City Guide · ZA

Dullstroom

A highland village on the road from Gauteng to Kruger, with trout dams, a raptor centre and the Verloren Valei crane wetland

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History & Heritage

Dullstroom

Long before Dullstroom existed, the Steenkampsberg highlands were home to the Southern Ndebele under King Mabhoko. Like his son Nyabêla, Mabhoko used Mapoch's Caves, near present-day Roossenekal, as a stronghold. In 1882 and 1883 the Zuid-Afrikaansche Republiek besieged Nyabêla there for ten months, with about 1,500 men under Commandant-General Piet Joubert. Nyabêla finally surrendered and was sentenced to death. President Paul Kruger commuted the sentence to life imprisonment, and Nyabêla died in prison in Pretoria. The caves were proclaimed a provincial heritage site in 1968.

The village was founded in 1883 by Wolterus Dull, a merchant from Amsterdam who came at Paul Kruger's invitation. The name joins his surname to stroom, Dutch for 'stream', after the nearby Crocodile River. Its Dutch settlers planted European trees such as beech and elm, which suit the cool highland climate. At about 2,100 m above sea level, Dullstroom is one of South Africa's highest towns, and its station, at 2,077 m, is the highest railway station in the country.

The Second Boer War reached the highlands in 1900. From 21 to 27 August 1900 the British broke the Boer line at Bergendal, near Belfast to the south, in what is regarded as the last set-piece battle of the war. Guerrilla fighting continued around Dullstroom, and the war dragged on until May 1902. Local women and children were held in the British concentration camp at Belfast. The town was almost wiped out: only two buildings were left standing, and the church was rebuilt in 1905.

The cold, clear water of the Steenkampsberg later drew a new kind of visitor. Wealthy Johannesburg residents took up fly fishing, farms with trout dams became sought after, and Dullstroom became one of South Africa's premier fly-fishing destinations, alongside Barkly East and Underberg. Rainbow and brown trout are the main species. Today the village has restaurants, coffee shops, a whisky bar and pubs. Nearby are the Verloren Valei wetland, a Ramsar site since 2001 where all three of South Africa's cranes breed, and the raptors of the Dullstroom Bird of Prey Centre.

Key Historical Places

Places of Significance

Dullstroom railway station

At 2,077 m above sea level, the highest railway station in South Africa.

railway altitude record

Mapoch's Caves

The stronghold of the Ndebele kings Mabhoko and Nyabêla, besieged for ten months by the Zuid-Afrikaansche Republiek in 1882 and 1883. It lies 6 km north of Roossenekal (Limpopo), not in Dullstroom itself, and was proclaimed a provincial heritage site in 1968.

Ndebele heritage heritage site day trip

Bergendal battlefield (Battle of Dalmanutha)

Near Belfast, where British troops broke the Boer line on 21 to 27 August 1900, in what is called the last set-piece battle of the Second Boer War.

Anglo-Boer War battlefield

The Dullstroom Inn

A village inn that says it dates to 1912 and served as a military barracks, with an old English pub atmosphere and log fires.

pub historic building

Verloren Valei Nature Reserve

A 5,891 ha reserve of more than 30 linked wetlands on the Steenkampsberg plateau, listed as a Ramsar wetland of international importance (no. 1110) on 16 October 2001.

Ramsar site wetlands cranes

Timeline

1882–1883
The Zuid-Afrikaansche Republiek besieges Nyabêla at Mapoch's Caves for ten months
1883
Amsterdam merchant Wolterus Dull founds Dullstroom at Paul Kruger's invitation
21–27 August 1900
Battle of Bergendal near Belfast, the last set-piece battle of the Second Boer War
1900–1902
Guerrilla war; Dullstroom is destroyed with only two buildings left standing
1905
The church is rebuilt
1997
Dullstroom Bird of Prey and Rehabilitation Centre established (current site since November 2004)
16 October 2001
Verloren Valei listed as Ramsar wetland no. 1110

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