The village of Magaliesburg lies just below the southern range of the Magaliesberg Mountains. The roads and rivers take similar paths, breaking though the steep ridges of the mountains in a few places, only to traverse much of the land along the valleys on either side of the two mountain ridges. This small village lies at the heart of a beautiful region of mountains, valleys, rivers and indigenous woodland - home to a variety of birds.

But it is not all natural bushveld. Here you will also find a wealth of hospitality - country guest houses, hotels, lodges, stores, art and craft studios, working farms, horse and mountain bike trails and much more... The Magaliesberg mountain range lies in between the highveld savannah of the Witwatersrand and the African bushveld, stretching roughly from past Rustenburg in the west, past Pretoria to Bronkhorstspruit in the east. This mountain range is almost 100 times older than Everest with interesting geology, archaeology, fauna and flora.

The area was also the site of battles during the Boer War, such as:

• Battle of Nooitgedacht: Monument to one of the historic battles between the Boer and English, at the height of the Boer War.
• Old English Block House: Loosely packed stone wall construction built by the English in 1902 towards the end of the Boer War. To view by appointment only.

The tribes of the descendants of the earliest proto-hominids had free reign in this tranquil valley, and fished the clear streams, and hunted the vast herds of animals that roamed the plains, with is tools made initially from stone and later forged from iron. While his life may have been threatened by the odd wild animal, or early death from injury or disease, man lived in total harmony with nature, which flourished in abundance in the greater Magaliesburg Area over the past 2-million years of his development.

Then, in what is very recent history, in the mid 1800s, the savage feet of the great tribes of the north swept through the valley, bringing grief and a temporary tension to the once quiet paradise. The Tribes moved on, and peace returned, but not for long, as war broke out again, when Mzilikazi's impis attacked (generally after sunset), capturing the women and enslaving the men and young, to be incorporated into his army as warriors.

In the brief moments of time, it was not long afterwards, in the late 1800s, that the "white" tribes from the south arrived, they too seeking their piece of this paradise and with guns ablazing, they drove back the local tribes and hunted the herds of game daily, causing their numbers to dwindle rapidly.

Then on 1 October 1899, war between the two "White Tribes", the British and the Boer Republics of Transvaal and Orange Free State, was declared. Within a year, blood and human lives were lost between these two warring parties, in the Magaliesberg valleys, at Kommando Nek, Nooitgedacht and in many of the deep gorges and high ridges along the mountainside.

The Witwatersrand Gold reef, was formed over hundreds of thousands of years, with its most northern reaches being discovered just a few kilometers from the present day village of Magaliesburg, at Blaauwbank. This is where the first strike of the Witwatersrand System, was made and in 1874, the Blaauwbank area was pegged out for formal gold mining activities. Here, the first mining company near the current Johannesburg was formed, named as the "Nil Desperandum Co-operative Quartz Company". The importance of this mine, was to attract miners to the present day Johannesburg Area and along with it and the discovery of rich and payable veins of gold, creating the largest settlement of man in Sub Saharan Africa.

Today, you can view the early day beginnings of Gold Mining activity, at the "still operational" Blaauwbank Gold Mine and Museum, within minutes drive of the village of Magaliesburg.
- Magic of Magaliesburg

Gauteng Tourism

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