Stolen, vandalised plaques replaced
Kloofendal Nature Reserve's iconic Confidence Reef Gold Mine and historic mine stampers now sport new, updated signage.
Kloofendal Nature Reserve is a site of some significance in the Witwatersrand, having housed only the second mining stamp batteries at the old Confidence Reef mine, where brothers Fred and Harry Struben claimed to have found the first payable gold in 1884.
Their dream of becoming mining magnates did not pan out as the initial count of 913 ounces of gold per ton of material quickly subsided, and the mine yielded poor results.
Their discovery nevertheless attracted a slew of gold prospectors, which eventually led to the discovery of the Main Reef at Langlaagte in 1886.
In 2009, the iconic stamp batteries were moved to Kloofendal Nature Reserve after being on display at the corners of Goldman Street and 7th Avenue for many years.
Over the years, the various plaques erected at the reserve were battered by the elements, vandalised, and some even stolen.
According to the City of Johannesburg Directorate Arts, Culture and Heritage deputy director, Eric Itzkin, it was brought under their attention that the bronze plaque at the old Confidence Reef Mine, and the blue plaques, which detail some important historical information about the mine and the stamp batteries, had been vandalised and stolen.
“We immediately made work of it, having new blue plaques made and replacing the original bronze plaque, which was stolen at the mine, with a near identical replica – this time made from resin, which has no resale value.”
The new plaques were installed on Thursday, July 10, under the watchful eye of Friends of Kloofendal members and Itzkin.
