Every person has a story to tell. From the woman at the coffee shop, to the farmer in his truck, your grandmother, your colleagues – even you. And behind every story is a place that shapes it: cities, small towns, and even lonely roadside motels.

In Piet Retief, for example, at one time all shops closed from 1 pm to 2 pm. Legend has it that a resident’s pet lion used to roam the streets during this hour, so naturally, everyone locked themselves indoors.

Dundee has its own legends too, including one whispered for generations – the tale of hidden treasure on Mpati Mountain. A local young man, Piet Eloff, shared it with us, crediting his source: his grandmother.

According to the story, around 125 years ago, shortly before the Boer War in 1899, Paul Kruger sent a stash of gold coins to a Boer commando. The funds were meant to buy ammunition and supplies for the battles they knew were coming. After purchasing what they required, they found they still had a sizeable amount left.

The General decided the surplus should be hidden and used only in a moment of real need. One man was dispatched to bury the gold on Mpati Mountain.

Weeks later, with the war intensifying, the General sent for the man – but the messenger returned with grim news. The man had been killed in battle. Without a map or instructions, the treasure’s location was lost.

Over time, only fragments of clues have survived. The gold was said to have been sealed inside a bottle and buried beneath the tallest tree near a cave on the mountain.

So next time you set off hiking up Mpati and stumble across a cave, a little careful digging might just make you a great deal richer.

When Dundee was Meyersdorp

But that’s not the only tale related to buried treasure. Pam McFadden, chairperson of the Talana Museum Board of Trustees recalls that when the British forces withdrew from Dundee in October 1899 to Ladysmith following their hollow victory over the Boers at Talana, they forgot about taking with them a stash of coins from a local bank – apparently on the corner of Victoria and Gladstone Streets.

The Boers looted Dundee once the British moved out, renaming the streets and even the town to Meyersdorp. Once the British returned in about May 1900, the Boers withdrew towards Dannhauser, taking the coins with them. However, some maverick Boers decided to stash the coins near Hattingspruit – somewhere near today’s Tom Worthington Dam – with the intention to retrieve it later. If they ever did, remains to be seen … or did the treasure get washed away when the dam was built in the 1960s?

That will remain a buried mystery for now…

Do you have a local legend to tell? Let us know by emailing dundee.courier@caxton.co.za