The origins of the story are that a local farmer was very protective of his pretty young daughter and discouraged all suitors. He became suspicious of her activities at night after he had retired to bed. He was positive that she was sneaking out of the house to be with a local lad that often zoomed up and down the dusty road on his noisy motorbike. No matter how closely he watched his daughter he was never able to catch them together. So he decided to set a trap that would teach the young man a lesson, and scare him off for good. He waited for a moonless night, and strung a piece of wire between two trees at about chest height across the driveway of the farm. That evening after the farmer had fallen sound asleep his daughter quietly slipped from her bed and flicked her bedroom light three times. This was the signal to her lover that the coast was clear and he could come and collect her. The young man sped along the road unaware of the danger. As he approached the house the wire caught him across the neck and he was instantly decapitated. Another version of the story claims that the young man did in fact collect the daughter, and that it was on their way back that the wire decapitated them both!

The Kimberley Ghost Tour begins at the Honoured Dead Memorial, designed by Sir Herbert Baker for the 27 British soldiers killed during the Siege of Kimberley between 1899 and 1900 during the Anglo-Boer War. Sip a welcoming glass of sherry to soothe your nerves, and then off you go.

Kimberley, in the Northern Cape, has 158 haunted houses and buildings with well over 200 still to be verified by paranormal experts, but you'll visit ones known to have resident ghosts.

In the historic Africana library, the restless spirit of the first librarian roams. He drank arsenic after he was found doctoring the accounts. Many visitors have seen books inexplicably crashing to the floor, and heard teacups tinkling at 4pm.

At Rudd House, a lady in white appears on the balcony; the former sick room is haunted by Percy Rudd the first owner; and the servants’ quarters have at least 6 ghosts in the courtyard.

On the Kimberley Ghost Tour you’ll also visit the beautiful old Kimberley Club, where a ghostly waiter serves in the dining room, an elderly man walks the upstairs passage, and a woman in period dress stands on the staircase.

In the old De Beers boardroom, an unknown ghost drifts by as lights swing mysteriously, and a ghost dog emits an ethereal howl on the porch. On occasion, balls of fire have dropped from the porch ceiling.

At the William McGregor museum, once a nunnery, a phantom nun wanders, while at the Terry Hall of Militia, a baby’s wail can be heard as the lid of a tin trunk mysteriously opens and closes.

And if you visit the Magersfontein Anglo-Boer battlefield on a moonlit night you may well hear a phantom Scottish piper and see the flickering ghostly lanterns of the stretcher-bearers – over 50% of visitors claim they have.

Brrr…

They lurk in ruined farmhouses, vibrant hotels, city alleyways and gloomy castles – just ask your ghostly tour guide for their South African ghost stories.

The ghosts of South Africa are a colourful, dramatic and varied lot. Made up of murderers, victims, battlefield spirits and road accident fatalities, a South African ghost story is always worth telling.

So when you ask the folk at the Swartberg Hotel in Prince Albert about their ghosts, they'll tell you about flying vases, characters moving about in old paintings and the shenanigans of a late-night poltergeist in the corridors. South African ghosts, you see, are good for business.

Many years ago, a man murdered his wife in a riverbed near Beaufort West. Since then, people have seen a fast-moving light running up and down the river. They say it's the angry spirit of the dead woman. One driver who drove towards it apparently ended up in a lunatic asylum.

The most famous country spook is the Uniondale hitchhiker. On a stormy night in 1968, an Air Force officer and his fiancée crashed in their Volkswagen Beetle just outside the town in the Kamanassie Mountains. He was badly hurt, she died instantly. Since then, people travelling the area on rainy nights have picked up a woman hitchhiker – who then simply disappears into the darkness again.

The Mystery Ghost Bus Tour has routes in all the major cities of South Africa. Many of their guides are so good at telling the stories, which come complete with dramatic recreation, a stiff drink in the evening and a cemetery visit, that you can hear the chains dragging in the background - waking up all the ghosts of South Africa in the process.

Then there are the offshore Ghosts, in the form of the captain and crew of The Flying Dutchman, doomed to round the Cape of Good Hope for eternity. Let the haunting begin...

South Africa Ghosts

Bloemfontein – Jim Fouché High School – Girl mysteriously disappeared in 1961. In 1967 the remains of a young girl were found underneath a newly built swimming pool. The discovery was followed by a series of strange events, such as: lights flickering, doors opening and closing, a girl heard singing. Her appearances are random and no one can tell when she will strike again.

Bloemfontein – TibbieVisserlaan 13, Estoire - a Woman watching over the children and sometimes she calls you. There is also a black man and other Hauntings like windows slamming.

Cape Town – Cape Town Castle -This castle is probably world renowned for it’s historical purposes. It was a castle build in the 1600′s for protection of Cape Town harbor against foreign invaders. Many slaves and traitors were held captive here…and tortured to death. The castle is a museum today and open to the public. Off course it’s got quite a few spooks haunting it. The ‘hole’, a tiny cell with no windows were used to torture the inmates. No sunlight what so ever entered this room/cell. After a time in the ‘hole’, the inmate would be blindfolded and taken out into the courtyard where the blindfold would be removed and they were forced to look at the sun and were blinded by doing so. That ‘hole’ screams of terror.

Cape Town – Mine Quarry – Nothing visible, Just heavy feelings and sinister, deep and abusive voices. You really feel overwhelmed at the feeling of not knowing or understanding-Also there is a dense and sickening stench that hangs on you. It is as if the voices, stench and eerie feelings are a couple of feet from you and then and random intervals violently attack. It is a deserted hole in the mountain with a stagnant pool of water in the center-Quite beautiful during the day.

Kempton Park – Avion Park Recreation Centre - A young male in cricket uniform was struck by lightning on the cricket field! He now haunts the adjacent buildings, sometime he plays with the CD player but he mostly wanders around in the corridors.

The Old Presidency – This place is located in South Africa, in the Freestate, in a town called Bloemfontein, we think this place if haunted cause, you get a feeling that someone is watching you.

Simonstown – The Simon’s Town Museum, Housed in the old Residency – A Haunted painting – if a picture is taken of the painting it won’t develop. *The punishment cell in the basement of the Museum. This is the cell where punishment was meted out to the slaves and prisoners. Whiplash marks can still be seen on the ceiling. And it is rumored that you can still hear echoes of their cries for help. Many other legends surraund this museum as well as the old town.

Witbank – Celia str 1- First more than 11 years ago a lady died in the house after killing her 3 children and husband. She haunts the place to make sure nobody set her husband and children’s souls free.

In 1993, almost a century after one of Scotland’s greatest heroes was killed in Africa a group of admirers gathered at Matjiesfontein in the Karoo to pay tribute to him.   Major General Andrew Wauchope, known to his men as “Red Mick” was killed at Magersfontein, and as was traditional he was buried there with his men.   Soon after, however,  James D Logan, The Laird of Matjiesfontein, arranged for Wauchope’s body to be exhumed and reburied at this village which he owned in the Karoo.  The ardent followers of this hero gathered at the little village and then crammed into one car made their way to the Monument Cemetery 10 km away.   One wee dram led to another and within short the pipes were out and the haunting strains of a lament filled the crisp dry air.  Then followed some rousing reels and marches all well saluted with a glass or two of the “good stuff” specially brought into the country for the occasion.  This continued until the piper tired and lay down beside a tree to “rest his eyes” and “catch his breath”.   He closed his eyes, he said, only for a wee while and thought of Scotland. When he opened then dusk had fallen and to his horror his friends had departed.

With a philosophical shrug he decided the best he could do was to walk back to the Lord Milner Hotel at Matjiesfontein where the group was staying.  To keep his spirits up he decided to play a few airs on the bagpipes.  At this time a family travelling the N1 had just stopped for a snack and to stretch their legs.  The tourists’ hair stood on end when out of the evening gloom of the wayside cemetery they saw a piper, in full Highland regalia, emerge from among the gravestones, and start up the hill playing the pipes.  All the piper saw as he skipped across the stile was them flinging their things hastily back into the car and them racing off into the night.

The piper continued up the highway, well oiled from the drams o the afternoon and feeling no pain.  He used the white lines in the centre of the road as a guide.   There was little traffic, but the few cars that did approach slowed almost to a stop and sped furiously off.  He could not understand this behaviour.  Then a local farmer pulled up next to him and helped him into the bakkie.  “God Lord, man,” said the farmer.  “You’ve scared everyone half to death.   This is one of the most haunted areas of South Africa and cars are screeching into Matjiesfontein with everyone raving on about the ghost of the Old Major marching up the highway.”  The piper guffawed.  It gave him a splendid story to tell the lads back in the old country.  And, after this story appeared in Rose’s Round-up and the Press, some wrote in suggesting this was a wonderful job opportunity for a retired piper!

The Hex River Valley is surrounded by high mountains, the highest peak of which is the Matroosberg. Locals have said for years that the ghost of one Eliza Meiring can be seen wandering in a white nightgown on the lower crags of the Matroosberg, wailing. Needless to say, Elize has been dead for many years. She is known locally as the 'heks of Hex River Valley'.

The story goes that that Elize, a young and beautiful woman who lived with her parents on a farmstead in the valley, sent her suitor to prove his love by bringing her a red disa (flower) that grew high in the mountains. She did this, they say, as she was rather vain and enjoyed the power she held over the many men who wanted to marry her. This chap, who may or may not have been called Frans (history is a little murky on that detail) made it up the mountain but fell to his death, clutching the disa.

On hearing this, Eliza became mentally unstable in her grief and her parents were forced to lock her up to prevent her doing herself any harm. During this time she carved her name and the year in the wooden window ledge of the room where she was locked - "Eliza 1868."

One night she managed to escape however and went along the same path as her beloved where she too fell to her death - and this is where her ghost can now be seen on nights when the moon is high and bright, still wearing her white nightdress and roaming about the cliffs in eternal mourning and regret.

A few decades ago the old farmstead was demolished but until that time, Eliza's name and the date could still be seen on that window ledge...
 

Uniondale Ghost

Uniondale is internationally well known for its ghost. Although visitors usually refer to the Uniondale Ghost in jest, the local people speak of the tragic incident with great empathy.

During the bitterly cold Easter weekend of 1968 a young couple were involved in a car accident some 20 kilometres from town. The woman, with long dark hair and clothed in a dark blouse and long pants, was sleeping on the rear seat when her fiancé lost control of the car in the stormy weather. She was killed in the accident.

The first recorded sighting was during the Easter weekend of 1976. The description of the ghost matched that of the unfortunate woman. Since then many sightings have been reported. According to witnesses sightings are characterised by a female hitchhiker who receives a lift, car doors that open and close at the site of the accident, a shrill laugh, a chilliness in the car and the total disappearance of the ghost.

legend in the "vanishing hitchiker"

An urban legend in the "vanishing hitchiker" tradition arose after a girl named Marie Charlotte Roux was killed in an auto accident not far from Uniondale on Easter Sunday of 1968. According to press reports, beginning in 1973 and for years afterward around the anniversary of her death, the girl's spirit hitchhiked along the road and allegedly vanished after being picked up by various drivers. Folklorist Sigrid Schmidt wrote that coverage of the popular tale by the South African press helped spread the Uniondale legend nationwide

The N9 begins just south-east of George at an intersection with the N2. It runs concurrently with the N12 through the center of George and then north over the Outeniqua Pass. At the top of the pass, the N12 continues north towards Oudtshoorn, while the N9 turns east to run along the northern side of the Outeniqua Mountains and over Potjiesberg Pass to Uniondale and onwards to Willowmore in the Eastern Cape.
From Willowmore, the N9 travels across the Eastern Cape Karoo through Aberdeen to Graaf-Reinet. From Graaf-Reinet it crosses the Sneeuberge through Naudesberg Pass and Lootsberg Pass to Middelburg, where it meets the N10. The N9 and N10 are concurrent northwards out of Middelburg, but after a short distance the N10 turns north-west towards De Aar. The N9 continues northwards through Noupoort to end at an intersection with the N1 just outside Colesberg.