There’s something spooky going on in Pretoria
Have you seen the ghost of a boer lady, blood around her lips, floating around in Irene? Or maybe the shadows of children in the windows of the Spookhuis in Erasmuskloof?
Andrea Küsel
Have you ever felt like someone is watching you in the dark? Have you ever felt the air around you thicken? A chill runs down your spine and you get goose bumps. Then you might have encountered a ghost.
Every now and then a bus makes its way around Pretoria, visiting the spookiest places in the capital city. Spots that have had people talking for years, the locations that are haunted by the unseen.
Last weekend, the Mystery Ghost Bus was able to visit the haunted Smuts House in Irene… at night, for the first time in South Africa’s ghostly history.
It was a night of jumps and jolts as those who braved this dark tour were ever so often frightened by ghost stories and the occasional, loud and unexpected bang.
The tour starts off at Smuts House as patrons are lead into the Donkerkamer (dark room). In a pitch dark and gloomy room, lit only by three candles, tour guide Mark Rose-Christie explains how one could identify a ghost. He elaborates on all different kinds of ghosts and their behaviour.
As he tells his story, he blows out the candles one by one. The room becomes extremely stuffy. The dark and quiet room is interrupted by a glow from the back of the room. A ghost for sure.
Then, loud banging footsteps on the floor, and Rose-Christie’s face pops up, lit up by a flashlight, unsettling the crowd inside the Donkerkamer.
After the dramatic scene at Smuts House, everyone makes their way to the mystery ghost bus, where Rose-Christie explains the spooky itinerary for the night ahead.
The bus speeds off into the night, accompanied by spine-chilling music.
The bus makes its way around Pretoria, starting at the Erasmus Castle, known by many Pretorians as the “Spookhuis.”
And, the rumours are true, many have seen ghostly activities in and around this house. Your speculation was indeed not only speculations.
From there the bus travels to the well-known Magnolia Dell, where patrons “dowse rods.” The energy from a water stream running through the park makes the rods in people’s hands go bonkers, moving from side to side.
The rods even help some of the patrons read minds, as they ask their partners about their deepest, darkest secrets.
The bus then makes a stop at Church Square, the Ou Raadsaal, Melrose House and other haunted places in Pretoria’s city centre. All the while playing spooky music and terrifying ghost stories.
Listen to one of these stories:
Before the grand finale the bus stops at Fort Klapperkop, notorious for its crime stories over decades.
The petrifying story of the panga man is told in great detail. Rose-Christie leads the crowd to a figure covered in a black cloth. Underneath is the hand of a girl murdered ruthlessly by the panga man himself.
For the final showdown, the bus travels back to Smuts House. This time the tour ventures into the haunted forest.
After a five-minute walk the group reaches graves of “bywoners” who had lived on the Smuts House property many years ago.
Rose-Christie says many people who walk their dogs on the trail past these graves have claimed to have see the ghosts of these “bywoners.”
They claim to have seen a woman, clothed in a long white dress, sowing what is believed to seeds, repeating the action over and over. The type of ghost that repeats an action until the end of time – a replay ghost.
Rose-Christie tells the crowd that he himself turned from being a critic to a ghost believer after he had seen one of these replay ghosts very clearly.
In the haunted forest next to the graves on the dark night, Rose-Christie tells everyone to gather in a circle and hold hands.
A dark figure creeps out of the woods, wearing a long, black coat. It approaches the patrons with great stealth and caution. Many on the tour did not realise they were being stalked until it was too late.
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