Blue plaque awarded to 9 Pretorius Street

Tony Burish unveiled the latest Blue Plaque for Heritage at 9 Pretorius Street, Heidelberg on November 11.

The plaque unveiling is number 65 in the series of blue plaques.

There is a big possibility that the house was built around or before 1928.

The property was purchased in 1964 by Mrs Lydia Loots, who was a standard one teacher at Laerskool Volkskool. She was known as Tant Liddie. It is understood that her husband worked at the railways.

Loots was a school teacher to the present owner of the house, Corrie Human.

Leon Loots inherited the property in 1988. The next owner, Annette Prinsloo, took ownership in 1988 after she bought the house from Loots.

In 2000 Prinsloo sold the property to the present owners’ Corrie and Chamain Human. Old stables form part of the outer buildings of the property.

It is believed that the whole block once belonged to General Piet Retief Viljoen.

Viljoen lived at 1 Pretorius Street. Piet Viljoen is one of 13 children.

Piet Viljoen is a descendant of Voortrekker leader Piet Retief on his mother’s side. His mother was part of the Groot Trek.

Viljoen was the mining commissioner of Heidelberg in 1887 and became a member of the ZAR executive council. His son, Pieter, was the founder of the law firm Viljoen & Meek located on Voortrekker Street.

The sponsor of the plaque is CJ Human Attorneys.