Heidelberg Police Station gets blue plaque status

On February 11, Tony Burisch from the Heidelberg Heritage Association awarded the latest blue plaque status to the Heidelberg Police Station as a heritage site.

The blue plaque was sponsored by Just Properties Heidelberg.

Before the building became part of law enforcement, it was the Transvaal Hotel. The hotel building was demolished before the current building was built.

Just after the Second Anglo Boer War, the property was used as police barracks by the South African Constabulary (SAC).

The SAC as it was called then, was very active in Heidelberg during and after the Anglo Boer War.

The idea was to set up a paramilitary force in 1900 under British Army control to police-specific areas captured from the two independent Boer Republics namely that of Transvaal and Orange Free State during the war.

Field-Marshal Lord Roberts, commander-in-chief of the Imperial forces in South Africa, issued Proclamation 24.

Proclamation 24 was the document that started the South African Constabulary.

The first Inspector-General was Maj-Gen Robert Baden-Powell, later the founder of the worldwide Scout Movement.

After the war ended in 1902, the two republics became British colonies.

The South African Constabulary force was disbanded in 1908. Various graves of those who served in the constabulary can be found in the Heidelberg Kloof Cemetery.

One grave is that of Const ES Waters who died on May 23, 1906. The Transvaal Police was established after the war and was in service through the time that South Africa became a Union in 1910.

In 1913, the Transvaal Police amalgamated with the South African Police to become one force. There were specific rooms that were used as a hospital and a mortuary.

Where Overkruin is situated today is the original SAC campsite. The building is currently occupied by the Heidelberg Police.