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Franz, the grandson of the missionary Robert Franz, shed important light on
the missionary activities in the Makgabeng area with his oral accounts as
well as important documents he had inherited from his parents and
grandparents, as well as information on other missionaries 298 . The direct
descendants of earliest staunch Lutheran convert, Simon Setumu, are
presently living in Matjitjileng and Schoongezicht villages, while the
descendants of Adolf Mamabolo are residing at Bochum. The buildings of
most of the mission stations, are still intact while some of them are only
ruins now. The number of mission stations, as well as outstations and sub-
stations, and the numbers of Lutheran converts in the Makgabeng area,
bear testimony of the impact the missionary activities had on religious
identities in that area, even though in some cases missionaries’ activities
suffered setbacks due to reversions.
The Wesleyan Methodist mission reached the Makgabeng area much later
than the Lutherans. But in the Blouberg area, the two men who had been
baptised as Wesleyans in Natal during their stay as migrant labourers,
joined the Lutherans. Solomon Maloba and Samuel Modiba converted to
Christianity in Natal under the well-known Wesleyan missionary, J.
Allison 299 , only to join Beyer’s Lutheran congregation when they returned to
298 Interview, Prof. Robert Franz, 20 July 2002, Senwabarwana (formerly Bochum).
299 D. W. van der Merwe, Die geskiedenis van die Berlynse Sendinggenootska in Transvaal, 1860-
1900, p.14.
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