South Africa
Back to Images of Africa
Smaller image
The Voortrekker Monument
outside Pretoria was completed in 1949. Inside is a marble
frieze containing 27 panels commemorating events of the
Great Trek in which settlers of Dutch origin emigrated from
Cape Colony to the Transvaal between 1835 and 1854. At the
centre of the monument is the cenotaph which bears the
inscription "We for thee, South Africa". An opening in the
dome atop the monument is positioned so that every year at
noon on the 16th of December a beam of sunlight
illuminates the cenotaph. Prior to the 1994 elections which
brought Nelson Mandela to power, December 16th was celebrated as
the "Day of the Vow", commemorating the massacre of the Zulus
in the Battle of Blood River; it remains a holiday but is now
called "Reconciliation Day". Surrounding the
monument is a circular wall with reliefs representing the
wagons of voortrekkers pulled into a circle.
by John Walker
July, 2001
This document is in the public domain.
