One might be forgiven for completely missing Sandton’s oldest monument. Tucked away near the end of Adrienne Road in Sandown, the monument is tricky to find. While business people and residents go about their day, they pass by a significant piece of South African history, as it marks the home of the first settlers in Sandton.
The monument, located on an empty piece of land, may be mistaken as a yet-to-be developed piece of land.
The monument is dedicated to Voortrekkers Jan Christoffel and Maria Magdalena Esterhuysen.
The couple settled on their farm Zandfontein in 1836 and were the first white family to settle in the area. Jan’s mother, Judith, was the sister of Voortrekker leader Andries Pretorius.
Two of Jan’s brothers were killed with Piet Retief when they accompanied him on his historic visit to Dingane in 1838.
The Zandfontein farm, along with Driefontein and Rietfontein are the farms which Sandton is today built on.
On 30 October 1982, the small piece of land where the monument is located was officially handed over to the municipality of Sandton, following a push to have the monument preserved.
While the monument is most definitely preserved, hidden behind a fence on a large piece of land, the historical relevance of the monument seems to go completely unnoticed by those who travel past it each day.
