Most of the streets in Rynfield are named after mayors, deputy mayors, councillors, town clerks, or inspectors.

However, one street that runs between Baines and Sarel Cilliers streets is named Mathers.

This street does not bear the name of a councillor or town clerk, but it holds significance because it was named after Herbert Walter Mathers, a former soldier who served in World War Two.

He left South Africa in May 1942 and was based in Egypt and Italy for three years as an air mechanic, returning to South Africa in November 1945.

Mathers received the Italy Star, the War Medal, and the Africa Service Medal.

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Born on May 28, 1908, in Cape Town, Mathers gained experience as a truck driver through delivery work and his time as a butcher.

He completed an apprenticeship as a motor mechanic before becoming an aircraft mechanic.

He resided in Regents Park, Johannesburg, and then moved to Benoni, where he bought a property at 94 Fifth Avenue, Northmead, in 1946.

Herbert married Florence Emmie Agnes Spear in March 1933 in Johannesburg, and they had three sons and two daughters.

According to one of his sons, Norman Mathers, Herbert was good friends with some of the councillors at the time, and this could be the reason for naming a street in Rynfield after him.

Kelly Mathers and her cousin Caitlin Mathers, who live in Port Elizabeth, paid Benoni a visit last year to see the street that was named after their great-grandfather.

(Source: Kelly Mathers, great granddaughter/story: Glynis Cox Millett-Clay October 25, 2025).

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