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An event which
seemed to substantiate this was a declaration made by a certain
John Holtzhausen on 29 September 1905, while in prison in Kimberley,
for the theft of a horse and carriage. He was sentenced to 30
months imprisonment. He maintained that he and two others, a
man by the name of Pretorius, a veld cornet, and a certain Swartz,
were requested by the Republic government to bury gold and diamonds
to the value of 2 million pounds. He said that when he had been
arrested for the theft, he was on his way to fetch the treasure
which was buried fifty miles north of the Blyde River and north
of Leydsdorp. He said that Pretorius had died in the war and
Swartz had been hanged for the murder of a man called van Niekerk.
Holtzhausen was ostensibly the only one left to lead the authorities
to the treasure.
Holtzhausen's story was apparently a tale made up by him and
it is suspected that he had heard about the murder trial in
which Philip Swartz was involved and tried to obtain release
from prison. No one knows what happened to him or the treasure.
The case against Swartz was heard before Judge Sir James Rose-Innes.
The story began during September 1900 when Philip Swartz and
one Pretorius joined General Ben Viljoen's commando. After President
Paul Kruger left for Mozambique for his trip to Europe, Swartz
and Pretorius were amongst the group who were sent to Komatipoort
by train while General Viljoen and his cavalry went on their
way to Leydsdorp via Hectorspruit where they crossed the Crocodile
River.
A certain number of burgers fled across the Mozambique border
to avoid the British and gave themselves up to the Portuguese.
Some of them went back across the border to rejoin their commando.
Swartz and Pretorius also came back across the border and headed
on foot for the Lebombo mountains near Komatipoort and from
there in the direction of Leydsdorp.
On the way they came upon a human skeleton with a weathered
leather bag close by. In the bag they found three smaller bags
containing diamonds and five roughly moulded gold bars. They
shared the treasure between them, but decided that in view of
the war they would bury it and return after the war to claim
it. They went on and buried the treasure east of the Blyde River
on the banks of the Brak Spruit.
During the war Swartz was wounded, taken prisoner and sent to
Ceylon, while Pretorius was killed in action. While Swartz was
in the prisoner of war camp on Ceylon, he wrote to a girl-friend
telling her that his days of financial insecurity would be over
once he returned to South Africa. His letter was intercepted
by the British forces and they resolved to keep an eye on him
when he returned.
He was released in 1903 and upon his arrival in the country,
found that his girl-friend had married a man called van Dyk.
Her sister was married to a Fanie van Niekerk, and Swartz decided
that she was really the girl he wanted. He told her that in
a vision he had seen that she was soon to be a widow. He began
making plans to go and find the treasure he and Pretorius had
hidden and the expedition would provide the perfect opportunity
for him to get rid of Fanie van Niekerk.
The expedition was arranged and consisted of Swartz, van Niekerk,
James Colville, who financed the trip, and a man by the name
of Donovan. What Swartz did not know, however, was that Donovan
was a member of the Transvaal Detective Service and was detailed
to watch Swartz.
On 4 May 1903 they set out for Pietersburg and during the train
journey Donovan learnt what Swartz' real intention was concerning
the treasure. This put Donovan on the alert. From Pietersburg
they travelled by mule wagon via Leydsdorp to Blyde River where
they arrived on the night of 16 May. The next morning they set
out on foot to Brak Spruit, about 32 kilometres further on.
They arrived in the afternoon and while the camp was set up,
Swartz invited van Niekerk to come along with him to shoot something
for the pot. It was the last time that van Niekerk was seen
alive.
While those left behind were setting up camp they heard two
shots from the south-west. A little while later a further two
shots were heard further east, and then silence. The men in
the camp presumed that the two hunters had shot some animal.
They did not return and it was thought that they had lost their
way. However, much later that night Swartz turned up alone.
Van Niekerk, he said, must have lost direction and climbed into
a tree to await the daylight. Donovan had a presentiment that
all was not well and would watch Swartz closely.
During the night shots were fired to indicate to van Niekerk
in which direction the camp was situated, but by daybreak there
was no sign of him. They left a note in the camp for him and
went in search of the treasure. From the top of a hill a further
hill could be seen in the distance and Swartz asked the group
to wait for him while he went in search of the landmarks. After
a while the group followed him but he had disappeared!
Understandably the group was incensed at being left in the veld
and went back to camp. After they had broken camp they went
to find the mule wagon which had been left on the bank of the
Blyde River. They found a note left by 'van Niekerk' placed
in the spokes of a wheel. He wrote that he was tired of the
fruitless search for the treasure and was going back to Johannesburg.
He had to go to Bulawayo and in view of the fact that time was
of the essence he was going on ahead. Donovan pocketed the note.
Examination of the wagon revealed that ammunition, blankets,
brandy and several other items were missing, but no sign of
van Niekerk, who wore very distinctive boots.
Donovan and his group took the shortest route to Leydsdorp to
reach there before Swartz and van Niekerk turned up. After they
had passed through the Olifants and Selati Rivers, they came
upon a black man who, when questioned, told them that a white
man had passed that way a short time before. Shortly after,
a shot was heard and Donovan recognised it as coming from his
own revolver. They found Swartz at a creek with his feet in
the water. He looked tired and dishevelled and his shirt was
torn. They immediately wanted to know where he had been. He
explained that they should have followed him. He had removed
the treasure and buried it next to the river. After this he
had taken the shortest route to Leydsdorp to wait for them there.
The group arrived at Leydsdorp on 22 May and Donovan reported
van Niekerk's disappearance to the police. The police were not
keen on the task of searching in the bush for the man and expressed
the opinion that lion would probably have devoured him.
At Pietersburg Swartz asked for change, and tendered two gold
coins, which Donovan found strange. He knew that Swartz did
not have any money and that van Niekerk had had two gold coins.
During the journey home by train, Donovan asked van Dyk to get
Swartz out of the compartment for a while and keep him busy.
Donovan found Swartz' note book in his suitcase and compared
the writing with that of the note that 'van Niekerk' had supposedly
written. The handwriting was identical!
Upon their arrival in Johannesburg, Donovan reported the matter
to his Chief, Howard Chadwick. An official search was launched
and van Niekerk's remains were found. Although the body had
been damaged by wild animals, it was possible to identify that
van Niekerk had been killed by a bullet from Swartz' rifle.
Swartz was arrested and charged with the premeditated murder
of van Niekerk and sentenced to death. He was executed on 15
February 1904.
This murder case and the John Holtzhausen story, fired the imagination
of many as well as that of the writer, Gustav Preller. In 'The
Star' of 7 November 1931, he wrote of the important role he
played in preventing the gold of the ZAR from landing in the
hands of the British forces. This story gave the impression
of being a true story and the headline in 'The Star' proclaimed
'A True Story of the Kruger Millions' by Gustav Preller, who
helped to move the gold from Pretoria.
In the article he said that on about 28 May 1900 he was given
instructions to obtain transportation for a very 'important
load' to be removed from Pretoria. Armed with a pistol he dramatically
commandeered a mule wagon in Sunnyside, drawn by two mules.
That night one load of gold was transported by the mule wagon,
and four loads by a horse cab, to a waiting train on Pretoria
station.
In the Preller collection, in the State Archives in Pretoria,
there is a typed copy of the article in which Preller says:
'I think it was on 28 May 1900, because on 31 May I left Pretoria
... say it was 28 May. In any case it does not seem that the
precise date is important now'. The precise date is indeed important
as it is a historic fact that the gold was removed on 4 June
1900, a day before the British forces occupied Pretoria.
In his 'Memoirs of the Boer War', General J C Smuts said that
the British forces had progressed as far as Six Mile Spruit
on 4 June 1900, just outside of Pretoria. Here the Boer forces
resisted the British to keep them from entering Pretoria, so
that there was enough time to remove the money and gold which
belonged to the government, as well as a large amount of ammunition
and cannons, that were still in Pretoria. The removal of the
money and gold belonging to the government from the National
Bank was Smuts' specific responsibility.
Ernest Meyer, Master of the Mint in 1900, was involved in the
removal of the money and gold from Pretoria. On 25 October 1949,
as a result of what Preller wrote, Meyer drew up a document
in which the removal of the money and gold on 4 June 1900, is
described.
In Meyer's version of the events General Smuts, who was State
Attorney at that time, was left behind in command at Pretoria,
while the government headquarters moved quietly and almost unobserved
to Machadodorp. On 2 June 1900 the British forces were approaching
Pretoria from the South. The Mint was still in operation and
as was usual was closed on Saturday 2 June. He was amazed that
no preparations had been made for the removal of the gold. The
British would enter Pretoria within the next few days and Meyer
reported this to Jules Perrin, head of the Mint. Perrin's answer
was that he had not received any instructions to remove the
gold and that they would have to submit to the authorities whoever
they might be.
On the Sunday the sound of cannon fire could be heard and on
Monday morning 4 June, reports were received of fighting at
Six Mile Spruit, occupation by the British was imminent.
The staff at the Mint started the day at the usual hour of
7 am and Perrin distributed the metal to the different departments
for processing. Perrin and the office staff then went home to
return at 9 am, while the technical staff continued working.
During Perrin's absence, Meyer took the opportunity to warn
the smelter and purifier not to proceed with the processing
of the gold, but to await the directions of the State Attorney.
Everyone at the Mint was willing to co-operate as they were
also at a loss to understand Perrin's inexplicable behaviour.
Meyer proceeded to General Smuts' home in Sunnyside and informed
him of the situation. In shocked tones he exclaimed "What, has
the gold not been taken away yet!" He told Meyer to return to
the Mint immediately and to await him there.
Smuts arrived at the Mint just before 9 am and after a few words
to Perrin and Hugo, the National Bank manager, Smuts ordered
the gold to be collected, weighed, recorded and made ready for
despatch to the Pretoria station.
The weighing and recording of the gold took time and consisted
of gold bars, unprocessed gold and approximately 100 000 Kruger
pounds to the value of three quarters of a million pounds sterling.
At 12 o'clock all was in readiness and the gold loaded into
the train's baggage compartment. Meyer and an armed guard
of between 4 and 8 men travelled in the passenger compartment.
Thus the last train under the flag of the Republic left Pretoria,
amidst the thunder of cannon fire, taking the precious freight
to safety.
The train arrived at Machadodorp at 2 am where Kruger was residing.
Here Meyer assisted with the payment in gold to several claimants
and with the help of the auditors and treasury personnel had
a busy time.
After Meyer left for the front on 17 July 1900, to join Max
Theunissen's Scouts, Commandant General Meindert Noome, Chief
Clerk to the Auditor General, took over from Meyer.
Noome left a diary in which he had noted clearly and carefully
in detail that on 31 August 1900 the gold was handed over to
a German firm, Wilken and Ackerman, in Lourenco Marques, (Maputo).
There were 62 cases of gold and this firm credited the account
of the government of the Republic for the full value. They supplied
the Boer forces with a large amount of provisions and necessities
amongst which was a total of 44 000 bags of flour. Large amounts
were made available to burghers who fled to Europe.
Many Lowveld burghers and their families availed themselves
of the opportunity and boarded the 'Zaire' and sailed to Lisbon
where they arrived on 25 April 1901. Originally the Portuguese
wanted to intern the 89 burghers, 56 women and 172 children
on their arrival in Lisbon at a place called Sagres, in the
south-western corner of Portugal. However for practical reasons
the plan was abandoned and the group was taken to Caidas da
Rainha by train. From there they were transported by horse -
drawn carriages. The streets were lined with Portuguese, some
crying and others tossing flowers to the Boers in sympathy.
These refugees returned to South Africa from Lisbon on 18 July
1902.
The myths and legends surrounding the 'Kruger Millions' persist
to fire the imagination and many believe that the treasure is
buried somewhere in the Lowveld.
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