Aug 2019 - Lowveld

O
L ST
IN TIME
Finding yourself in any of these
Lowveld ghost towns leaves
you with mixed emotions of loss
and fascination. The Ferris wheel
towering among the overgrowth
of a forgotten play park, or
a view to the outside world
through the broken panes of a
blistered sash window, reminds
you that people once lived here.
Marius Bakkes tells us more.
The fascination soon
turns to curiosity.
What happened
here? Why has
everyone left?
Where did they go?
Does anyone still
remember a life
once lived at Diepgezet
at Msauli Mine, or Vaalhoek
on the dust road between Pilgrim’s
Rest and the potholes at Bourke’s
Luck? I have visited the old
cowboy-style mining town of
Leydsdorp, dating back from the late
1800s, a number of times over many
decades.
Sometimes I would find life there, and
the next time everything would be
gone again. Once, during the ‘80s, I
found it quite eerie that the beds in
the hotel all remained made, long
after it had closed down and everybody
left. As dust and spiderwebs
were accumulating, a lonesome
caretaker on request would unlock
the front door and show the few
curious visitors around.
Photographer: KEVIN RUTHVEN
Vaalhoek
Photographer: MARIUS BAKKES
Leydsdorp
The dusky bar and the dining room
with the sideboard were still stacked
with white porcelain. Nothing was to
be touched, as if the innkeeper were
to return any minute.
The off-road
mapping system,
Garmin Tracks
For Africa,
describes Msauli
as nothing short
of a ghost town
I have been told that the hotel at
Leydsdorp is yet again refurbished,
the pub open and a proper meal
is served in the saloon-style dining
room. A similar situation applies at
Msauli.
One or two of the old miners’ houses
have been restored and now offer
lodging to interested guests. The off-
60 Get It Lowveld August 2019
August 2019 Get It Lowveld 61