If you are a resident of Roodepoort, Strubens Valley in particular, and you’ve wondered who the area is named after, well, we’ve got the answer for you.
Louw Geldenhuys, the owner of the farm Wilgespruit, suspected certain rock formations on his farm were gold-bearing. He invited Fred Struben (who brought his brother Harry along with him), a man with a reputation as a reliable and experienced prospector, to do some prospecting on his farm.
On the morning of 18 September 1884, after months of hard work, Fred and Harry Struben struck an incredibly rich vein of quartz, which he called Confidence Reef, to show his confidence in the gold-bearing potential of the Witwatersrand.
Struben’s rich strike at Wilgespruit focused attention on the Witwatersrand and prospectors flocked to the area, which in turn resulted in the discovery of the Main Reef group of conglomerates two years later, in 1886, on the farm Langlaagte. This discovery eventually led to the establishment of Johannesburg.
This was merely the start of the gold rush that would hit what would become the West Rand in the following years, and it all started with Fred and Harry Struben. Doesn’t that sound familiar? Fred and Harry, read that in Afrikaans (Fred en Harry) and you’ll realise that it was after these two brothers that Fredenharry Road in Strubens Valley was named.
Strubens Valley? Well, you guessed it – the area was named after the Struben brothers who helped Roodepoort become the populous suburb of Johannesburg that it is today.
Why did you need this history lesson you ask? Well, it just so happens that Harry Struben’s great-great-great-grandson popped into Roodepoort recently on a business trip. Adam Struben and his wife Linda may now live in Cape Town, but Adam still remains a direct descendant of the man who is half of the reason your street address reads Fredenharry Road, Strubens Valley.
