Deckle Edge Media_Maluti_Issue 1 Winter 2017

Crossroads
Harrismith
Blankets & Timber
By SILMA BADENHORST
Harrismith was founded in 1849 after the town has been initially laid out by Robert Moffat about 25 kilometres
from the current location, in present-day Aberfeldy on the Elands River. That site, however, proved to be
deficient in water and Harrismith was shifted to its present site twenty-four years later during the diamond
rush at Kimberley. British Governor, Harry Smith, requested Paul Michiel Bester to choose a better site that
would be well suited for a town in the North Eastern Free State. It was therefore named after Sir Harry Smith.
Bester chose well when he decided the best site would be at the
foot of the towering Platberg (i.e. “flat/flat-topped mountain”
when translated from Afrikaans), which is 9 kilometres long, 2 394
metres high and on the banks of the Wilge River. The town became
a busy staging post on the Natal transport route. As a direct result
of this, hotels, stores and public buildings shot up. Few towns are
situated in such beautiful surroundings. By the 1880s the town
was the second largest in the Orange Free State.
In those days, the town stood on the frontier of civilization: to the
North was the unexplored Transvaal and to the east Natal, largely
undeveloped with several tribes of Zulus that were very dangerous
and farming operations were impossible. Because of this, the town
was involved in most of the “Bantu Wars” (nine wars or flare-ups
from 1779 to 1879) and the site of the present high school held
the town fort. The town was surrounded by stone ramparts that
were removed only recently, despite the protests of those who
realized the historical value.
“In those days, the town stood on the frontier of
civilization: to the North was the unexplored
Transvaal and to the east Natal ...”
Harrismith developed slowly and at the outbreak of the Anglo Boer
War (1899 to 1902) it was little more than a village, with English
speaking residents. The first town council, except for Thys Wessels,
were all from British descent. During this time, the Harrismith
Commando was the first in the battlefield. It was also the first to be
engaged in a skirmish with the British forces at Bester’s Station and
lost the first civilian, who could hardly speak a word of Afrikaans
– a man named Fred Johnson. The remnants of the Harrismith
Commando were with General De Wet until the end and were
part of those civilians that were nicknamed the “Bitter-enders”,
because some of them only surrendered after the signing of the
Treaty of Vereeniging.
[Above] Late afternoon view of Harrismith, seen from north of town along the N3 freeway, looking south. The outline of the Maluti range (on the Lesotho
border) can be seen. A large part of town is out of view to the right / [Page 7] Platberg (By JMK (2013) Wikimedia.org).
Maluti Berg & Dal • Winter 2017 • 5