Balmoral, Mpumalanga

Balmoral is a town in the Emalahleni Local Municipality in the Mpumalanga province of South Africa. The village was established as a railway station of the Oosterlijn from Pretoria to Maputo in 1894. The village and railway station were erected at the farm Eenzaamheid. For decades the village was nothing more than a railway stop with a primary school for the surrounding farms. During the Second Boer War the British built a concentration camp near the railway station.

Balmoral
Balmoral
Balmoral
Coordinates: 25.861°S 28.977°E / -25.861; 28.977
CountrySouth Africa
ProvinceMpumalanga
DistrictNkangala
MunicipalityEmalahleni
Established1894
Time zoneUTC+2 (SAST)
PO box
1037
Area code013

Development plans

In 1997 several Afrikaner businessmen, including the chairman of the Boere-Republiek Koöperatief Beperk (Boers Republic Co-operative Limited), Fritz Meyer, bought three parts of the farm Eenzaamheid outside the village.[1][2] Intended as a self-declared homeland for white Afrikaners, it was reputed to have been financed by American white supremacist politician David Duke.[3] Prominent right-winger Willem Ratte owns a farm in Balmoral.[4] Over time the BRKB was re-registered as Balmoral Vestigings Koöperatief Beperk (BVKB).

Since the establishment of the Balmoral Vestigings Koöperatief Beperk only a few houses have been built on the property of the BVKB.

Graveyard and museum

The graveyard of the Balmoral concentration camp, dating back to the Second Boer War, lies at the property of the BVKB. In 1997 the BVKB-residents established the "Volksmoord Museum of Boer Genocide" next to the graveyard of the Balmoral concentration camp and petitioned the British High Commission in Pretoria for an apology for the concentration camp deaths.[5]

In 2013 Willem Ratte removed his belongings from the museum, which decayed and repeatedly was vandalized.[6][7] Later, Ratte refused to recollect its belongings from the place he stored it.[8] In 2016 the empty and decayed museum burned down in a field fire.[9]

In 2016 the BVKB sold the graveyard and the ruins of the museum to a new owner.[10] A new museum about the concentration camp and a restaurant will be built.

See also

References
  1. "South Africa: Envisaged Boere Republic Registered In The Heart Of Mpumalanga". African Eye News. 8 October 1997. Retrieved 4 January 2014.
  2. Parts 28, 29, 30 of the farm Eenzaamheid, See: BVKB Reëls 2013 Archived 2018-02-20 at the Wayback Machine, BVKB, 2013.
  3. "Balmoral". SA Travel Directory. Archived from the original on 5 January 2014. Retrieved 4 January 2014.
  4. "Ratte refuses bail, continues hunger strike". IOL News. Archived from the original on 2 February 2014. Retrieved 21 January 2014.
  5. "Bitter Afrikaners go north to set up white-only territory". The Independent. Archived from the original on 28 January 2014. Retrieved 16 January 2014.
  6. Museum tot niet Archived 2018-02-20 at the Wayback Machine, Die Bronberger, 27 February 2014.
  7. Museumskatte lê in kratte Archived 2016-04-23 at the Wayback Machine, Middelburg Observer, 21 April 2016.
  8. Ratte wil nie gevind word Archived 2016-04-27 at the Wayback Machine, Middelburg Observer, 23 April 2016.
  9. Vlamme kan geskiedenis nie uitwis nie Archived 2018-02-20 at the Wayback Machine, Middelburg Observer, 14 October 2016.
  10. New Owner Archived 2018-02-20 at the Wayback Machine, Balmoral Begrafplaas, 8 November 2016.
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