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Cape Castle Ghosts South Africa
Cape Town – The Castle of Good Hope turns 350 this year – and to mark the occasion, the Independent Media group will take readers on an intriguing journey of discovery, with South Africa’s oldest existing building as its focal point.
Over the years, the Castle has been many things to different people, a place of pleasure and pain. To the first white settlers it was a refreshment station for ships from their home country. To the indigenous people it eventually became a symbol of dispossession – of land, livestock and, ultimately, dignity.
But back to the Castle…
Perhaps appropriately, it had its origins in something that was commonplace along the southernmost tip of Africa: a violent storm… followed by a shipwreck.
On March 25, 1647, a Dutch Indiaman, De Nieuwe Haerlem, on its way to Holland from the East Indies, ran aground in the vicinity of present-day Milnerton – and although there were no casualties, its sinking was destined to change the course of history.
A junior merchant named Leendert Janszen was instructed to stay behind with about 60 crew to look after the cargo while fellow crew members boarded other ships in the fleet and continued their journey to Holland.
While waiting to be picked up, Janszen and other members of the party grew vegetables, caught fish and bartered fresh meat from indigenous inhabitants.
It proved to be a trial run for something more permanent.
On his return to his homeland, Janszen and a fellow officer, Nicolaas Proot, were asked by their employers, the Dutch East India Company, to compile a report on the suitability of the Cape to serve as a refreshment station.
Their report, known as the “Remonstrantie”, highly recommended the idea. They were supported by Jan van Riebeeck, a member of the fleet that picked them up.
In 1651, Van Riebeeck, accompanied by 79 men and eight women, set sail for the Cape – to set up a refreshment station.
The first commander of the Cape built the first “permanent” structure – a fort – on the site of the present-day Grand Parade.
It was built out of clay and timber, and it was not very secure, making the word “fort” seem like a misnomer. Van Riebeeck was well aware of the need to have something more secure, and he called on his principals to give the go-ahead for the construction of something more secure.
The Dutch East India Company eventually did say “Yes”, but four years after Van Riebeeck’s tour of duty had ended.
The Castle had other faces too.
Over the course of time it was the administrative centre of the Cape, a garrison, a prison (its dungeons served as temporary holding cells for troublesome chiefs of indigenous groups from the Cape and much further afield).
Some of its purposes, though, were even more sinister…
For example, it – or rather a section of it – served as a torture chamber (Die Donkergat) and a place where people were executed. And it also housed a gallows.
In this regard, one of the more fascinating stories associated with the Castle involved the ghost of an 18th century governor, Pieter van Noodt, who had been cursed on the gallows by one of seven men he had condemned to death for desertion.
The curse did not take long to kick in. Van Noodt died on the same day he was cursed. Legend has it he died with a look of surprise on his face.
One of the earliest “hangmen” was married to a slave “owned” by one of the Cape’s best-known 18th century socialites, Lady Ann Barnard.
Barnard was most impressed at the way the hangman performed his duties, but she felt nothing but contempt for his wife.
As part of the Castle’s 350th anniversary celebrations, the Department of Defence has commissioned statues of four African leaders who fought to maintain the independence of their people during various eras of dispossession.
The earliest of these featured leaders will be a Goringhaiqua Khoikhoi chief named Doman, whose relationship with the Dutch shifted from watchful collaboration (he was regarded by the Dutch as a highly skilled interpreter) to open hostility when he realised that the stay of the colonialists was likely to be permanent.
On a cold, wet day in May 1659, Doman launched the first “war of independence” by indigenous people in southern Africa against colonial invaders.
Zulu King Cetshwayo also spent time as a prisoner at the Castle. This was after he had been captured in the Ngome Forest (near Nkandla) after his forces had suffered horrific losses against the British at Khambula and Gingindlovu.
Despite angry protests from whites in the colony of Natal, he was granted permission to travel to England to plead his case to British politicians.
Dubbed “The Ladies Man” because of his striking good looks, even more so in tailored European clothing, he inspired what was described as “some very bad verse”:
“White young dandies get away-o,
Clear the way for Cetewayo….”
Another “guest” of the Castle was Sekhukhune, the king of the Pedi, who like so many other African leaders throughout southern Africa was forced into war by land-hungry white invaders.
In his case, it was strife with the Boers in the 1870s that proved to be the beginning of his downfall.
Although he was able to hold his own against the Boers, the British proved to be a different proposition.
Theophilus Shepstone, the administrator of the Transvaal (after the first Anglo-Boer war), was scathingly critical of the Boers for not being able to defeat the Pedi.
This, he said, had seriously undermined the authority of the white man in Africa.
The notoriously cynical Shepstone pushed Sekhukune into war by instituting a series of taxes and fines that the Pedi were unable to comply with – until the only option open to them was war.
Also to be featured will be Langalibalele, chief of the Hlubi, who was also forced into a war he didn’t want by the white authorities.
The Hlubi people were driven into conflict because they proved to be much more successful at farming from their base in the foothills of Natal than their white counterparts.
Nothing sends a shiver down your spine quite like a haunted house and we've found some creepy residences prone to paranormal activity from across the globe. Whether it’s a ghostly fort on the windswept Cape of Good Hope in South Africa, the isolated farmhouse on Rhode Island that inspired the film The Conjuring, or an English country rectory haunted by a lovelorn nun, these spooky properties and their terrifying secrets are guaranteed to strike terror into your heart. Click or scroll to take the tour...The site’s most famous tale is that of the former governor Pieter van Noodt, who in 1729 unfairly condemned seven soldiers to death for desertion and was cursed by one of them as he met his fate at the gallows. Later that day, van Noodt was found dead in his office, a look of terror across his face. It is said he is still heard to this day, swearing and cursing from within the castle walls. Other resident ghosts include socialite and first lady of the colony, Lady Anne Barnard who turned the large hall of the Governor’s residence, seen here, into a ballroom. Her curly-headed ghost has been known to appear at parties held here to this day. Another famous ghost, the Lady in Grey, is said to have made an appearance in 1947 when Princess Elizabeth was in Cape Town to mark her 21st birthday.
A prison in the Second Boer War from 1899 to 1902, there have been reports of footsteps in narrow corridors and rooms like the one seen here, plus the cries of former prisoners dragged down into the so-called ‘Donker Gat’ (dark hole), a windowless dungeon, where many were imprisoned and tortured or simply left to drown when it flooded in winter. Some enthusiasts of the castle's haunted past have seen and heard more than they bargained for, including a large black hound that leaps at visitors before disappearing and a bell that apparently rings by itself,
Read on to discover more of the world's most haunted houses...
As a Dutch person, visiting Cape Town was like coming home. Many Dutch influences can be found in this beautiful South African city. And, even though Afrikaans is different from Dutch, I understood each word. But still, I’m not particularly proud of our legacy there. The main Dutch mark on Cape Town is that of the Dutch East India Company (in Dutch: The Verenigde Oost Indische Company, VOC). You literally can’t ignore it. Especially not in the very haunted Castle of Good Hope.
The history of the Castle of Good Hope
HelenSTB via Flickr CC-BY 2.0
Built between 1666 and 1679 by slaves, soldiers and sailors, the Castle of Good Hope (Afrikaans: Casteel de Goede Hoop) is the oldest existing building in South Africa. Jan van Riebeeck, a Merchant who lived from 1619 – 1677, constructed the original fortress in 1652. The original fortress consisted of clay and timber and was built to supply the ships passing the treacherous coast around the Cape on the long voyages between The Netherlands and Indonesia, or East India, as it was referred to in the past.
THEGIFT777 via Getty Images
The castle is a pentagonal (bastion) fortress and it was built in fear of the English fleet. Yes, we kind of annoyed the English at sea back then. It took a while before it was finished, because The Dutch East India Company didn’t feel the need to spend money on it at first. But when England declared us war because we took the rights for the best products, the fortress was a necessity. In 1936, the fort was declared a historical monument. It is the best-preserved example of a Dutch East India Company Fortress.
About the Castle itself
steve_is_on_holiday via Getty Images
The five bastions were named after the titles of Willem III van Oranje-Nassau: Leerdam, Buuren, Katzelnellenbogen, Nassau and Oranje (Orange). A bell tower was also constructed in 1684 and the original bell, which was made in Amsterdam in 1697, still hangs. It weighs over 660 lbs (300 kg). The bell was used to announce the time and as a warning device which could be heard from miles away. The fortress housed a church, a bakery, living quarters, shops, cells and a dungeon.
Prison
VOC canon – own work
The Castle of Good Hope was used as a prison during The Second Boer (Farmer) War from 1899 – 1902. Fritz Joubert Duquesne, leader of the Duquesne Spy Ring, was caught and imprisoned here. He nearly escaped by digging his way through the thick cement wall using just an iron spoon. Duquesne nearly got out, but then a large stone slipped and nearly crushed him to death. He was found by his guard the next morning, unconscious, but still alive. The torture chamber was called Donker Gat (the Dark Hole), which is a windowless dungeon. It sometimes flooded in Winter, drowning its contained prisoners.
Ghosts of the Castle of Good Hope
Heribert Bechen via Flickr CC-BY-SA 2.0
Oh yes, it is haunted. Workers and visitors report hearing voices and footsteps in the windowless dungeon and in the building’s narrow corridors. The bell in the bell tower sometimes rings on its own accord. That should be impossible for it was bricked up centuries ago. Legend says a soldier once hung himself by the bell-rope. Perhaps it’s his ghost that rings the bell.
steve_is_on_holiday via Getty Images
But that’s not all…
A vicious black dog is also said to haunt the castle grounds. It lunges at people before suddenly disappearing. People also claim to have seen a tall, luminous man leaping off the castle walls. He disappears right before he hits the ground. A man and a woman are frequently heard arguing near the guard’s room. If people check it out, only a shapeless figure is seen. Here, an electrical bell is also heard, while nobody is around to ring it. Even today, soldiers who guard the castle at night, rather avoid passing through the castle’s archways. They say they fear the restless souls that roam these.
Lady Anne Barnard also haunts the castle, up until this day. She lived here in the late 18th century. As the first lady, she was responsible to entertain important guests that visited the castle. She seems to keep on doing this, even though she passed away over two centuries ago. She appears when the castle is visited by important people.
THEGIFT777 via Getty Images
Another ghost that keeps popping up, is that of governor Pieter Gijsbert van Noodt. He was a strict and militant man. Van Noodt sentenced 7 men to death on April 23, 1728. He refused to grant a prisoner’s last wish right before his hanging. The prisoner then cursed Van Noodt. Later that same day, Van Noodt was found dead in his office. He died of a heart attack, even though he was completely fine in the morning. Today, workers and visitors experience his bitter presence and they hear him cursing and swearing inside the castle walls.
The Castle of Good Hope today
mikedabell via Getty Images
Today the castle houses the Castle Military Museum and ceremonial facilities for the traditional Cape Regiments. Unfortunately, I don’t have juicy ghost stories to tell about this place myself. However, this is great piece of history, don’t you think? And the most exciting thing is, that restoration has uncovered new, secret areas. There might be more rooms that haven’t been discovered yet. What secrets does this castle hold? I have to go back someday!
South African Ghost Stories – Cape Town Castle
This entry was posted on May 18, 2012, in Books, History, South African History and tagged Cape of Good Hope, Cape Town, Castle of Good Hope, Eric Rosenthal, Ghost, hauntings, Kasteel de Goede Hoop. Bookmark the permalink. 6 Comments
It has been a sombre week. I killed a dog who ran into the road while I was driving. I wasn’t speeding. She hit my back tyre, so I didn’t have to choose to break or swerve or to keep going to avoid a more serious accident. I stopped on the verge, wrapped her up in my daughter’s pink towelling dressing gown with piggy ears on the hood, and held her as she died without even a whimper. Perhaps T.S. Eliot was wrong after all.
“This is the way the world ends. This is the way the world ends: not with a bang but a whimper.” ~ T.S. Eliot
My first thought was to phone my dad, but he has been dead for almost 5 years. When I tried to quit smoking in the past, I remember reading that it takes 3 weeks to break a habit (or is it 40 days?). Strange then that after 5 years I still haven’t broken the habit of calling my dad when I’m in trouble and need help.
That got me thinking about memory and ghosts; what we take with us when we die and what we leave behind. I pulled Eric Rosenthal’s wonderful They Walk in the Night off my bookshelf and began re-reading it. It is a collection of South Africa’s most famous ghost stories. They are wonderful and remind me of slumber parties; giggling girls eating condensed milk out of the tin and scaring ourselves half to death.
There have been people living in South Africa for over 100 000 years, so that’s plenty of time to have a veritable rush hour of spectres crossing the landscape. I’ll start though with the haunting of South Africa’s oldest colonial building, the Castle of Good Hope in Cape Town. It was built by the Dutch between 1666 and 1679.
Kasteel de Goede Hoop about 1680
Several ghosts have been reported over the years including the “Grey Lady” (just like J.K. Rowling’s Ravenclaw ghost!) who haunted both the Castle and Government House. She was said to travel along a collapsed tunnel between the two buildings. After a female skeleton was dug up in the grounds of the Castle in the 1940s, the Grey Lady was seen no more.
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The wicked Governor Van Noodt supposedly haunts the castle too. He died suddenly in his chair almost at the same moment that 7 prisoners whom he had sentenced to death for their objection to his cruelty were hanged in the yard. While the Grey Lady seems only to have floated around the castle, Governor Van Noodt is said to speak and dislodge plaster from the ceiling. No doubt tut-tutting about the sad condition of his office hundreds of years after he vacated it.
Inner view of the main entrance. Photo Source: Wikimedia Commons
My favourite ghost story from the Castle though was reported in 1947 by members of the Union Defence Force who were occupying the fort at the time. In a week of few smiles, it makes me laugh out loud.
Over the course of 3 nights at 3 day intervals in July, there were sightings of an 8 foot, semi-transparent apparition. It was first spotted on the ramparts, where after being approached by the guards on duty, “in a pincer movement” no less, it jumped off the battlements and disappeared into thin air above the old moat. 3 Nights later it was seen again. Before reporting the incident to the commander, however, the resourceful Corporal Boonzaair decided first to eliminate the possibility of the ghost being a soldier playing a practical joke.
To do this, he recruited the help of Private Sneygans. Private Sneygans was ordered to “haunt” the battlements while covered in a sheet. Not the sort of derring-do that inspired young men to join the army! Unsurprisingly, the soldiers who had gathered to be haunted were not convinced and with much raucous laughter, dispelled the idea of a joker in a sheet being the culprit.
The last night the ghost appeared, he not only hovered but also rang the bells in the guard-room. The troops were now no longer laughing; they were in a cold sweat of fear. Corporal Boonzaair was ready to present his report to the Commander of the Castle. And although the commander asked the Military Police to keep an eye open for practical jokers (didn’t he read that Boonzaair had conducted his own investigation into the validity of this idea?), “finding no instructions in the Military Code how to deal with ghosts, went on with his work.”
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South African Ghost Storys
Halloween is upon us once again, and although South African’s aren’t known for celebratory trick or treating, the country sure does have some interesting ghost stories of its own.
South Africa is a complex land of mystery and wonder, an amalgamation of the beautifully bizarre as a result of a complex, and often unpleasant, history. It’s this combination of folklore and fear that mixes well in the cauldron of morbid fascination.
While the tradition of Halloween dates back hundreds of years and has its roots in Celtic, Gaelic and Pagan festivities, most nations celebrate 31 October by indulging in everything spooky and macabre.
Thanks to American influence, people don Halloween costumes, usually meant to depict ghouls, frightening apparitions or deceased celebrities. Pumpkins are carved into jack-o’-lanterns and kids take to the streets asking neighbours for treats.
It’s a time for innocuous mischievousness, which usually, for young-adults anyway, turns into a dress-up drinking party, after which most revellers experience true horror in the form of a brain-drilling hangover.
But, while these spooky shenanigans form the backdrop for Halloween festivities, South Africans can afford to cite a host of ghastly ghost stories which supersede the superficial celebratory screams. Let’s take a look at South Africa’s scariest ghost stories; myths and legends that have been passed down through the ages.
Uniondale’s lost lover, looking for a ride
Let’s start with South Africa’s favourite ghost story first – the ghost of Maria Roux, Uniondale’s infamous hitching bride-to-be.
According to urban legend, Marie Charlotte Roux had recently become engaged to Giel Oberholzer in 1968. Over the Easter Weekend of that year, the loving couple embarked on what was to become a hellride on the outskirts of Uniondale in the Karoo.
Roux was asleep on the backseat of Oberholzer’s Volkswagen Beetle when her fiancé lost control of the vehicle in stormy weather. The car rolled on the Barandas-Willowmore road, roughly 20 kilometres from the Uniondale, killing Roux.
Yet, according to some motorists, Roux can still be seen waiting on the side of the road, ostensibly, for the return of her fiancé or a lift to her final destination.
According to several reports, motorists driving along the desolate stretch of road at night come across a woman hitchhiking. This woman, who apparently fits the description of Roux, asks for a lift, and most motorists oblige.
However, a few kilometres down the road, Roux vanishes. Some shook motorists have described the woman’s laughter and a sudden cold chill in the air.
Many claim to have picked up a hitch-hiker on the lonely road to Uniondale only to have her disappear mid-journey. One motorcyclist said that his bike actually swerved from the shifted weight as a result of her disappearance.
The urban legend about the "vanishing hitchhiker"
In stormy weather on Easter weekend of 1968, a young engaged couple had a car accident on the Baramdas-Willowmore road around 20 kilometres from the town. Marie Charlotte Roux was sleeping in the back seat of their Volkswagen Beetle when her fiancé lost control of the car. The car overturned and she was killed.
On Easter weekend in 1976 the ghost bride was first sighted and since then many other sightings have been reported. All involve a female hitchhiker who is given a lift, then disappears a few kilometres down the road, and some have reported car doors opening and closing, laughter and a chill in the air.
In 1980 the Daily Breeze newspaper in Torrance, California. Published this article :
The motorcycle ghost of the Karoo Desert has struck again. The ghost said to be a woman who died in a motorcycle accident more than 10 years ago near Uniondale, badly frightened Andre Coetzee, 20, who was breezing along the highway on Good Friday.
“I was riding near the Baramdas turnoff (the site of the fatal accident a decade ago) when I felt my hair stand on end inside my crash helmet and someone or something put its arms around my waist from behind. There was something sitting on my bike,” the shaken Coetzee said.
The frightened motorcyclist said he accelerated to 80 mph to get away, but the ghost hit him three times in the helmet to get him to slow down. 'The blows were vicious,' he said. When he reached 100 mph, Coetzee said, 'the apparition disappeared.'
Coetzee drove to a local cafe for help.
He could hardly speak when we asked him what had happened. But gradually it dawned on us that the woman ghost had appeared once more,” said Jeanetta Meyer, the cafe owner.
Over the years several stories have been told and retold of motorcyclists picking up a blonde woman hitchhiker near Uniondale only to find that she had vanished from the back seat after a few miles.
Uniondale’s most famous inhabitant has become a South African legend.
Nottingham Road’s lady of the night
Nottingham Road has the oldest pub in the KwaZulu-Natal Midlands and, according to some patrons, a beautiful ghost called Charlotte.
The myth revolves around the Nottingham Road Hotel, a 19th-century prostitute who plied her trade at the establishment and a handsome British soldier.
It’s a love affair which was doomed from the beginning. Charlotte, a prostitute at the Nottingham Road Hotel, fell in love with a British soldier sometime in the late 1800s. There are two urban legends which detail Charlotte’s untimely demise.
In the first account, Charlotte finds out that the soldier, with whom she is madly in love with, has recently been killed in battle. Overcome with sorrow, Charlotte flings herself off the balcony’s hotel, dying of her injuries.
The second account states that Charlotte was killed by a defaulting customer who turned violent and threw her off of the balcony.
Either way, patrons and paranormal investigators firmly believe that Charlotte still walks the halls of the Nottingham Road Hotel as a lonely apparition. She’s apparently most fond of room number 10.
Apparently, Charlotte speaks to children who stay at the hotel with their families. She also has a penchant for mischievous behaviour and enjoys unpacking bags, fiddling with light switches and turning on the water taps.
International paranormal investigators, Ghost Hunters filmed their Nottingham Road Hotel adventures in 2007. The crew believe that Charlotte is a lost spirit trapped within the establishment and that she may even be joined by a ghostly pal.
The Flying Dutchman Ghost Ship at Cape Point
The Flying Dutchman, known in Dutch as De Vliegende Hollander, is a legendary ghost ship which is said to have been commandeered by the Dutch East India Company (VOC) in the 17th century.
Over the last 200 years, many sailors have sworn to have seen The Flying Dutchmen, complete with period-appropriate crew and captain, sailing the world’s stormy seas. Legend has it that the ship sank off the coast of the Cape of Good Hope near Cape Point.
According to eyewitnesses, the ghostly ship appears on stormy nights, when the well is rough and gale force winds prevail. It’s been said that the ghostly crew of The Flying Dutchmen attempt to reach worldly onlookers by way of rowboats.
Urban legend claims that Dutch captain Bernard Fokke commandeered the ship around the Cape of Good Hope, but refused to turn around when The Flying Dutchmen encountered a monstrous storm. The stubborn captain swore he would pass Cape Point even if it “should take until the day of judgment.”
Over the years lighthouse keepers at the Cape of Good Hope have reported multiple sightings of the ghost ship the Flying Dutchman during storms. The famous ship tried to find safe harbour during a terrible storm around the Cape of Good Hope but never made it and is now doomed to sail the seas for eternity. It is considered a terrible omen to see the Flying Dutchman while at sea. On a stormy day make your way to atmospheric Cape Point and you may spot the famous ghost ship in the eye of the storm. You can also get a ticket to ride the Flying Dutchman Funicular at Cape Point.
The Flying Dutchman: A Terrifying South African Legend
Widely known in western folklore is the South African legend of the Flying Dutchman, a ghostly ship that is said to sail the waters around the Cape of Good Hope, forever attempting to make port. Seeing the ship is supposed to be a portent of doom, and hailing the ship will result in the Flying Dutchman attempting to send messages to land. Those who attempt to fulfill the Flying Dutchman’s wishes will soon meet with a terrible end.The myth of the flying Dutchman is likely to have originated in the 17th century as the Dutch VOC (Vereenigde Oostindische Compagnie / Dutch East India Company) was at the height of its power and traversing the waters of Southern Africa regularly. Cape Town was founded as a refreshment station in 1652.
The legend has been portrayed in literature by Thomas Moore and Sir Walter Scott, the latter of whom writes of a Captain Hendrick Van der Decken as the captain of the ghost ship; the idea for him being derived from the real-life captain Bernard Fokke, who was known for the speed at which he was able to make the trips between the Netherlands and Java (rounding the Cape of Good Hope). Because of his legendary swiftness, Fokke was thought to be in league with the devil.
Over the centuries, there have been various sightings of the Flying Dutchman, but the most likely candidate for these visions is a complex mirage called “Fata Morgana,” in which ships appear to be floating above the water on the horizon.
Ghosts of the Lord Milner Hotel in Matjiesfontein
According to some, Matjiesfontein is the most haunted town in South Africa. This tiny Karoo town is said to be home to a number of embattled apparitions, two of whom have found shelter in the Lord Milner Hotel.
Meet ghost number one, Lucy. Lucy is, by all accounts, a timid ghost who has never checked out of her hotel room on the first floor. Patrons who have encountered the spirit say she is not at all frightening, although quarrels can be heard coming from her room late at night. Naturally, when visitors enter the room to investigate the source of the disturbances, nothing and no one can be found.
Lucy is joined at the Lord Milner Hotel by Kate, the ghost of a 19-year-old nurse who enjoyed playing cards with British soldiers garrisoned in the old turret room. Nobody knows how Kate died, but patrons and hotel staff have reported strange happenings in and below the old turret room.
According to eyewitnesses, Kate is a restless soul who makes her presence known in strange ways; brushing against people’s shoulders, shuffling cards in the old recreation room and walking the narrow hallways in her old nurse uniform.
The splendid Matjiesfontein hotel in the middle of the Karoo is full of ghosts. You may hear Katie shuffling her cards in Katie’s Card Room, or see the ghost known as Lucy wandering around in her negligee. Ghostly British soldiers from the Boer War are said to haunt the staircase while the hotel insists that the spirit of the founder of Matjiesfontein, James Logan, is still present in the Hotel. Just 250 km from Cape Town off the N1, a frighteningly good weekend in Matjiesfontein is a few hours’ drive away.
The haunting of Kempton Park Hospital
Johannesburg is scary enough without ghosts, but for intrepid urban explorers, the abandoned Kempton Park Hospital has all the makings of a horror movie.
The hospital abruptly closed down the day after Christmas in 1996. Nobody knows why, which has only added fuel to the frightening fire.
Medical files, equipment and specimen jars were all left in place. Over the years, much of that has been destroyed or expropriated by local teenagers and the city’s homeless, yet, remnants of the hospital’s dubious past still remain.
A group of local ghost hunters documented their exploration of the abandoned hospital, which oozes eeriness. According to some, the hospital’s psychiatric wing is the haunted hotspot, with some explorers experiencing strange occurrences, including ear piercing screams and dancing shadows.
The Kempton Park Hospital is due to be demolished soon, so if you feel brave enough, explore it while it lasts. Disclaimer: Don’t enter Johannesburg’s abandoned buildings; the dangers exceed the supernatural.
The ghostly horseman at Tokai Manor House
Spot the ghostly canine and luminous spectre at the Castle of Good Hope, Cape Town
On New Year’s Eve be sure to visit Tokai Manor House set amongst ghostly trees. It is a National Monument which has escaped damage from terrible fires and now houses the headquarters of the Table Mountain National Park.
In the early 1800s inveterate partier Petrus Michiel Eksteen became the owner of the house. The house has a dramatic entrance with steep stairs and at one of Eksteen’s raucous New Year’s Eve parties, his son Frederick accepted his father’s wager to ride his horse up the staircase and into the dining room. Frederick circled the dining room table on horseback before tragedy struck and he fell down the stairs with his horse, breaking his neck. These days one can hear a horse galloping at full speed in the forest, and on New Year’s Eve the ghostly rider attempts to ascend the stairs once again.
Centuries of violence and slavery in the Cape of Good Hope Castle have left the legacy of disturbed and restless spirits. There was a Donker Gat (dark hole) where prisoners were held and tortured. Consequently there have been many ghostly sightings such as that of a 2 metre tall ghost which haunts the battlements, striding up and down, semi-luminous and terrifying. There are rumours that you can spot a large black dog which will lunge at you, disappearing at the last possible moment. Lights switch on and off by an invisible hand. Pay the castle a visit on Halloween if you dare…
Roodepoort’s own ghost house
The Ghosts of Cape Town’s Past
Kitima Restaurant is a tidy Hout Bay Asian eatery situated on The Kronendal, a 17th century former Dutch homestead … with a history. Part of that history is Elsa Cloete, a Dutch woman who lived in the homestead in the mid-1800s.
Story has it that the young Elsa and a British soldier were madly in love, but her father wouldn’t allow them to see each other. So the young soldier hung himself from a tree, and the young girl died of a broken heart.
According to reports from Kitima Restaurant staff, Cloete may be dead, but she isn’t gone. The staff have seen pots fly off wall hooks and lights dim without explanation. Guests have also reported sightings of a spectral female figure in one of the manor windows. The young soldier’s spirit also lives on as guests have reported sightings of a man’s outline lurking between the manor’s oak trees.
Out of respect for the doomed lovers, the restaurant sets a table for them with food and wine every night.
What was once one of the most beautiful homes in Grobler Park is commonly called the Ghost House.
April 9, 2015
Sonwabile Antonie and Mathilde Myburgh 1 minute read
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The house on the corner of Leiman and South Road. Photo: Mathilde Myburgh
This is the fate of the house located on the corner of Leiman and South Road.
The double story house is barely visible behind a yard reminiscent of the Amazon jungle.
Paper and used condoms are found along the yard which now has several footpaths from regular use.
At the entrance of the house, a heap of plastic bottles can be found and almost every inch of the wall is covered in artistic graffiti.
Maureen Uinter, who lived next door to the property for 42 years said it was the most beautiful homes in the area.
“Paul Jordaan and his family lived in the house before we moved into the area in 1973. It was a beautiful home with antique furniture. The family sold the house to a developer almost 10 years ago. The developer however struggled with getting electricity, lights and sewerage from the Municipality and had to abandon it,” she said.
Maureen adds that between 2009 and 2010, residents from the nearby squatter camp started breaking down the house and stripping it from the roof to windows and the furniture inside.
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Fascinating South African Myths & Legends
Here are 7 of the most fascinating myths and legends that are associated with the history of South African cultures.Every culture has its own stories that are told to explain the world around it. Many stories are simply the result of overactive imaginations, designed to elicit a sense of wonder from the audience. Sometimes these stories are dismissed as nothing more than entertainment, and sometimes these stories are cemented in the canon of believed lore. These truths are certainly evident in the case of South Africa, which is a large and multi-ethnic society with a rich and developed variety of cultural beliefs. Here are 7 South African myths and legends that have added to the country’s rich cultural history.
The South African Legend of the Evil
The South African Legend of the Evil Tokoloshe
Adamastor
Perhaps the most well-known creature in South African myth is the Tokoloshe – a malevolent, imp-like spirit from Xhosa and Zulu culture. According to belief, Tokoloshes are summoned by people wishing to do harm to others. The Tokoloshe is capable of causing illness and death to the victim.
According to popular legend, people raise their beds on bricks to avoid falling prey to the diminutive tokoloshe. However, this idea is problematic because it was possibly invented by Europeans to explain why Black South Africans put bricks under the legs of their beds. The real reason for the practice is nothing more than to make storage space in cramped quarters. There is scant evidence for where and how the Tokoloshe legend actually originated.There are many types of tokoloshe, but they are all small, hairy, long-eared goblin-like creatures that feed off the energy of negative actions. They are also always connected to a witch who uses them to carry out nefarious deeds. According to legend, the final act of animating a tokoloshe is to drive a nail through its forehead.Recent history has seen much media attention put on the tokoloshe, as it is used as a scapegoat to explain misdeeds or unfortunate accidents and situations that cannot be explained. An example of this is the case in the nineties when various children examined by pediatricians were found to have needles inserted into their bodies. The children’s mothers all claimed that the tokoloshe was to blame. However, the real culprits were malicious caregivers, but the mothers did not want to cause strife with their neighbors and other members of the community and also wanted medical attention for their children. Thus, the easiest way to avoid community conflict was to simply blame the tokoloshe.The tokoloshe also gets blamed for many other crimes such as theft, rape, and murder, and the media often reports the defendants as blaming the tokoloshe for their actions. The tokoloshe even gets blamed for minor infractions such as oversleeping.
At the south-western tip of South Africa lies the Cape of Good Hope, but before it was known by this name, it was known by another more ominous one: “The Cape of Storms.” It was a well-deserved name, as the promontory is often surrounded by heavy winds and stormy seas that have dashed many ships against the rocks.
A creation of the Portuguese poet Luís de Camões, “Adamastor” takes his name from the Greek “adamastos,” meaning “untameable.” Adamastor was created in the poem Os Lusíadas, which was first printed in 1572. The poem tells the story of Vasco da Gama’s travel through the treacherous waters of the Cape of Storms when he meets Adamastor.
He takes the form of a massive giant who appears out of the air to challenge Da Gama, who would attempt to pass through the Cape and enter Adamastor’s domain of the Indian Ocean. In the story, Adamastor is impressed by Da Gama’s courage in facing the storms sent to defeat him, and calms the seas to let him and his crew pass.This South African myth lives on in modern literature from both South African and Portuguese authors.
The Hole in the Wall
The Hole in the Wall, off the coast of the Eastern Cape, is a detached cliff with a large opening. The Xhosa people believe that it is a gateway for their ancestors and they call it iziKhaleni, or “place of thunder,” due to the loud clap that waves make as they pass through the hole.
The South African legend of the Hole in the Wall tells how it was once connected to the mainland, forming a lagoon fed by the Mpako River, and cut off from the ocean. The story is that there was a beautiful maiden who, unlike her people, loved the sea. She would sit at the edge of the water and watch the waves rolling in. One day, one of the sea people appeared out of the ocean. He had flipper-like hands and feet and flowing hair like the waves. The creature said that he had watched her for some time and admired her. He asked her to be his wife.
The maiden went home and told her father what had happened, but he was furious and said that his people would not trade their daughters with the sea people. He forbade her from going to the lagoon ever again.
That night, however, she slipped away to meet her lover. He met with her and told her that she must wait until high tide and he would prove his love for her before he retreated back into the sea. The girl waited, and a number of sea people appeared bearing a large fish which they used to batter a hole in the cliff face, thus connecting the lagoon to the sea. As the tide came in, a huge wave smacked against the hole, creating a massive fountain of spray. Riding the crest of the wave was her lover. She leapt into his arms and was whisked away.
According to the Xhosa legend, the sound of the waves crashing against the Hole in the Wall is the sound of the sea people calling out for a bride.
A Matjiesfontein Ghost Story: Lucy
Matjiesfontein is reputed to be the most haunted town in South Africa. The history of this Karoo oasis includes; fortification during The South African War (formerly known as The Anglo-Boer War) as headquarters of the Cape Command, refuge for Jamieson Raid reformers, and the venue of controversial war crimes hearings.
With such a colourful history, many stories abound of ghost sightings, though they are after all just stories—or are they?
There are no malevolent ghosts here. The ghosts of Matjiesfontein are said to be both playful, and even mischievous, or they are totally unconcerned with events around them.
Meet Lucy
We have two female ghosts who are live-in guests at The Lord Milner Hotel, today we introduce you to Lucy.
Lucy is a vague spectre. Rumours abound of people having seen her floating around the passages and the stairs, wearing a negligee. We speculate that perhaps it’s someone who died in the building.
Whoever she is, she’s friendly, and too ethereal to be frightening. It appears that Lucy has never checked out of her room on the first floor!
We also wonder if Lucy could be one of the voices that can be heard from time-to-time emanating from one of the rooms in the dead of night. A loud quarrels erupts and shatters the Karoo tranquility, even more effectively than a goods’ train clattering past. That’s not all that’s shattered: it also sounds as if hundreds of glasses and plates are being smashed inside too. But when someone goes to investigate, everything is quiet and there’s nothing that has been broken...
Grootslang
Grootslang
The Grootslang (Afrikaans for “big snake”) is a legendary cryptid said to live in the Richtersveld in the far northwest of the country. The creature is a mix between an elephant and a python, with varying depictions as to what part of the animal resembles what. It is usually depicted with an elephant’s head and the body of a snake.
The legend states that when the gods were young, they created a creature that was too cunning and powerful, and, after making many of these creatures, they realized their mistake and split them each in two, thus creating snakes and elephants. However, one of these Grootslangs escaped and now lives in a cave or hole deep in the Richtersveld, where it lures elephants to their death.The Grootslang is cruel and covets precious gems. It is said that people captured by the Grootslang can bargain for their life in exchange for gems. This South African legend also exists in other parts of Africa.
Heitsi-eibib & Ga-Gorib
In San and Khoihkhoi folklore, there is a story of the heroic champion Heitsi-eibib who challenges a mighty monster called Ga-Gorib. This is a South African myth that can also be found among the San people of Namibia and Botswana.
Associated with Gaunab, the god of death and the underworld, Ga-Gorib is a monster that sits on the edge of a deep hole. He challenges passersby to throw rocks at his head to knock him down. Whoever takes up the challenge, however, faces certain doom, as the rocks bounce off Ga-Gorib and strike the person who threw it.
Upon hearing of all the deaths, Heitsi-eibib decided to kill the monster. There are various versions of how the story ended. In one version, Heitsi-eibib distracts the monster long enough to sneak up behind him and strike him behind the ear, upon which Ga-Gorib falls into the hole. By contrast, in another version, Heitsi-eibib wrestles with the monster and they both fall into the hole. In all versions of the story, however, Heitsi-eibib somehow survives and vanquishes his foe.
The South African Legend of Van Hunks & the Devil
The South African legend of Jan Van Hunks is one of an old, retired sea captain who would regularly hike up the slopes of the mountain we now call Devil’s Peak. There, he looked over the settlement of Cape Town, then just a small port constructed to refuel and replenish Dutch ships travelling to and from the East Indies. While sitting on the slopes, Van Hunks would smoke his pipe.
One day, while he was smoking, a stranger walked up to him and asked if he could join him in smoking. So Van Hunks and the stranger smoked together until the stranger challenged Van Hunks to a smoking duel. Van Hunks accepted and the two smoked so much that clouds of smoke formed over the mountains.
Eventually, the stranger could not keep up with old Van Hunks, and he stood up to leave. As he stumbled away, Van Hunks glimpsed a red tail trailing behind the stranger, and he realized that he had been smoking with none other than the devil himself.
Today, the regular occurrence of clouds over Devil’s Peak and Table Mountain are attributed to Van Hunks and the Devil smoking up a storm. This is a popular South African myth that has also found itself being incorporated into the framework of Cape Town’s cultural history.
South Africa has a rich cultural history among all its tribes and ethnic groups. From the Nguni tribes, to the Khoisan natives, the European settlers and others, all have their own unique stories that add to the melting pot that is South Africa. There are, of course, many other South African myths and legends that have helped to shape the cultures into which they were born.
List of reportedly haunted locations in South Africa
Haunted locations
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Castle Of Good Hope (Cape Town)|Castle Of Good Hope in Cape Town
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Erasmus Castle: in Pretoria 'Die Spookhuis' or Erasmus Castle has local residents often reporting strange noises and ghost sightings in and around the Victorian mansion. Paranormal activity includes lit windows in the uninhabited mansion, a residual apparition of a victorian lady in a black dress can be seen in the windows who pulls back the curtain and people hearing moaning at night.
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Hostel in Philippolis, Free-State: On the right as you enter the oldest town of the Free-State you will see this huge building. Today it is used as a hostel but in the 1800 it was known as the Castle of Philippolis. Rumor has it that there was a suicide in room 56 on the top floor and the ghost can still be seen. Children have reported someone touching them and seeing a cloud floating in the halls.
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Fort Frederick: In Eastern Cape, is a fort built by the British during 1799 in Algoa Bay that is reportedly haunted by theatrical ghosts of a Shakespearian play.
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Foxwood House in Johannesburg. Paranormal activity includes mysterious footsteps and visitors seeing an anonymous spectral woman with an anonymous child on the balcony of this building.
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Kempton Park Hospital: This abandoned hospital in Kempton Park, Gauteng is frequented by thrill-seekers and ghost hunters.[4][5][6]
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St Catherine's School, Germiston: The first reported ghost sighting at St Catherine's occurred on 17 August 1972, when a janitor cleaning the school hall after hours claimed to have been chased into the quad by an amorphous grey apparition or "spook" with "glowing red eyes". From the beginning of 1977, a wave of sightings followed of a "grey, hooded figure swaddled in flowing robes", often accompanied by a "'wailing' sound". The ghost, said to haunt the school hall, the chapel, the basement and a number of classrooms in the eastern wing, was soon dubbed Patrick, after one of the school's houses, St Patrick's. After 1977, ghost sightings at St Catherine's mostly ceased, although stories of paranormal happenings at the school persist to the present.
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Nottingham Road Hotel: A hotel in KwaZulu-Natal, where the ghost of a former barmaid is said to still wander the hotel moving pots, light fixtures, and sheets, as well as ringing the service bell.
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Old Presidency: In Bloemfontein, was the official residence of the former Orange Free State. The stables at the back of the building are thought to be haunted with several reports of people hearing carriages moving into the stables. The premises reportedly house the ghost of a dog with many people hearing ephemeral barking at night. There are also many stories of children being spotted within the building due to the buildings tenure as a school and hostel.
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The Old Gaol (Grahamstown): Built in Grahamstown in 1824, the Old Gaol was a prison when martial law ruled in the old town. “Dead men walking” - those sentenced to death - were led from the Old Goal to the military parade ground for public hanging. The last victim of such a death was Henry Nicholls, executed in 1862 after being convicted of rape. That this was not an offense punishable by death is, some say, the reason for his restlessness. Now his spirit is supposedly doomed to repeat the sombre walk - back and forth from gaol to gallows - perhaps for eternity.
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Somerset Hospital: South Africa's oldest hospital in Green Point, Cape Town, where resident ghosts reportedly include Sister Henrietta Stockdale, a blonde girl combing her hair and others that roam the corridors at night.
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Grey High School in Port Elizabeth is well known for its paranormal occurrences. Tales of the school's past rectors that wander the corridors at night and past matrons that haunt the boarding house are frequent and numerous.
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Old Jail (Philippolis)|Old Jail in Philippolis Found in the heart of the oldest town in the Free-State, the old jail of Philippolis is said to be one of the most haunted places in South-Africa. Once used as a barracks for military to a jail. Story goes that after a Giekwa got in a car accident they took his body to the jail and he died in one of the cells. Up until this day you can hear him play the violin.
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Kensington Sanatorium (Johannesburg)|Kensington Sanatorium in Johannesburg. The staff sometimes have to go up into the tower to dig out very old archives, and in the archive room murmurs can be heard. The story goes that three holy family sisters who were led by Mother Odele would have there staff meetings with her senior staff in the now archive room. The apparition that appears in the window is a residual ghost and is believed to be Mother Adele.
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Die Ou Raadsaal (Pretoria)|Die Ou Raadsaal in Pretoria. An Orb of light can be seen in the main chamber at the Ou Raadsaal. This historical building also has ties to Paul Kruger and the Kruger Millions.
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Sunnyside Park Hotel (Johannesburg)|Sunnyside Park Hotel in Johannesburg. The Ball Room has an apparition of a lady that dances in front of the fireplace next to the grand piano. The Club Room has a corner that sometimes the sweet smell of pipe tobacco can be smelt. The third floor has a resident who never left the hotel and reportedly likes to disturb the night service trays left outside the rooms.
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Kensington Cave (Johannesburg)|Kensington Cave in Johannesburg The Foster Gang took refuge in the Kensington cave that was surrounded by police and all three committed suicide in the cave. Reports of strange paranormal happenings have been heard by the residents who reside close the cave.
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Jeppe High School for Boys (Johannesburg)|Jeppe High School for Boys in Johannesburg. The story of Jeppe High School for Boys is the Af Kop Vrou who was a teacher at the school and whose son also attended the school. The son attended an athletics day at the school and tragically died in a freak javelin accident. The teacher subsequently committed suicide by hanging herself from the dead tree on the koppie with a piano wire. The apparition of the Af Kop Vrou can be seen at the dead tree and her son is said to sit on the stairs of Sable House late at night. The Payne Hall used to house a portrait painting that changed colour and photos of the Af Kop Vrou, these have all been removed due to superstition.
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The Old Gaol (Heidelberg)|The Old Gaol in Heidelberg. A full body apparition of Harry as everyone at the Gaol likes to call him has been documented and the front heavy door is also known to slam shut. A female prisoner has also been captured here.
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The Codfather Village (Johannesburg)|The Codfather Village in Johannesburg. A group of abandoned restaurants in Morningside known as the Codfather Village was the site of the Sandton Triple homicides. Three staff members were locked into the walk in fridge during a robbery on 27 January 2010. This location has paranormal activity, EVP's and a general eeriness that something is not right with this location.
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Africana Library (Kimberley). Supposedly haunted by its first librarian, Bertrand Dyer, who committed suicide after he was caught defrauding the library. It is said that Dyer haunts the special collection which includes examples of early printing dating from 1475 and manuscripts dating from the 17th century. Some have heard the librarian’s footsteps pacing between rooms.
