were Gen Andries Cronje, D Kriel, WJ Steyn and LC Gier. The burghers of the peace committee were collaborators with the British forces.

They voluntarily took the oath of neutrality, striving to bring an end to the war.

The peace committee was treated roughly by the Boers, as they were seen as traitors.

The British proclaimed punitive measures against landowners who lived close to the railway line and did not report any suspicious activities.

During the night of September 2, 1900, the railway line was blown up close to his farmhouse.

Janse van Rensburg made the wrong decision of only reporting it the next day.

On his return home, he discovered the British troops had already executed the proclamation, as they have burnt down his farmstead and left his family destitute.

Janse van Rensburg married on November 19, 1883, in Heidelberg. His wife, Emmerentia Wilhelmina Maria, néé Koen (1867-1910), donated the land to the Emmasdale Trade School.

Both are buried in the Heidelberg Kloof Cemetery.