Siener profocies
Siener profocies
Seer Niklaas van Rensburg
by the English Translators It has been a privilege to translate this very important book; a book with a clear message from a prophet of the Almighty God to his people, not only present in the Southern point of Africa, but also to the Western World. If one reads these visions of the Seer Nicolaas van Rensburg, one finds the Hand of Almighty God always present, surely guiding His people towards their destiny, according to His Will, through all the errors made by this stiff-necked people out of own choice.The time of this destiny is on the horizon and like the sun at dawn, only a faint light is visible, but as the sun rises over and above the horizon, its light suddenly becomes bright and clear. So also will the time of this destiny suddenly appear. The brightness thereof will be such, that it will consume their enemies like that of fire, forever to be destroyed.
Jeremiah chapter 51:20: “Is tusa mo thau agus mo ghai-sce cogaidh ina n-aonar ina bhfichidi augus ina mbeirt agus ina sivaite!” (Thou art my battle-axe and weapons of war, for with Thee will I break in pieces the Nations and with Thee will I destroy kingdoms). After the great struggle has ended, may we then voice the following to the Honour of our God “Wha hae wi God bled.”General informationPurists will probably find much to criticize about while perusing this book, as the language therein is inclined to be rather archaic. However, rewriting it into modern English would change the whole character of the Seer Van Rensburg’s story. As the reader will learn, Seer was a simple, humble man who had no formal education, being able only to read his Bible with great difficulty.The manner in which he describes his visions may initially seem confusing, and sometimes may not even make sense to the average reader. However, as the story unfolds, the reader will become more familiar with his particular style. To facilitate understanding of the symbols which he used, a complete list will be found elsewhere in this book.The term ‘Kaffir/s’ has been retained wherever the Seer describes his visions in which blacks are featured. Should anyone feel offended by this, please understand that no offence is intended, but the term is in keeping with his style of expression and the period in which he lived.All Biblical quotations used in the text have been taken from the King James Version, except where specifically marked: ‘Good News Bible’.The Seer often refers to shoes or boots in his visions. Please note that the shoes or boots generally worn in his day were known as ‘velskoene’ (literally ‘skin’-shoes). Many farmers of his day made their own shoes or boots from tanned ox- or other hide, and although not as stylish as the factory product, were nonetheless sturdy, tough and hard wearing.The War of 1899 – 1902 is commonly referred to as the Anglo Boer War. It is also known as the Boer War, Second Boer War, Second War of Liberation or Freedom. For the sake of conformity the latter term is used throughout most of the text.Aloes, or aloe trees are often used throughout the text. However, the aloes referred to here are the Agave, American aloe or sisal plant, commonly called ‘garingbome’ (cotton-trees) in Afrikaans.Michael Viljoen and Julie van Rensburg 28th June, 1998Let us go to the Seer…About five o’clock one autumn morning, I was sitting on my cane chair reading 1 Samuel 9. Saul and his servant were looking for his father’s asses that had been lost. They found nothing, and when Saul wanted to go back his servant advised him that they should consult a man of God. He said the following to Saul: “Behold now, there is in this city a man of God, and he is an honorable man, all that he saith cometh surely to pass; now let us go thither (to the seer); peradventure he can show us our way that we should go.”Something happened to me at that moment; a shudder went through me, a light flashed through my head and as I stood up I spoke aloud to myself: “Have we not had our man of God and Seer?”Vague memories came to mind, and for a fleeting moment I saw myself in the countryside at Lichtenburg where my father was busy telling me, my brothers and sister about Seer van Rensburg who always went to a hill behind his house during the day, to read his Bible and pray. “And there God spoke to him.” I heard my father say.This was what I could remember. I then started searching, but just like Saul’s asses, Seer van Rensburg was lost to me. Then one morning at a place called Eloffsdal, Pretoria, he appeared before me in the form of old Mr. Paul Prinsloo, an eighty two year old “disciple”, and a person who knew all about Seer van Rensburg—a man even at that age, who had bright and clear eyes. And for the first time since my childhood I heard the following words: “Seer van Rensburg said… ‘ And from that time on I met various other people who knew about the Boer Prophet and what he had said. Then information started coming to me like a flood.Today I know without doubt—we had our own Seer!PREFACE
Prophet, or bearer of an apocalypse?During the last quarter of the previous century and the first quarter of this century, no one was more well- known in the Western Transvaal than Nicolaas van Rens- nburg, the Seer.He was a legend during his lifetime and not only did well-known generals of the Boer war, like De La Rey and Kemp believe that he was a prophet, but statesmen like Generals Hertzog, Louis Botha and J.C. Smuts on more than one occasion witnessed, even in Parliament, that Nicolaas van Rensburg’s prophecies have come true during their lifetime.There is enough evidence which proves that Nicolaas van Rensburg was no charlatan. The only book he read was the Bible and he believed that his visions came directly from God and never did he practice occultism. He was a devoted Christian and never used his “gift of prophecy” for personal gain, or attempt to impress anyone. He believed that you must live your life in honour of God and many Bible verses are found in his prophecies, and to this day it has not yet been proven that his prophecies were false, (except those ignorant people who have attempted to interpret them in their own way).In a study called Bible History for Catechises published in 1971 and edited by Professor J.I. de Wet, it would seem that Nicolaas van Rensburg was a bearer of an Apocalypse more than being a prophet.Nicolaas (Seer) van Rensburg, the Boer Prophet, died in l926, but today he is still considered to be one of the most remarkable personages in our history.It is therefore surprising that there has been only one half-hearted attempt, 70 years after his death, to publish his life story.
From 187l (when he was only seven years old) until his death in 1926, he had more than 700 visions about his people in South Africa, other nations, as well as world affairs. Although many of his visions were remembered by word of mouth, it was only during the last ten years of his life that he asked his daughter, Anna, to write down his daily visions.
The Books are Lost!
The two books which contained his visions as written down by Anna, his daughter, were nowhere to be found during the early years of l980, and even the remaining family did not know where they were. According to an article in a Sunday newspaper in 198l, these books disappeared after the death of his daughter, Anna Badenhorst, and could not be found. Now, after about 50 years the books have again emerged and when reading these visions (they have an astonishing parallel with the Revelation of John) one realises that the symbols and metaphors just may contain the key to those things we do not yet understand in our times. In about 700 visions the history of Nicolaas van Rensburg’s people, the Afrikaner, is sketched over a period of l00 years, fitting together like pieces of a puzzle. One must only find the right piece at the right time to complete the picture.
Knowledge and interpretation of most of these visions were for years only known to certain people. But to date many of the Seer’s closest friends could not interpret all Nicolaas van Rensburg’s visions. An attempt was made in a recent publication, but not only were these interpretations contrary to those given by Nicolaas van Rensburg himself, (but even contrary to the interpretations given by the people themselves) thereby causing a lot of damage. Just as there are visions and revelations by Daniel and other pro- phets of the Bible which will only be understood when they are fulfilled, so it is with some of Nicolaas van Rens- burg’s visions.
So that everyone can know”
With the publication of Voice of a Prophet, I am fulfilling the wish of Nicolaas van Rensburg, namely that his visions should be made known to all his people. In 19l6 he had a vision that towards the end of this century his people would become more and more interested to know about his visions. At that time he told a very good friend of his, Mr. Boy Mussmann, who lived in Vryburg, the following: “There will come a time when I will be much in the news again. At that time I saw that we as a nation were still arguing amongst one another, and then suddenly we have a black government. Then only will the Afrikaners’ most bitter struggle begin.” He also said: “I see a time when the whole world will be ploughed under. (This is the beginning of the Third World War and everything will be in disorder and confusion will reign). Then I saw a snake lying on the ploughed land. I could not see its head or tail ….(Nobody will know for certain where this war will begin, or where and when it will end). Everything in the churches will also be wrong. I saw my daughter Anna seated and writing, then I knew: nobody would be able to make head or tail of my visions for one will say—Nicolaas van Rensburg said this and another will argue and say, no, he said thus…. After seeing this vision I asked my daughter to write down my visions daily so that all will know when the time comes.” Mrs. Anna Badenhorst (his daughter), who was 14 at the time, started writing down all his visions from 15th August 1916 until his death ten years later, filling two books with hundreds of entries. How many actual visions Nicolaas van Rensburg had will probably never be known. Those which he “saw” from 1871, were mostly memorized and kept by word of mouth.
The Seer, Nicolaas van Rensburg, did not discuss his visions with everyone. Perhaps the reason was that God so decreed it and sent only a few genuine and trustworthy friends and people to the old prophet, people and friends who had the gift, when Nicholas van Rensburg had pas- sed away, to be able to remember verbatim what he had told them. Such people and friends were Generals Koos De La Rey and Christiaan de Wet (two Boer generals from the Boer War), and Mr. Kerneels Nieuwenhuis, but especially his good and trusted friend, Mr. Boy Mussmann. Mr. Mussmann said: “I devoted my life to make my people aware of the visions and their interpretations as seen by Nicolaas”. Evidence hereof are the hundreds of letters regarding these visions he wrote to people, newspapers and magazines. Some of these are also, for the first time in 40 years included in this book.
Lastly, I also received a neatly handwritten manuscript about Seer’s visions and interpretations, written in beautiful Afrikaans (the Krause Document). For me personally it is one of the most important Seer discoveries of the past number of years. It consists of over 90 pages and contains all his well-known visions as written down by his daughter, Anna, in the two vision books, but also includes his astounding vision of the outbreak and outcome of World War 3 (as memorised by Oupa (Grandfather) Krause). When the old man was sent to jail in 1942 by Jan Smuts he related these future events verbally to a celmate Mr. Brits who wrote it down. Futhermore it contains a number of letters personally written by the Seer, as well as some extremely interesting new visions which were not documented by his daughter.
Undoubtedly Seer van Rensburg has an enormous influence on the descendants of his people. He himself said that the time would come when he would be very much in the news again; a time when his compatriots would be at loggerheads with each other; a dark time when they would be subjects under a black government. That prophesy has already been fulfilled in our time!
Astonishing wisdom and knowledge
One of the very first things I noticed when I began my research on the life and prophecies of Nicolaas van Rensburg, was his humility and unshakable belief and trust in God.
He never had any formal schooling, yet his knowledge and wisdom not only astonished his own family and friends, but even scholars from Cambridge University, England (who had perused his visions) could not believe that he never had any formal education and that he was just an ordinary and illiterate farmer.
From l9l6 Nicolaas van Rensburg only revealed his visions and interpretations to his daughter, Anna, and closest friends. This was confirmed by Mr. Boy Mussmann in many of his letters.
During Nicolaas van Rensburg’s lifetime many of his visions were fulfilled, like the second Boer War, and after that the Union of South Africa. Many of his visions have yet to be fulfilled, while others have already been fulfilled during the last decade or two. Some examples are the disintegration of Russia which would coincide with major reforms in South Africa, and Afrikaner dissension.
I hope, with the publication of this book, 70 years after Nicolaas van Rensburg’s passing away, to reintroduce him to his people as the man of God, the prophet and true patriot.The writing of this book, Voice of a Prophet, like none other, has given me days of joy.
Adriaan Snyman
September, l995
CHAPTER 1
Messenger of God
Nicolaas Pieter Johannes Janse van Rensburg was born on the 30th of August 1864, near the town called Wolmaransstad, on the family farm, Rietkuil, where he spent his childhood. Like most children of his day, he grew up in difficult and turbulent times. At the age of seven he started his schooling which lasted a mere 20 days, for his father needed his help on their farm. From that time he never had any formal education again.
From a tender age he was known to be ‘different’, timid and reserved and never took part in the mischievous pranks of boys his age, nor did he have any real interest in farming. He mostly enjoyed listening to his mother reading to him from the Bible. By means of the Bible his mother was able to teach him, with difficulty, to read the Book by spelling and deciphering the words one at a time.
From that time until his death, the Bible was the only book he ever read and he had no interest whatever to read anything else, for he believed other books or newspapers were worldly things and did not spiritually enhance a person. This made his knowledge and visions of world affairs all the more astonishing for by only reading the Bible over a period of 55 years, he accurately forecast what would happen worldwide in the future.
His mother, Anna Catharina van Rensburg, was a quiet, sensitive and soft-spoken woman and healthwise not very strong. Nicolaas van Rensburg did not only take after his mother, but also inherited her frailness. This was the main reason why there was such a strong bond between them until her death.
Just like his mother, he disliked violence to such an extent that he could not even stand seeing an animal being slaughtered. It is therefore an enigma why he joined the Boer forces during both wars and stayed throughout until the end, even though he foresaw the disastrous outcome. He is also the only soldier in history who never shot at or killed any of his enemies—he never carried a gun.
Many who did not understand his gift of prophecy shrugged their shoulders and quoted Shakespeare: “there are more things in heaven and on earth than are dreamed of in your philosophy.”
When he was still a toddler, his mother noticed that her son could ‘see’ things, but he was then still too young to grasp and understand what was happening to him. His mother believed that if this gift was from God, her son would understand at a later stage. Even though she had always wondered how great this gift was that her son received and asked him many times what he was seeing that made him so unhappy, he only stood staring at her with his deep penetrating blue eyes and could never utter a word. The look in his eyes was such that she wanted to take him to her and hug him.
Many people have said that his eyes put fear into them and did not want to look into them. Others again said that they have never seen such sad eyes, it was as though he looked at you from an infinite depth, through you, as if he saw something far away which brought the sadness to his eyes.
How heavily this burden of prophet or seer rested on his shoulders, nobody would know, but at the age of twenty he had already started greying and was chosen as an elder in his church the following year. At thirty, neighbouring farmers older than him called him ‘Oom’ Niklaas (‘Oom’ meaning uncle in English and is widely used among Afrikaners as a sign of respect for somebody older than oneself, even though not one’s immediate family). A female was likewise addressed as ‘Tante’ or ‘Tant’, meaning aunt, while peers usually addressed each other as ‘neef’ or ‘nig’, meaning cousin.). An Afrikaans writer, Johannes Meintjes, who had made a study of Nicolaas van Rens- burg, put it this way: “It is as if Nicolaas van Rensburg had never known any childhood or teenage years, as if he was born old and one could not help but feel awe and respect towards him.”
His mother was a woman who kept to herself and many times locked herself in her room to study the Bible. This love of the Bible and the knowledge thereof, she always shared with her son, Nicolaas.
One day when their minister remarked to her how obvious and great the resemblance between her and her son was, she said: “I know, Reverend, I have the feeling that Nicolaas will become a great and well-known preacher one day…”
She probably knew something, as mothers sometimes do! Only at one time during his childhood (he was seven years old) did she have a glimpse of his gift of prophecy, because she had passed away long before Nicolaas became known as a seer and a legend in his lifetime.
Kort koos’ van Rensburg
Nicolaas’ father, known as Willem, or ‘Kort (Short) Koos’ (Koos being an abbreviation of Jacobus, or Jacob), was a very rugged man and had no time for cowardice. As a teenager he was part of the “Great Trek” and had to face many hardships and dangers and when he arrived in the Transvaal, he settled on a farm which he called ‘Rietkuil’ (Reed Pool). It therefore came as a shock to him when he discovered that his youngest son, Nicolaas, was not to follow in his footsteps. He wanted tough and rugged sons, who could, like him, take on the struggle of life with no sympathy towards, or from anyone.
He never showed sympathy and the workers (blacks) on his farm experienced this. He therefore made Nicolaas a shepherd, for he believed that was all he could do. Nicolaas therefore left home every morning to herd sheep. He carried his food and Bible with him, and while looking after the sheep he struggled with the reading of the Bible and as a result he eventually read through it many times and could remember lengthy passages.
The Van Rensburg family was very poor, and to subsidise his meagre income, Kort Koos had to leave the farm many times with his wagon loaded with farm products and tools he had made, to barter for food. During these times his wife and four children were alone on the farm and Annie, his wife, being of timid nature, experienced these times as a nightmare, for there were many raider gangs roving around the countryside robbing and plundering.
Dream vision
It was during one of these times when Kort Koos was absent on a trip that Nicolaas had one of his visions.
A very loyal black worker, Moos, working for the Van Rensburg family, knocked on the kitchen door one evening. The children were already asleep. This black warned Nicolaas’ mother he had heard that one of the gangs who roamed the countryside was going to attack the family farm that evening and murder them all.
Nicolaas’ mother was numb with shock, for although knowing about these roving, plundering gangs, she never expected that they would be attacked. She immediately woke the children and told them that they must get ready to leave for a neighbouring farm.
Nicolaas, when his mother woke him, sat still for a moment, staring. He then said to her: “It will not be necessary, Mother, for God appeared to me in a dream, saying that we must stay home, for He will protect us, as long as Father is away. We must stay.”
The seven year old Nicolaas was calm and spoke with confidence, a confidence which his mother had never heard before. She wanted them to leave immediately, but Nicolaas told her: “You, Pieter and the girls can go—I am staying home.” His mother’s impression was that God wanted her to protect her home and children unto death. She then decided that this was what she would do.
She took her four children to the front room (sitting room) of the house, made them lie down, covered them with blankets, took the old musket and waited. Nicolaas’ brother and two sisters went to sleep immediately, but he stayed awake with his mother. Everything was quiet and by sunrise no attack had taken place.
At first light Nicolaas’ mother looked through the window and saw the gang outside. For some inexplicable reason they never attacked and as she looked she saw them turn and run away as if they were frightened by something or somebody. She could never find out why they never attacked the house or why they suddenly ran away, but from that day she believed more in her son’s gift to see, and accepted that he received visions from God, because he trusted in God so much and studied the Bible diligently.
A lifetime of pain, anxiety and sorrow
Nicolaas van Rensburg eventually came to understand this gift he had—a gift which would bring him a lifetime of pain, anxiety and sorrow, for being able to ‘see’ into the future is not always beneficial. He also realised he could not use this gift to enrich himself, for then it would be taken away, and he also realised that the message which he would receive through his gift, was far too precious to his people, as he had to warn them of their future.
Although he was a timid person, his patriotism was very strong at the age of twelve, and as he grew older it became like a burning flame within his heart. This burning patriotism became more of a burning desire when he ‘saw’ how his people (the Afrikaner Boer Nation) would be oppres- sed, downtrodden, and how traitorous some of his own would be. (The Boers were first oppressed by Britain, thereafter by world leaders and lastly by their own political leaders).
He also saw division amongst his people, rebellion, brothers fighting brothers with blood flowing, droughts, poverty, world wars and then the first of two republics.
In one of these visions he saw twilight descending over this country, a vision he also saw just before he passed away, but this time he saw twilight becoming darkness.
Shortly after this last vision he told a visiting member of the family: “There will be more treason, more abuse, yes, I see more division and more flowing of blood than during the Rebellion. (During the 1914 Rebellion the Boers took up arms and sided with Germany). This is not just our blood, but I also see an unbelievable miracle happening. When I saw this miracle, I knew only then that the struggle of my people (for freedom and a free country, a Republic of their own) will be fulfilled and then it will be the end of the time of my visions….”
CHAPTER 2
The gift of prophecy
People who have the gift of prophecy acknowledge that it sometimes appears in their younger years, sometimes in middle age and now and then in old age, but very seldom throughout their lives.
Nicolaas van Rensburg’s case was different, for it began at a very early age and only came to an end when he passed away. It reached its zenith during the Boer War, when it subsided a little and reached a peak again during his later years. He always experienced his visions in times of silence and/or when he was alone.
Twelve years after the Boer War, when he was imprisoned for participating in the Rebellion of l914, he explained to a journalist, Harm Oost, how his visions ap- peared to him. Before this only his wife and children and a few compatriots knew how his visions came to him.
He explained it as follows: “I start to experience a sort of pressure in the back of my head and my senses begin to spin until I become so dizzy that I cannot stand upright any more. I then lie down, put my hands behind my head and close my eyes. Even though my eyes are closed I begin to see a haziness passing before my eyes, but the pressure in my head is still there. The haze becomes thicker and starts to whirl like clouds that are gathering and out of this the visions come as clear as daylight as though I am there myself. The only thing I can do is to look and see what is shown to me……”
The visions end when the pressure and the dizziness subside. He then contemplates on what he saw so that he may understand them. Just like in the Revelation of John, Nicolaas van Rensburg’s visions appeared in symbols, which were objects he came into daily contact with, like pigs, goats, sheep, oxen, horses, and asses. These animals also appear in different colours. For example: a red bull will be England; a blue bull—Germany, and oxen with white on the back will be America. The Afrikaner Boer nation was always seen as a greyish or brown type of animal.
Further symbols were farming implements such as picks, shovels, sickles, ploughs, etc. Ox wagons, hooded carts and other vehicles were also symbols. Many other objects and animals seen as symbols played prominent roles in these visions, like certain buck species (Springbok), chickens, yellow water, turning wheels, etc.
His visions were not always chronological, nor logical, and sometimes they were so comprehensive that he experienced them over periods of days and even weeks.
In the beginning he did not always understand his visions and it sometimes happened for example that he saw a vision of somebody without his/her hat on (In those days no Boer was ever seen without his hat on). Only when this person had passed away, did he know the meaning of such a vision. But he soon learned to understand the meanings of the symbols and visions, but although he could or would not in the beginning, either understand, or interpret his visions, he later did so. Interpretations he only gave to close friends whose integrity he did not doubt.
From 1916 until his death, he always went to sit on a small hill behind his farmhouse to pray and study his Bible in the silence and during these times he experienced his visions. People living in the surrounding areas then started to name his little hill as ‘the place of visions’, for every time he returned after having been on this little hill, his daughter had to write down what he had seen.
CHAPTER 3
The Second Revelation?
His disciple
Boy Mussmann corresponded with various people for decades until his death in 1973 regarding Nicolaas van Rensburg’s visions; he was his bosom friend for twelve years, as well as his ‘disciple’ and only ‘messenger’. In his letters he not only wrote comprehensively about Nicolaas van Rensburg’s visions, which were told to him personally, but the more difficult and incomprehensible symbols and visions were explained to him by Nicolaas.
He said the following: “If I had to put into book form everything I have written down, it would come close to what one of the writers of the Bible wrote (….making many books, there is no end—Ecclesiastes 12 verse l2). Every Afrikaner, whether rich or poor, should read it (the Seer’s story and his visions), then our people will know that they also had a prophet as one reads about in the Bible in Samuel Chapter 9 verse 9 ‘Before time in Israel when a man went to enquire of God, thus he spoke, come let us go to the seer, for he then is now called a prophet was before time called a Seer’.”
Mr. Mussmann (he was the son of a sister of one of the Boer generals, De La Rey), in his later years farmed at Langlaagte (Long Valley) near Vryburg.
In 1955 he wrote to a friend: “The Seer’s daughter wrote down all his visions from 1916 until his death. Things that still have to happen, and are happening now, have all been written down—as well as the biggest event of all (the free Republic). After her father’s death (1926) she told me the following: ”Uncle Boy, you must write a book about my father”. I do not think there is anybody today that knows as much as I do about the visions. But to get to know Nicolaas well, you must know all about him and have intimate knowledge of the meaning of everything….”
I have therefore made extensive use of Mr. Mussmann’s knowledge and interpretations of the Seer’s visions dating from after the First World War until today.
For the first time after reading all the visions that had been written down, Mr. Boy Mussmann declared emphatically: Nicolaas is a second John and his visions a Second Revelation of what is still to happen to his people, the Afrikaner, whom he loved so much.”
After this, Mr. Mussmann started gathering all the information he could possibly get, in order to start writing about Nicolaas van Rensburg as requested by Anna Badenhorst (Nicolaas’ daughter). Unfortunately, however, the time to do this continuously eluded him, for during the war years (1940 onwards) things went wrong for him when General J.C. Smuts sent a team of detectives to confiscate all books and also the ‘secret’ Krause Document (see Chapter 22) in which these visions were written, (probably because of the less flattering things about Smuts and the future of the country that Nicolaas had prophesied). However, extremely valuable information about Seer van Rensburg was left behind by Mr. Mussmann in numerous letters, articles and personal conversations.
CHAPTER 4
Wearers of the prophetic cloak
Israel and the Afrikaner nation
The well-known English author, Lawrence G. Green, focuses on two interesting comparisons between the Afrikaner nation and Israel, a conclusion he came to after years of studying the Afrikaner nation: (a) That nowhere other than in Palestine would one find as many Biblical names of places and towns as in South Africa, and (b) that the Afrikaner, more than any other nation in the world, has received the gift of prophecy.
Green mentions President Paul Kruger as one member of the Afrikaner nation that had this gift, as he could ‘see’ game in a hunting ground long before he and his fellow-hunters reached that specific area or watering hole. But one evening Paul Kruger, after having asked his young wife, Gezina, to read certain chapters to him from the Bible, left the house and went to a mountain called the Magaliesberg (a mountain range in the Southern Transvaal and reputed to be one of the oldest ranges in the world), to be alone with God.
Days later his wife, worried sick, asked the neighbours to help search for him. They found him on the mountain near to death from lack of water and food.
Although he never spoke about his experience during those days on the Magaliesberg Mountain, it was said that he awaited a message from God to show him the right way to go.
But what really happened was that he, like Jacob, wrestled with God. Being a strict Calvinist, he was afraid that his gift to ‘see’ would weaken his trust in God, and when he was on the mountain he prayed that this gift be taken away from him. His prayer was answered.
General De la Rey regarding the seer
General Koos de la Rey did not have the gift of clairvoyance, but could immediately detect whether somebody was an opportunist, a renegade or a charlatan. If Seer van Rensburg was a charlatan (as some people have alleged), General De La Rey would have been the first to notice this and would not have named Nicolaas van Rensburg ‘a messenger to his people’, nor would he have said that Seer was “an instrument of a Power which I recognize and respect.”
According to the Afrikaans historian, Professor G. van der Westhuizen, seers and prophets were not unique with- in the Afrikaner nation, as such cases could be traced throughout their history. Among others he refers to a letter in the Bloemfontein War Museum (Orange Free State) containing details of a vision seen by a Mrs. Annie Botha on the 2nd of May 1900. Her vision is very similar to one seen by Seer van Rensburg. She also foresaw Lord Roberts’ scorched earth policy which would only be implemented in September 1900. (This refers to the torching of Boer farms and houses by the British to prevent the Boer fighters from obtaining supplies during the Anglo Boer War).
Her vision lasted four hours and plunged her into a state of deep depression.
“However,” Professor Van der Westhuizen said: “Never was there anyone who could correctly forecast on the same scale as Nicolaas van Rensburg did.”
The struggle against Mapog and malaria
(‘Mapog’ was chief of one of the black tribes)
In 1882 Nicolaas van Rensburg and his younger brother went on commando under General Piet Joubert against Mapog. During this period it showed clearly that Nicolaas van Rensburg, being timid of character and having an antipathy against violence, would never gain fame as a warrior, but his fellow commando members never held this against him, for his integrity and warmheartedness won him their love and respect, even at such a young age.
During this period on commando, which lasted from October 1882 until July 1883, he became ill with malaria and at times there was fear for his life. After a long period of illness, and arriving back on the family farm, he retreated into himself and did Bible study for six months.
In December 1883, during a business trip to Wolma- ransstad, he met Annie Kruger, a good looking and placid daughter of a neighbouring farmer. It was a fleeting acquaintance, but on his way home Nicolaas knew without any doubt that this was the woman he would marry, and on 8th January 1884, the couple tied the knot. His premonition that she was the one he should marry was correct, as she was one of very few people who understood him, for during the days when he retreated from his family to study his Bible, she accepted it without protest. During their 42 years of marriage, she gave birth to ten children and was a great comfort to him during his times of anxiety after experiencing visions which caused him great distress. Although she was always in the background she was very proud of her husband, but she never realized that he was chosen by God to receive visions about his people’s destiny which would be a guide to them in the difficult and dark days to come.
Close family life
Seer Van Rensburg’s participation in the Boer War and Rebellion of 1914 never influenced the close relationship between him and his family. Annie and the children seldom spoke to outsiders, or expressed their views about his visions, but Annie sometimes proudly announced: “My husband is a Seer….”
Except for his third son, Kallie and eldest daughter Hester, his other children never inherited the gift of prophesy. Kallie never actually experienced any visions, but had the gift to interpret those of his father.
CHAPTER 5
SEER—THE PERSON
By Kalahari-Mac (Kalahari-Mac is the pseudonym of an Afrikaans author).
Seer Van Rensburg as person, his peculiar character and visions drew the interest of various well-known people like ‘Kalahari-Mac’, author of a book titled Behind the scenes of the Rebellion.(About the 1914 Rebellion). He met Nico- laas van Rensburg for the first time on the 26th November 1914 at a town called Nakop. His description of the Boer prophet was as follows: “He was short of stature, with a long black beard, and had a stately countenance, always carrying his Bible under his arm. I have never seen him smile; his calmness was such that his face was virtually expressionless.
Together with his son they accompanied the troops on a little open cart drawn by mules. It is astounding how much respect General Kemp and his troops showed him. I estimated his age in the fifties, although his dignified conduct made him seem much older. When he experienced a vision, he recounted this vision exactly at least a hundred times that day.
With the patience of Job he explained the vision over and over without any indication of becoming impatient. Never have I seen him angry. Any other person, under those circumstances, would have lost their temper.
“He had an unshakeable belief in the Bible and had no doubt that he was sent by the Creator to assist the Rebels with advice. This was the reason why he accepted all questions by the Rebels as part of his task. He was a humble and poor farmer with just enough education enabling him to read the Bible.”
Dr. C. Louis Leipoldt
(A well-known Afrikaans poet and author)
The poet, dr. C. Louis Leipoldt’s view of the Seer was more scientific and objective. His view was that, although the Seer was not well educated and without any cultural background, he had an inborn feeling for that which was beautiful and he looked at life with the farsightedness of a poet. He said about the Seer: “His rhapsodies came from a deep feeling from within, although he could not, because of a limited vocabulary, totally express himself. He used one word to express more than one meaning and repeated the same phrase with slight modifications, not to emphasize the phrase, but, as though he loved to create association and rhythm.”
In the Afrikaans magazine, Die Huisgenoot of November 1921, an anonymous reader gave the following description of the Seer’s character and lifestyle: “A few weeks ago four of us specially went to visit old ‘Oom’ Nicolaas. He lives in an old style, flat roofed little house, which is very elementary, but very neat on the whole. When we arrived he approached and greeted the visitors, of which two were well-known to him, with dignity.
“One immediately gets the feeling of being in the presence of somebody with a profound personality. His facial structure, clear blue eyes, long beard, well formed forehead and calmness all have a bearing on his character and personality. As soon as we entered the little house we were offered a cup of coffee and after some conversation one of us asked the old prophet regarding what lay ahead. At first he hesitated, but after a while he started to talk about what he sees on the road ahead. His way of expressing himself is by first referring to some history from the Boer War and how it came about that he became aware of his ability to foresee. Then slowly he will start talking about present situations. While leaning on the table with his left arm, he would slowly and repeatedly touch his forehead and rub his beard and now and again he would wipe the water from his eyes. It seems as if what he is telling you creates mental exertion. He then said: “Not too far ahead, a thick black cloud will threaten our people, but it will quickly pass and then there will be happiness and well- being. All the plains of our country will be dug up and ploughed and here and there a few aloe trees will be left standing and weeping bitterly.” (the aloe trees, according to him, is the British Government). “The English all move to Kimberley and then I do not see them any more. The ‘Boers’ (Afrikaners) also get together and those (Afri- kaners) who are among the English and other enemies of ours, I see coming over and joining us….”
The writer then ends his article with the following pro- phecy of Nicolaas: “I see Ireland being flung from a wagon (England) like a loose sheaf of corn.”
Johannes Meintjes
Johannes Meintjes, a well-known South African writer and painter, had another interesting opinion regarding Nicolaas and the people of his time.
According to the him the ‘Boers’ of the old Republics were typical Biblical characters—not just in appearance, but also in their way of life which was based on the will of God. Just like the Biblical patriarchs, their whole way of life was subjected to the Will of God. Johannes Meintjes saw in the language used by Nicolaas the same poetic speech in which the Bible was written and is the speech in which the ‘Boer’ prophet revealed his visions. He explained this as follows: “As the years passed and Nicolaas studied his Bible more and more, eventually his speech and description of his visions would be delivered in rich Biblical metaphor.”
One can see many (almost unbelievable) parallels between the ancient Israelites and the Boer people. For example: The Voortrekkers believed themselves to be the Elect of God and even Paul Kruger, the President of the Transvaal Republic, declared to his people: “You are the children of God.” He said this on many occasions as if he feared that his people would forget who and what they were and are.
The question is—why did Paul Kruger believe this and why did he repeat it to his people on so many occasions? The only thing we know is that this trust in the love and protection of God was what carried the Boer nation through all their sufferings when on trek (when they left the Cape Colony during British reign) and strengthened them during the Anglo-Boer War. The basis for their belief as being the Elect of God can be seen in the parallel of the exodus from Egypt by the Israelites of old and the Boer nation’s trek inland into the wilderness from the Cape Colony.
Other examples are:
Just like Moses and Aaron, the Boer leaders were men of God. God made a Covenant with Israel to deliver them from their enemies (Egyptians), and lead them into their promised land on condition they keep that specific day (l4th day of Nisan) from generation to generation as a remembrance of their delivery, and that it must be a feast day in honour of their God. In turn the Voortrekkers prayed to God and asked Him to deliver them from their enemies, the Zulus, at Blood River and made a Covenant with God that if He helped them, they would keep this day as a Sabbath from generation to generation and would build a temple in His honour. This was the battle of Blood River which occurred in the l6th of December 1938.
On their arrival in the promised land, Israel built a temple in honour of God. The Voortrekkers, when they arrived in their promised land, also built a Church and monument. (the Church of the Covenant in Pietermaritzburg and Voortrekker monument in Pretoria). Since the battle of Blood River the Day of the Vow (covenant) has been kept by the Boers. This Holy day has now been abolished to appease the heathens in the “new South Africa.”
During the Anglo-Boer War an incident occurred which was so identical to the Israelites’ exodus from Egypt that it became known as “Pharaoh’s Red Sea” among the burghers.
Today there are many Afrikaners (the Seer called them ‘jingoes’) who, under foreign pressure, agree that the Day of the Covenant should be abolished. Nicolaas van Rens- burg have foreseen this happening in one of his visions on 28th February, 1922. In this vision he saw that one of our future Governments would hand over power to aliens and that it would happen as a result of the fact that this future Government would succumb to pressure from the West instead of following the Will of their God.
God has made a Covenant with only two nations, Israel of old and the Boer nation. Is it therefore a coincidence that Israel of old and the Boer nation of today were and are the two most hated nations in history? Africa and the West have been more lenient towards evil Communism than towards the Boer nation. Nicolaas even foresaw this worldwide campaign of hate!
Incense holders and sheep droppings
Johannes Meintjes compared Nicolaas with John who wrote Revelation, and it is very interesting to compare some of the symbols used by both in their visions. It is also significant that many of the symbols used by both prophets were part of their everyday lives; the plant and animal kingdoms, the heavens, standard utensils and their own environments.
John: The sun becomes black as a hairy sack and the moon becomes like blood. He sees angels holding the four winds of the earth; he sees an incense holder from which voices, thunderclaps, lightning bolts and earthquakes are flung out. Then locusts with the appearance of horses and faces of men appear; there were horses with heads of lions with fire, smoke and brimstone emitting from their mouths. He sees a red dragon with seven heads and ten horns; also a serpent from whose mouth water spouts and a woman with the wings of an eagle fleeing from the dragon. Then he saw a Man mounted on a pure white horse, clothed with a vestment dipped in blood and from whose mouth emerged a sharp two-edged sword to smite the nations…
The Seer: In the pictures that appear during Oom Nicolaas’ moments of clairvoyance, bulls and rams of different colours storm each other and there are often broken bones and horns. Wagons drawn by oxen of different colours rattle past; birds fly out of the mouths of statues, springbok run over a scorched piece of earth in Eastern Europe and in the West the earth is ploughed asunder. From the south swine come running and suddenly change into people. A young Irish maiden becomes an adult in the twinkling of an eye. Sheep droppings fall out of a large barrel and the whole of the earth changes into a place covered in sheep droppings only. A stretch of aloe plants moves towards the north; in the north-west a bucket of blood falls over and spills and he sees the flag of the Boer nation being dipped in blood and this blood-flag then flies over a free Boer nation.
CHAPTER 6
Reports, letters and memories
Today, more than 70 years after Seer van Rensburg’s death, there is still a vast amount of written information available about his character and his visions, largely thanks to his children, grandchildren, family members and others who have preserved them over the years. Numerous newspaper reports, letters and memories from intimate friends about the old prophet’s activities have also miraculously been retained. Naturally all these things throw more light on his character and person, as well as the remarkable visions he experienced almost daily.
Many deeply religious people—some being among the greatest names in Boer politics—visited him on his farm in his flat roofed little house with its clay walls and floors in the district of Wolmaransstad in the Western Transvaal. On his farm Rietkuil great Boer leaders like Generals Jan Smuts, Koos de la Rey, Christiaan de Wet, Christiaan Beyers, and prominent figures like Imker Hoogenhout, Jan Kemp, Harm Oost, Drs. Tielman Roos and H.D. van Broekhuizen, visited him, and were served coffee and rusks by his daughters Anna and Letta.
On many occasions he was seen by his children leaning on his cane, looking towards the horizon and talking to visitors who wanted to know whether he had interesting new visions regarding the future.
A Joseph within the family
Van Rensburg’ son, Kallie, was the one who, like Joseph of old, had the ability to interpret his father’s visions. However, at the time no outsiders knew about this. Since 1916 Kallie had noted down his father’s visions and even studied them long after his father’s death. Kallie died in 1966, and although he was no educated person, his insight into, and ability to interpret his father’s visions, astounded even his two sisters, Anna and Aletta.
However, shortly before Anna died in a car accident at Rietkuil in 1981, she and her sister, Aletta, spoke about their elder brother’s ‘gift of interpretation’ for the first time.
“If only our brother was still living”, they proclaimed to a journalist, (the late) Koos van der Merwe: “for he had a wonderful talent to understand and interpret Father’s visions. Like Father, Kallie was not well educated, but read the newspapers regularly and knew a lot regarding politics and world affairs. In uncertain times he would take the book in which Father’s visions were noted and study it and then say to us—look, just like Father saw it in his visions! Do you see? And then we also saw and understood.”
Kallie never married and his brother, Johannes, only married at a late age during 1953. As a result of this there was no grandson to continue the family name.
Even though Van Rensburg’ other children could not interpret or understand all his visions, they could talk for hours about what their father saw. Particularly his two daughters, Anna Badenhorst and Letta Botha.
During their last interview with the journalist, Koos van der Merwe, Anna told of the following vision her father ‘saw’ just before the Rebellion of 1914. The vision was about Van Rensburg and Kerneels Nieuwenhuis standing in the dark at Park Station, Johannesburg and looking at a brown coloured block being rolled out in front of them. All of a sudden the darkness disappeared and it became bright with light and they were then standing in front of a building which had barred windows.
Everything happened accordingly. During January l915 the Rebels laid down their arms at Upington and Seer and the officers of the Rebels were sent to the Fort at Boks- burg. The Seer was imprisoned there and found his cell- mate to be someone with the surname of Nieuwenhuis. They became very good friends and Kerneels Nieuwen- huis wrote down all the visions the Seer experienced while in prison. The amazing fact is that the Seer recognized the building with the barred windows as the prison he had seen in his vision. He also foresaw their release (the sudden bright light and recognizing the building from the outside).
He did not experience many visions in which his children were directly involved. Yet during the Anglo-Boer War he said that two of his daughters would die of measles in the concentration camp at Mafeking (Mafikeng) after they, as well as their two other sisters and grandparents, were taken captive by the English in 1901.
Fourteen years after that vision, he had another one in which he saw his eldest son, Willem Jakobus, lying on the wrong side of his coat. He described this vision to Mr. Boy Mussmann and his brother’s son and added that this was a bad omen. But the vision of the death of his two little daughters in the concentration camp would affect him deeply years later.
Mrs. Maria James, the granddaughter of Van Rensburg tells the story:
The grass stands high and yellow
“During the Anglo-Boer War in the year 1901, my grandfather’s eldest son, the late uncle Willie, together with my grandmother and two of her younger children fled from their farm Rietkuil in my grandfather’s horse-drawn cart and linked up with the camp of a certain Mr. Le Roux. This camp was made up of wagons with women, children and elderly people. They camped the night on a farm, Witpoort, which lay to the north-east of Rietkuil.
“The next morning as it became light, they were overpowered and taken captive by the English officers and traitors (National Scouts). The horse-drawn carts and eques- trians escaped. Part of this group that escaped were my grandfather, the Seer, my grandmother, Annie, and their daughter Aletta, who later became Mrs. Botha. However the wagons with the women and children were taken captive and taken to Ottosdal, then known as Korannafon- tein. At Ottosdal all their belongings were burnt and they were escorted in open wagons to the concentration camp at Mafikeng.
“Grandfather’s son, Willie, who herded the sheep and cattle outside the camp, managed to escape and stay out of enemy hands.
“Grandfather saw all this happening in a vision—he saw my mother (Hester Coertze) standing alone and a bustard (symbol of a type of wild peacock, depicting treason) walking all around her and the grass stood high and yellow…” (A sign of impending danger).
Not long after, two of his daughters in the concentration camp would appear in a vision again. This was in October of the same year when he saw Anna Katrina and Maria Elizabeth, together with his deceased sister standing on a ladder. He then knew that they were going to die.
The deaths of his two little daughters was one of the most traumatic experiences of his lifetime. He had difficulty in coming to terms with this and mourned their deaths for a long time. But these same two daughters, Anna Katrina and Maria Elizabeth would appear in a vision for the third time precisely 20 years later.
A family friend tells the story
The Seer was not so shy that he could be described as being unsociable. He loved people and his knowledge of human nature was extensive, according to ‘Tant’ (aunt) Letta. The fact that he had the gift of foresight also helped.
“The idea that Van Rensburg was of sombre character was totally wrong”, said Mr. J. Lategan, a friend of the Van Rensburg family. “I became a friend of Van Rensburg after his release from prison in Johannesburg in 1916. During the next ten years until his death in 1926 an intimate friendship grew between our families. Although we belonged to different churches, Van Rensburg being a member of the Reformed Church and we were members of the Dutch Reformed Church, he and his wife, ‘Tant’ Annie, always stayed over at our house during the time of Holy Communion. Whenever they came to town they stayed at our home. In this way we got to know and appreciate him and ‘Tant’ Annie as sincere Christians and rugged Afri- kaners; people on whom Church and nation could always rely, and nothing would ever entice them to divert from the ways of their nation.
“Van Rensburg never took much notice of political talk and would quietly sit and listen while people were engaged in such arguments. Sometimes he would only nod his head when he agreed with someone. But, whenever people started talking about the Boer nation, or about religion, he would enthusiastically join in the conversation. One Sun- day, just after Church, while sitting at the table, Van Rens- burg dominated the conversation for over an hour. In his soft, almost musical voice he spoke so entertainingly that we just sat listening. He spoke about the reforms that would take place in our country and how the Boer nation would trek northwards in their thousands.
(More will be said about these visions and their interpretations in chapters 22-25. Some of these visions are so current that they could have appeared in this morning’s newspaper).
“Van Rensburg may have been a simple and not highly educated farmer, but was one of the most interesting people I have ever met,” said Mr. Lategan.
The Seer’s seventh child, ‘tant’ Letta, remembers people visiting them at their farm Rietkuil and trying to take advantage of her father’s kind-heartedness, but he had no trouble in spotting such fraudsters.
When she was twelve years old, after the normal family prayer gathering, her father made the following remark: “I see a tree with green foliage and then a branch growing counter to the others, break and fall to the ground. This branch immediately started growing strongly—a new political party. But the old tree started to wither and die.”
A year after this vision General Hertzog walked out of the cabinet of General Louis Botha. This led to the formation of the National Party.
The visions did not often disturb Seer, but there were occasions when he became so agitated that he felt compelled to talk about them, or went outside to find solitude in the veld.
During the afternoon of 1 May 1921, Van Rensburg came into the house after work and requested his daughter, Anna, to fetch writing materials. She wrote down the visions in a school exercise book.
Seer dictated the following: I see a pig lying down in Europe with its head facing West. The pig is being scraped clean with a sharp knife. The light is fading and I see the pig being hung up in the Union.” (The Union of South Africa).
When she wanted to know from him what this vision meant, he told her it indicated the advent of the Afrikaner capitalist whose property he saw as being abhorrent.
South Africa—the one with the curly golden hair
One of the most interesting visions Van Rensburg experienced and interpreted himself, was of three little girls lying next to each other in a cradle. One had long black hair and blue eyes, the other one was dark of skin and the last one had curly golden hair. The one with black hair and blue eyes grew more rapidly than the others. Then the dark skinned one next became strong, and lastly the one with the golden curly hair. Van Rensburg explained that this vision had to do with countries receiving their independence from Great Britain. He explained that the black haired, blue eyed one is Ireland, the dark skinned one, India, and that the golden curly haired one, was South Africa. He said that these countries would receive their independence accordingly.
Just before her death in 1981, Van Rensburg’s daughter Anna, made an interesting remark. She said she remembered her father saying that the country which will win the war in the far future (Third World War) would have to have Germany as an ally.
A vision Van Rensburg had about a dark cloud coming from the East, creeping over Europe and eventually covering Europe in darkness only became clear long after his death. He told his son, Kallie, this vision had to do with the rise of Communism in Europe.
Russia and China are the countries orchestrating the infiltration of Communism into Europe and the West as well as in South Africa. Until recently South Africa was the only country where Communism was banned in terms of law. The Seer had the following vision which clearly indicated the important roles of China and Russia:
“A red bull rises in the East while more red cattle rise further East. These cattle want to wage war. They are looking in our direction.” This is the only reference to red bulls in the book of visions.
Anna could also quote many of the visions she noted down in her book and elaborate on them: “Look, Father made me write here during the 1920’s: I see a chalk-like country, it looks like Rhodesia to me. I see a train with troops. These troops are shooting with Maxims through the windows. They are South African troops and are firing at our enemies.” This is one of the clearest visions he had regarding a future war in Africa.
Van Rensburg’s granddaughter—Mrs. Ria James
Mrs. Ria James, one of the 20 surviving grandchildren, supplied the following interesting information regarding certain visions which had not yet been noted down:
a) (The Rebellion)
“While in prison, Grandfather saw himself leaving for home, but one of his friends forgot his riempie-seat stool. (This did happen). Grandfather also said to his friend Kerneels Nieuwehuis: ”Kerneels, I see you and I sitting under a tree on a wooden bench eating raisin cakes.” This actually did occur during Christmas that year when raisin cakes were distributed to them and which they ate while seated on a bench under a tree.”
b) (First World War)
In 1911 he predicted the First World War: “The world was burning—and grey and red bulls were fighting”. In 1914, when Grandfather’s brother, uncle Pieter, was called up, Grandfather told him that he would be home in two weeks. This did happen.
With the passing of years, the darkness that Seer always spoke about did indeed descend over South Africa.
Some of his visions gives one a feeling of great anxiety: “Out of the North a speckled black ox appears. He is looking in our direction. The earth in our country becomes desolate, but in Europe it becomes pitch dark.” (He said a second worldwide depression would occur at the turn of the cetuary).
However, there are many positive visions which seem closer to fulfilment than people may think. Following is an edited version of three different visions combined into one: “After we as a nation have humbled ourselves before our God, I see a great miracle happening. Thereafter I see the ‘Vierkleur’ (the old Transvaal flag, with four colours, red, white, blue and green) flying out over a free Afrikaner nation and there is peace and prosperity…”
Among the many mementos his grandchildren have today are a wooden spoon and fork made by him during the Rebellion, when he was imprisoned, an old Bible given to him by Kate Kock, many photos, as well as hundreds of his visions written down by his daughter Anna.
CHAPTER 7
The Second War of Freedom
With the outbreak of the Second War of Freedom, Nicolaas van Rensburg’s gift of prophecy came to it’s fullest, but simultaneously his life also became a nightmare. He acknowledged that it was terrible for him, as he had to endure the war twice—firstly through his visions, followed by reality. What he saw in the future was enough to spiritually break even a strong man.
Together with his brother, Pieter, he was called up to join the commando of Field-General Du Toit. The Western Transvaal commandos were under command of General Piet Cronje, assisted by General Koos de la Rey as his advisor.
After General Cronje’s commando was surrounded on the mountain at Magersfontein, General Christiaan de Wet sent Danie Theron through the English columns to advise General Cronje that he would shoot a path open at a certain spot through which General Cronje could escape with his 4,000 men. However, Cronje did not see his way out and all were taken prisoner, except Nicolaas van Rensburg and a few other men who escaped, risking their lives. They were then placed under command of General De Wet.
I am sending you the prophet Nicolaas
That night at Taungs, (a little town in Botswana), Van Rensburg held a prayer meeting for his fellow commandos. He was very tired and went to bed early. During the night he suddenly awoke, feeling a strange pressure in his head. It was so intense that it made him dizzy. Closing his eyes and holding his head in his hands he did not know, nor realise what was happening to him. He woke his brother, Pieter, and told him that he was afraid. Pieter thought it to be only a nightmare and went back to sleep. Frightened, and not knowing what was happening to him, Nicolaas left their tent and walked into the veld. The pressure in his head took hold of him again and he then lay down on the ground and closed his eyes. After closing his eyes he became aware of milling clouds in front of them, which then became denser. He thought it to be a storm brewing, but the clouds suddenly disappeared and he saw a plain in front of him. What he then ‘saw’ that night made him think he was losing his mind. At sunrise when the commandos started to mount up, Field-cornet Jan van Wyk noticed that Nicolaas van Rensburg was missing. Some of the men then started searching for him. After a while, they found him lying beneath a bush like a frightened child. His hair was tousled, his face dirty and streaked with tear marks and his clothes tattered and dirty.
Some of the men found this hilarious and laughed at him, for to them he looked like a lout. Nicolaas did not say a word and despite his appearance he was very calm. It was only Field-cornet Jan van Wyk (who later married Van Rensburg’s sister) who saw Nicolaas’ red eyes and bloodied chewed nails and realised he must have gone through a terrible experience.
The young Field-cornet waited until they were alone in camp and asked Van Rensburg: “’Oom’ Klasie, what happened last night?”
What Nicolaas van Rensburg told him was so terrifying that Field-cornet Van Wyk refused to believe him.
Everything covered under smoke and flames
Van Wyk reported the incident to General De la Rey and to his surprise the general requested that he fetch Nicolaas. Van Rensburg then told the general about the vision he had. (I quote him verbatim): “General, last night I saw something terrifying. We will be going to Kimberley, but we will not stay there very long. I got this feeling that we were riding again, southwards. Then the vision appeared: I saw our men fleeing across a blackened earth. Then I saw our wives and children bundled together in hundreds and thousands. I can still hear the children crying. The women were also filled with despair and grief and as they were being herded and driven, I saw our homes and lands go up in flames from horizon to horizon. Everything was covered in smoke and flames… General, it was terrifying.”
When he had finished speaking, General De la Rey rubbed his hand across his face and murmured: “May God keep us safe! Return to your men for we have to ride. If you see something again, please tell me immediately. Be careful who you talk to about this, for the men will not believe you and only laugh at you. But come to me…”
Jan van Wyk walked a little way with Van Rensburg and then asked him: “’Oom’ Klasie, does this mean that we are going to lose the war? And what will the English do with our women and children? Why will our homes and farms be burned? What does all this mean?”
Nicolaas van Rensburg only shrugged his shoulders for he was still too shocked and dumbfounded to think clearly.
“I hope it was only a nightmare and nothing else,” Jan van Wyk said before they parted.
However, what neither he nor the General realised, was that the ‘prophet’ Nicolaas van Rensburg was born that night at Taungs on the 16th October, 1899. This vision came only five days after the outbreak of the war and at that stage not even the English soldiers could have dream- ed of the horrors the scorched-earth policy and murder camps launched by Lords Roberts and Kitchener would result in.
(From then until the end of the war in 1902, more than 26 000 old people, women and children would die and more than 63 000 houses and Farms destroyed by arson).
Nicolaas’ battle against Satan
What few people knew at the time was that throughout his lifetime Nicolaas van Rensburg had been waging his own personal war against Satan. To him Satan was real and he constantly felt this evil force snapping at his heels.
His first physical contact with Satan occurred that night at Tuangs when he saw the vision of torture and death of thousands of women and children in a war only just begun between Boer and Brit.
About what actually happened during those midnight hours, Van Rensburg said: “I went to bed and fell asleep. During the early morning hours I suddenly woke up. I then saw a vision to this side. (indicating southwards). We were among thorn trees surrounded by troops. I then turned to the other side. From the west I saw many women and children coming, and they were fleeing. I saw the whole of that part of the earth was blackened. I saw vast destruction over the whole country. My anxiety became so great that I wanted to flee into the wilderness to be alone and not return. My thoughts became confused and suddenly I knew that satanic powers were trying to destroy me. That was when I hid under the bush where Jan van Wyk and the others found me. General Koos de la Rey then sent me home to recover. At my farm Rietkuil, I could not settle down. My heart was restless and shortly afterwards I left to rejoin the commando. However, I was fighting a greater battle against the devil than against the English. Satan was attempting to drive me back to the desert to kill myself in the wilderness: ”because,” he said to me: “everyone laughs at your visions and nobody will ever believe you!”
I drove him away, but every time he returned; at times he was grey in colour and at other times he was black. A hideous being that did not appear human. For many days I wrestled with him before he finally went away. I then had an ulcerated hand and was hospitalized at Boshoff. I was really ill with this hand, cousin!” (The term ‘cousin’ was commonly used among Afrikaners to address each other).
The devil would often still waylay and torment him, but Nicolaas would never again have any doubts about the sense and meaning of his supernatural gift. It placed him on a more intimate footing with his people and strengthened his love for his country. As servant and prophet this gift was from God and had to be used in service of his people, the Boer nation. He used the Bible more often instead of his visions to bring consolation and hope to his people during the war.
In later life, when a friend asked him whether the devil was still tormenting him, he replied: “Yes, my friend, he will not change, but as long as I cling to my God, His word and my people, I will remain standing…”
Van Rensburg was sent home to recover shortly after his vision at Taungs. He was a physical wreck and authorities are of the opinion that he never fully recovered from his shocking experience.
It comforted him to know that the general believed him, but it was not enough. The pain and heartache over the dark future of his people could not alleviate it. The image of fleeing women, and children in particular, would still haunt him for many years afterwards.
His long standing friendship with General Koos de la Rey began at Taungs. The general never forgot their first conversations. “Who would ever have thought this at the outbreak of hostilities?” he wrote later. “No wonder the burgers thought Nicolaas was insane. However, he was not insane.”
During the nearly three years of war, Van Rensburg’s supernatural gift found its greatest expression. One reason why more people began believing in him was the fact that General de la Rey took him seriously. Although a military genius, De la Rey was also a pacifist, a man who, in principle, was firmly opposed against all violence of war.
The field preacher
During most of part the war, Van Rensburg remained with the commando of General De la Rey. Because preachers and doctors became very scarce during that time, he often led the church services himself. Rather than firing at the enemy, he preferred preaching to the Boers and giving them moral support which they often sorely needed. He started filling the shoes of a minister and many people were impressed by his vast Biblical knowledge.
However, there were others who regarded Seer’s gift with scepticism. Initially both President M.T. Steyn and General J.B.M. Hertzog wanted nothing to do with him. However, they rapidly changed their tune after meeting the Seer as guests of De la Rey. He (the Seer) came to warn De la Rey that the two statesmen should leave urgently as the enemy was advancing to take them prisoner. Steyn and Hertzog thought this a joke, but Koos de la Rey was so insistent they listen to the Seer, they finally agreed to do so.
More than ten years later, when answering questions put by the Chosen Committee investigating the 1914 Rebellion, General Hertzog elaborated on what happened on that specific day.
Today it is still an enigma and miracle how a handful of Boers could harass the whole British army throughout the country. In all probability Nicolaas van Rensburg played no small part in these events. He often foresaw the English movements and could issue a warning to the commanders.
“We must move camp,” he would announce out of the blue: “for the English will arrive at dawn!” Virtually every time he was right. He also predicted the arrival of messengers correctly. “General must remain here for a few hours more. I see two men on white and brown horses, bearing a letter.” The messengers would indeed arrive with important news.
Through the ‘Red Sea’
Certain parallels between the Boers and Israelites have previously been mentioned. In the same manner the Israelites passed through the Red Sea, General de Wet and his men fled before the enemy through a full river—pursued by the English, who were hot on their heels. However, something occurred which General de Wet could not explain to his dying day.
General de Wet himself admitted that he and his men were often assisted by Nicolaas’ personal messages and/or warnings in evading the English forces in the nick of time.
One of the most miraculous visions the Seer ever experienced concerned General de Wet shortly before the death of Danie Theron in September 1900 when the general and his men were forced to resign. Years later the well-known Reverend J.H. Loubser accurately wrote it down and safeguarded it.
Reverend Loubser quotes General de Wet: “On one occasion between four hundred to six hundred men and I were caught in a heavy rainstorm where the Caledon and Orange Rivers meet and we were trapped in a corner by the English. Once or twice my men managed to drive them back, but it soon became obvious that the English were getting the upper hand. In fact, I heard later that a message announcing that ‘old dirty De Wet’ was captured, had already been sent to England.
“I realised we were in a hopeless situation and was strongly tempted to raise the white flag. However, while standing there undecidedly, a soaked and bloodied Danie Theron stumbled our of the bushes. He had just swum across the river from Transvaal with a letter from General De la Rey.
“Koos de la Rey wrote that the Seer was with him and said he had ‘seen’ that my men and I would be in such serious trouble that we would consider surrendering.
“However, De la Rey wrote, I must not be afraid, the Lord will provide. Nicolaas says there is a large rock on my side of the Caledon. My men and I must enter the water at that spot, regardless of how high the river was running. We must head straight across to where a marula tree is standing. According to De la Rey, the Seer added that even the horses’ bellies would not get wet, for the Lord would be with us. We would find a group of sleeping Englishmen on the opposite side.
“We actually found the rock, but my men thought it sheer madness to try and cross the river and I had to lay in- to them with my sjambok (a type of whip) before they would saddle up. Danie Theron, who had meanwhile been attended to and provided with clean clothing and a horse, entered the river with us.
“To my amazement we all crossed safely and the water did not even touch the horses’ bellies, for there was a high sand bank exactly where Nicolaas had said we should cross over. On the other side we found the sleeping British and fired on them so heavily that they fled in confusion. Meanwhile the English on the opposite side were crossing the river on our tracks. They were about halfway when something happened that I cannot explain. Suddenly all those soldiers and their horses began disappearing under the water, just like Pharaoh and his men at the Red Sea, and several hundred drowned in the Caledon River that day.
“All I can surmise is that the sand bank which had supported us, must have washed away from under them. Undoubtedly the Lord sent Danie Theron to me with Nico- laas’ message that day!”
President M.T. Steyn and the Prophet
Not long after this incident, General De Wet and 600 of his men were encamped on a farm near Heilbron and Memel. For more than a week they never encountered any British forces. During the course of one afternoon, about three or four o’clock, they noticed a cloud of dust far down the road. It was president M.T. Steyn and ‘Oom’ Nicolaas van Rensburg arriving in a spider-buggy. They brought a letter written by General Koos de la Rey to General De Wet. The message read: “I am sending President Steyn and the Seer to you, for I believe you are encamped in a safe place. The English are on to us and I thought it best to send them to you to enable them to rest a while.”
On their arrival on the farm, Roodewal, President Steyn lay down in the buggy while General Hertzog, (who had meanwhile also arrived), read to him from the book Quo Vadis. The Seer decided to stroll around the farmyard and then started talking to Mr. Jack Brebner, secretary to President Steyn, where he was resting on his saddle. Suddenly Brebner called out: “President, you have to listen to what Van Rensburg has to say!” President Steyn called the Seer over, who told him that he was seeing a number of white flags and strange looking houses next to a ditch. “President”, he said, pointing towards Kroonstad. “Two horsemen are coming, one on a black and the other on a white horse.”
The horsemen duly arrived, carrying a letter from acting President Schalk Burger of the Transvaal Government, for President Steyn.
During a follow up visit Van Rensburg, in the presence of General Hertzog and President Steyn, advised General De la Rey he had seen a vision of British troops arriving on the farm very early the next morning, before the rising of the morning star. On hearing this, General De la Rey immediately ordered his men to mount up and sent President Steyn and Van Rensburg ahead in the spider.
Unfortunately two of General De la Rey’s second in command did not heed this warning and remained on the farm. The following day General De Wet received a message confirming the arrival of the British troops, as well as the capture of the two adjutants.
One Sunday afternoon about six months before his death, General Christiaan de Wet told a Hollander of Dewetsdorp, Mr. Cornelis Kruger: “Do you see Kruger, it was not I, nor General De La Rey who was so brave; it was the Hand of God!”
General De Wet expressed himself as follows regarding his trust in Van Rensburg’s visions: “There are many people who do not believe what the Seer says, but the same living God in the time of Israel, is still living. It was not I who was such a great warrior; no, it was the work of God who strengthened me through the Seer.
In contrast to General Kemp, who was always reluctant to give credit to Van Rensburg’s exceptional gift to see events beforehand, Generals De Wet and Koos de la Rey unreservedly did so at all times.
One day, when General De Wet and his men arrived at a small stream near Sannaspos to camp there, the Seer immediately warned him that a British force was approaching from Bloemfontein, especially to surprise and capture him at this place. General De Wet immediately heeded this warning and hid his men. Not long after, the British arrived. The general and his men disarmed them, stripped them stark naked and sent them back to Bloemfontein to tell the story there!
Is my house still standing ‘Oom’ Klasie?
During the war many of the men sought comfort from Van Rensburg, for they accepted that he could ‘see’ into the future. They would ask: “‘Oom’, is my home still standing, or has it been burnt down?” “Where are my wife and children?” “Is my son still alive?” There were many worrying questions and it seemed that Van Rensburg understood these peoples’ needs and fears and he tried to help them.
However, he always answered hesitantly as he did not want to upset his comrades and interpreted what he saw in such a manner that they were comforted.
During those dark, sad times, the Seer’s understanding and sympathy served as inspiration for his people. This alone is already sufficient reason to honour his memory. Throughout the years of war he lived closely to his people; associated with them on a more intimate footing than previously and this deepened his love for his country and his people even more. He served his people out of love, and his gift was a gift from God in service of the Boer nation.
It would fill a book with hundreds of pages to explain and interpret all the visions of this old Boer prophet. Unfortunately not all the visions and predictions he saw during the War of Freedom were preserved, and Boers who fought in that war are no longer living. Those we do know of were those visions which were passed on by traditional word of mouth. The rest which he saw from day to day were never written down.
General De la Rey once said: “If ever a book is written about the old Seer, it would be one of the most interesting contributions towards the literature of the history of the War of Freedom.”
It has been said by certain historians that the Seer advised General De la Rey regarding military strategies. This was never the case, for the Seer had virtually no military experience and would never have interfered. The most important aspect of Van Rensburg’s advice was that he could ‘see’ the strength of numbers of a British force and from which direction they were advancing. Such information then was used be General De la Rey to plan his strategy.
Some of the commanders ignored Nicolaas’ warnings, often with disastrous results. However, generally the Seer’s word was law. Nicolaas always remained humble and never enforced his warnings on his seniors or the burghers—he merely passed them on as timely warnings. It never occurred to him to show pride about his wonderful gift.
When Van Rensburg spoke, everyone fell silent and listened. Then he would tell of his strange visions; visions of battles between blesbuck bulls, rams and bulls; visions of blood and sieves and ploughs; of black curtains, pails, white papers, black mourning crepe, flowers, ropes, the sun, moon, stars and comets; and visions of flags, sickles and bricks.
Perhaps Almighty God ordained that the old Seer’s visions, would not only be noted down by his daughter, but also to live forth by word of mouth, for our history has repeated itself 100 years later—the Boer nation is once again living in that smelting-oven of oppression, distress and devastation…
Saddle up—unsaddle!
Mr. J.J.M. Yeats, of Jan Kempdorp wrote: “My late father (a Field-cornet in General de la Rey’s commando) said not long after the English occupied Klerks- dorp in March 1902, General de Wet decided to reoccupy the town. His commando arrived at a spot close to Klerks- dorp in the early part of evening and would camp there for the night. Everyone, except Van Rensburg, off-saddled, but he remained seated. Father asked: ”What now?” He replied: “Look, the English are advancing straight at us from Klerksdorp.” Father believed him, as did General De la Rey, who ordered Father and two other men to go and determine whether the English were really on their way. The rest of the men were ordered to immediately saddle up again and wait on their horses until my father and his companions returned.
Father and the two scouts rode a short distance towards the town when they spotted the English commando, but they were moving away from them towards Klerksdorp. After following the enemy for some distance they turned around, satisfied that no Englishman would dare show his face near the camp that night.
On reaching the commando again they were surprised to see that everyone, except Van Rensburg, had saddled up again, ready to leave quickly. Van Rensburg, however, rested against a tree-trunk while his horse was cropping grass a short distance away. Father asked the Seer what this meant, upon which the old man stroked his beard and replied: “You see, cousin, shortly after you left, I saw the English troops turn around, so I off-saddled. This lot did not want to believe me. You can also off-saddle now. We will enter Klerksdorp tomorrow without having to fire a single shot.” It happened exactly as the Seer said: the Boers did not find a single Englishman in the town!
The beginning of his grief
The Seer once said to a friend: “A great responsibility rests on my shoulders.” Then he quoted from Psalm 78: “Give ear, O my people, to my law; incline your ears to the words of my mouth. I will open my mouth in a parable; I will utter dark sayings of old: Which we have heard and known, and our fathers have told us. We will not hide them from their children; shewing to the generation to come the praises of the Lord, and His strength, and His wonderful works that He hath done…”
The Seer indeed spoke in parables and riddles and his nation seldom listened—or perhaps they did not want to listen. Right to the end of the war the Seer was treated with a degree of contempt and anger by some of the burghers. On one occasion they even forced him to ‘ride ox-hide’ as punishment for the so-called ‘visions’ with which he naggingly tormented the Boers. J.F. van Wyk said: “He (Van Rensburg) ‘saw’ far too many fierce bulls which posed danger for our commando, and those bulls also meant nothing as we could not even slaughter them. The ‘war- council’ found the Seer guilty and he had to ride ox-hide.
The skin of a freshly-killed beast was used for this purpose. It was put down on the ground with the hair side up and six elongated holes (large enough to insert two hands) were cut in on either side. Twelve men stood around the hide and Nicolaas was told to lie down on it. The twelve then lifted the hide, pulling it taut. They threw Nicolaas high into the air—five times in succession.
It was a dangerous game, but the Seer accepted it with a good-natured, embarrassed smile.
The reason for the burghers’ hostility started in October 1899 when the Seer told General Koos de la Rey that the Boers would not only lose the war and the English flag hoisted in Bloemfontein and Pretoria, but that hundreds of Boer houses would be torched, farms plundered and women and children would be captured and taken away. Some of the Seer’s comrades were so incensed by these predictions that they threatened to shoot him; they bran- ded him a coward, said he was insane and an uppermost traitor.
However, despite all this, and his own shock and dismay at the frightening vision, Seer van Rensburg silently endured their accusations and hostility. His comradeship and patience towards them never altered; even after that same vision became reality more than a year later.
Throughout the war the salvation, welfare and safety of his people were all that mattered to him—so much so that he never mentioned a word to anybody about the suffering he and his family experienced during the dark times of the war and the Rebellion.
Early one night in January 1901, he and some family members stayed with a farmer, Willem Bosman, in the Wolmaransstad area. While drinking coffee the following morning, the Seer suddenly held up his right hand and placing his left hand over his eyes, he sat staring ahead a long time. He turned to the farmer and said:
“Willem, I see three cows coming down the road five miles away from Klerksdorp on the other side of the mountain. They will be here before sunset. They seem dead tired, exhausted and urgently in need of attention.”
The farmer’s wife laughed and mockingly told her husband that Van Rensburg probably had his eye on the cows which had been missing for a month already. However, Willem Bosman and someone else rode away to go and look for the cows. Five miles on the other side of the mountain they found three emaciated, terrified women fleeing from the English soldiers. Back at the Bosman homestead, they told an appalling story:
“The English arrived on our farm, burnt the house with all our possessions, drove our cattle to their camp and abducted us, a number of children and old people on an ox wagon; but we three managed to escape during the night.”
The seer’s children go to the death camp
Some days after rejoining General de la Rey’s commando, he saw a vision in which five of his children were captured by the English and he, his wife and the other two children remaining behind. On hearing this, General Koos de la Rey permitted Van Rensburg to return to Rietkuil to safeguard his family. Arriving home, the Seer first went to warn his parents, (who were living in the original house at Rietkuil) as well as some of the neighbouring farmers to leave the area immediately, as the English were on their way to plunder their homes and capture their women and children.
Only a few neighbours and one or two friends believed Van Rensburg and they started preparing to leave their farms.
With assistance from a friend, the Van Rensburg’s furniture and other possessions were stored in one room which was then sealed with an additional clay wall on the inside. This little storeroom was so cunningly built that unless one knew of its existence, the plastered partition could be mistaken for an inside wall.
Late that afternoon while the women were preparing supper for the children, they received a message that the English soldiers were advancing towards Rietkuil and they had to make a hasty departure. Van Rensburg, his wife and eldest son, Willie and two daughters fled into the veld in their horse-drawn cart, driving their cattle ahead of them. Their eldest daughter, Hester, the other four children and their grandparents, accompanied by other farmers’ wives, attempted to flee towards Wolmaransstad in ox-wagons. Two of Van Rensburg’s sisters-in-law, Mesdames Nonnie van Wyk and Hannie Claasen, were among this group. Nonnie van Wyk was the wife of Field-cornet Jan van Wyk, who was present at Taungs during the early years of the war when the Seer saw the vision of destruction and the end of the war. It was he who took the Boer prophet to General de la Rey.
The two children accompanying the Seer and his wife began crying from hunger, but there was no time to stop and feed them. They fled throughout the night. At dawn when Nicolaas rejoined the refugees, he was told how some of the wagons (among those being his own and that of Mrs. van Wyk) got lost in the dark and went in another direction.
Kill the chickens!
This group also included a neighbour’s wife, Mrs. Susara Gertruida Steyn, and her children. Years later Mrs. Steyn told her grand-daughter, Lynette Baird, of their experience. She said after two days of fleeing they, together with Van Rensburg and family arrived at the homestead of an elderly farmer. The house was built against a high ridge. The farmer invited them to stay for the night. The old Seer immediately asked whether he had any chickens. When the farmer asked why, Van Rensburg answered: “Shoot the dogs and slaughter all your chickens!”
The farmer stared at him in surprise and Van Rensburg had to repeat what he said, adding: “English troops will arrive here tonight and I see them passing very close to the house. The dogs will start barking, the chickens will make a noise and we will all be captured.”
But the farmer did not want to know anything and refused point blank to obey the Seer’s orders. However, Nicolaas persisted and eventually persuaded his host to do as he was ordered.
Mrs. Steyn clearly recalls that the night was clear with a full moon and from inside the darkened house they observed a number of mounted English slowly passing along the base of the ridge.
Van Rensburg and company left the following morning to continue the search for the rest of his family and parents. Later during the day they encountered a Boer commando closely following the English and the men told him that the wagons which were lost had fallen into enemy hands near Korannafontein (later renamed Ottosdal). The English initially took the women, old people and children to Korannafontein and burnt their wagons that same night. the Seer’s parents, four children and Annie’s sisters were sent to the concentration camp at Mafikeng in open wagons.
The driver of the wagon on which the Seer’s daughter, Hester, rode, was nicknamed ‘Good man’ because he had five year old Letta placed in the care of her sister, Hester.
Filled with anxiety and sorrow, the Seer rejoined his commando. He already had a premonition that this was just the beginning of the tribulations he and his family would have to bear.
In the murder camps
In the concentration camp, caring for her two brothers and two sisters fell on the shoulders of his 13-year old daughter, Hester. Daily rations were so meagre that they were perpetually hungry, and little Hester took in washing to earn a few extra pennies. This kept her busy from dawn to dusk daily so that eleven year old Cornelius had to stand in the queue at the rations store to receive the family rations.
Mrs. Elizabeth Meyer, another camp inmate at Mafe- king, said it was impossible for the handful of helpers to hand out rations to thousands of women and children in a single day. So on Mondays they queued for meat (which was mostly rotten and inedible), Tuesdays to received coffee, rice or sugar, flour and salt on Wednesdays and Thursdays and only received a little firewood on Fridays. Every day people queued from dawn until nightfall to be assisted. On many occasions the frail fainted in the scorching sun, but the camp authorities ignored them as though they were non-existent.
“Under these desperate conditions,” Mrs.Meyer said: “measles and typhoid were rife in the camp. It was so severe that whole families were wiped out. At one stage the death toll totalled 21 per day.”
Emily Hobhouse
In her book: The Sorrows of War (and those who suffered them), Emily Hobhouse describes the following: “Mothers with small children had to wait three days before seeing a doctor, and when their turn came around, they were chased away, for: ‘don’t you know that all children under the age of five years must die?’ Such a woman returned to her tent with an eternal, relentless hatred towards the enemy.”
One morning on rising to go and do washing, 13-year old Hester was aghast on noticing that both her sisters had contracted measles. Van Rensburg had not received any news about his family for some time, as during that period De la Rey’s forces were continuously being hounded by the enemy and also had a few narrow escapes. He and Annie would only meet again in middle October of 1901.
However, it was a joyless reunion, for his first words to her were: “My wife, early this week I had a vision of our children in the death camp at Mafikeng and it was not good. I see a ladder reaching from Earth to Heaven and our two daughters, Anna Katerina and little Maria Elizabeth are standing on it, and while still looking, I saw my sister, Bettie, who had passed away in ‘85, appearing at the foot of the ladder. This means that the Lord has sent Bettie to fetch our children—they are no longer with us…”
Shortly afterwards he and his wife received tidings that ten year old Anna Katerina and five year old Maria Elizabeth had respectively died of measles on 6th and 8th October in the camp at Mafikeng. At the same time two of his nieces, the daughter of his sister and that of his sister-in-law, Nonnie van Wyk, had also passed away.
(Twenty years later these four children would play the leading role in one of Van Rensburg’s most important visions regarding the destiny of the Boer nation).
After fleeing from their farm, Rietkuil, during that night, Van Rensburg never had the chance to visit his farm again before the end of the war. Once there, he discovered that his friend who had helped him enclose his few pieces of furniture behind the secret wall, had joined the English forces as a National Scout. He informed them of the false ‘inner’ wall in Nicolaas’ house. Shortly after, the traitor accompanied a troop of soldiers to Rietkuil where they dynamited and destroyed the furniture.
The day after he and his wife discovered the destruction, he stood dumbly for a long while next to his dismayed and grief-stricken wife and then spoke softly: “Naked we came into the world and naked we will leave it…”
CHAPTER 8
Messenger of God
The Seer never forgot that his gift was from God and that he should use it in service of the Boer nation—and, ironically enough, this was at the height of the saddest time in its history—wrote Johannes Meintjes.
And, like the Biblical prophets, the Seer never took up the sword against his nation’s enemy. “He has been sent by God to lead us,” one of his fellow-burghers said, adding: “Van Rensburg was the Messenger of God and not His Sword.”
The outcome of the war could have been vastly different for the Boer forces had they made more use of the Seer’s gift of prophesy, but right up to the end only a few individuals sought his counsel now and then.
Yet every day he saw in broad terms what was happening on the battlefield. In this manner he correctly predicted the outcome of the last great battle between General de la Rey and Lord Methuen. Even then he was not spared the distressing outcome of the war.
According to Field-cornet Yeats, who was present, De la Rey meticulously planned the battle between himself and Methuen: “That evening, after war-council, General de la Rey sent me to go and call Van Rensburg to find out whether he had ‘seen’ anything. Van Rensburg nodded and described his vision:
I see a red Afrikaner bull approaching from Vryburg. His horns face straight forward. He is anxious to fight. He is brave and strong, but when he reaches Barberspan, he changes colour to a red-mottled bull and his horns are hanging. His courage has fled. He begins to feel weak. But he will become worse, for when he reaches Harts River, he has no horns. He cannot butt any longer. Then I see him at Tweebos with a fractured foreleg. Now he is white and hornless and lies wounded in the dust. A young black arrives, throws a rope over the bull’s head and leads him back to where he came from.” And as an afterthought, the Seer added: “He must have been disarmed…”
The English suffered a humiliating defeat at Klipdrift where they found Lord Methuen lying in the dust with a wounded leg. He never took part in the war again.
Later when Boy Mussmann asked the Seer why he saw Lord Methuen as a mottled bull, the old prophet replied: “Probably because his forces consisted of ‘Hensoppers’ (from the term ‘hands up’, a derogatory term for those Boers who joined the English forces to fight against their own people), National Scouts from the Cape, Tommies, coloureds and blacks—a motley crew!”
Shortly thereafter the last negotiations for peace began and once again Van Rensburg described everything beforehand down to the last detail, telling De la Rey: “You will sign with the Englishman’s knee…” (In other words, the Peace treaty would be signed on England’s terms).
Van Rensburg also spoke about many tents near Vereeni- ging; of the flags that would be flying, and he even saw the place where the negotiations would take place: “But peace will not be finalised there. I see a Boer house in Pretoria—that is the place…” He was correct, for on 31st May 1902 the Peace Treaty was signed in the house of George Heys in Pretoria. Even General Barry Hertzog was totally stunned and later often spoke of the Seer’s visions in Parliament.
The sickle of death
Some months earlier Van Rensburg had a vision regarding an event which would take place abroad after the signing of Peace. He saw Generals Botha, De la Rey and Kemp occupying the front pew of a church in Holland. He then heard the text from which the sermon would be delivered, as well as the psalm which would be sung. According to De la Rey, he had completely forgotten about this vision until the three of them sat in the church in Holland and the identical text and psalm were announced by the minister.
Meanwhile the Seer returned to Rietkuil where he once again took up his former humble task. Sometimes months would pass without seeing his hero and bosom friend, Koos de la Rey. But every once in a while the general sent a messenger, Captain Kerneels Nieuwenhuis, to ask what Van Rensburg had seen in the interim period. In this manner De la Rey was given news of the stirring in the Balkan states, the approaching war and also about Mussolini’s victories of the future in North Africa.
At this time (1914) the old Boer prophet saw a very strange vision, one that he could not explain. Shortly after, De la Rey visited him and Seer told him about it. At first, though, he spoke lengthily about the Great War soon to break out: “During the past week I often saw darkness descending over the world. It is a darkness in which many nations will be ruined. War is going to destroy millions. But in the aftermath of the war I see a mourning-cloth descending over the world; a darkness when all nations will lament and pray; I see the sickle of death mowing down millions. It is a terrible disease which will cause more deaths than all the battles of the war.”
(In those two visions he saw the First World War and the outbreak of the Spanish ‘Flu in 1918).
Then he told of the other strange vision: “After that, I saw a sharp sickle on the eastern side of Europe coming in from the west. I do not know what it means. Two red flags are draped over a fence and two head of cattle are fighting. (I have never seen such a sickle or such red flags). Then I spotted my bull, old Piet—blood was pushing up from inside him and he was angry. Four purple flags are also draped over the fence and they, too, turn red. Shortly before the Great War, a fountain of blood flowed from Piet. Suddenly the faces of war appear before me again; blood raining from clouds, buckets of blood. There is a massive fire burning. There is a yellow brick which becomes soft. And then—I saw a huge red flag moving from north to south. The fire also burnt from north to south. Then everything fades and two red bulls are engaged in battle…” Van Rensburg was silent for some time before asking: “What do you think it means, ‘Oom’ Koos? For that fire will continue burning long after the war is over.”
However, De la Rey had no idea that the sickle represented the Communist flag or the purple flags indicated the Russian vassal or dependent states which would fall to Communism; that the melting yellow brick depicted the humiliation of Japan. How could he know that the red flag and fire moving from north to south would indicate the onslaught of Communism through China, along the Pacific ocean and South Seas? And the two battling bulls? Authorities agree it can only mean that Russia and China would be engaged in a devastating war before the end of this century.
General de la Rey left in sombre mood. Not long after, he again sent Captain Nieuwenhuis to the seer. The message sent back with him was even more disturbing: “I see threatening storm-clouds piling up over our country. Soon the fuse that will set the whole country alight, will be lit…”
CHAPTER 9
Mourning crepe over Lichtenburg
Just at this time an event occurred which would for ever immortalise the name of Seer van Rensburg in the annals of Boer history. On Saturday, 11th July 1914, scarcely three weeks prior to the outbreak of war, the Seer unexpectedly arrived at General de la Rey’s farm, Elands- fontein, in the Lichtenburg district. It was the first time in the 15 years of their friendship that Van Rensburg undertook the 90 km trip to visit the general approximately 3 km outside Lichtenburg. He knew he was the bearer of bad news which would affect the life of his dear friend and national favourite and he wanted to convey it personally.
Elandsfontein was a popular visiting place. Boer generals, British statesmen, townsfolk and burghers often called there, as well as people who wanted to enjoy the anecdotes and humour of the famous general and the hospitality of his wife, ‘tant’ Nonnie. A lively atmosphere always prevailed on the farm, until the Seer arrived on that fateful day…
The general immediately realised that Nicolaas had seen another vision, one that compelled him to undertake the tiring trip on horseback to speak to him. They had scarcely greeted when the old prophet said: “’Oom’ Koos, I had to come. It is a serious matter.”
De la Rey took one look at Nicolaas’ large, weary and sad eyes, his frail bent shoulders, and with trepidation he realised that Nicolaas was even more bewildered than when he saw the terrifying vision about the War of Freedom! The general was at a loss for words. When they stepped on to the verandah, he laid his hand on the old man’s shoulder: “You look tired and done in, ‘Oom’ Nicolaas. It is nearly sunset—please rest now and we will talk tomorrow…”
(What follows next is a verbatim reflection of events the next day as noted down by General de la Rey’s favourite daughter, Polly. She did so at the request of Johannes Meintjes, the author):
We ate and retired early. However, my father did not sleep much. (Her mother, Nonnie, told her this later.) The next morning he was up earlier than usual, but it was only after the customary morning prayer service and tea at eleven o’clock that Father and I went with Van Rensburg to the smoking room. (Father never smoked anywhere else in the house).
Only when we three were alone there, I heard Father say calmly: “All right, Van Rensburg, let us hear…”
“’Oom’ Koos,” the Seer began: “this is a serious matter. Something is going to happen to you. Every time I see you, you are bareheaded and you know this is serious…” I still remember how sorrowful Van Rensburg was. There were tears in his eyes—he always loved my father. However, I could not understand what was going on.
He spoke again: “I see a white piece of paper with two black letters written on it—a one and a five (15). This white paper with the black letters is hanging over Lichtenburg. Then I see you and you are bareheaded. Then I see it becoming late at night. A black piece of mourning crêpe is hanging over the town…”
Suddenly Nicolaas van Rensburg stared into the distance as though he was seeing something else: “I see a large expanse of blue water on which cork stoppers (ships) are floating—large ones. Now I see something very small under the water (something like a small vehicle) and when this surfaces, the large cork sinks…”
Father turned to me and hastily whispered in English: “Torpedoes.”
I do not think Van Rensburg even heard him, because he continued: “When I looked across the blue water again, all the corks had disappeared. I see a large man on the opposite side; he does not live there, he lives here in our country. He is beautifully dressed, with gold buttons on his jacket and gold braid on his hat. He carries a long sword at his side. When he returns to our country, I see the white paper with the black 15 again, then I see you and once again you are bareheaded. The man who returned removes his fancy clothes, removes his sword and says he will not wear them any longer…”
Father turned to me again and whispered: “It must be General Beyers, as he is overseas.”
Van Rensburg did not even look up: “I see coming from the north…” ’Probably Pretoria,’ Father wondered aloud. “…a long wagon running on steam…” ’Must be a train,’ Father explained again as though I did not understand.
“I do not really see many people in the wagon; I see only a few. Old ‘tante’ (De la Rey’s wife, Nonnie) is also there with the children—you too, Polly. There are beautiful flowers, flowers wherever you look. There is also ample food in the wagon, but nobody is eating, and ‘Oom’ Koos is also there, but ‘Oom’ is bareheaded, and this is not good…”
Van Rensburg became so sorrowful that he could not continue immediately. “The man with the beautiful clothes is also in the wagon. It stops at many places, and then many people assemble. They are very sad. It has something to do with you, ‘Oom’ Koos—‘Oom’ must take care…”
Flags hanging half mast
Van Rensburg looked through the window and continued: “I see the wagon coming to Lichtenburg. It is becoming dark and the mourning crêpe is once again hang- ing over the town. I see flags hanging on short poles…” Father whispered in English: “Half mast.” And then I understood for the first time what it all meant, and I sat fear-stricken, listening to Van Rensburg: “I see a large hor- se commando approaching from Schweizer-Reneke. They are sleeping in an open area under trees. It is not war—it has something to do with ‘Oom’.” (The open area was the market square where the statue of General de la Rey stands today). I see numerous steam wagons approaching. They are all coming to ‘Oom’…”
Another long silence followed when Father and I stared at him. He spoke again: “’Oom’ must take care…”
Van Rensburg left for home on Monday, 13th July. The only thing Father had to say was: “Well, Polla, you heard everything. We shall see what happens on the fifteenth.”
I only asked him to please not say anything to Mother…
The day of liberation
World War I broke out on 3rd August, 1914. The corks (ships) were sunk in the great blue waters. The Seer’s vision of the white paper with the black 15 hanging over Lichtenburg took on a political connotation; many people believed the 15th would be the day of liberation for the Boer nation with General de la Rey in the forefront.
All the burghers of the Onder (Under) Harts River were called to attend a meeting at Treurfontein (now Coligny, approximately 29 km from Lichtenburg), equipped with “geweer, paard, zadel en toom en zoveel ammunitie en proviand als zij in staat waren te brengen” (rifle, horse, saddle and bridle and as much ammunition and provisions as can be carried). On Saturday, ‘15’ August De la Rey addressed about 800 men, and against all expectations, he sketched the conditions in Europe and admonished them to remain calm.
On 5th September he attended the special Parliamentary session and on the 12th the Senate ratified the decision that South African troops must invade German South West (now Namibia) to lend full support to England.
That same afternoon General de la Rey returned to the Transvaal by train. He knew the detectives were watching him and instead of changing trains at Germiston to proceed to Pretoria, he decided to continue on to Johannesburg. He arrived there on Monday, 14th September, book- ed in at the Victoria Hotel and was given room 15.
On the same day General Beyers resigned as Commandant-General of the Union Defence Force—the man with the beautiful clothes returning from overseas and removing his sword.
Meanwhile a meeting was organised in Potchefstroom on 15th September. “Because”, the rebels believed: “in God’s time, one month later or earlier makes no difference—the ‘liberation’ had already been ordered for the 15th.
The principal speaker naturally had to be General de la Rey. The organisers even sent a motor car to Rietkuil to transport the Seer to the meeting in order for him to witness his vision becoming reality. However, for some reason or another the Seer refused to travel to Potchef- stroom.
To add to their dismay, they learned that General De la Rey would also be late!
Generals Beyers and De la Rey left for Potchefstroom around 7 p.m. Mr. A.J. Wagner was the driver of the Daimler motor car with the registration number TP 24. (The numeric value of 24 is 6; 2 + 4 = 6; so too the numeric value of 15: 1 + 5 = 6!).
Two policemen attempted to stop the Daimler on the corner of Du Toit and De Villiers Streets. At the time they were on the lookout for the dangerous Foster gang and stopped all cars with three occupants at roadblocks.
However, because the Generals surmised that the roadblocks were meant for De la Rey, they ordered Mr. Wagner to continue driving on.
The Lion of the Western Transvaal dies
One of the policemen, Drury, fired at a rear wheel. When the Daimler came to a stop, the shocked driver got out. He grabbed De la Rey and tried to lift him and then the beloved warrior whispered his last words: “Krisjan, I’ve been hit…”
The Lion of Western Transvaal reached out slightly, fell back and drew his last breath. An evening wind was blowing and during the events he had lost his hat, which was never found again. (Van Rensburg said he had seen him without his hat).
So the vision of the ‘black 15’ in the sky above Lich- tenburg had been fulfilled!
According to Polly, “more than 40 special trains arrived at Lichtenburg; there was insufficient accommodation in town for everybody and people stayed on the trains—except for the horse commando from Schweizer-Reneke who camped on the market square.”
Years later, during a radio interview, Mr. Piet Mussmann (Boy’s brother), told how he rode from Schweizer-Reneke to Rietkuil on his motorcycle on 15th July 1914 to meet the Seer. Van Rensburg gave him a detailed description of the proceedings at General de la Rey’s funeral: “Trains are running to Lichtenburg where they stop. In Lichtenburg I see a large building with doors on the southern and northern sides. I see a mass of people in front of the southern door. It was the Reformers’ Church. I see six people bearing a coffin, but they enter through the northern door and the coffin is placed on chairs in the centre of that building. However, this person’s face is veiled, but somebody puts out his hand and unveils the face, and when he has done that, it is ‘Oom’ Koos de la Rey’s face.”
On the day of the funeral the vision was once again fulfilled.
This prophesy regarding General Koos de la Rey, as well as the number ‘15’ became one of the Seer’s most well- known.
The death of general beyers
What few people know is that Van Rensburg also frequently saw General Christiaan Beyers in the same vision and it is well-known that General Beyers was also present in the motorcar on that fatal night. And just as Van Rensburg predicted, General Beyers was also present with the De la Rey family on the funeral train.
Was it mere coincidence that the old prophet saw General Beyers in the same vision? I do not think so, because before the end of that year he tragically drowned in the Vaal River while desperately trying to swim across in an attempt to escape a hail of bullets from fellow-Boers.
If the figures of the year 1914 are added up, they also total 15…
CHAPTER 10
The Rebellion.
Nicolaas van Rensburg’s patriotism and unshakeable trust in the love and protection of God lay so deeply rooted in the hearts of his ancestors that they even saw God’s leading hand in the course of the Great Trek and two Wars of Liberation. It was He who helped them face the bitter pioneering years and suffering during the second War of Freedom. Because He led them to bring light to the darkness of Africa, His blessing hand would be over them and He would never forsake them.
The peaceful atmosphere prevailing in the Seer’s congregation in Wolmaransstad was interrupted in 1914 by World War I and the Rebellion. Nicolaas did not attend Church and Holy Communion in July 1914. His one son explained the reason: “My father says we are going to be scattered.” That same afternoon the burghers were commandeered and this was the start of the Rebellion. The Seer and many men from his congregation joined General Kemp to take part.
All able-bodied men from the area were commandeered to the railway station at Lichtenburg. On arrival there the protesters, among others Van Rensburg, Commandant Izak Claasen, Mr. W. Naudé and General Kemp mounted their horses, galloped away and assembled at Haakbos- laagte.
When the Seer appeared, the majority harboured no doubts that he was the ‘Messenger of God’ and his voice would take on a profound quality for them throughout the duration of the 1914 Rebellion.
After General Kemp addressed the rebels at Haak- boslaagte, the burghers also requested to hear what the Seer had to say. Making a short speech, this was the first time he spoke about the ‘blood-flag’ which would be flying over his people: “I see we have our own flag, but there is a bloodstain in the centre…” (Mr. Naudé personally noted down this vision).
‘Oom Nicolaas himself believed that he had been sent by God to serve the Rebellion with advice and guidance. He knew beforehand what bitter sacrifices it would require; but he felt himself called to personally endure those sufferings and walk along the road which “God has opened for my Boers,” as he put it to his nephew.
From all the reports, and according to tradition, there is no doubt that with the help of his visions, he frequently kept the commando out of the hands of their pursuers and enabled them to avoid various other pitfalls.
Commando members often relied more on the Seer’s visions instead of obeying orders issued by officers, with the result that the officers became prejudiced towards him. General Manie Maritz once remarked that he would never allow Nicolaas in his commando: “…because he ‘sees’ such strange things which he tells the burgers about and just now they believe him so that my officers can do nothing with them.” Once even General Kemp (in whose commando the Seer served) became impatient with Nicolaas and placed the blame for all their misfortunes on his shoulders.
Nicolaas participation in the Rebellion also resulted in a rift between him and his church.
The minutes of the ‘Nederduitsch’ Reformed Church indicate that Seer van Rensburg served as deacon on the Church Council in 1895. He resigned as an elder in 1908 and was only nominated as elder again after the Rebellion. However, Reverend S. Vermooten, who was consultant for Wolmaransstad at that stage, hoped that the Seer would decline the eldership as he was a rebel, which could cause dissension in the church. Meeting by chance at the church square, Reverend Vermooten said to him: “Van Rensburg, I hear you declined to accept…” to which the Seer replied: “Yes, Reverend, but you did not want me to accept!”
Israel and the Boer Rebels
It is noteworthy how often the Rebels of 1914 compared the journey of Moses and the Israelites to Caanan with their own circumstances:
1) 600 of our men, poorly armed, had to trek in the same manner as Moses and the Israelites trekked through the desert to Caanan.
2) We had our own Moses who performed his own miracles —‘Oom’ Cornelius van Rooyen—with his built-in compass, who knew the hours of night as well as those of day. Now he and Nicolaas, the Seer, were together and between them they advised General Kemp what he should do.
3) It must have been some sight for Government troops to observe the small encampment in the far distance from the high mountain… in the same manner that Bileam could observe the encampment of the Israelites from the mountains.
4) With the help of Seer van Rensburg, General Kemp led us safely through the desert as Moses of old did.
On commando with Kemp
An interesting article about the Boer prophet appeared in Die Burger (a daily newspaper) of 8th July, 1940.
“Shortly before the outbreak of the Rebellion of 1914, General Koos de la Rey—according to testimony given later—visited Van Rensburg one night to enquire what the future held in its hand. Van Rensburg told the Boer hero that he saw people moving westwards; they look like commandos moving from three points in the country as far as a line (place) where they merge. (General Kemp’s Rebel forces).
There they met another commando dressed in dull- brown uniforms (Manie Maritz’ and his men). The commando leaders discuss a blue document (the treaties). Eventually they sign them and the flag is hoisted.”
(As will be seen later on, this vision was literally fulfilled).
The article continues: “On a certain day during the Second War of Freedom the Boer encampment under Commandant Potgieter stood on the banks of the Brak River. They were faced with a predicament as it was impossible to determine the plans of the British forces.
“In the event of the Boers deciding to choose a specific direction, they could fall into enemy hands. Commandant Potgieter asked Mr. Piet de Villiers to go and find Van Rensburg and ask him whether he was able to ‘see’ what the British were planning.
“At the time Van Rensburg was with the wagons which had fled from the English. When Mr. de Villiers reached Van Rensburg, the latter told him to convey the message to Commandant Potgieter that it would be dangerous to tra- vel through between Wolmaransstad and Schweizer-Re- neke, as he had ‘seen’ the British troops passing that way. Mr. de Villiers had scarcely returned to his own commando when a strong British force—exactly as Van Rens- burg had warned—passed between the two towns.”
In many letters to Messrs Cornelius Borman of Kimber- ley and Joos Haasbroek of Potchefstroom, as well as in the January 1956 issue of Mense (‘People’), Mr. Boy Mussmann wrote a detailed account of his experiences with Van Rensburg while serving in General Kemp’s commando during the Rebellion, when they undertook the arduous journey of approximately 1000 km through the Namib desert. (I am also using information sent to me by Messrs C.L. Hager of Griekwastad and D.J. Esterhuizen of Upington).
The hammer and sickle
Mr. C.L. Hager bought a farm situated between Griek- wastad and Postmasburg in 1950. One of his neighbours was 82-year old Frans Groenewald, an erstwhile resident of Ottosdal in the Western Transvaal. “He was a War of Freedom and Rebellion veteran.” Mr. Hager wrote to me, and he also knew and was on good footing with Seer van Rensburg. He told me the story of the Rebellion many times:
On their way to German West (Namibia) Mr. Groene- wald told me how they moved out from Kuruman on the Olifantshoek road in 1914 and that he was riding abreast with the Seer. The Kalahari sand lay before them. The Seer suddenly reined in his horse and asked him: ‘What type of thing is that hammer and sickle I have seen all morning coming down from the north across the sky to Africa? What could it mean?’
Mr. Groenewald said he looked up, but the sky was clear. Some time later the Seer said he was also seeing how many, but many blacks were running from the African countries North of us, to our South Africa, an from here to Europe. Van Rensburg added that he wondered what they wanted.
During the rest of the journey he continued speaking about the strange hammer and sickle he kept seeing to the north. This greatly disturbed him!
When riding from Kuruman towards Katu and Sishen, one sees the Koranna mountains on one side and the Langeberg on the other. The Sishen-Saldhana railway line runs between these two ranges.
Now, when General Kemp’s Rebel commando rode from Kuruman in the direction of Olifantshoek and they could see the desert sand, the Seer asked Frans Groene- wald: “And now? What is the meaning of all those lights that look like those of Johannesburg?”
Mr. Groenewald said he saw nothing but Kalahari sand. He could never understand that vision of the Seer, because when he told me this, Sishen was still covered under limestone and sand. The Railways only developed Sishen after Mr. Groenewald had passed away.
When one nowadays proceeds from Kuruman towards Olifantshoek in the evening, one can see the lights of all the mines—including those of Sishen and Katu, and they look just like Johannesburg during the Seer’s time. Who would have thought this possible in those years?
Mr. Hager continues writing: “At one time the rebels were surrounded by Union troops on this side of Kheis, and it was clear that they were trapped there. General Kemp then realised that he was in trouble and called a war council meeting. There did seem to be one solution—they would have to fight their way out at a specific location. However, before giving the order to do so, General Kemp decided to consult the Seer. He called Van Rensburg over and explained his plan to him. The Seer shook his head and said: ”No, we have to cross that hillock there,” indicating towards the place. General Kemp then told him that the Government’s cannons were standing there and held his binoculars out to Nicolaas to look for himself. But without taking them, the Seer said: “It is all right; I can see the cannons, but they are unmanned.” General Kemp followed his advice and they crossed the hillock without a single shot being fired.
Mr. D.J. Esterhuizen
Mr. Esterhuizen’s father and ‘Oom’ Nicolaas van Rens- burg became good friends during the Rebellion and were often seen in each other’s company. During their march to German West, they were engaged in a skirmish with Government troops one evening and before darkness fell, the Rebels were surrounded. His father, Commandant Esterhuizen, decided to wait until later that night before breaking through the enemy lines. However, the Seer went to him and said: “We will be captured where you are planning to escape tonight, but the Lord is opening another way for us on the other side where we must go through—I will lead you to safety.”
Commandant Esterhuizen assembled the men and told them about the plans. However, he warned them that they had to be executed very quietly and orderly. He and the Seer would take the lead and during the exodus no smoker was allowed to strike a match. They had progressed only a short distance when the Seer said: “Commandant, someone is striking matches in the back lines.” Commandant Esterhuizen called the men to a halt and strictly forbade anyone to smoke, and they started walking again. Not long after, Van Rensburg whispered once again: “Commandant, somebody is still striking matches to light a pipe.” The commandant’s patience was wearing thin and ordering the Seer to lead the men on, he turned his horse, Ruby, and rode to the rear of the column. Then he spotted a man who had pulled his coat halfway over his head, attempting to light a pipe behind it. There and then the commandant belaboured the culprit across his head with his sjambok, which effectively extinguished the man’s craving for a smoke! Van Rensburg then led them through safely without any of the Government troops getting any inkling of their presence.
Record of the Rebellion
(As told by Boy Mussmann):
Most important is the journey we had to undertake in 1914 to German South West to negotiate treaties. I described how, during this journey, ‘Oom’ Klasie told us day and night where our enemies were and where we could safely pass through their lines. A symbolic trek! In the same manner 600 000 Israelites trekked through the de- sert, so 600 of us (poorly armed) had to do the same. General Smuts controlled the entire Defence Force, as well as all the cannons and battle equipment. They went out of their way to stop us, capture us or shoot us to prevent us from reaching German South West, but it was all in vain.
Now I’m planning to take my manuscript about the Rebellion to Die Vaderland (a national daily newspaper) to ask what the cost would be to print 30 or 50 booklets… They refused and so I published the booklet myself.
This piece of history is just as important in the history of our people as that of the solemn Vow made at Danskraal (Blood River) on the 16th of December 1838…
Hoist the ‘Vierkleur!
(The ‘Vierkleur’ (four-colour) flag of the old Transvaal Republic was so named because it consisted of three horizontal bands of red, white and blue and a vertical band of green).
When the Boer Generals were called up to Vereeniging in 1902 to negotiate peace, ‘Oom’ Klasie said to General Koos de la Rey: “You will declare peace, but we will lose our country.” He added: “Another war will break out between England and Germany and we will regain our lost freedom as a result… I see a number of people hastily trekking between the wells (perils) to German South West with me in order to negotiate treaties with the Germans there. As far as the boundary between us and German South West is concerned, we do not cede an inch of our boundary, because:
‘Het midden van de Oranjerivier zal in de toekomst de grenzen vormen tussen Duits Zuidwest-Afrika en de Kaapkolonie.’ (In the future (ahead) the centre of the Orange River will form the boundary between German South West and the Cape colony).
In 1914 when Generals Botha and Smuts indicated that they intended annexing German South West for England, De Wet, De la Rey and Beyers decided to hoist the Vierkleur and fight for a republic; but they would not shed innocent blood or move boundaries.
Shortly before the outbreak of war, Reverend Faust- mann of Schweizer-Reneke was on leave in Cambridge. He received a letter from my father which read: “Seer van Rensburg said you must come home, because he sees the flames of war being ignited.” Reverend Faustmann ignored this advice, as a professor (at Cambridge) told him: “There are no war clouds in the sky, so where will war come from?” He then went to Scotland. Eighteen days later he could not board his ship because he had sailed on a German ship. So Lord Selborne offered him and his wife a free passage to Cape Town.
At the time I was attending school in Stellenbosch when I received a telegram from my father ordering me to return home immediately.
I showed Reverend Faustmann my telegram and we travelled together to Schweizer-Reneke. En route I told them how ‘Oom’ Klasie had told my father how we would be travelling to German South West.
No sooner had we arrived in Schweizer-Reneke when Parliament decided to invade German South West with the help of volunteers. The English regiments, The Natal Carbineers, Natal Light Horse, Cape Mounted Rifles, etc., immediately entered the field. The first division which reached German South West marched as far as Sandvlei.
General De la Rey was shot dead on 15th September 1914. Soon afterwards General Smuts commandeered Isak Claasen with his men and when they arrived at Co- ligny, a train was standing ready to transport them to German South West. Painted on the side of the train was the message: “Volunteers for German West.” Isak said: “I am no volunteer!” and he and his men led their horses off the train which brought them from Lichtenburg. Then General Smuts and his loyal followers attacked Isak’s commando.
We—from Schweizer-Reneke—departed from Christi- ana to Lichtenburg and found Generals Beyers and Kemp with approximately 2 000 men—travelling in the direction of Schweizer-Reneke. On the evening of 2nd November 1914 (it was full moon) we slept 8 miles (12 km) from Schweizer-Reneke. On the 3rd November we pulled down the English flag and hoisted the Vierkleur. Reverend Faustmann saw me and called me over. On reaching him he said to me: “It is a great sin to rebel against your authorities—read Romans thirteen.” I replied: “Reverend, while you were in Cambridge you did not believe and now, once again, you have no faith. We are on our way to German South West as I told you on the train.” He asked: “Where is Van Rensburg?” I replied: “He will be here around ten or eleven o’clock.”
Meanwhile a number of professors and (church) ministers from Stellenbosch sent a decree to General Botha and said: “You must condemn the Rebels because it is a great sin to rebel against the authorities—Romans 13.” For this reason General Botha called all the Western Transvaal church ministers to Pretoria and ordered them to preach Romans 13 only.
That afternoon after lunch my eldest brother accompanied the Seer to Reverend Faustmann. On their arrival, Reverend Faustmann said: “It is a great sin to rebel against your authorities—Romans 13.” The Seer replied: “Reverend, the Lord sent Samuel to anoint Saul as king. Then the Lord sent Samuel again to anoint David as king. Who, among the followers of David or Saul were the rebels?” Then Reverend Faustmann said: “Look, the Old Testament is obsolete! It serves as a story book to lead us to the New Testament.”
“We must remember that the Ten Commandments are written in the Old Testament and not in the New,” the Seer quipped and added: “Reverend, I’m coming to the New Testament. Jesus was perfect and He said: ‘Render unto Caesar what is his and to God what is His. And who killed Him? The authorities!”
It was on that night, 3rd November 1914 when I met Van Rensburg the first time and this was the start of a wonderful adventure for me.
When the Seer returned, he told me: “Reverend Faust- mann is a Minister, but one without faith.” That same day the Seer also told us he had seen a ditch across our road. We pass to the right of the point. He sees us receiving German Mausers in German West, but they have white points and he does not know what it means. He sees himself greeting General Maritz where he is seated on his blue roan horse in German West.
That evening we left Schweizer-Reneke and stopped at Louwsvlakte, opposite Killarney. We moved from there along the plain leading straight to Pudmi station. On arriving at the convention line, ‘Oom’ Klasie stopped the commando and said: “An armoured train is waiting for us here at Pudmi station.” Later that night he turned us away and we went due north until we arrived opposite Dryhart station. The following day (5th November) we stopped on the Kaapseberg (Cape Mountain) where ‘Oom’ Klasie announced: “There is a spotted bustard (traitor) amongst us.” That same night we left and had not proceeded far when a shot rang out in the front of the commando and a rider disappeared to the left. We waited for the rear riders to catch up with us and ‘Oom’ Klasie said: “We can proceed now, the spotted bustard has disappeared. He wanted to shoot General Kemp, but missed.”
On Sunday, 8th November, we left for Kuruman town. My brother, Piet, and I were riding abreast when ‘Oom’ Klasie joined us. He addressed my brother: “When I look at myself, I see my people. I see myself being shot. They carry me through a watery marsh and on the opposite side is a house with a verandah on the northern side. They lay me down on a couch and cover me with a blanket.”
I suddenly recalled what ‘Oom’ Klasie had told us before the skirmish. The marsh water is the fountain at Kuruman and the right end of the ditch where we passed is the mission station, Siodin. the white house is that of the missionary. Later Siodin was changed to a school.
We moved towards Olifantshoek and that night, very close to the town, ‘Oom’ Klasie stopped the commando to announce: “Government troops are lying in wait on either side of the road running through the ridges to ambush us.”
We turned left on the road to Postmasburg and arrived at the farm, Dikeping the following morning. That morning our spies caught a small old stallion with a swollen knee and led it to the camp. Around eleven o’clock Koos Uys asked General Kemp whether he could have the old horse and the general agreed. Uys asked the general which direction he was taking from there and Kemp said: “Post- masburg”, then he (Kemp) asked what the state of water and grass was there. Uys replied that it had rained some days previously; water was plentiful and the grass should be green by now. The Seer chipped in: “I see Government troops passing us in an easterly direction.” Our spies reported the same.
We remained there in silence the whole day, allowing the Government troops an opportunity to pass us from Oli- fantshoek town—a distance of 14 miles (23 km). At sunset ‘Oom’ Klasie told us to move on as the road was clear. As we crossed the second ridge, we saw Government troops taking up positions alongside the Postmasburg road and we started shooting at them. At the same time Petrus Ferreira, who had split away from us at Kuruman, started shooting at them from the southern side. We were ordered to go and take the pass running through the Langeberg, so if the Government troops wanted to get at us, they would have to pass around Olifantshoek.
Ferreira entered the pass behind us and took up position by a farm gate after hiding the horses. When the Government troops arrived, they were savagely attacked by Fer- reira and they had to retreat.
After that we moved past Langeberg towards Groot Rivier (now Orange River) as far as Witsand where we found water. ‘Oom’ Klasie said: “The enemy is not coming so we can sleep now.” Each man hobbled his horse and then fell asleep.
The following morning ‘Oom’ Klasie announced: “Get the men together—the Government troops are advancing. We had scarcely assembled at Witsand when the enemy arrived and we engaged in battle. We lost four men and one was wounded. Of our men who died, three were shot in the head and the fourth in the stomach. We discovered the reason for our men being shot in the head—we wore white hatbands which they used as targets! We objected to wearing white bands around our arms as it was the badge of Roman Catholicism during Bartholomew night when the Christians were murdered.
We stayed over at Witsand for two days, which was good, as more than 150 men turned back and surrendered. We were in bad shape and many of our horses had to remain behind. It was very dry that year, but fortunately a lot of horses were grazing there.
General Kemp sent two divisions under command of Petrus Ferreira and the other under MacCarthy ahead with reports to Maritz, asking him for assistance. After the second day ‘Oom’ Klasie announced that the road was open and we must leave. ‘Oom’ Willie Boshoff of Wolmarans- stad held a short service and read from Joshua 3:5: “And Joshua said unto the people: Sanctify yourselves, for tomorrow the Lord will do wonders among you.” We then realised that both ‘Oom’ Klasie and ‘Oom’ Willie were elders of their church at Wolmaransstad and intimate friends. Tomorrow we would experience something special.
We trekked until 11 o’clock the following day. On reaching the hills above Groot River, we found the enemy lying fast asleep. The shooting started immediately. We could see the waters of Groot River, but the enemy stood fast in defence.
When night fell we shot our way through to the river, enabling us and our horses to drink. Then ‘Oom’ Klasie said: “Now I understand the vision of the man with the spectacles—this means it is their spy and we have to tread carefully. Yet we caught them asleep!”
The two days we stayed over at Witsand served a dual purpose. Resting the horses, catching other horses and catching the enemy asleep when we arrived. One of our men was shot.
From there we moved along the river to Upington and every day we had to shoot the enemy away from the water. We arrived at a farm called Kafferswart where the dunes meet almost on the river banks. The farm lay between two ridges where they broke on the banks. We left six men here to serve as lookouts for the force advancing behind along the river. Many horses, mules and donkeys emerged from the dunes at the entrance where the house stood, to drink. We rounded them up and drove them into our camp where the men caught horses, donkeys, mules—everything that could be mounted.
On the eastern side right opposite our camp south of Groot River, Government troops made an appearance. They started fighting and we suspected it could be a battle between rebels and Government troops being waged there. General Kemp called a war council and it was decided we would move on as ‘Oom’ Klasie insisted that there were no rebels. We told ‘Oom’ Klasie: “Royston said he was waiting for General de Wet, and Royston receives the official reports of rebel movements… If it is not De Wet, then possibly it could be Conroy.”
“No,” said ‘Oom’ Klasie: “it isn’t Conroy either.” Someone asked whether it could be Maritz, to which Nicolaas replied: “No, my brother, I have already told you I am greeting Maritz where he is sitting on his blue roan in German West.”
An ugly incident occurred that day. At Schweizer-Reneke a little Frenchman by the name of Russell joined us. He was extremely brave. While he and I were strolling past General Kemp, he called Russell and said: “Russell, I want to send you through to Maritz with a report. If you can deliver it, and if I come into power, I’ll make a big man out of you.” Without saying a word, Russell took the report and walked away. I had seen General Kemp writing the report in his pocket book and which read: “You can believe what this man tells you.”
I told the General: “But, General Kemp, this is very unfair of you. You know that he cannot possibly get through the lines of thousands of enemies!”
“That does not bother me! I don’t trust him and I’ll be well rid of him.”
“But General,” I replied: “if he is not trustworthy, you are giving him carte blanche to lead Maritz into the hands of the enemy!” Kemp repeated that he would not succeed. The Government troops captured Russell and shot him. Why did General Kemp not rather consult the Seer to determine if there was another spotted bustard among us?
It became obvious that the skirmish on the opposite bank of the Groot River was a blind to entice us there. Then it would have been a simple matter for the Government to guard the fording places in the river and so prevent us from reaching German West. When it grew dark at Kafferswart, the Seer said: “Our road is open—we must move—ride east into the dunes.”
After 15 miles (24 km) we reached the farm, Diepklip. Nothing came of the war council. From Diepklip we went due north, through the dunes without water and only a light shower of rain. This turned into a true desert trek.
And while trekking through the Namib, conditions for the rebels became so critical at one stage, that their tongues stuck to their palates, and out of sheer desperation they were compelled to slaughter some of the pack horses and drink their blood in order to survive.
The Seer led us past on the right of Steenkamp’s Pan where a large Government force was stationed. When we observed sheep droppings among the dunes, we realised we were almost through the desert. We had not progressed far before coming across a number of sheep which we took with us. We stopped by a pan of water at Rooidam.
We dropped off into a deep sleep, but fortunately the commandant awoke and said: “Men, saddle up. Look at the Government troops advancing!” The whole area was teeming with troops. Fortunately the Seer had told us at the pan: “The road is open, we must move,” otherwise panic would have ensued. Our order was to occupy the hillock to the left of the pan. When we reached the top, we noticed another large force to the left of the hillock surrounding us.
Our 17 men swerved to the right to rejoin the main encampment. We on the hillock had scarcely gone about 100 yards before bombs started exploding around us. We were surrounded and compressed into a small group so we defended ourselves as best we could with limited ammunition at our disposal. Our 600 men were but a handful, of which more than half were foot-soldiers. When our ammunition ran out, we threw away our rifles, for who was capable of carrying an empty rifle across the dunes?
The Government troops stopped firing before sundown. We were called back from our defensive circle. (I had harnessed some oxen from Witsand to our motor car, as my brother, Piet Mussmann, had been wounded at Kuruman and was lying in the vehicle). This gave us some breathing space while General Kemp sent out reports ordering the burghers to assemble by the vehicle.
When General Kemp and I reached the car simultaneously, the Seer was sitting on the running-board. General Kemp asked the Seer: “Well, old Nicolaas, how does it look to you now?” The Seer replied: “I told you when we were at Kaffirswart. The red blanket is covering us, after which I see a red light while we are fighting. Then the blanket lifts and we emerge from under it.” At these words, General Kemp held his fists under the Seer’s nose and snarled: “You talk easily, but look how we are surrounded by the enemy!”
The Seer replied: “I have seen the road where we must exit and I did not see any shots being fired at us… Look, we are moving between two dunes (due north) until they come together where we move through the pass. Then we turn left (westwards), crossing one dune after which we proceed across hard veld. Further on we reach a pan of water, after which we pass between the troops. We capture three blind springbok (Government troops mistaking us for their people) at the pan.”
When it grew dark, the Seer put his jacket over his arm and said to the officers: “Keep the burghers together in a small group—do not let them spread out.”
That night the Seer walked in front of the oxen pulling the motor car and we followed him. There was no moon and we passed right in front of the Government troops’ cannons without a shot being fired. After crossing the dune we reached the plain where we captured the three ‘blind springbok’. And as ‘Oom’ Klasie had predicted, they mistook us for their own people. Muller Rademeyer of Vryburg remarked that the three men had a large amount of water flasks with them and realising they were Government troops, they were captured.
Then the Seer told me (Boy Mussmann): “I see General Botha himself is there. His eyes are popping out from rage, his horns are sharp, but the white canvas (groundsheet) is covering us—God’s protective hand.” He then referred to Revelation 7:14-17—God’s presence in their midst.
After the men and animals had drunk their fill at Rooi- dam, Van Rensburg once again sat on the running-board of the car. I asked: “’Oom’ Klasie, why did General Kemp go weak in the knees when he reproached you with his fists under your nose?” He replied: “Yes, my brother, God makes everyone kneel in the dust. Tomorrow, or the day after, the General Kemp must not say it was he, the brave general, or I, the Seer, or you, the brave burghers who led us out, but give the glory to God that is due to Him.” I asked: “’Oom’ Klasie, what lies ahead?” He replied” “Tomorrow we will be among the ‘blue rocks’ (dolerite). However, what I don’t understand is that I see them splitting away from us and then returning with two blue roans, two brown horses and one grey dappled horse. They then come in amongst us.”
That night we moved from Rooidam, arriving at a farm, Geluk, at sunrise.
We saw a number of riders and we shot at them, as we had to obtain water and food. Initially they hid in the ‘kraal’ (cattle enclosure), but when they saw us approaching they fled and spread out so that we could not simultaneously kill two with one bullet.
On arriving at the farm, we learned that the Germans and German farmers had fled. The owner of the farm, Mr. Long, had no livestock in the veld. Captain Williams was sent to deliver a report to them. He took the two brown horses and a dapple grey which Muller Rademeyer had looted the previous evening, returning with Captain Adam Boshoff, Commandant Schoeman de Wet and a certain Van Zyl, and two blue roans.
Commandant Schoeman had heard the cannons thundering and realised it was one or other rebel commando breaking through.
It was for this reason he advanced in that direction as quickly as he could the previous day.
The oxen were unharnessed from the car and a report made to General Maritz. I shot one of the draught oxen and when the skin was spread out on the ground, ‘Oom’ Klasie arrived and announced: “Move immediately! Immediately!” On looking back towards Rooidam, we saw the red dust of Botha’s troops advancing.
Louis Botha surrounds us
We positioned ourselves at Eersteplaas where the road runs over the ridge towards Grootneus. Our foot-soldier comrades gave us what ammunition they could spare and we moved on as far as Grootneus.
General Botha’s troops were determined to surround us and Commandant Schoeman had to move to the rear flank, shoot back and return from the left. It seemed as though General Botha was being cautious as he did not know whether other forces than those of Commandant Schoeman were in the vicinity.
After the day’s skirmish we marched to Koegoeskop where ‘Oom’ Klasie said: “The enemy is not coming, so we can sleep now.” The following day as we marched to Langklip, General Botha kept track of us. That evening we arrived at Langklip where we found livestock for slaughtering.
We obtained a strong wagon and a span of oxen. At 10 o’clock that night ‘Oom’ Klasie announced that we had to move as the enemy was advancing from three sides. General Botha struck at 2 o’clock and found only the remains of animal heads and feet left after the feast. At 9 o’clock the next morning Maritz joined us with a strong contingent of reinforcements. On 28th November that evening we slept at Nakab.
After having rested at Nakab, singing, and giving thanks to God, we had to march to the German barracks at Nabas on 1st December. Bags of oats were brought in for the surviving horses and we and the horses soon moulted and we were given Mausers.
Treaties drawn up
The Governor arrived to negotiate with us. Treaties were drawn up and some of our officers were chosen to sign the treaties on behalf of the 1914 Rebels.
The following version of the 1914 treaties is that of General Manie Maritz as written in his book: My Life and Aspirations, published in 1939. (This book is still on the banned list in South Africa. In fact, most books written by role players during the War of Freedom and the Rebellion were banned by the Smuts Government).
The Agreement:
“Agreement made and concluded between and by the Governor of the Kaiser of German South West Africa as representative of his esteemed Majesty, the Kaiser of Germany, and General S.G. Maritz, on behalf of a number of officers and men wishing to declare the independence of South Africa, acknowledge:
1. Said General S.G. Maritz having declared the independence of South Africa and declaring war against England;
2. The Governor of German South West Africa acknowledges all ‘Afrikaans’ forces engaged against England as being forces of war and after further discussions to support them in their war against England.
3. In the event of British South Africa being declared partly or fully independent, the Governor of the Kaiser of German South West Africa will apply all means to have the State or States acknowledged thus and have them included in the general signing of peace.
4. In consideration of such assistance the newly formed State or States will have no objection to the German Reich annexing Walvis Bay and the islands adjoining German South West Africa.
5. The centre of the Orange River will in future form the boundary between German South West Africa and the Cape colony.
6. The German Reich will have no objection if the above named States annex Delagoa Bay.
7. Should the uprising fail, any dissidents present in German territory will be considered to be German subjects and treated as such.
After the signing of the treaties we were transferred from Nabas and Ukamas to Jerusalem where the last horses were distributed among ourselves. We were ordered to move from Skuitdrif at Orange River where we met Commandant Stadler. He had previously taken Commandant Du Plessis of Cradock as prisoner-of-war. Du Plessis had marched to Upington with 500 men, having promised to General Smuts to deliver Manie Maritz to him (Smuts).
The 500 men fled and left their commander in the safe hands of Commandant Stadler. The Botha-Smuts Government decided to march into German West in various columns of 1 000 men each.
One column was at Rooysvlei, one at Lutzhuts and one at Nous (on the Union side of the Orange River). In the meantime the river had risen considerably—probably this same water which had claimed the lives of General Beyers and Pieterse.
Reaching Nous posed a problem. However, the maxim: ‘A farmer always makes a plan’ swung into operation. Van der Merwe rowed across with a steel cable and firmly wound and tied it around some thorn trees. Many hands pulled it as taut as possible on the German West side and tied it to thorn trees there.
The two boats were held alongside each other and planks attached across them to form a rude platform. An ox chain was hooked to the cable in front of the boats and we had a workable ferry with which we transported our commando and cannons across the river. ‘Oom’ Klasie, however, did not want to cross over, saying: “I see a well (danger) in the middle of Orange River. At Nous I see an English girl (Government troops) jumping up and running down the valley. She is wearing a dirty napkin and then she sits down.”
The last division to cross on the ferry was that of Commandant Stadler. The ferry could carry four mounted horses simultaneously. The last four ‘penkoppe’ (young teenage army volunteers) rounded up the sheep belonging to the Government troops and put them under the planks inside the boats. On reaching the centre of the river, the load became too heavy and the boats started taking in water. Two of the four lads drowned -the ‘well’ that Van Rensburg had seen, had claimed its victims.
Back to the Transvaal
While still in the Transvaal, ‘Oom’ Klasie said: “I will be standing naked when we begin our return journey.”
‘Oom’ Klasie was standing naked in the bathroom when some of the burghers entered and announced: “General Kemp says we must make preparations as we have to return to the Transvaal.” On learning that Kemp intended returning, Manie Maritz went to him and asked: “What is going on?” Kemp replied: “I am going back” and Maritz said: “This will be your last move.”
“The Seer told me that the road would be open,” Kemp said, but Maritz said: “Your road may be open, but I cannot see it.”
Eventually, after arriving in German West, the burghers in the Rebellion commando were dilapidated; their clothes were in tatters; their shoes worn through and some had no shoes. All the officers and men could talk about were the wonderful leadership of the Seer van Rensburg. General Manie Maritz could not believe all these tales, but at the same time he could not imagine that everyone could be lying.
So he said: “One day several of the Rebellion officers and I were sitting on Adam’s dam wall. I saw the Seer approaching and I thought—let who say what—you are a wonderful creature.” Then he added: “Seer, sit next to me and say: ‘I see you believe nothing of what I am telling you! Now I will tell General a few things and if they do not happen, you never have to believe me.’”
Van Rensburg then told the following in connection with our proposed attack on Lutzputs: “You plan on capturing everyone at Lutzputs. I see you standing with a blanket. Part of it is torn off and disappears—but not one will escape…”
“Then I said: ‘If this happens, I will believe you, because if a single one escapes, then the cannons at Van Rooysvlei will be alerted.”
When our bombs began raining down on the (Government) camp at Lutzputs, the sentries who had fired warning shots when they spotted our presence, appeared. They charged at us and we yelled: “Hands up!” They gave their horses rein and charged at us where we (20 men with Mausers each loaded with 6 rounds of ammunition) were sitting at the ready. The trench where we were hidden was so wide and deep that even our horses could not be seen from the surface. After the battle some of the foot-soldier youngsters (Defence Force) arrived and told General Ma- ritz to go and look where they had lain in their trench —there was not a single empty shell as they had refused to shoot at them. General Maritz said to them: “I will not send you away to Windhoek. See to it that you do not shoot at your fellow Afrikaners again!”
Not a single one escaped.
That evening, after the Rebels’ victory at Lutzputs, the old Seer held a thanksgiving service and read from Malachi 3:1 “Behold, I will send my messenger and he shall prepare the way before me…” after which they sang hymn 53:3: “Could my heart in fearsome battle, tempted by deep unworthiness have mistrusted Thy love…” (Loose translation from original Afrikaans).
The black mule and the Sabbath.
We marched from Lutzputs to Upington when the Seer said: “I see our little wheel turning at Upington. (This meant things would go wrong).
On Thursday, 21st January 1916 we arrived at a farm near Upington. From a hillock on this farm (Christiana) one could see Upington clearly.
We received our orders on Saturday night: “Saddle up, we must attack Upington!”
A war council was called for after dark. General Kemp stood in the centre and addressed the officers.
Suddenly ‘Oom’ Klasie appeared, went up to General Kemp and said to him: “I am asking you for the last time not to attack Upington tomorrow on the Sunday (24th January).”
General Kemp replied: “I have confirmed reports that General Botha has 12 000 troops in the forts and he is bringing in still more troops. Do you want me to wait until Monday when there could be a further 12 000 troops?”
‘Oom’ Klasie shook his head: “Since leaving the Trans- vaal the Government troops have attacked us every Sun- day. We have had to defend ourselves and blood and crime rest on their heads. However, if you attack tomorrow, blood and crime will rest on your head.” He continued: “I see we are now a black mule which is staggering backwards. We have deteriorated into a mule—a black mule. We will suffer heavy losses of death and casualties. The mule staggers back. They will drive us back. Please, you must not attack on the Sabbath.”
General Kemp replied: “Look, I want to attack tomorrow, or not at all.”
‘Oom Klasie said: “General, if you do not want to listen, then I have just one request to make to Jack Smith, the officer of the cannon division…” (His sons served under Smith).
General Kemp wanted to know what this request was and Nicolaas replied: “I see my son Willie die. I just want to ask Smith to not place him where he intended doing so.”
My brother, Commandant Chris Mussmann then said: “‘Oom’ Klasie, if your son is to die, you can place him where you want to and he will still be shot.”
Then the Old Seer Wept!
The Seer turned to him and nodded:
“Yes, old Chris, but don’t you know God is pacified by prayer?” He looked at us again and said: “I have a last request to make from all of you—you all know now that he will die. Please do not tell him.” And with that he left the meeting, exiting past me where he had entered. And as far as he walked, we could hear his sorrowful sobbing. Surely over his son, but also over the sin against God (fighting on a Sunday), Who had miraculously protected and led us through the desert. No pen can ever describe the feelings in his fatherly heart!
The following morning we entered Upington in closed file. My brothers Chris and Piet, the Seer, his nephew, Andries, and I rode at the head of brother Chris’ commando. The Seer said he had seen a vision above Andries’ brother’s leg and did not know what it meant:
“I see blood flowing from his leg and I also see a big white house which looks like a church. I see my son Willie lying on the wrong side of his coat. My mother and other Boer women sit weeping around him. This is a very bad sign…”
General Kemp kept to his plan and attacked Upington on Sunday morning. But we were driven back with the loss of 30 dead, 90 wounded and a large number of captives.
(Andries’ brother was hit in the leg during the fight against the Government troops. Commandant Stadler was also heavily wounded and died that night at Christiana. His ‘penkoppe’ lost a true father in him).
After this setback ‘Oom’ Klasie said to General Kemp: “Now you must go and negotiate, because our work is finished.” (He meant the agreements we had made were finished). Then he added: “I saw our guns being packed away in the box.”
General Kemp was angry and snapped at him: “You might see with your backside! Where have you seen anyone negotiating with someone who has conquered you?”
With this Manie Maritz chipped in: “Kemp, have you no damned shame? When you arrived from the Transvaal, you did not even drop your trousers to relieve yourself without the Seer having to see your road. And today you treat him like this? There is nothing to be done for you, because with the few men you have left after the fight—no matter how brave and well-armed—you can never conquer the Union!”
Kemp said: “If I do this, the Government will have us all shot.”
To which the Seer replied: “I cannot see them shooting us, because the white canvas is covering us.” (Whenever we were in dire straits, he always said: “I see a white canvas covering us. God’s protective Hand. He then quoted Revelation 7: 14-17): And he said, “These are they who have came out of the great tribulation; they have washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb. Therefore, they are before the throne of God and serve Him day and night in His temple; and He who sits on the throne will spread his tent over them…”(NIV).
General Manie Maritz was of the opinion that his rebel forces could deliver a last blow to the Government troops. However, Van Rensburg ‘saw’ otherwise and told the general:
“A great black mountain across which there is no pathway, looms before us. We come up against an impenetrable wall… I also see sugar being distributed to us in Upington and that we return to the Transvaal along another route —with fast iron wagons…”
Then General Maritz took General Kemp with him to go and negotiate with the Government officers. The commandos returned for some distance towards the German West side as far as the farm Koegoeskop to await the outcome of the negotiations.
The Seer said he saw the negotiations being successful, because he saw us moving to Upington and food being distributed to us.
However, Willie van Rensburg, his son, was not shot in the fight and was still with us.
Like Moses of Old
The terms laid down were: “You must lay down your arms.” The officers would be taken prisoner and the burghers would be sent home with their horses. If the Government required horses, they would be evaluated and we would be paid out for them. There were many acacia trees on the farm Koegoeskop. Van Rensburg said he saw every burgher picking a peach from an acacia, but he (the Seer) only got a peach in Pretoria.
On learning that we intended surrendering, the German authorities sent each burgher a golden Pound as travelling expense. ‘Oom’ Klasie’s name did not appear on the corporal’s list, so he did not get a golden coin (his peach).
Our commando travelled to Upington to surrender and that night we slept outside the town, every division with its officer. The artillery was just ahead of my brother Chris’ command. The Seer’s son, Willie, and I were together when he said: “My father says that the Government is going to hold the officers for a long time, as he saw straps around the officers’ legs, but they won’t hold us for long.” He also told me to join him in the ploughing at Wolma- ransstad so that we could stay together.
With Manie Maritz’ surrender after the battle of Uping- ton, those who had not been killed would be taken prisoner and sent back by train to the Transvaal. They were issued with provisions, which also included a ration of sugar—exactly as the Seer had said!
The officers were sent to the Fort in Johannesburg and we burghers to the Kimberley compound. On our arrival, 40 of us were ill from gastric fever.
On Sunday morning, 27th March 1915, the camp commandant asked me whether I knew Corneels and Nicolaas van Rensburg. “Yes, I do.” I replied. He then requested me to call them for him. I told the two brothers the commandant wished to see them. Unfortunately, however, I did not ask why he wanted to see them. It was only on Sunday evening when I saw Corneels van Rensburg weeping in front of their cell and asked him what was wrong. He told me: “We went to the hospital this afternoon. Our brother, Willie, is dying.” I asked: “Did you leave him by himself?” He shook his head: “No, our mother and several other women who went to visit their menfolk are with him.”
Exactly as his farther predicted: “I see my son Willie lying on the wrong side of his coat. My mother and other Boer women sit weeping around him…”
(Willie died of gastric fever that same night).
We arrived in Kimberley on 7th February 1915 and were discharged in April. The hospital was the white house Van Rensburg had seen in his vision.
280 Witnesses were subpoenaed to testify against the officers. Not a single one could say he had ever seen the Seer with a gun in his hands or that he played an active part in the Rebellion. Furthermore, nobody could declare that he had ever incited any of them to rebel, so no sentence could be passed on ‘Oom’ Klasie.
After every officer’s case was closed, Judge Lang and two assessors entered and read out each man’s sentence. General de Wet was sentenced to 7 years’ imprisonment and fined £1 000.
After the officers had all received their sentences, he turned to the Seer. There were no charges against him. The Judge then said: “You eat too much meat at night. That is why you dream dreams and see visions. But I’m telling you to keep your dreams and visions to yourself, or I’ll put you in jail for the rest of the war.”
That night ‘Oom’ Klasie and my brother slept together. My brother said to him: “The Englishman had his knife in for you today.” ‘Oom’ Klasie replied: “Yes, old Chris, but I see them burying him.”
Three days later Judge Lang was buried after he had died very suddenly.
Boy Mussmann concludes his description with the following: “General Kemp, with the help of Seer van Rens- burg, led us safely through the desert as did Moses of old.”
CHAPTER 11
In prison
Although no evidence was led during his trial that Nico- laas van Rensburg carried a weapon, he was sentenced on his own evidence to 18 months’ imprisonment and fined £50.
During his own trial the Seer had an astounding vision.
While in the dock, the presiding Judge addressed him: “I forbid you to see anything!” to which the Seer replied:
“Your Honour, what can I do, for as I am standing here, I am seeing.” In response to a question what he was seeing, Van Rensburg said: “I see my son Willie has died in Kim- berley prison.”
The hearing was still in progress when a messenger entered with a telegram for the Seer. The presiding Judge tore it open and read out to the court: “Your son has passed away.”
General Manie Maritz attempted to flee with the treaties, but was taken prisoner by Commander Sampaai de Nobe- re in Portugal, after which he was taken to Germany and only returned to the Union in 1920.
(On 14th September 1940 the Germans read out the treaties and proclamation of 1914 over the radio and declared to the Afrikaner nation that they acknowledged the treaties and would do everything within the power of the German nation to honour them one day. Van Rensburg had already predicted this twenty years earlier!).
After conclusion of the Seer’s trial and sentence, he shared a cell with the writer, Harm Oost, in Boksburg prison. His first words to the newspaper reporter were: “I knew we would meet. A black mule licked at my sleeve and I had to go through a thorn thicket. But I emerged on the other side…” The ‘black mule’ represented the prison authorities and the thorn thicket the abuse and suffering he had to endure. The arduous journey on which the Seer accompanied General Kemp and 600 rebels to German South West had taken their toll on his health to such an extent that he would never fully recover.
Despite gaining fame as a the Seer since the War of Freedom, Van Rensburg received no mercy from the prison authorities.
Every morning they were allowed outside in the stone yard for some exercise, and sometimes Van Rensburg told Harm in his own serene manner of visions he had seen the previous night.
(I quote some of them):
“I see you remaining behind after the others have been released.”
Some months later: “Your time to go is close.”
Then suddenly one morning: “My wife wants to come and visit me, but I sent her a telegram that she must not do so, as I will be home before she arrives here.”
The Rebel, Boy Mussmann wrote to a friend: “I have written to newspapers appealing to persons who knew Van Rensburg to send me any information on him so that I can publish the truth in my book. I received a letter from Mrs. Van Wyk of Kroonstad who wrote that when the Rebel officers were in the Fort, she visited her brother, Commandant van Niekerk. There she met General de Wet’s wife returning from the Fort. Mrs. De Wet told her she should also visit Seer van Rensburg.
On entering the Fort, Mrs. van Wyk spotted a man with a long beard standing there. She then asked: “Are you the Seer?” He replied: “Yes” and showed her to a bench where they sat down. She felt heartbroken and thought that the Afrikaners in there would never be released. She also asked him whether they would be released, to which he replied: “Yes, I think shortly,” and explained: “I was sitting on this same bench when I saw a well before me from which food baskets emerged. I do no understand what the vision means. But when I see a vision which I do not understand, the Lord allows me to see it again with changes until I fully understand it.”
He continued: “I looked through that window and once again I saw the well outside and food baskets emerging from it, and this time I saw my new hat lying on the table in my home. Now I understand our suffering is the Fort (the well), but we fill our food baskets and go home, because I put on my new hat and clothes.” Van Rensburg continued: “When I saw the well which we were trapped in, I saw a ladder in the well and I stood on the first rung. There was not another Koos de la Rey, a Beyers or a De Wet in the field that could rescue us, but we had to look up to God from the bottom of the well to rescue us. Amid all our tribulations the ladder was in the well, but when the spotted pig oneday stands in the well in England (famine), there is no ladder. That is why I knew we would be released from here, for we have our ladder. But there will be no help for England during her oppression!”
According to Harm Oost, the Seer had always been ‘Oom’ Klasie, the gentle humanitarian Christian whose gift of ‘seeing’ was not as rare as official documents reported.
In Die Burger of 17th March 1926, Harm Oost described his first meeting with the Seer (in Boksburg prison) as follows: “He was a frail man, lean as a result of hardship in the veld; his brown beard was long and greying. A real ‘back- velder’ (yokel), although not sturdily built. He had large mystic grey eyes, half wild because of the new cruel environment and even more cruel expectations…”
The old Boer prophet was incarcerated for about a year — first in Boksburg then in the Fort in Johannesburg. He and Harm Oost were together once again, but this time they were locked up in separate cells, and Harm Oost often heard the grey-haired ‘old’ man (the Seer was only 51 at the time) tossing on his mattress in the icy cold cell, praying or muttering verses from the Bible. However, the prophet endured his struggle alone and never complained about his lot, even when he was ill.
The English warders belittled, mocked and ill-treated him at every opportunity, but he endured all this with such stoicism and silence that Harm Oost would still talk about it years later.
Under house arrest
After the Rebellion, General Jan Kemp told of his last day with the Seer in January 1915 when his rebel troops were taken prisoner by the Government forces at Uping- ton. He was extremely irate and angrily lashed out against the Seer: “Yes, what now? Your prophesies were all wrong!”
Undisturbed, Nicolaas van Rensburg look at Kemp: “General, last night I had another vision…” he began, but Kemp interrupted him: “I am sick and tired of your visions!” ‘Please be patient, General,” the old prophet plead- ed. “Last night I saw a red castle with green grass and red flowers in the front. I see us arriving at the castle and we do not have to knock. While standing there the door opened and we were led inside where men were preparing food and they provided us with clothing and shelter.”
Kemp said some days later they were taken to the Fort in Johannesburg where he saw a large square red-brick building. In the front garden he saw green grass and red geraniums in full bloom. The door suddenly opened and they were taken inside where men were cooking porridge. After having eaten, they were issued with prison clothing. Kemp sarcastically asked the Seer whether this was the red castle he had seen!
However, Nicolaas did not seem to hear him.
That same night the Seer was locked up in a stone cell next to Harm Oost. The mockery and abuse he had to endure from the English warders was not nearly as upsetting as the fact that they had confiscated his Bible and shaved off his beard the following morning.
One day he received a visit from a lady who enquired whether there was anything he needed. With tears in his eyes, Van Rensburg said: “I have no Bible or Hymn book…” Some days later she brought both books and he was so overcome with gratitude that he could not speak. His benefactress had written in the front of the Bible: “To ‘Oom’ Seer van Rensburg, from Kate Kock, Germiston.”
(One night while in prison he had a strange vision that a friend, Louis Dohnè, had written in the last three pages of the Seer’s Bible and was dated 1916. This vision does not appear in the vision book and with permission from ‘Oom’ Nicolaas’ children it is now published in complete form in this book).
Like the other rebels, ‘Oom’ Nicolaas was required to pay a redemption fine before being released from prison eleven months later on 20th December 1915. However, he was not a free man yet, as General Smuts immediately placed him under farm arrest and for eight years (until 1923) he could not even attend a church service without prior permission from the local magistrate.
The Seer is Depressed
After his release from prison, Nicolaas suffered from depression for a time. However, even this condition did not blunt his gift for seeing visions.
Die Burger of 13th July 1940 reported: “It was as though he became very reserved, but more religious and read his Bible more often and held regular Sunday services.”
According to this report and personal memories of people who recalled his ‘church services’, the contents and character of these services followed a fixed pattern without any exceptions. While his soft grey-blue eyes looked across his congregation, he could recite the Bible texts from which he would deliver his sermons almost entirely from memory. He was a calm preacher, but nonetheless delivered his message in rich Biblical metaphor; he em- phasised the most important words with hand gestures which held his audience captive right to the end.
Mr. Johannes Gagiano, (who, as a child, attended these services with his father) writes as follows:
“When the minister was absent. ‘Oom Seer’, as elder of the church, often led the services. His conduct was characterized by his gentleness. My father often told me that he spoke to the people rather than preached, and his messages spoke of the perseverance of faith. However, he often spoke about the sufferings of Christ. To strengthen their faith, ‘Oom Seer’ constantly reminded them of the great deeds the Lord had done for their ancestors, the Boer nation, during the War of Freedom and the Rebellion.
Die Burger confirms Mr. Gagiano’s words: “In almost every sermon he also warned those present to trust in God and not fear the future.” And he could reassure and console them regularly with these words: “It has been revealed to me that there is a future for this nation of which I am a member and which I love so dearly. I cannot explain it, but I still see some visions I have seen before; visions indicating to me that our nation will one day become completely free.” The paper concludes: “Sometimes he (in his sermons) also referred to the punishment that lies ahead for the enemies of his people, particularly England, which will be infested by plagues.”
In October 1914 a certain Jan Petrus wrote about the final split-up between England and South Africa: A yellow brick and a blue brick (England and Germany) grind against each other without any effect. But when they grind against each other again, Van Rensburg sees a glass full of wheat with husks inside the yellow brick. This time the yellow brick has softened and when the two bricks part, the yellow one throws the glass with (now threshed) wheat to one side. This means that Germany will defeat England in a future war and in that war the Boer nation will be purified and (with German help) entirely liberated.
Letters of Prophecy
The Seer corresponded regularly with a number of people, and according to a correspondent of Die Burger (13th July, 1940): “…some of his letters consisted entirely of visions he had seen, but to the uninformed reader they seemed like meaningless rambling. For example, one letter opens with an interpretation which makes one come to a conclusion that he must have written many letters in which he possibly shared individual visions with different people.
“Sometimes it seems that he gives an interpretation in a letter, of a vision described to someone else in another letter. One can only come to the correct conclusion once all his letters have been collected.”
The Farmyard At Rietkuil
Nicolaas’ granddaughter, Mrs. Ria James and Mr. Boy Mussmann sketched the lifestyle of the Van Rensburg family after the First World War:
“Nicolaas Janse van Rensburg, a farmer, made a simple living at Rietkuil, in the Wolmaransstad district, in a drab, clay-roofed house with board windows and clay walls. There was a ridge behind the little house and if one stood on top of this ridge, one could see the grass sprouting out here and there from the clay roof. (It was on this same ridge that the Seer spent many hours during his last days with his Bible).
“His favourite seat was a sheepskin next to a little folding chair in front of the house where he kept himself busy with his cobblers’ tools, mending his and his family’s shoes; it was there he told many of his visitors—some from hundreds of miles away—of his wonderful visions.
“Only the bare necessities were to be found in the cool, semi-dark kitchen, sitting-room and bedrooms; a stove with oven; a white-scrubbed kitchen table; a few chairs made of wood with interlaced strips of rawhide seats, and some benches, and black iron bedsteads. Like in other homes at the time, the floors consisted of a mixture of clay and cow dung which were smeared daily with warm dung to keep them shining. Simplicity was the trade mark of Seer van Rensburg.
“But even during those difficult times,” Mrs. James said: “Granddad was not so poverty-stricken as was alleged. My mother, (Hester) provided coffee and food when visitors arrived. No guest ever left without refreshments—even if it was only coffee and a cooked green mealie (ear of maize!)”
Van Rensburg was never attracted to earthly possessions. His heart and front door were always open to visitors; not only for important guests like ministers, parliamentarians and other high officials who came to learn what he had ‘seen’ again, but particularly for the poorest among the poor. His motto was always: “Naked we came into the world and naked we will leave it.”
The almost worldwide interest in his visions after the Rebellion and First World War suddenly made a legend of this humble, unwilling farmer in his lifetime. (Inquiries even came from overseas and the stream of visitors included the curiosity-seekers from as far afield as the then Northern and Southern Rhodesia—Zambia and Zimbabwe. Many prominent English authors also wrote about the Boer Prophet-authors like Lawrence Green (There’s a secret hid away); A.A. McRae (Prophets and Prophecies—The Sondervan Pictorial Encyclopedia of the Bible, vol 4, Grand Rapids, Michigan, 1976), and the novelist, Stuart Cloete (Rags of Glory, Doubleday and Company Ltd, New York, 1963). Cloete devoted a whole chapter on Van Rensburg’s visions).
However, all the fuss and attention over his visions and the miraculous ways in which they were fulfilled, did not change Nicolaas van Rensburg in any way.
Professor Van der Westhuizen rightly declared: “This ‘prophet’ has been honoured in his own country.”
CHAPTER 12
The Upright Shall Remain Standing
Chosen Committee
Immediately after the 1914 Rebellion the Smuts Government, as well as Supreme Court, held inquiries into three aspects regarding the Rebellion:
A. The first was: The Judicial Commission of Inquiry, into the deaths of Senator the Honourable J.H. de la Rey and Dr. G. Grace. U.G. no. 48, 1914. With this inquiry Smuts wanted to establish the mysterious circumstances behind the death of General De la Rey.
B. The second: The Report on the outbreak of the Rebellion and the policy of the Government with regard to its supposition. (Blue book dated 26th February, 1915) and,
C. The third: The report of the Judicial Commission of Inquiry into the causes of, and circumstances surrounding the recent Rebellion in South Africa. December 1916. A Chosen Committee was appointed for the last inquiry.
The purpose of the Chosen Committee was mainly to gather information into the role played by Nicolaas van Rensburg during the Rebellion.
A substantial amount of information about the Seer and his visions is included in the Goverment’s Blue Book of 26th February 1915, as well as the Judicial Committee’s investigation, because rumours were rife that Nicolaas van Rensburg was the chief instigator and driving force behind the Rebellion.
It was also said that he led a gullible General Koos de la Rey (who was off his head) by the nose and had a hold over De la Rey in the same manner that Rasputin had a hold over Tzarina Alexandra, influencing him with his mysterious evils and dominating him.
If the old prophet, in his simplicity, did not knowingly do so on his own initiative, it was alleged, he was used in a calculating manner by anarchists.
(Extracts from the Report of the Judicial Commission):
“He (the Seer) seems to have a limitless influence over the farmers in the district. We were told by a witness that shortly before the Rebellion, as many as ten motor cars could be seen on a certain day at the Van Rensburg’s house.
“The prophet had no more a dedicated disciple than the late General de la Rey. He often related the prophet’s visions to friends and stated his firm belief in them.
“A farmer, Commandant Marthinus van Rensburg (no relation) of the district Wolmaransstad and neighbour of the Seer, testified that as far back as July 1913, during the first labour strike on the Witwatersrand, the prophet had visited him and said that this strike was but the beginning; but that the main matter would be when the fire broke out in Europe, and that it would soon begin; then the time would come when we would regain our independence.”
On 13th August 1914 General Louis Botha invited his friend and confidant, Koos de la Rey, to Pretoria for an interview with him and Smuts over the looming Rebellion. General Louis Botha testified as follows regarding that interview:
“Judging from General de la Rey’s condition and behaviour it seemed as if he was in an almost absent-minded state of mind—reacting mainly as a result of the visions of the prophet Van Rensburg whom he consulted on a regular basis. While speaking to me, he would, for example, suddenly start praying, and time after time would return to what Van Rensburg had predicted. He continually repeated that the prophet had seen that independence would be returned to the country without any blood being spilt…”
Late that night General de la Rey promised that he would pacify his men and rectify matters.
“However,” the Commission continued: “he became victim of the (evil?) influence of the prophet and men like Nieuwenhuis who were determined—for the purpose of rebellion—to make the most of his (the Seer’s) great influence over the nation.”
(Extracts from the Blue Book of 26th February 1915): In contrast to the Judicial Commission’s damning judgments against Van Rensburg, the findings of the Government were far more sympathetic and at times even favour- able.
“On various occasions he (Van Rensburg) proved that he was clairvoyant. Undoubtedly he had a great influence over thousands of his people… In an extraordinary and seemingly authentic vision he saw the conclusion of peace which established his reputation (as prophet). His fame spread throughout the country and abroad and strange stories of his miraculous gift were told all over.
“General de la Rey showed great interest in the Seer and Van Rensburg harboured great admiration for the General…”
General hertzog testifies for the Seer
General Hertzog was also asked to testify about Van Rensburg’s ‘activites’, and his replies to questions 2198-2202 are included in the typed report by the Chosen Committee about the Rebellion.
(I hereby give an abridged version of General Hertzog’s evidence):
It was three months before the Treaty of Vereeniging, viz. on 27th or 28th February 1902. President Steyn was helpless and trapped in his carriage as a result of illness. Accompanied by myself and Jack Brebner he visited the Western Transvaal to consult a doctor who had been accompanying General de la Rey. It was in the vicinity of Klerksdorp and General Hertzog indicated a place where the esteemed company could stay over close to a horse trolley where five or six of the general’s staff were staying. The general probably thought that the President would be safest in the company of his alert staff. However, Van Rensburg thought otherwise… The day after our arrival the slight figure appeared at President Steyn’s wagon and advised him in his shy manner. He considered this stopping place to be hazardous and said the President should rather leave. However, President Steyn was not prepared to ignore General de la Rey’s orders. then Van Rensburg said: “I have had a vision. I see the English columns capturing these men.” (The staff at the trolley). He indicated in a certain direction: “I have seen the scouts over there…”
The President still refused. And it was only after General de la Rey personally requested him to pay attention to ‘Oom’ Nicolaas’ warning that the esteemed company moved to another location. They were only just in the nick of time, as shortly afterwards the English forces struck and among others captured General de la Rey’s staff… (Just as ‘Oom Nicolaas had predicted).
The evidence of many other people was also heard by the Chosen Committee, but in its final report, the Chosen Committee admitted that it could find no solid evidence of the accusations against Van Rensburg, and the Boer prophet’s simple and childlike integrity remained solid against every accusation; his strange gift of clair-voyance continued to remain a mystery…
CHAPTER 13
The Tragic Death of General Botha
The outbreak of the Great ’Flu Epidemic during 1918 not only had a tragic beginning, but also a tragic ending.
A friend and confidant of Van Rensburg said that even before the outbreak of World War I, the Seer had warned that General Louis Botha would turn his back on the Boer nation. He said:
“After receiving self-rule in 1910, the nation held prayer meetings so that the Lord would show us the right man to be elected as Prime Minister. At the time we had to choose between Botha and Merriman. Botha lost the election.
However, we gave him the seat at Losberg and elected him Prime Minister. Four years later (1914) this same Botha executed all the Boer generals, who had done their duty during the Second War of Freedom because they did not want to shed innocent German blood and move the national bo.undaries. After that, General Botha imprisoned all the officers in the Fort and the regular burghers in the Kaffir compounds at Kimberley.
“It was then ‘Oom’ Klasie said to me: ‘If we had acted according to our prayers and elected Merriman as Prime Minister, there never would have been a Rebellion. But even when Botha lost out, we would not listen, and now the Lord is punishing us for our sins by using this same Botha.’”
The Great ‘Flu Epidemic
‘Oom Nicolaas explained further: “I see a black block being pushed by a hand from Cape Town across the country. When the block has vanished, I see people in mourn- ing clothes.”
In reply to a question whether a disaster was about to occur over the nation, and what could be done about it, the Seer said: “Yes, brother, it will be something terrible, and it will be a time of faith and prayer.”
After the Russian Revolution of 1917, Russia surrendered and in 1918 Germany utilised these troops to launch a new attack on the West. In June, Paris was in danger again as at the start of the war. General Botha was worried that England could lose against Germany if America did not enter the war. While negotiations were in progress, a shipload of English coloureds on leave entered Cape Town. Because an influenza epidemic was raging on board, they were requested to anchor outside the harbour.
The harbour authorities asked General Botha whether the ship could enter harbour and dock or whether it should wait until the epidemic had run its course. General Botha sent a telegraph, permitting the passengers to land, enjoy their holiday and then return to England.
Shortly after, the worst ‘flu epidemic in the history of the country broke out—and in one month about 70 000 souls died as a result. In 1919 General Botha went down with ‘flu and despite receiving every medical treatment, it was all in vain.
While he was ill, General Botha remembered how he had captured the Rebels (fellow-Boers) and had them shot because they refused to fight against innocent Germans to annex German West for England. As ‘Oom’ Klasie said: “General Botha wasn’t like Smuts. Smuts is a yellow dog with a white collar. He is a complete Englishman and only has a Boer name (white collar), but General Botha still has feelings (a Boer heart) for the Boer nation…”
(Extract from a letter by Boy Mussmann): Shortly after General Botha died, I was visiting ‘Oom’ Klasie. I asked him: “Why did you not tell me about General Botha’s passing away? I thought you always told me everything.” He replied: “I told you about the man descending a ladder (his leadership is past) and I see how his clothes become threadbare and fall off (a sign that he would commit suicide, because): he falls backward and dies. Then bees attack him.”
I said: “But you did not tell me it was Botha” His reply was: “I am telling you now. The only mistake I made was in thinking that he was being attacked by bees. They were maggots, because after all those injections, Botha’s body would surely turn rotten.”
I arrived in Wolmaransstad where Reverend Van der Horst summoned me and said: “Whenever you come to Wolmaransstad, you always visit the Seer. What does he say?” I told him the whole story as I have written it to you. Reverend Van der Horst then said: “Last night I returned from Pretoria. General Botha’s corpse was lying in State in the church. It had become so rotten that the church had to be disinfected and the coffin lined with lead. Now I ask: Why was he not embalmed? Is it because the news might leak out about what really happened (to the General, that he did not die a natural death)? That he committed a deed for which no Statesman would receive a State funeral. Could a person believe that General Botha had committed suicide (because of the wrongs he had done to his people?).
Today it is general knowledge that General Louis Botha committed suicide by cutting his wrists at the age of 57 on 27th August 1919—prof. A.W.G. Raath, Seer van Rensburg and the Rebellion, 1994.
Jan Smuts—the Colour of Treason
In 1921, P. Imker Hoogenhout, son of the national poet, C.P. Hoogenhout, was inspector of schools at Wolma- ransstad. He and Seer van Rensburg became close friends.
In an article in Die Brandwag (a national weekly magazine), he wrote: “I have met many illustrious people in my life. However, it was among the humble that I met someone who made a lasting impression on me—‘Oom’ Nicolaas van Rensburg, the Seer. He was one of very few people who would make such a great and lasting impression on me.”
Right from the time they first met he wanted to know from Van Rensburg whether it was true that he saw visions.
“Yes, cousin,” the old man replied: “But sometimes I cannot explain the visions. On other occasions they are so clear that I know immediately what they represent.”
The conversation eventually turned to the tense conditions in Europe, and Imker Hoogenhout was astounded at the old the Seer’s knowledge and insight into matters on the world front. After Van Rensburg had left, the Reverend van der Horst arrived and Mr. Hoogenhout wanted to know from him whether the Seer perhaps received newspapers from overseas, as he was aware of events which did not appear in the local press.
Laughingly the minister replied: “Van Rensburg has never read a newspaper in his life!”
It was only then the Inspector realised what wonderful gift that humble, simple old man was blessed with and he started making inquiries among the people about Nicolaas—who and what he was.
He was told by a local lawyer, Sam Gordon, that he often visited the Seer on his farm, Rietkuil, and that his kind were few and far between: “For although Van Rensburg is a poor man, he will give his last farthing to help his neighbour. I have often cautioned him not to do this, as people are taking advantage of his goodness.”
“Ach, Mister Gordon, they probably need the money more than I do, otherwise they would not have asked me for it,” Van Rensburg would reply in his calm manner. Gordon added: “But that is not all. He is also a great patriot through marrow and bone and will not hesitate to sacrifice his life for his country if required to do so.”
At the time, prior to the amalgamation between Smuts and Hertzog, few voters had any time for Smuts and one day a farmer expressed his anti-Smuts feelings in no uncertain terms in the presence of Van Rensburg.
The Seer admonished him, saying one does not speak badly about one’s neighbour. He (Gordon) then told Hoogenhout and those standing around about the vision Nicolaas had seen about Smuts and Hertzog: “Look, I have seen a vision where they crawl out of an ant-bear hole, meaning one day they will seek shelter in a sanctuary…” (This vision was fulfilled when Hertzog and Smuts formed their coalition government in 1933).
Imker Hoogenhout concludes his notes about the Seer as follows: “A prophet is not honoured in his own country, but the same could not be said of Van Rensburg. I lived in Wolmaransstad for five years and never heard a single person denigrating him. To me he was an example of the humble to whom things, which were hidden from the wise, were revealed.”
For A Bowl of Lentil Soup
As far back as 1910 with the formation of Union, Van Rensburg had already seen Smuts and Botha selling out the Boer nation to England for ‘a pot of lentil soup.’ (This old Afrikaans idiom refers to someone selling their birthright). His granddaughter, Mrs. Ria James, told of this vision: “Grandfather saw how Louis Botha, Jan Smuts and General Hertzog, all dressed in brown suits, (the colour of the Boer nation) went to England. On their return, however, Botha and Smuts were dressed in khaki (the colour of betrayal) and only General Hertzog was still dressed in brown.”
At the time Van Rensburg was one of few who warned that the Union would one day become the led horse of the British Empire, but nobody would listen.
This all began when Botha presented the Cullinan diamond to the British Royal House, after which he exchanged his Boer uniform for knickerbockers and silk stockings—something which Smuts had done long ago. From then they were not to be trusted by the Boers.
“The rejection of Hertzog as Cabinet Minister was proof of this,” said Dr. M.C.K. van Schoor.
And the attack on German West three years later (1914) came as no surprise to the Seer. “When the grass turns green, we will fight again” he repeatedly warned since the summer of 1911. “I see were are marching to German West in the north and it will be a bitter battle.”
This battle was but the first phase of the British campaign with which the Boer could not associate himself; because in the process the Boer nation would be compelled to make heavy sacrifices for the Empire.
In the book of visions, the Seer gives the following two descriptions of Smuts: 1) I see a red-brown beast standing in Johannesburg, looking eastward, and he suddenly becomes very lean. a Red beast is the colour of England; a brown one is our colour, so a red-brown beast is nothing other than a degenerate Boer… 2) General Smuts is a yellow dog wearing a white collar. If one entices a dog away from its original owner with morsels of food, he eventually bites the master who reared him. In the same manner Smuts was enticed away from his nation with money and honour. Now England has the dog and we have the collar—so it is written in the Bible.
In 1923 General Smuts called a meeting at Lichtenburg. ‘Oom’ Klasie ‘saw’ his best hat lying on the table on stage with General Smuts and he immediately realised he would be attending this meeting, but could not imagine why he would be doing so. The magistrate at Lichtenburg, Mr. Graham Gos, visited the Seer and told him that General Smuts requested his presence at the meeting.
During the meeting Smuts bestowed honours on the old national father (Van Rensburg) who had honoured him with his presence. After the meeting had adjourned, he and Smuts drank tea together and Smuts once again emphasised how pleased he was to see him.
“Why then, General?” The Seer asked, although he could guess why.
“Because I need your advice. Tell me, how can I bridge the chasm, which is growing wider by the day, between myself and the Boer nation, to bring healing?”
The Seer shook his head: “You won’t take my advice, General.”
Then Smuts pleaded with him: “Tell me what I must do and I will do it, even if it costs me my life!”
After a long silence, the Seer replied softly, but clearly: “Dissolve Parliament and call an election, and if you win, you’ll know that the nation is behind you. But things cannot continue as they presently stand…”
At the end of 1923 ‘Oom’ Nicolaas wrote to Boy Mussmann: “If you will fetch me here and bring me back, I will celebrate Dingaan’s Day with you this year. (Dingaan’s day, renamed Day of the Vow and even more recently, Day of Reconciliation under ANC rule, is a public holiday established on December 16th 1838, in commemoration of the victory of the Voortrekkers over Dingane and his Zulus at the Battle of Blood River. The Voortrekkers made a vow with God that should they win, they and their generations to come would celebrate this day as a Sabbath.
And while returning after the service, the Seer told Mussmann that on his advice, General Smuts intended dissolving Parliament and calling an election. Mussmann would not believe this and said Smuts would never resign.
“He will,” the Seer replied convincingly: “because I see myself chopping down the thorn bush standing in the way of the nation, then I see the harvester threshing the maize so that the leaves go flying in all directions—this is the coming election and then we, the National Party, will be in power.
However, wherever the Seer mentioned this, people laughed at him. “It is impossible for the National Party to win an election, because Smuts not only has a huge majority over the National Party and other groups, but last year (1922) he had all the workers shot in the interest of the mining magnates—those same magnates will give him money to ensure he will win such an election,” Mussmann said.
Van Rensburg stared ahead and replied: “I see ears of sorghum wheat (money) taking on a human shape. They suddenly disappear and a naked person stands there—that is General Smuts. He will lose despite all his money. Furthermore, I see when Smuts dissolves Parliament, five Merino rams come up from the Cape colony—they have been shorn. this means that five Ministers will not get parliamentary seats again—De Wet, Mentz, Frans Malan and General Smuts himself. Because I see a Boer boot (a Boer government) and I also see a thatched roof home (a Boer Parliament)…
General Smuts dissolved Parliament in 1924, called an election and lost it. But General Hertzog wanted Smuts back in Parliament and requested that he stand unopposed during a by-election in Standerton.
Van Rensburg was very upset about this and said: “Now Hertzog is making the biggest mistake of his life and an idol of Smuts! ”The Lord Himself decreed that Smuts must fall out and now Hertzog wants him back there! The Boer nation will live to regret this, because I see the thatched house mouldering and I see Smuts and Hertzog crawling into an ant-bear hole together—they will unite, but as always, at the cost of the Boer nation.”
During a visit to Rietkuil, the Seer told Mr. Boy Mussmann how the burghers also idolised General Piet Cronjé: “And that is why the Lord decreed that Piet Cronjé suddenly surrendered at Paardeberg—before his troubles began. From that time on the Lord is pressing down on our nation, and He will continue pressing—sometimes more lightly, sometimes increasingly, until the day we are free and independent—then we will enjoy limitless blessings and prosperity…”
CHAPTER 14
Then My Old Bible Appeared Before Me…
“I go North and a wire is strung across the road. A woman’s hand loosens the wire and I proceed further. Then the grass that was burned is beautifully green and people are running around a hill. Then my old Bible appeared before me.
Nicolaas van Rensburg saw this vision in November 1920 and spoke to his children and friends about it on several occasions, saying he saw it as the ‘birth and liberation of our people’ (the wire being untied, and the green grass). But this would only happen when the nation celebrated at a hill in the north (Voortrekker Monument 1948… people running around a hill—a sign of joy), and this festival will have a strong religious connotation: (The Bible appearing before him).
During this time (1920/1921) the Seer also made several references to the many ‘black lines’ he saw running all across the country. One Sunday he also mentioned this to an old friend of Wolmaransstad, Mr. J. Lategan: “I have seen those black lines again, but this time thousands of people were moving from Cape Town along them to the north.”
When Mr. Lategan asked what the lines could mean, the Seer replied: “They could be roads, but don’t ask me why they’re black.”
At that time nobody realised that one day there would be a network of tarred roads throughout the country…
Replying to a further question where the thousands of people were headed, the Seer shook his head: “I don’t know, but it reminded me of the Great Trek of 1838. Perhaps the Boers are going to unite and move away again—where to I would not know.”
They did not discuss the matter further.
Mr. Lategan related an interesting anecdote of the time when Van Rensburg was confused over a vision of the then South African Party with himself. He and his family lived upstream along the Makwassiespruit and after heavy rains it often happened that the livestock enclosure lower down would be overrun with dirty muddy water. When a summer storm threatened during late afternoon, the sheep would be driven to a granite hillock to spend the night there, instead of in the enclosure.
One Sunday in December 1921 Van Rensburg and ‘Tant’ Anna were visiting the Lategans at Wolmaransstad and he told them about the vision he had seen the previous day: “I saw a number of my merino sheep lying asleep. Suddenly there was an unusual commotion among them and the next moment I saw many lying dead.”
(The old prophet always associated merinos with the South African Party, because, as he said, ‘they always did such stupid things.’)
Van Rensburg concluded the vision meant that some great trouble lay ahead for the SAP. However, shortly after, he visited the Lategans again on 6th January 1922, laughing heartily, and saying: “Do you know, cousin, I thought it was the ‘Sappe’ (as the Party was generally known) that were going to run into trouble, but all the time it was I myself. Two days ago when a storm was brewing again, we drove the sheep to the hillock as usual. The weather was extremely heavy and at about dusk we heard a tremendous thunderclap. Some while later my son came to tell me that a bolt of lightning had struck right in the centre of the sheep and killed no less than 274—almost half of my flock!”
Strikes and A Great Depression.
“I (Anna) and Nicolaas are aiming towards Johannesburg with double-barrelled shotguns. (The Boers are preparing for war). Then great numbers of merino sheep were advancing from that direction. A stone house stands on the western side and a piece of the iron roof is missing in front, and so is the door.
The Seer had a very clear vision of the mining strikes and riots in Johannesburg during 1922. The Smuts Government used military force to quell the riots in which 287 white strikers were wounded and 140 killed. As a result of Smuts’ unapproachable actions, he lost a lot of support from the labourers, and scarcely two years later he (on advice from the Seer van Rensburg) called out a general election which -against all expectations—was won by General Hertzog’s National Party: (The stone house with part of the roof, as well as the door missing.)
15th July 1920: My old hat is on the southern side and it suddenly becomes new.
This vision confirms the previous one. A new Boer leader takes over from Smuts. (General Hertzog, 1924).
A Dark Cloud Over Johannesburg
About six months before the death of General de Wet, Van Rensburg, while visiting a school principal, Mr. Gert Malan, told him, as well as a Hollander, Mr. Cornelis Kruger, that he would miraculously escape from under a dark cloud hanging over Johannesburg.
The Seer did not know exactly what this meant, but he saw General de Wet riding south from Bloemfontein with thousands of people following him. At the same time he saw the dark cloud over Johannesburg. He then looked at Mr. Kruger and said: “Dutchman, you are also under that dark cloud, but the Lord will protect you—not a hair on your head will be harmed.”
Six months later General de Wet passed away. His coffin was followed to the ‘Vrouemonument’ (National Womens’ Monument commemorating the women and children who died in the concentration camps during the Second War of Freedom) south of Bloemfontein by his horse and thousands of mourners, and where General Smuts delivered a speech.
At the same time the great strike took place in Johannesburg. Mr. Kruger had to attend matters of business in Pretoria and on arriving at Bloemfontein station, a clerk warned him that he was proceeding further at his own risk. Before the train reached Vereeniging, Mr. Kruger saw signs of violence everywhere—railway carriages and wagons damaged by the strikers, and as the train pulled in at Park station, Johannesburg, wild shooting and the droning of aeroplanes greeted him. However, he reached Pretoria safely. But on returning to Dewetsdorp, only a troop train was available and they would only reach Germiston at eight o’clock that evening, as every now and then the troops were engaged in fights with the strikers. Kruger had to spend the night in an hotel opposite the station. The commanding officer who issued him with a pass said: “Goodbye. I’ll never see you again.”
Germiston station was surrounded by strikers and on the way to the hotel, bullets whistled around him. He only managed to board a train to the Orange Free State the following day. Fighting was still rife in the vicinity of Johannesburg, but as the Seer had predicted, Mr. Kruger emerged safely from under the Dark Cloud.
The Depression Years
Shortly before his death in 1926 the Seer had a vision which strongly reminds one of the dream of Pharaoh of Egypt in connection with the seven fat and seven lean cows: “In the morning I see two white horses coming to graze in the marsh. They face each other while grazing, then that afternoon they turn away from each other. They are thin and emaciated. Another white horse joins them, then they were three.” He said there would be a world-wide money crash.
The New York Stock Exchange crashed in October 1929, followed by bankruptcies and suicides. This was the start of the Depression. And for three years South Africa suffered its most devastating drought in history.
CHAPTER 15
The Second World War
Mr. Mussmann writes: “ A few years after the end of World War I, a German artilleryman told someone in Schweizer-Reneke that after the Krupp Arms factory had closed down according to conditions laid down at the Treaty of Versailles, the best German experts were working in Russian arms factories, and even then visualized the continuation of hostilities (WWI).
In the light of this, at first opportunity we went to visit Nicolaas van Rensburg and asked whether he could see anything pointing to a possible co-operation between Russia and Germany. He told us:
“I see teams, teams of oxen coming down south from the far north of Europe, each team being led by two blue oxen.”
From this we deduced that the two countries would one day collaborate and that German officers (blue lead oxen) would command the raw, illiterate Russian troops. And when the Treaty of Friendship (non-aggression) was signed between Germany and Russia on 23rd August 1939, all doubts were dispelled. Later the vision was literally fulfilled at the precise place—exactly as Van Rensburg had seen it.
Germany and Russia were engaged in conflict from the Arctic Ocean in the north to the Black Sea in the south. They (the blue oxen) took the initiative and military leadership ‘against’ the Russians and not ‘over’ them, and Rumanians, Hungarians, Slovaks, Finns, Hollanders, French, Spaniards, Italians, etc., (teams of oxen) were drawn into the war whether they liked it or not.
The Boers and the 2nd Worls War
The Boer nation would once again be put into a crush pen when General Jan Smuts called for them to take up arms for the British Empire. Van Rensburg had already foreseen this more than two decades earlier and said the same thing would happen as did before WWI when the same Smuts and Louis Botha declared war against Germany. However, Botha would not be there and Smuts now pinned his hopes on General Hertzog. Van Rensburg had warned the nation not to follow Smuts, adding that Hertzog would not stay with Smuts until the end, which would mean the end of his (Hertzog’s) political career.
Mr. Mussmann writes: “However, our nation ignores these warnings. I also quoted the Seer’s word at Senekal: ”Our nation will be divided and unarmed.” He stated further: “After General Smuts fell out in Pretoria West, General Hertzog gave him the Standerton seat unopposed (in the same manner Botha was given Losberg). Van Rensburg stated three times: ”General Smuts is the downfall of General Hertzog!”
Mr. Mussmann writes further: “In 1924 four of us (my brother, the two Haasbroeks and I) were visiting Van Rensburg. On that day he again spoke about the nation’s mistake of making idols of its leaders. My brother then said: ”Oom Nicolaas, I only have faith in General Hertzog—he is our best statesman.” To which I (B.M.) added: “I again believe Tielman Roos is our best statesman.” But the Seer replied: “Brothers, you are both wrong. I see a time coming when Hertzog and Roos will be lying down head to tail. They do not support our national interest. However, General Hertzog will rise again and return.”
“When I mentioned this at Senekal, a certain Mr. Van Dyk stood up in the meeting and said: ‘I believe everything you have said about the Seer, but I do not believe that Hertzog will return, because he abused and cursed us.’ I repeated it in February 1938: ”General Hertzog will return, but the nation will not unite—not before the red pickaxe has brought us together again.”
The coalition was formed in 1933. Six years later saw the outbreak of World War II. Hertzog wanted to remain neutral, but Smuts sided with the Empire, winning the vote against Hertzog, thereby immersing South Africa in the bloodiest conflict the world had ever known.
(Once again ‘Oom’ Nicolaas’ warning to his nation and General Hertzog was in vain).
The White Horse Without A Harness
Mr. Mussmann wrote in Die Volksblad dated Friday 30th September 1940: “Everything happening now was predicted by the Seer. For that reason I have tried to recall as many of his visions as possible. If I had a memory like that of Reverend C.W. Retief of Paul Roux, little would have been lost. On 4th September 1939 Van Rensburg saw the following vision: ‘A white horse without harness stands in Cape Town, looking at the troubles of war in the east. The horse is without a harness.’ He interpreted the vision himself: Without harness means that the team who voted for neutrality did not have the means to implement it.
Hitler’s Blitzkrieg
Concerning the Seer’s vision regarding the outbreak and progress of the Second World War, and what the outcome would be, Die Burger of 8th July 1940 reported:
“In conclusion there is ‘Oom’ Nicolaas’ prediction about another great war between England and Germany. The greatest part refers to what will happen in South Africa after the war. We omit this as it many be offensive.”
“The reporter refers here to the Boer prophet’s vision about total reform in the country; the lifting of apartheid and specifically the Seer’s words: ‘I see the earth here being ploughed—what was above is below and those who were masters are now below.’ (See Chapter 20—Spectre of Terror).
The reporter continues: “Nonetheless, the first part of the prediction is remarkable in that it was already made in 1926 by Van Rensburg, and on 2nd February 1940, typed and being in my possession long before Hitler’s offensive in the West, and reads: ‘France and Poland will fight on the side of England. However, Poland will not go far in the war. There will be two great campaigns in France which will determine the war, but not end it. France will pull out.”
8th January 1917: “Wagons with white canvas covers and without oxen flee from each other in Europe. (The confusion and fear in Europe following Hitler’s Blitzkrieg).
12th January 1917: “Wagons are approaching us in the Union. (South Africa joins the war). ”In Europe a yellow stone rolls South. Behind it there are wagons with blue mules. (Japan joins Germany as an ally).
19th January 1917: “A bucket full of blood falls over in the north west.”
21st January 1917: “An old woman scoops maize from a large dish.”
(Season). “In the south a man stands with a gun to his head.
He said the visions dating from 19th January till 27th January 1918 all refer to terrible bloodshed which would follow the outbreak of the war; scarcity of food; bombings all over Europe and eventually Hitler’s invasion of Russia.
“Concerning this, Van Rensburg stated further: ”Then a large blue stone (Germany) appeared. It first rolled west, turned, rolled eastwards and then rolled north…”
In the west the ‘stone’ first conquered Holland, Belgium and France; from there it flattened the Balkan states. Then it turned north and so began one of the most famous campaigns of World War 2: the long conflict between the German 6th Army under command of General Paulus, and the Russian forces. Germany progressed right up to the banks of the Volga and the final victory was already in sight when they began their campaign against Stalingrad. However, the Russians fought back and eventually gained the upper hand and Hitler suffered his first great defeat.
‘In Western Europe a woman dressed in black silk appears (wealthy people), mourning deeply. (Even the well-to-do would not escape the ravages of war). In the Union a woman also stands, dressed in mourning clothes, looking at the battlefields of Europe; (we would also be involved).
19th August 1922: “A large (cattle) dung fire rages—flames shooting from the centre. There are three large stones and fire between them until they also catch fire.
The three stones indicate the involvement of Europe, America and Japan in the war.
15th October 1918: “There is a crooked blue stone in Northwest Europe—this turns into a plough wheel and shatters. (The fall of Germany reaffirmed).
15th August 1923: (Extract from a lengthy vision concerning WW2. This refers not only to the horrors of war, but according to his son, Kallie, he said it also indicates how and where the conflict started): “There was a town from which people fled into forests. (I go to a large house in Europe and enter the next one—rawhide ropes lie on the floor in a room). (The people fleeing into the forests refer to the day when German troops marched into Sudetenland and Austria in 1938).
25th August 1922: “I am driving north by car. At first the ground was brackish, then sandy and there are many dried aloe plants which disappear. I arrive at some dried trees and a footpath runs between them. I emerge from the trees and there is a road on which I travel in my car, followed by other cars. I go through a gate and number of Boers on horseback pass me. A long corrugated iron house with new doors and windows which are all closed, is standing in Europe (German interests). I see a brick house of which the front wall has collapsed, although the rear walls are still standing: (English interest). Then there is a large corrugated iron house in a state of disrepair (French interest).
Interpretation (abridged): During the first months of the war, a well-prepared Germany will remain unscathed: (A long corrugated iron house with doors and windows shut). The next vision: (The brick house with only the rear walls standing)—this indicates England which, despite heavy losses, will withstand attacks by the Germans. (Then there is the corrugated iron house in state of disrepair): The capitulation of France shortly after the outbreak of war).
When these events start, Germany has a new strong Government (Nazi Party). Everything about the building is new which indicates that it does many things in secret; (The closed doors and windows). Nobody knows exactly what is being planned. The house is built of corrugated iron, which is why it is a hard, unbending Government. England gets the wind in front and is greatly destroyed, because the front wall is missing. The weakest of the three countries is France, which is now only a ruin. All three countries would later play an important role in the future of the Boer nation.
20th April 1920: Small white-backed oxen haul wagons in Europe. They eventually disappear, but then the oxen reappear and they are large fat oxen. The world turns black before them and English women are in mourning. German women are neatly dressed in blue and their hats are decorated with roses.
26th April 1920: Women in Europe are dressed in black. They are lean and their faces are bewildered. Then German women appear again, neatly dressed in blue with white roses on their hats.
The white roses probably refer to Rosengarten, one of the German concentration camps built high up on the Ettersberg.
Germany Divided In Two
21st August 1918: A block stands in Europe and a sharp knife cuts it in two; then a (plough) share appears and shaves around the lower section after which the block becomes a dried up aloe stump. The share shaved somewhat deeper on one side of the block. The remnant becomes a piece of cloth which winds around the aloe stump, which in turn rotates. A large herd of blue cattle goes south, passing a wall on their right.
He interpreted this vision as follows: Germany would be divided after the war a sharp knife cutting the block in two). The Nazi Party disappears from scene (the dried up aloe stump) and the Berlin wall is built. This is followed by the decline of East Germany and the wall is destroyed, followed by the unification of Germany, (a large herd of blue cattle going south).
Van Rensburg also prophesied the outcome of the war to a friend and his son, Kallie: “Germany will not win the war, because the world will once again speak about the powerful German Empire as England was spoken about: ‘Britannia rules the waves’. We will believe that Germany will never arise again because she ignored that which God warns about in Isaiah 14;14: ‘I will ascend above the heights of the clouds; I will be like the Most High.’
However, in time God will bestow mercy on the German people again and they will rise to power…” (See Chapter 22)
CHAPTER 17
The Founding of the United Nations
The Seer described the founding of the United Nations as follows: “I see people putting a steel ‘tyre’ on a wagon wheel. At first the tyre was too small, but when it eventually fits, the wheel has no hub.”
Van Rensburg himself interpreted this vision: “General Smuts will recommend that an Alliance of Nations, (consisting of allies) should be established. However, they soon discover that this alliance is inefficient (the tyre being too small). They will then include Germany among others (the tyre fits, but has no hub). This means the aim of the United Nations will be to establish a human organisation by means of human intelligence to do the mighty works of God, for when God says ”War”, no human organisation will prevent it, and when He says “Peace”, no human organisation will wage war.
“The wheel has no hub because the United Nations have excluded God. A wheel cannot operate without a hub to hold it together, causing it to break and overturn the wagon in the process—all countries which are part of the United Nations will experience great distress, because the axle around which everything turns is God’s decision—not man’s…”
Northern and Southern Rhodesia
Shortly before his death, Van Rensburg ‘saw’ how England would first lose German East (Tanganyika), followed by Northern and Southern Rhodesia: “I see small and large red cattle (the English) fleeing from Kenya and Nyasaland in a north-westerly direction to Northern Rhodesia.”
In a letter to Mr. Willem Boshoff of the then Southern Rhodesia, Mr. Boy Mussmann writes: “Now I’m asking why the red cattle are not fleeing to us? They do not come here because the English refer to us as the ‘Dirty Boers’. This was decreed by God. (”I see a long line of ‘Kaffir’ spears appearing behind the English, and then a bucket filled with blood falls over (this means bloodshed). The other whites (conservatives) flee in our direction. The dust in front of their wagons catches alight. I see a mountainous countryside and smoke and flames emerge from between the mountains and people engaged in heavy fighting appear. Those are the Boers living in that area. They flee so swiftly that the dust flies behind them. Their interest is our interest. We will have to stand together”.
When the conflict between black and white started in the Belgian Congo (Zaire) and other African states during the 1960’s, the catchwords were chaos, blood and fire. Nothing could remain standing before this orgy of murder, mayhem and destruction. And while everything went up in smoke and flames, our northern neighbour states were taken over by black dictators and Africa’s Dark Middle Ages began.
Hundreds of whites from Rhodesia and other states that fell under black rule, fled to South Africa as they felt safe here. Mr. Mussmann wrote to Mr. Willem Boshoff (of Rhodesia): “I told General Manie Maritz: ‘Oom’ Klasie saw Northern and Southern Rhodesia becoming part of our republic when the Germans retake German West (Namibia)! Then Manie said: ‘After we had cleansed the country with possessions and blood and tamed it, along came Rhodes, who said: ‘We must break the neck of the bottle open to the interior—and he annexed Bechuanaland Protectorate (now Botswana), etc.’”
One of the causes for the unrest in the (then) Belgian Congo was unemployment and the hasty actions of France when it granted independence to the Congo’s northern neighbouring states. The Congo was not prepared or equipped for the republic which had to be created haphazardly within six months. Patrice Lumumba became the first prime minister of the independent republic. However, scarcely five days later rebellion broke out among the armed forces and speedily deteriorated into bloody attacks on white farmers in particular. A mass exodus of whites began.
The Panga-Era
Angola has a long and complicated history, but the revolution which the Seer spoke about, broke out on 4th February 1961 when MPLA militants stormed Luanda prisons with pangas (bush knives) in an attempt to free political prisoners. They were unsuccessful, but it was the start of a long and bloody conflict. Terrorists from the erstwhile Congo streamed across the northern border into Angola and murdered hundreds of whites, as well as non-whites.
At the time these murderers where known as UPA (panga gangs) and later became known as FNLA. Then the revolution and liberation struggle began.
Later it seemed as if the dust would settle, but this was a deceptive calm, as shortly thereafter hostilities between the MPLA and UNITA broke out and degenerated into a long drawn-out bush war.
One of the few eyewitnesses who survived an attack by the panga gangs was Zacharia, a timber transporter who arrived at the Luvo sawmill with his assistant at dawn on 15th March 1961 to load timber at this border-post between Angola and the Congo republic.
Zacharia had a premonition that all was not well and stopped at the entrance to Luvo to wait and see. He and his assistant spotted blacks dressed in long coats standing around among the houses of the town’s 42 inhabitants and wondered what was going on. Suddenly the war cry: “Mata! UPA! Mata! UPA!” rang out. At almost the same time he and his assistant heard wild cries of terror from the whites. Hastily they sought refuge in an empty crate on the truck and helplessly watched as a horde of some 300 black terrorists dragged all 42 whites out of their houses, attacked them with pangas and sawed them to pieces on one of the giant mechanical bandsaws while still alive.
Not far from there, the little town of Quitexe, north of Carmona in the coffee-rich district of Uige in Northern Angola, was also a target of the terrorist group who had disguised themselves as early buyers. At exactly eight o’clock, as soon as the last chimes from the church bells died down and the shops opened for the many black buyers waiting in the main road, the slaughter began.
But in the same manner as Zacharia, the blockman and butcher of Quitexe also had a premonition that something was wrong and he stopped his wife from opening the doors of the butchery to let customers in. He had a gut feeling and sent his daughter to fetch their firearms.
“She had just returned,” he said: “when all hell broke loose in town. The terrorists’ war-cries ”Mata! UPA! Mata! UPA!” mingled with the fearful screaming of whites and that morning my daughter and I mowed down numerous blacks as they angrily tried to break down the doors of the butchery. In the meantime I could see through an opening how my white friends and their families out there were being maimed, decapitated and cut to pieces.
“Fortunately we had a lot of ammunition and we scared away the attackers.
“When a division of soldiers arrived from Carmona that afternoon, my wife, my daughter and I were the only survivors in Quitexe…”
Surely it was no coincidence that Zacharia and the butcher, as well as other whites who survived the blood bath on the morning of 15th March 1961, had a premonition that all was not well.
The interesting question whether the Seer van Rensburg might not have had a similar unexplained premonition when he warned Boy Mussmann with these words: “…look, our day is coming too, but for us who knows what is going to happen and how our salvation will come, it will not be so bad as for those who do not know.”
The Revolution Spreads Southwards
After independence in the Congo, the revolution started in the southern states. It spread further and further south until it crossed our boundaries. Afrikaners have long been aware that blacks in Southern, as well as the rest of Africa are preparing for the final onslaught against whites, specifically with the purpose of conquering and taking possession of the country. However, the majority will be driven here by famine, poverty and misery.
CHAPTER 18
The Birth of A Republic
I see a large house in another country. Inside I hear many voices and they are arguing. Then I see a man, one of our own, being pushed out of the front door. When he is outside, I see the rear wall of the house collapsing. Then suddenly there is bright light. (9th September 1922).
According to Kallie van Rensburg, this has a bearing on the events in March 1961 when Dr. Verwoerd attempted to retain South Africa’s membership in the British Commonwealth after it became a republic. Dr. Verwoerd was optimistic that his application would succeed, because countries like India, Pakistan and Ghana became republics without loss of Commonwealth membership.
A series of heated debates followed during the Commonwealth conference and Dr. Verwoerd was virtually forced to leave the Commonwealth. (They push one of our men out of the front door). In his farewell speech in London, Dr. Verwoerd said: “I was shocked and overwhelmed by the hostile spirit prevailing against South Africa… opposition is based on the so-called ‘discrimination’ we practise in South Africa. But this hostility came from countries where the principles of so-called democracy is totally absent…”
The rear wall seen by Van Rensburg to collapse, indicates that the Commonwealth will lose its influence and support and will probably exist in name only. (With the establishment of the ‘United States of Europe’ in the near future, it is not unlikely that the Commonwealth will dissolve).
However, there would be a period of peace and prosperity for the Boer (suddenly there is bright light).
Blood Runs Out of My Walking Stick
8th July 1919: I leaned on my walking stick and a small vein opened at the bottom of it and blood ran on to the ground and on to my shoe. Then a sheet of corrugated iron came loose from the beam and I saw the sky. The sheet returned to the beam and the walls of the house were high.
This gripping prophecy about the assassination of Dr. Verwoerd is undoubtedly one of the Seer’s most significant visions in so far as it concerns the history and future of the Boer nation. It does not only indicate the traumatic end of a particular era in the history of the nation, but also the beginning of instability where it will move away from its ‘original ideals and aims.’
Before interpreting the vision, it may be appropriate to look at some of the most important symbols appearing in it.
The first symbol is my walking stick. Two items the old Boer prophet would never be seen without were his walking stick and his hat. We already know that his hat signified government. His walking stick had a dual meaning. Firstly, it could serve as a weapon and secondly, it signified something very close to a person—a support, in other words, a confidante or something (or somebody) one could always rely on.
The next two symbols, vein and shoe or boot indicate violence and a Boer head of Government (or Boer Government). The meaning of other symbols such as corrugated sheeting, beam, sky and walls will become clear in the statement below.
Dimitrio Tsafendas
On Tuesday, 6th September 1966, at 2.14 p.m., while the bells of Parliament were ringing, a 49-year old Greek, Dimitrio Tsafendas, stabbed Dr. Verwoerd to death with a silver-bladed dagger in the Council Chamber. Although Tsafendas was declared mentally unstable by a court, it seems—according to the Seer’s vision—the assassination was not only meticulously planned beforehand, but that a close confidant of Dr. Verwoerd was also directly involved. (…a vein opened up at the bottom of my walking stick and blood ran on to the ground and on my shoe). The walking stick (violence) that leaves the Seer’s shoe bloodied (Boer head of Government) springs directly from his personal stick (support or confidante).
One only has to look at the many unsolved and enigmatic aspects of the assassination of Dr. Verwoerd for which there have never been satisfactory explanations, to realise that there could be more behind his death than the blind obsession of a disturbed man. I name but a few:
· According to informed sources, Dr. Verwoerd was to deliver an important speech before Parliament on 14th September 1966, stating that the mining industry would in future have to pay the same tax (45%) as did other companies, instead of only 3%, at the same time drastically reducing whites’ taxes.
· Two months before the murder Tsafendas said he could not leave South Africa before he had completed a ‘certain task’.
· Tsafendas was in contact with underground groups overseas and shortly before the murder he received a message that ‘the time was almost ripe’.
· Secrecy still surrounds the manner in which (and reasons why) an ex-convict like Tsafendas with a criminal record was appointed as a parliamentary messenger after he had already been deported from Greece, Portuguese East Africa and America. In Portuguese East Africa he spent a long time in prison where he was brainwashed, after which he smuggled himself into South Africa by hiding on a goods train.
· On Friday, 2nd September (four days before the assassination of Dr. Verwoerd) a British Liberal candidate, Mr. Allan Lomas, stood waiting at the Dieppe-Newhaven ferry to buy coffee when a young man approached him and asked: “Is there any news in the paper about the assassination of Dr. Verwoerd?” adding that he did not have money to buy a newspaper. Mr. Lomas quickly paged through his morning newspaper, saw nothing and gave the paper to the young man. (Did something go wrong that Tsafendas could only commit the murder four days later?), and –
· Tsafendas repeatedly asked the chief messenger permission to take the newspaper to the Council chamber, but each time he was refused. Who then gave him permission to enter the Council chamber?
This, then, concerning the murder of Dr. Verwoerd.
The rest of the Seer’s vision can be summed up as follows: After Dr. Verwoerd’s murder, things began changing. “Then a sheet of corrugated iron came loose from the beam. The National Party expanded its policy boundaries and began moving away from apartheid (and then I saw the sky). However, after a passage of time it (the Government) will attempt to return to the old ways (the sheet then returned to the beam), but the changes were irretractable, Parliament is bigger and also includes other groups now” ( …the walls of the house were high).
CHAPTER 19
The John Vorster Era
On 24th October 1923 Van Rensburg wrote to Mrs. J.J. Steyn. (Literal translation from Afrikaans—style and punctuation unaltered to retain authenticity).
“Here by us in the north stands a woman with her face turned to the north. She is dressed in white. Her outer garment slides down and the clothes that emerge, black. She turns around and sits down. Then she is a large old fat auntie, completely dressed in black.
“This is the capitalist coming in mourning (when the country’s money means nothing). Then a door opens and I walk up a steep hillock. This means we overcome the heavy times.
“The passage of events look now just as when were in the prison. (The Seer refers here to a vision he had while imprisoned.) In the west stands a tree. On the west side it is half chopped down—that means a strong political Party will still tear—but then I (the genuine Afrikaner) go with my little axe to chop him down completely, so that it lies on the ground.
“This is the same sign what I saw when Genl. Botha threw Genl. Hertzog out of the cabinet. One of the statesmen will naturally fall there…”
It is very interesting to note that the Seer speaks of the ‘same sign’ here. In other words, he ‘saw’ that in the distant future there would be another division as the one between Botha and Hertzog.
Seer himself lived through the first division:
During General J.B.M. Hertzog’s famous De Wildt speech on 7th December 1912, he spelled out the principle of ‘South Africa first’. He also condemned Botha’s British immigration policy, evoking such a fierce uproar that Botha kicked him out of his cabinet. However, the final split between them came two years later when General Hertzog left the South African Party and founded the Nationalist Party. He was also elected as the first NP leader. While the NP grew from strength to strength, the S.A. Party died a lingering death and finally disappeared in 1980.
Compare these events with the ‘second division’ some 55 years later. The parallels are so remarkable as to be almost uncanny. The four main themes of the ‘first division’ are present once again, viz. a speech; an omission from the cabinet; the founding of a new political Party and a ruling Party losing its influence after division and eventually dying.
In 1969 Dr. Albert Hertzog delivered his so-called ‘Cal- vanistic’ speech in Parliament, causing one of the biggest commotions in political circles since the NP came into power in 1948. In his speech he compared the Afrikaner’s piety, honesty, justice and love of freedom with that of the liberal outlook of the English. The circumstances under which the speech took place, were surprisingly similar to those when General Hertzog gave his speech at De Wildt in 1912.
And, as was the case with his father at the time, Dr. Hertzog was also ‘thrown’ out of cabinet by the ruling Party when Advocate John Vorster left him out during a cabinet reshuffle.
In October 1969 Dr. Hertzog once again followed his father’s example by establishing a new political Party—the HNP (Reformed National Party)—and being elected as its first leader. Further setbacks occurred in the National Party when Dr. Andries Treurnicht broke away in 1982 and founded the Conservative Party.
However, the last part of the Seer’s vision must still be fulfilled, viz the disappearance of the ruling Party (NP) which was deserted by Dr. Albert Hertzog and which the Seer spoke about: “…then I (the true Afrikaner) go with my little axe to chop him down completely so that it lies on the ground.” (This leaves no doubt that the demise of the National Party will occur mainly through actions of the Boer nation. And here, towards the end of 1998 it seems obvious that the once mighty NP is on its last legs).
(Mr Louis Döhne, of Reitz, was also a cell-mate of the Seer in the Fort in Boksburg after the doomed Rebellion of 1914. Mr. Döhne wrote down the details in the last three pages of ‘Oom Nicolaas’ Bible of a vision the pro- phet saw one night).
Mrs. Ria James, the Seer’s granddaughter, sent me this vision, as well as supplying some details of the struggle in Angola. I will deal with only the first part of the vision, as it refers to certain events during the decade after the murder of Dr. Verwoerd.
The Border War
Vision: I dreamed that a church is close to my home, but the minister is not there. (The Church is still present, but spiritually it is dead). The wagons are pulled up in two rows; I am seated among women and a little girl of about 8 years old gets up and says: ‘look towards the west.’ (The women and children would literally be left behind in a future war, while the men would have to fight far from home. Undoubtedly this refers to the conflict on our northern borders).
The long-continued conflict on our northern border, as well as the Cuban ‘incident’ is almost forgotten today, except for those who lost loved ones, family members or friends there. Judging from a letter I received from Mr. Danie Esterhuizen of Upington, it does seem if Van Rensburg also foresaw this event in our history:
“On 19th December 1924, I accompanied my father to visit the Seer, who was ill, at Rietkuil. On our arrival Van Rensburg told my father he was expecting us. My father then asked him what was still to happen in the future.
His reply was: “Commandant, I see things, but they will only take place in the distant future. I see a yellow stream struggling to seep through the northern border of German West. I then see Union soldiers running across the bridge at Upington like springbok to the yellow stream. Then the stream disappears into the sand. This means they will be involved in heavy fighting against the enemy. At first they fight like enraged bulls and drive each other across the border right into Angola. (When my father asked him what the bulls looked like, he said: It is a black-and-white bull (black and white soldiers) and a red one (the Cubans). The red bull is the victor, but I see he is deeply wounded.
“This vision was fulfilled in the 1980’s when South African troops passed Upington in their Ratels (military vehicles). They came in such long columns that one could drive past them for 50 km. Here in Upington we saw them for days, taking in fuel and provisions, after which they disappeared in clouds of dust. They fought with the South West African troops against the Cubans, but lost the battle. The Seer was right—Cuba was also deeply wounded and we saw how their wounded were transported back to Cuba…”
America, Vietnam and Saddam Hussein
On 27th April 1918, Van Rensburg saw the following vision:
American oxen (white-backed oxen) go east and there is a small leader in front. The leader wants to go west, but the oxen refuse to obey and they start bunching in a circle.
The mention of a leader indicates that American forces (white-backed oxen) are waging war, but not on full strength. Their ‘going east’ is undoubtedly seen as America’s involvement in the drawn-out Vietnamese war in South East Asia. At first in 1954 there was only an American military advisory group, but in 1965 it became obvious that South Vietnam could only sustain Communist infiltration from the north with the help of a strong American presence. And so a fruitless war started which would last for ten years. However, in the course of time, conflict flared up in American circles when President Nixon wanted to continue the war at all costs (the leader wants to go west, but the oxen refuse to obey—there was strong resistance). Matters reached a turning point when Congress refused to allocate additional funds for the Vietnam war. North Vietnam immediately continued the war with renewed vigour and on 10th March that year they gained a decisive victory by capturing the capital city of the Darlak province. Thousands of American troops had to be evacuated from Saigon by means of a massive air-bridge under chaotic conditions (…they start bunching in a circle).
Collapse of the Berlin Wall
Unrest also started growing in Russia during the early 1980’s. The oppressed Russians and other nations who lived under Communism, revolted sporadically until that historic day in 1989 when the Wall of Shame dividing West and East Germany was torn down and people rejoiced throughout Europe. However, the festivities did not last long, as un-controlled masses of aliens streamed across the borders of Germany, emptying the treasury and unemployment became rife. Then suddenly Nazism—to the consternation of a peace-seeking world—reared its head again after 40 years.
These skirmishes between Germans and ‘aliens’ were but the opening salvos of the pending revolution. (The pot of fire old the Seer saw in Russia).
The East Bloc countries on whose necks the yoke of Communism had been chafing since 1917, also started calling for freedom and independence, and the fires of revolution were springing up everywhere. The West held its collective breath and waited for the Kremlin to quell this resistance with its usual show of force, as it had done in Hungary in 1956 and Czechoslovakia in 1968. However, this time it would not succeed, for Russia was bankrupt and faced the worst poverty and misery in its history. Therefore it had no option but to exploit the West’s greatest weakness, humanism, for its own benefit. Gorbachev surprised the whole world by pulling back the Iron Curtain and extending a hand of friendship to President Ronald Reagan of America, and, true to form, America, without thinking twice, embraced Communism on behalf of the whole western world: A man emerges from the east. His watch-chain sparkles in the sun. Another man emerges from the south and embraces the man from the east.
CHAPTER 20
Spectre of Terror.
Humanity always yearns for something out of reach, particularly if it holds the promise of influential friends, status, wealth or fame. In the same vein Van Rensburg’s peers would also have loved to say that they were ‘friends’, or even ‘acquaintances’ of leaders and well-loved national figures of that period—figures such as General Smuts, Barry Hertzog, and the Rebels Koos de la Rey, Christiaan de Wet, Krisjan Beyers Jan Kemp and Harm Oost. There were others too, like Imker Hoogenhout, Dr. Tielman Roos and Dr. H.D. van Broekhuizen.
The Seer never sought the friendships, status or fame of these people. He looked past these attributes as though they did not exist and merely accepted them as people. And with few exceptions (as with General de la Rey), it was they who visited him at his home. After his death a newspaper reported that at times no less than ten vehicles were to be seen parked in ‘Oom’ Nicolaas’ yard.
However, not everyone who visited him, really understood him, or were interested in investigating his spiritual world. Many went there purely out of curiosity, just to ‘hear what the old the Seer had to say’. And when they did not understand his metaphorical speech and strange symbols, they left disappointed or angry.
Yet, every one who had some contact with the old Seer, had to admit that he was someone special and a real prophet; as Ex-President P.W. Botha so aptly expressed after a short meeting in 1924, ‘he was as one who was called’.
However, the visions about the future of his people which Van Rensburg saw, were not always meant for everybody’s ears!
Keep It Secret!
In a letter written by Mr. Boy Mussmann to Mrs. S.M. van Tonder of Heilbron in 1956, he writes that certain information disclosed to him by Van Rensburg was of such a nature that he would not convey it to all and sundry, because he was afraid of causing panic, and certain people would make life very difficult for him. As he put it: “I tell these things only to the most reliable people, and please keep it secret, otherwise it will be said I am creating panic, or give reasons for exacerbating it.”
Mrs. Van Tonder and her father, Mr. Borman, were his confidants and Mr. Mussmann revealed some of these visions to them. In this manner we get a clearer picture of the ‘dark times’ which will become reality when a big (labour) strike is launched in the distant future. The Seer said in 1925: “Then (when the strike begins) there will be big problems with the ‘Kaffir’ and ‘coolies’, besides the troubles overseas (racial conflict and dangers of civil wars). In connection with the ‘Kaffir’ trouble, I saw women fleeing. They do not even have time to close their windows and the curtains are blowing outwards…
“This big strike will ring in the ‘war’ on the East Rand, and the situation in the Eastern Cape will have deteriorated to such an extent that whites will flee from cities like Port Elizabeth and East London…”
According to the vision, some of them will join the Communist Party and take up arms against the Boers.
“Then we (the Boers) will go to Vereeniging. The enemy is sitting tight in Northern Transvaal and Northern Free State, while Southern Transvaal, Free State and Cape, march to Prieska to fetch arms…”
Then ‘Oom’ Klasie saw the place at Vereeniging where the Communists and English comrades went to lie low, become hollow like a well—they will be in critical condition.
Johannes Gagiano
In a letter I received from Mr. Johannes Gagiano in July 1993, he confirms this bloody conflict: “You asked whether Elder C.A. Gagiano, who visited Van Rensburg with Dr. Rossouw, was related to me. Yes, he was my grandfather; he was an Elder of the NG Church at Delarey for 25 years. I am intensely interested in the old prophets of our Lord Jesus, and I was extremely privileged to know a wonderful God-fearing man (Van Rensburg). He was a friend of both my late father and grandfather.
“My father and grandfather were both on commando with Van Rensburg in 1914 under Commandant Van Vuuren and General Kemp. Wherever they stopped to let the horses rest, Van Rensburg would tell Father and Grandfather of the problems in store for the Boer nation.
“ I still remember how often my grandfather told me that one day, when they stopped to let the horses rest, Van Rensburg lay down some distance from them, with his hat covering his face. Father and Grandfather walked over to where he lay and wanted to know whether the Boer nation would wage war again.
“Father said the old man lifted his hat slightly and replied: “Old Kallie, no, we won’t wage war again, but they—Jan Smuts and his people—will do so. But then our troubles start with the ‘Kaffir’. And it will be our last white Government before the final division.
“I also remember one morning in 1925. My father came in from outside and told my mother he had seen ‘Oom’ Nicolaas’ hooded cart on its way to ‘Oom’ Hendrik— Grandpa Leroux’s son, Commandant Leroux. Father watch- ed the road and when the cart returned, he said: “Now Van Rensburg is going to visit Grandpa Leroux.” He took my hand and we walked to Grandpa Leroux’s house. This old man was bedridden, ill with cancer.
“While we were strolling along, Father said Van Rens- burg was on one of his ‘vision trips’. I did not understand what he meant. when we arrived, Van Rensburg was in the room with Grandpa Leroux.
“I remember he quoted a lot from the Bible; he could become very excited, particularly when he spoke of the glories of heaven. Then he looked at Grandpa and said: ”Not so, brother Gawie?” Later Van Rensburg stood up and said a prayer for Grandpa. Father and I walked out to his cart with him.
“This was the last time I saw Van Rensburg, the Prophet of God. Only now do I understand what Father meant by ‘Oom’ Nicolaas’ ‘vision trip’, because Grandpa Leroux died two weeks later and three months after that, Commandant Hendrik Leroux was struck and killed by lightning.”
The Seer’s Revelations Given To Dr. Rossouw
Dr. Servaas Rossouw, at the time a (church) minister of Cape Town, was travelling in the company of an elder and a deacon to Wolmaransstad to go and meet Van Rensburg. Dr. Rossouw did not believe in the Seers visions, and if he was not a minister, Van Rensburg might not even have wanted to speak to him and his two church council members about the visions. However, he did so, and the old Seer’s prophetic revelation impressed him so much that he accurately wrote everything down:
“In the year 1920 during my service in Cape Town”, Dr. Rossouw wrote: “I was visiting my brother-in-law, Reverend Esterhuizen, from Delareyville. A son of General de la Rey and others started telling me about old Mr. van Rensburg and his visions, with the result that I made a special trip, in the company of Elder C.A. Gagiano and Deacon C.G. van der Merwe. We spent the greatest part of the day with him and lunched with him. He asked me to say grace, adding: ”Please understand that I don’t let just anyone say grace at my table”. I then asked him: “What then makes you trust me? He then started telling me about his visions.”
A Nation Divided
“Look, Reverend,” Van Rensburg said during the midday meal: “there is an immense chasm dividing our nation. But it will be filled in so that we can go to each other and greet each other again… The dogs did not even bark at you, and last night I already ‘saw’ you coming”
He continued: “I can see great troubles coming in Europe. They are like writhing snakes, particularly three large ones—black, brown and yellow—posing a threat and ready to strike. The first two open their poisonous mouths widely and their tongues tremble, but are too confused to strike. (Prelude to WW2). The yellow snake is Germany, for it is wounded and floundering and writhing. But it swallows the small ones, one after another. Then it swims across a dam and also swallows the small snakes across the water.” (The invasion of France and Holland shortly after the outbreak of the war).
The Blood Flag
“The Boers will take matters into their own hands, and those who do not give way, will be trampled to death. A great silence will prevail before the storm which will be violent, but of short duration. A bucket of blood will fall over, our flag will be dipped in it and this blood flag will then fly over a liberated nation.
Dr. Rossouw continued: “He (Van Rensburg) then spoke a lot about withered maize fields (the farmers who will become impoverished), famine, a butcher cutting out the fat only (what is due to the Boer) and ‘many other things which do not sound so strange now as they did. I make no comment, as I have always been sceptical about all his visions. Nonetheless, under the present circumstances here and abroad, they are strange,” Dr. Rossouw concluded his description of the visit to the Seer.
However, he could not have guessed that in the distant future, shortly before a black government would take over in Parliament, the old Boer prophet would be in the news again—he even saw this in a vision.
I Will Be Newsworthy Again
Van Rensburg told Boy Mussmann in 1916: “A time will come when I will be very much in the news again. During that time I see we are still fighting amongst each other, then suddenly it will be over, and we will have a black government. Then the last, but most intense struggle will begin for the Afrikaner…”
“During that time the Boers will require a strong leader to show them the road ahead. It will be the task of an unknown spiritual leader who will have to unite the people and prepare them for the struggle at hand.
“I see the Afrikaner nation being the last to enter this thing and first to emerge—it is a black government. When we are out from under it, the others will still be sitting up there (Zimbabwe an Zambia) with it…”
He also said these protectorates (Zimbabwe and Zambia) will be inaugurated with us and one day we will ‘clean up’ everything as far as the equator.
The well-kown journalist, Braam Visagie, who had a lengthy interview with the Seer’s son, Kallie, during the 1960’s, describes in his own words this strange ‘cleaning up’ vision:
“I see a train steaming ahead with difficulty through the Rhodesian bush. It is a long train, heavily loaded and filled with soldiers. Their uniforms are those of the South African Defence Force. They speak Afrikaans and South African English.
“Pandemonium suddenly breaks loose; shots are being fired into the bush. The train stops and soldiers take up positions alongside the train which serves as protection…”
Like Pieces In A Jigsaw Puzzle
Nicolaas often spoke about the great and important events which still have to take place before the Boer nation eventually united and became free.
The following interpretations were given by the Seer himself, and also come from personal recollections of his contemporaries; a pamphlet distributed in 1940; other old magazines and publications, as well as letters and notes by his intimate friends, Messrs Boy Mussmann and Joos Haasbroek, and other friends.
Although he could not always understand or interpret everything he ‘saw’, he nevertheless knew that one day (in the far future) there would be drastic changes in his country.
Here and there he tried to give as detailed an indication as possible of what was going to happen. Yet very few of his contemporaries believed him, and only today, more than seventy years after his death, many of these visions and his interpretations are beginning to fall into place like pieces in a jigsaw puzzle.
On the Rubbish-Dump of Namibia
Nicolaas van Rensburg foresaw enormous moral decay coming, first in Namibia, then in South Africa, and that the present struggle and division among Afrikaners would go hand-in-hand with this decay.
In German West a white hobbled horse walked across the rubbish dump. (All norms of decency and moral standards would deteriorate when the whites (white horse) would be restricted and pushed aside by the government of the day (the horse is hobbled). And then it (the horse) is let loose and a saddled piebald horse stands directly before me. (Whites will emigrate from Namibia at the same time a racially mixed government (piebald horse) takes over the reins here in South Africa. The Afrikaner also faces bloodshed and violence—the piebald stands directly before him and is saddled).
Redistribution of land which traditionally belonged to the Boer nation does not only become a matter of dispute, but we also enter an era of total moral collapse: ‘A large black-and-white horse stands beside me (on the same terrain which I saw re: getting our own republic—in other words, the multicoloured horse also wants to pocket that terrain for himself). Then I see two white stones grinding against each other. (There is great friction and dissension among the whites). The stone in the east (Free State) turns into the other to become one. (The whites will unite and stand together again).
After this he saw a plough going through the rubbish dump. (There is no more censorship; pornography and other evils against which the nation used to guard, are now shamelessly being ploughed open). In a vision he saw on 26th February 1922, his compatriots are warned to live chastely: The world is clean, but suddenly turns and then it is full of sheep droppings. I then heard a clear voice saying to me: ‘Gird up your loins and let your light shine.
Van Rensburg saw a Large Broom sweep away all the filth of moral decay from the earth. (11th March 1923).
One day he explained to Boy Mussmann exactly what that broom was when Mussmann wanted to know what the enemies were going to flee from when trouble started in the country. The Seer replied it would be the Spectre of Terror which God would create in their hearts, and added that God was going to punish them for the thousands of lives they had taken and literally turned the country into a desert.
Then Van Rensburg referred him to Isaiah 14: “The Lord hath broken the staff of the wicked and the sceptre of the rulers. He who smote the people in wrath with a continual stroke, he that ruled the nations in anger, is persecuted and none hindereth… Yet thou shalt be brought down to hell, to the sides of the pit. They that see thee… saying, Is this the man that made the earth to tremble… that made the world as a wilderness, that destroyed the cities… thou hast destroyed thy land and slain thy people; the seed of evildoers shall never be renowned… For I will rise up against them, saith the Lord of hosts, and cut off from Babylon the name, and remnant, and son, and nephew, saith the Lord…I will sweep it with the besom of destruction…”
The Last Discord
But those difficult and dark days will be preceded by a bitter political struggle between liberal and conservative Afrikaans-speakers.
The splitting of the NP, when first the Herstigte (Re- founded) National Party (1975) and later the Conservative Party (1982) breaking away, rekindled the discord among the Boers and reopened old wounds. Yet this division was one of the central themes in Nicolaas van Rensburg’s visions. He ‘saw’ it so often, spoke about it so often that one gets the impression that there was never anything else but quarrels and dissension among the Boers. Struggle, discord and betrayal runs like a dark-red stream of blood throughout our history; there was discord over the Great Trek; the forming of Union; our language and our own flag. Our participation in two World Wars led to civil war, uprisings and betrayal. Dr. Verwoerd even had to hold a referendum over the question of a republic to obtain a mandate…
But as Van Rensburg predicted, the second republic (1961) soon started coming loose at the seams (compare his vision of 15th December 1917) and before long the dissension was just as intense.
Once again, today, war-clouds are forming on the horizon. When one looks at what Van Rensburg predicted, it grabs one by the throat, because this time the Boer nation is facing its greatest watershed. The Seer spoke about the last great struggle ahead as the last purification of the Boer nation. In his later years, Van Rensburg must have seen this coming, as he often referred to it with grief, and only told facets of it to a few of his confidants.
In 1920 Van Rensburg told Dr. Servaas Rossouw about the chasm dividing his people, the blood which will flow. On another occasion he connected this ‘division’ with a specific event when he remarked to Boy Mussmann: “Russia will go under at the same time when the freedom struggle begins for the Boer nation… but not long afterwards the sickle—the symbol of Communism—will be resurrected in the west and in Russia, and things will be even worse than before!”
Ex-President P.W. Botha
The course of current events, but particularly the chaos and bloodshed which started in 1990, was predicted in an important vision he had in the early 1920’s. Mrs. Sufra Mostert wrote it down and refers to Mr. P.W. Botha:
I see many people in a house, sitting around a table, and I hear them arguing. Suddenly the man at the head of the table arose, walked out by the door and left the house, and the rear wall collapsed.
The day ex-President P.W. Botha was present when his father was conversing with the Seer van Rensburg, he never realised that he, in person, had already figured in this vision of the Seer four years previously. At that time the youthful Pieter Botha realised even less that his future father-in-law, a well-known church minister, Dr. Servaas Rossouw, of Swellendam, had by sheer coincidence visited the Seer at Rietkuil and personally received a number of astonishing visions about the future of the Afrikaner.
Mr. Botha writes about his short meeting with Van Rensburg: “When I was a young boy of about nine years old, the Seer visited the town of Paul Roux where I was born, and a family member of my father received the Seer. We visited the family during a Holy communion weekend and it was there that I stood looking at the Seer while my father and the other family member spoke to him. He made an unerasable impression on me. He was a dignified man and gave the impression of a ‘Called’ one.
There is no doubt that the vision above can only refer to ex-President P.W. Botha:
Because of the long drawn-out unrest situation in South Africa and the state of emergency imposed by P.W. Botha during the 1980’s, pressure for reform was mounting on the Government; the lifting of apartheid, the release of Nelson Mandela and other political prisoners, as well as unbanning the revolutionary organisations such as the ANC, the Communist Party, PAC, etc. Although Mr. Botha made certain concessions, he refused to veer away from his paved course, and in his famous Rubicon speech in September 1985, he also demanded that Mandela denounce violence before he could be set free. This was widely criticized by liberals here and abroad and threats of increased boycotts, and even direct involvement, were made.
However, President Botha’s mild stroke early in 1989, and his resignation as Party leader, changed matters. The ‘New thinkers’ and supporters of ‘total reform’ in the NP challenged him, and according to Mr. Botha’s own testimony in the press, there were not only serious differences between him and some of his cabinet members, but it often also led to conflict situations: (I see people sitting around a table and they are arguing). And then, in August 1989, the person at the head of the table (the leader) rises and walks out through the door…
According to the geopoliticist, Donald S. McAlvany, liberals abroad, particularly in America, played an important part in these events. He states as follows: “In August of 1989, State President P.W. Botha was overthrown in a “bloodless coup orchestrated by several of his own powerful cabinet ministers and directed from behind the scenes by the U.S. State Department…”
(In fact, Donald McAlvany had visited this country on a regular basis since the 1970’s with the specific purpose of giving lectures in every big centre. Virtually every lecture began with: “Your greatest enemy is NOT the Soviet Union, but my own country, the USA! The CIA, the State Department, the International Bankers—those three in par- ticular, are extremely dangerous, as they will stop at nothing to overthrow your present Government in favour of black, Communist-led majority rule… He also held talks with high-ranking officials in Government, as well as the Armed Forces, and was well-received until around 1988, when he was suddenly rebuffed and virtually declared ‘persona non grata’ by these same officials who had previously welcomed him. No doubt whatsoever that the secret forces in the USA had done their homework very diligently by brainwashing (and probably threatening) the South African Government into submitting to their demands…)
On 2nd February 1990, President F.W. de Klerk announced his ‘total reform initiatives’ and immediately there was talk about a ‘New South Africa’ and a period of unprecedented peace and prosperity awaiting the country and its people.
However, the Seer’s vision paints a totally different and sombre picture: The resignation of a Head of State will not only be very unexpected (A man suddenly arises), but he will also leave the Party of which he was the ruler (leaves the house). Those that remain behind will lose a lot of ‘support’ (the rear wall of the house collapses). The four walls of a house symbolize the voters (or members of an organisation) which must keep the Party (organisation) standing.
The Distressing Position of the Farmers
The following vision, taken from Die Burger, of 1940, has a direct bearing on the above-mentioned speech of F.W. de Klerk, as well as the present situation in South Africa:
“Shortly before Parliament convened in 1932, Mr. P.C. de Villiers held a report-back meeting in Klerksdorp. After the meeting a voter approached him, took out his pocket- book and read a vision seen by Van Rensburg to him:
“I see the farmers in a critical position. The land is bare and everyone is suffering. Then I see a young man arriving from the direction of Pretoria to address a political meeting, after which political changes take place. Parliament opens and not long after, members scatter in all directions and an election is called…”
This vision refers to a time in future when it would be so dark for the nation that the Prophet ‘could not see his hand before his eyes’. The circumstances of the farmers are also critical (in fact, never so critical as now!) A great multitude is addressed by a youngish man (Mr. F.W. de Klerk’s first speech at Vereeniging as new leader of the NP after Mr. P.W. Botha’s resignation), followed by total political upheaval (2nd February 1990). This is followed by a parliamentary session where things go wrong and members split up. The vision—similar to the one of 12th March 1917: ‘I am at Wolmaransstad and put on new black shoes—a black government comes into power.’ However, if the Seer’s own interpretation is correct, it will be of short duration.
Codesa (1992-93)
It has already been mentioned that Van Rensburg interpreted many of his visions himself. In the course of years he also entrusted possible interpretations to his family and a few intimate friends. This valuable information has been put at my disposal by his grandchildren and descendants of friends.
The vision: 29th August 1918: A book opens—the first page is black, two people sit on the second page and the third page grows large and long with writing on the back. A sabre emerges.
Interpretation: “This vision clearly indicates Codesa negotiations, as it concerns two groups of people (blacks and other) who are negotiating. However, these negotiations will be lengthy and drawn out (…the third page grows large and long). Everything will not be above board either; a lot of plotting takes place in the sly—probably by more than one of the parties involved, because: (…with writing on the back). However, the outcome of the negotiations will not bring about the expected peace: (A sabre emerges). It is interesting that mention is made of a sabre—it is probably the most well-known Russian weapon from the time when Communism came into being. For this reason one can accept that the looming confrontation would be Communist-inspired. The manner and extent of this confrontation is not mentioned in this vision, but the Seer saw this in another vision just over a month before his demise: 28th January 1926: I see a fat black horse and after that a dirty-yellow horse. The black horse spells trouble with the blacks and the yellow horse spells trouble with the Indians.
“A rifle comes so closely to me out of India that I am looking down the barrel.” This means that during these dark times we will have a lot of trouble from the Indians.
The Death of Prof. Johan Heyns
Nicolaas van Rensburg had only three visions in which he saw a very important public figure falling over backwards. He himself interpreted this symbol and stated that someone would die an unnatural and violent death.
In the first of these visions he saw General Louis Botha standing on a ladder and falling over backwards. The Seer immediately explained that the general would commit suicide. This was fulfilled when he slashed his wrists.
The second vision concerned an important church leader in Pretoria who would fall backwards from a sitting position and dying—14th February 1921. Van Rensburg saw a male person wearing a white dress shirt, sitting in Pretoria, he is an important church leader and/or minister and dies violently. … falling over backwards.
The ex-moderator of the NG Church, Professor Johan Heyns, was assassinated on the evening of 5th November, 1994 at his house in Pretoria.
The Goose Is Freed
The Seer’s third and last vision of someone dying an unnatural death came exactly six months and three days before his own death.
Early on the morning of 8th September 1925, the Seer went to the hillock behind his house. When he returned later on, he was so upset and despondent that he did not want to talk about what he had ‘seen’. Only later that afternoon when his daughter, Anna, had the opportunity of writing it down in her exercise book, her father requested that she head it with the words: Baie belangrik (Very Important—N.B.).
I see the statue of a black man, he collapses over backwards, his mouth opens wide and a goose emerges from it and flies East. Then another great white bird with very large wings, tinged with grey and with a human face appears… Then a train full of blacks comes from the west…
This vision refers to a black man released from prison (Nelson Mandela?). The unbanning of Communism and the far-reaching consequences it holds in store for the Boer nation and its future.
The statue collapses over backwards, his mouth opens and a goose emerges from it—he is met by the authorities and set free. The goose flies East—(it closes ties with the Communists). Then another great white bird with very large wings returns (when it returns, it will be very powerful—which did happen; today Mandela is the head of state in South Africa and the most powerful ruler South of the Sahara). The colour of the bird is white, but tinged with grey (the ‘peace’ he offers is not genuine, or to be trusted). The train from the west refers to black exiles who, at this time (the Era of the Goose) return to South Africa.
However, except for the ‘goose’ being set free from prison, his connection with the Communist Party and his expanded rule, the Boer prophet also saw the statue collapsing over backwards. And as in the case of the two previous visions, it means the person will die a violent or unnatural death.
In April 1915, some months after the Rebellion, while languishing in prison, the Seer had a vision of a funeral, bloody violence and great tribulations still to come over his people at the end of the century. According to his prison-mates, this vision also greatly upset him. However, it was only later that he connected it with the one of 8th September (Mandela):
The vision: 4th April 1915—I see a coffin being let down into a grave, fires coming out, but one great fire igniting in front. Naked people appear. I’m sitting by a table and dividing a tart. It is dark, but silver letters appear on a shining (metal) sheet. (Then he told them to read Psalm 12:6): The words of the Lord are pure words; as silver tried in a furnace of earth, purified seven times.
Not only will unprecedented violence erupt throughout the country during the burial of this very important person, but also full scale civil war (…but one great fire igniting in front). At that time the Boer nation will be naked, stripped of everything and feel very oppressed.
Therefore this vision cannot be associated with the death of Chris Hani on 10th April 1993, as the government was still in white hands, and things were still going well with them! Civil war did not follow his death either..
The tart which Van Rensburg divided, means the little that the nation still has left, would be divided even further until he is left with virtually nothing. Only after that will the darkness which Van Rensburg spoke about, descend over the Boer nation—a darkness in which one cannot even see one’s hand before one’s eyes.
The silver letters on the shining sheet means (according to Psalm 12) that the time has come for the nation to enter the furnace.
Saddam Hussein
It is remarkable that the Seer also had several visions which predicted the outbreak and progress of the 1991 Middle East war in great detail.
8th June: “In Europe there are three plastered vats (countries which have concluded agreements) filled with dry grass, and a Turk ignites them…(Turkey will become involved in a war).
15th June: “A large log is burning. In front is a large pile of logs on the ground, (23rd June) and flames emerge from it but die down again. (The war will be of short, but intense duration—as was the war in the Middle East when Hussein attacked Kuwait in 1991).
In one of his undated visions, the same Turk and same war are seen again, but from another angle and more detailed: A Turk setting three haystacks alight. The world catches alight and a vision of horses with blood running down their bits appears.
From Mr. Boy Mussmann’s interpretation we can deduce the following: The Turk is Saddam Hussein. The three haystacks are Kuwait, Saudi Arabia and the Israelis who were all involved in the 1991 Middle-East conflict. Although the war may seem to be over, the same Turk (Hussein) will fan the flames again when he intervenes in the civil war in Russia (Bosnia?) to help his people (Muslims?). The war will be at its worst (extermination of Moslems by Serbian rebels?), which will develop into a full- scale world war and be so horrible that blood will run down the bits of the horses.
Turkey was in the picture again on 4th April 1919. Three sickles appear one after the other and join so that they become one. Wagons travel from North to East; they are Turkish wagons, but they are new and covered with canvas.
The collapse of Russia will be of short duration, for the ‘massive civil war’ Van Rensburg saw there will cause the Soviet Union to return to its old ways of ‘oppression, revolution and dictatorship’, (The three sickles becoming one). During that time a Turk (Saddam Hussein?) will become involved in this civil war. However, this time there will be two differences: (1) The Turk is well-prepared for war (the wagons are new); and: (2) He is planning in secret and will strike on a certain day and place—(against the Serbs?) when nobody expects it and possibly using nuclear arms.
The Soap Cauldron With Fire
(The older generation of Boers made their own excellent soap in huge cauldrons. Although a dying art, it is still demonstrated in the ‘live’ museums throughout the country).
Mr. Joos Haasbroek wrote: “’Oom’ Klasie predicted a long drawn-out and bloody revolution in the Southwest (the Angolan struggle in which our soldiers were also involved): When it clears (when we have pulled out of the struggle) I see a soap cauldron with fire underneath in the east of Europe and Russia. In other words, the Angolan war will scarcely have ended when a dreadful civil war will break out in the Soviet Republics.”
This did occur after the once indivisible East Bloc crumbled into 15 separate states in the early nineties. The Croatians and Slovenians who were forced into a unified state with the Serbs in 1929 (Yugoslavia), broke away, and in 1992 Bosnia-Herzegovina followed their example. At the end of December 1972, Czechoslovakia was finally torn apart because of mutual quarrelling, ethnical differences and 74 years of forced ‘unity’.
The Balkanising of Central and Eastern Europe is proof that this vision had come true and that a yearning for ‘ethnical purity’ and ‘self-determination’ is not limited to white South Africans. In erstwhile Yugoslavia, the Serbs themselves were involved in a bloody ethnical struggle. The appeasement policies of the European Community attempting to restore peace between the warring factions came to nothing, for at the end of 1992 the Serbs were in control and they ‘ethnically cleansed’ the whole area of non-Serbs (Muslims). In the process they also managed to capture about a third of Croatia and two-thirds of Bosnia- Herzegovina and inaugurate them into their territory and drive out about one million Muslims and Croats from the area under Serbian control.
During 1992 the old Soviet Union also experienced some half dozen or more wars, and today matters look even worse.
However, before the Boer nation faces its last battle, Van Rensburg saw a bucket filled with blood fall over in the north of Southern Africa; he saw the nation being torn further apart, power being wrested from its hands and how his own National Party, which had stood strong and formidable, disappear from the scene in shame.
An Old Wagon Wheel
The Seer also spoke about an old wagon wheel which comes rolling from East London and Port Elizabeth in the eastern province (enemies of the Afrikaner—English and pro-English Afrikaners, as well as jingoes and foreigners): At first it wobbles a lot, but then gets direction and loses a spoke (which binds government and nation together) and then loses a rim (old English enemies) and gradually it becomes a new wheel.
It rolls as far as Vereeniging and a petrol factory (Sasol- burg) where it lies down.
Then he had another vision which supplements this one.
I see a snake (Communist threat) sailing towards us, but I cannot see its head. It sails in the long grass (Dishonest). The snake lingers a while in Mafikeng (there will be trouble and chaos, but only for a short period) then it also goes to Vereeniging where it curls itself up without me having seen its head. (The snake hides in the bosom of the nation, but they do not know this or see it at first).
Just before the snake left Zimbabwe, Van Rensburg saw a bucket of blood falling over in that country, meaning it will be taken over by a black government.
Once again ‘Oom’ Nicolaas’ prophecy came true: After a lengthy and bloody struggle (bucket of blood) Ian Smith was betrayed by his friends in the west and forced into handing over power to Robert Mugabe and the Communists. The snake lingering a while in Mafikeng, points to the events taking place in Bophutaswana in March 1994 when three AWB comrades were executed in cold blood while leaving the territory after a futile effort to rescue President Mangope’s rule.
To this day that incident leaves many unanswered questions. And to this day the black who murdered them, is still working as a constable in the Bop-police where he enjoys ‘hero’- status.
Almost every time Van Rensburg saw snakes in his visions, the soil was turned over and went hand-in-hand with betrayal, foul play and bloodshed.
The Snake At Vereeniging
The last part of the ‘snake-vision’ above—then it goes to Vereeniging where it curls itself up without me having seen its head—can only be interpreted when it is clear, precisely when it lifts its head. In this light, the Seer once told Boy Mussmann that ‘the snake represents the “whole force against the Afrikaner”; then the next interpretation I received from a person in Potchefstroom, does not seem so far off the mark:
“In Matthew 23: 27-33 the Messiah describes the Pharisees and He says they have as their father the snake mentioned in Genesis 3. He calls them ‘whitened sepulchres’.
Just as the Messiah did, Seer van Rensburg also pointed out the trail of the ‘snake’ throughout our history. Its trail comes from Rhodesia (Zimbabwe) and after overturning the soil in Mafikeng, it came to Vereeniging and curled up.
It cannot be just sheer coincidence that De Klerk was MP for Vereeniging, just as it could not have been coincidence when he delivered his maiden speech there.
Was it this day that ‘Oom’ Klasie referred to when he said: ‘The snake will lift its head for the first time in Vereeniging and then we will know who it is.
Therefore it was frightening to see how enthusiastically the audience whistled and cheered at every word of capitulation and betrayal. That day the road was paved for the judgment which God will bring against this hard-headed and recalcitrant nation.
His followers could scarcely wait for the election of April 1994 to sign away not only their honour, their self-respect, the future of their children, but also the one and only true GOD whom they had worshipped since they first arrived in the country, to the Communists. And as with everything else where Satan interferes, there was no thought for righteousness and justice. The whole election was one great lie, a fraudulent affair and so corrupt that even the presiding judge eventually admitted that there was massive corruption. However, he defended the results and the rest of the world praised it as a miracle of God!
“Miracle of whose god?” one is inclined to ask, for the TRUE GOD had NO hand in this scandalous, fraudulent business! It was the snake and his accomplices who were in control and stripped the Boer nation—stripped them naked as were Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden after their meeting with Him.
Why Vereeniging?
When making a closer study of the meaning of Vereeni- ging, one comes to realise it is no mere coincidence that the final scenes of the Seer’s visions will be concluded there. It is as though this has been decreed by a Higher Hand. The “Treaty of Vereeniging” was the most demeaning moment in the existence of the Boer nation. They were broken and coerced by means of betrayal among their own ranks and the most reprehensible methods by the British, to surrender. More than
26 000 women, children and old people were senselessly murdered in the concentration camps and farms were burned at the behest of Lord Roberts’ ‘scorched-earth’ policy. The Boer was on his knees and he had no choice but to surrender to save the lives of his women and children.
And 90 years later the descendants of these same Boers join hands with the enemies of their God; they give their traitor a standing ovation and set the table to be slaughtered once again.
Today the greatest concentration of black townships are situated in the vicinity of Vereeniging. It forms part of the great Witwatersrand and the other black townships (Gau- teng area)—and is considered to be the most dangerous residential area on earth: “because here,” the terrified black inhabitants say: “you do not die a natural death, but through the barrel of an AK 47.” The place has become a battlefield.
And when the final battle of Vereeniging is over, the symbolic meaning of its name (to unite) will eventually end the quarrelling and fighting, ‘close the chasm’ and stand over a purified nation.
CHAPTER 21
The Election, the Result and Thereafter
Division in Boer ranks caused matters to go wrong even before the 1994 election because the different groups could not come to an agreement regarding their modus operandi. Originally neither the Conservative Party, nor General Viljoen’s Freedom Front, nor the HNP or AWB intended taking part in the elections and there was much talk and threats of war and bloodshed if the elections should take place. The leader of the Freedom Front, General Viljoen, repeatedly warned that the election should be postponed, demanding a ‘cooling off’ period. During a TV programme he even said he has the support of approximately 10 000 trained men, and if it came to the worst, he would act.
And the Boer nation believed him…
The ANC and NP ignored his warnings and continued with their plans to hold the election. Did they possibly know that he (Viljoen) would do nothing?
However, the Boers were ready for action and anxiously sat waiting for him.
Threats against the government and the ANC were also made by the Conservative Party. They would ‘hit’ the Pharaoh with ‘ten plagues’ and with concerted effort managed to progress to plagues two or three.
Yes, it really seemed if the Boer was still able to stand up for himself.
However, when the moment of truth arrived, General Viljoen forgot about his demands, registered for the election and finally ripped the already splintered rightwing groups to pieces.
Stunned, disillusioned and leaderless the handful of conservatives suddenly did not know in which direction to turn. Without direction and dismayed in spirit, all they could do was sit and wait for the election; even those that voted for the General out of despair, knew it was futile.
This time the Boer nation was finally outfoxed and slaughtered with cold-blooded calculation by the enemy.
For decades the Seer tried to warn his beloved people, he pleaded with them in vain not to lose their way, because if this should happen: “…the betrayal and brotherly squabbles would be terrible amongst the people and everything would go wrong in the country…”
Exactly 69 years and one month to the day before the 27th April elections were held, the Seer prophesied that this election would only bring about bad luck and misery.
Which is precisely what happened: Within a year, virtually all structures which whites had built up over a period of centuries, were demolished. Health services have been destroyed and even the once solid Public Service crumbled. Officials occupying public service posts today prefer toyi- toying in the streets rather than putting in a solid day’s work, and words like qualifications or merit simply do not exist in their vocabularies. Things look even worse in Parliament. Half of the officials were never inclined to work, while the other half cannot work, because they were all in prison. But now they are appointed in posts which white officials had slaved for over decades!
Van Rensburg predicted the demise of the NP on more than one occasion.
18th February 1918: Large baskets lie in the water on the seashore. (There is a scarcity of food and water). The blue stone of Europe turns towards us. (Some Germans are sympathetic to our cause). A thick aloe stump appears in Pretoria and it withers. (An Afrikaner government — the NP — which used to be strong [thick aloe stump] loses its ability to rule) and it moves South. (This was fulfilled to the letter, because the Afrikaner’s only only win in the 1994 election was in the Western Cape. Six years later, ten months before his death in 1926, the Seer predicted that after this first democratic election, the Afrikaner will have no political power as “he lies on his back”:
27th May 1925: The whole land is covered under maize leaves (indicating an election in which the whole nation took part) after people have threshed (after the election) and in the Cape a man lies on his back on the leaves.
Poverty and misery will cause many blacks from Africa to enter our country, he said. They will settle mainly in Natal, but will contribute little or nothing towards the economy. The once-strong National Party (large aloe plants) is struggling to survive, but it has no influence or power base any longer and disappears rapidly into thin air, after which the battle for survival for the Boers begins.
(Compare the letter the Seer wrote to Mrs. J.J. Steyn on 24th October 1923 on the same subject in chapter 21).
Today, four years down the line since the election, many of these visions have become reality. Because Mr. de Klerk resigned as leader of the NP, and his successor, Mr. M. van Schalkwyk’s new NP was part of the Government of National Unity, and as official opposition it dared not make too much noise for fear of being attacked by President Mandela; thus it maintains a low profile.
The Boer prophet ‘saw’ that the Afrikaner leader who was at the helm at the time, knew he would surrender his rule to that of an alien government.
Van Rensburg predicted this ‘voluntary surrender’ on February 1922 and also prophesied that this would be done under pressure from the West.
28th February 1922: I see a Boer stepping forward, his shoes remain behind. (Shoes are the symbol of a Boer government and the fact that the Boer has removed his shoes indicates that he willingly hands over power). He kneels down, facing West.
This prophecy was fulfilled exactly 72 years, two months and two days later: At 6 o’clock on the evening of 2nd May 1994 (five days after the April 1994 election, but before the final results had been announced), Mr. F.W. de Klerk smilingly told the world on TV: “With this I now hand over power into Mr. Mandela’s hands.” Without being aware of it, F.W. de Klerk repeated the Seer’s prophetic words almost verbatim!
A column writer of Die Volksblad had this to say about De Klerk’s words and surrender in the issue of 6th May 1994: “The Nobel Prize for Grace and Style must surely go to F.W. de Klerk this year. I know of no man who has worked himself out of a job with such grace and style. This must be a unique world record.
“The only thing he did not do when he—once again with grace and style—acknowledging on Monday evening (2nd May 1994) that the NP had lost and ‘Oom’ Nelson would be the new State President—ended off by saying in Afrikaans: ‘God bless Africa’.
“He only did so in English and Xhosa (‘Oom’ Nelson’s language).
“Good grief!”
Civil War In Bosnia
From 8th June until 1st September 1925, Van Rensburg repeatedly ‘saw’ parts of the same disturbing vision of a future world conflict which would be sparked off by the civil war in Russia, and which will involve South Africa. (It will be fully dealt with in Chapter 25 under the heading: “Outbreak of World War 3”).
1st July: Wheat is standing white and ripe in the Union. [The Afrikaans word ‘ryp’ means ready to harvest]. (An election is on the cards in South Africa). While in prison, I saw a large wheat-stack in the Cape. (Some of the Boers in the Cape are beginning to wake up and unite—as they did before the Rebellion).
10th July: Grass is burning in Europe and the earth becomes black from there to here. (A full-scale war is being waged in Europe and will spread to South Africa).
1st September: A wood fire is raging in an oven in the Union and flames shoot from the opening… (The conflict will be the worst ever experienced in South Africa).
The Seer and the Doves of Peace
On 1st September 1919, Seer van Rensburg had a vision of an event which would be enacted exactly 74 years later to the day. It refers to the bloody violence which would occur in the northern parts of our country (the PWV area, or Gauteng as it is now known) and to which, according to the Seer, there would be no end. In this astonishing vision the Seer not only predicted the peace initiatives of September 1993 between the Government and the ANC, but also described the two peace symbols, the white and blue doves. The end of the blue dove (false peace) is so horrifying that it gives one cold shivers; an end which neither F.W. de Klerk or Nelson Mandela had in mind when they kicked off the so-called ‘peace month’ by shaking hands amid cheering.
Vision: 1st September 1919: A fire is blazing under a huge cauldron (rebellion) from the north; but the fire does not die down! (This means the violence cannot be stopped). [Five days later Nicolaas was given a glimpse of further developments]: I went North and a blue bird appeared before me in the road from the west; then it changed into a dove in the way of the cauldron: (The so-called Dove of Peace will land in the cauldron—in other words, all attempts at peace will fail!) [The last part of this vision was seen on 10th September]: English wagons travelling from North to South; (Enemies of the Afrikaner fleeing South). There is a barbed-wire camp in the Union and women climb through the wires and enter the camp. (Women will end up in concentration camps).
An open road leads West and a Boer shoe lies in the road. (The Boer will not go along the new road of South Africa which opens up before it).
The start and finish of the NP/ANC’s ‘Month of Peace’ is notable. It started during the week of the prophet Mo- hammed’s birthday—29th August until 4th September— and ended during the last week of September during the climax of the Chinese ‘Autumn Festival’ in honour of their ‘moon-god’.
You Will Bend Your Knee Before Islam!
After seeing a vision on 15th January 1921, the Seer said to Boy Mussmann a day would come when the Indians would occupy a position of power in the country. The Christian values of the Afrikaner would then be in direct conflict with the religion of Islam. This vision has already come true since the first Muslims were elected to Parliament, as Halaal symbols started appearing on chickens and dairy products in shops. At first there was some resistance against this, but soon died down and today we buy these— and other—products without any thought about the heathen ceremony during which it was dedicated to Allah.
Even the so-called ‘religious’ Afrikaners ignore the stern warning in God’s word to distance themselves from such heathen sacrifices.
The Muslim population comprises about 250 000 out of a total population of 45+ million, yet we accept these heathen sacrifices without so much as a whimper. Until 1989 there was not a single Muslim in the Free State, yet one could not purchase a single block of margarine or a chicken without the halaal-symbol stamped on it.
Today many ministers and theologians say that Allah and Jahweh is one and the same God. However, let us see what the Word of God, as well as the K’oran have to say about this:
The Bible: 1 Cor 8:4: As concerning therefore the eating of those things that are offered in sacrifice unto idols, we know that an idol is nothing in the world, and that there is no other God but one.
1 Cor 10:20: …that the things which the Gentiles sacrifice, they sacrifice to devils, and not to God.
1 Cor 10:21: …Ye cannot be partakers of the Lord’s table and of the table of devils.
In Revelation 2:14 & 20 the Lord reproaches the congregations of Pergamus and Thiatira because they ate the flesh of idols.
The K’oran: Section 23:171: The Messiah, Jesus, son of Mary, is but a messenger of Allah and of His word He gave to Mary as a gift of mercy. Believe therefore in Allah and his messengers. And say not: ‘Trinity.’ But cease, it is better for you. Allah is but one God. It is far from His holiness that He would have a son. To Him belongs what is in heaven and on earth. (172): “The Messiah (Jesus) does not consider it beneath Him to be a servant of Allah…”
A vision Van Rensburg saw on 15th January 1921— Then I heard: “The cry of the nation rises up to God: The earth trembles! ”Then I saw a small ‘coolie’ (Indian) who stood up and suddenly grew into a large ‘coolie’.
According to the accompanying Biblical verses: (Exod. 2:23) “…and the children of Israel sighed by reason of the bondage, and they cried, and their cry came up to God by reason of the bondage.” (2 Sam. 22:7): “In my distress I called upon the Lord and cried to my God, and He did hear my voice out of His temple, and my cry did enter unto His ears.” (Jer. 10:10-11): “But the Lord is the true God, He is the living God, and an everlasting King; at His wrath the earth shall tremble and the nations shall not be able to abide His indignation. Thus shall ye say unto them, the gods that have not made the heaven and the earth, even they shall perish from the earth, and from under these heavens.
Criminals are Let Loose
Not long after Mandela was freed by President F.W. de Klerk in 1990, he first placed a moratorium on the death penalty (mainly to pacify the majority of black criminals), after which literally thousands were freed from the prisons. Seer also had a vision about this on 28th November 1915 while incarcerated in Boksburg prison: A large sheet of dark red paper appears. On the right side are blood red squares and on the left are white squares. (He said much will be written about bloodshed when the Boer nation in South Africa will start their bitter struggle against Communism). I see wagons with red oxen. (The Communists are armed and ready for war). The prison pot goes to Pretoria, but it is empty. (There is a scarcity of food). The prison cells are all open and the line hangs full of clean washing. (Thousands of criminals are freed, criminals who have not nearly served their full sentences).
Africa Afflicted With Pestilence and Famine
1st February 1918: My white-handled pocket knife is very sharp. A small hand-axe in the Cape is very sharp—war clouds build up in the sky. A muddy ditch in Europe runs from East to South. At the southern end stands a large house. A small ‘Kaffir’ emerges from the house, enters the ditch and disappears. A man on horseback emerges from the ditch and disappears again—the ditch becomes very wide.
He said: “My pocket knife” is symbolic of the Boer forces. The ‘small hand-axe’ (in the Cape) represents the Boer Government of the day—war threatens between Boers and Government forces. At the same time a sinister agreement is concluded between East (Russia) and Europe (the muddy ditch). But Europe becomes a confederation with one parliament which will be seated in the south (At the southern end stands a large house). The confederation between Europe and the East-Bloc countries will cause black governments in Africa to be wiped out by disasters, pestilence and famine (the small ‘Kaffir’ emerging from the house—he loses his power of government—and enters the ditch and disappears (great disasters). Then a strong leader (man on horseback) rises and takes over the reins in Europe. However, his leadership will be of short duration before he and his followers are destroyed by the same pestilence, famine and other disasters (he disappears again.)
The Anti-Christ?
The above events seen by Van Rensburg, are very similar to the visions seen by Daniel and John of the Anti- Christ rising as world ruler after the European Union is established—a process already in progress. According to Daniel 7:25, the Anti-Christ will rule only for a short time (three and a half years). It will be a time when the world will experience horrifying disasters (the ditch becoming very wide).
The Seer admitted that his visions did not always appear in chronological order. For example, he would see a vision which would only materialise in twenty years’ time, but on the following day he sees an incident which would happen within a week. However, it has also happened that he first ‘sees’ the end of an event and later (sometimes months, and even years later) the beginning of it.
Europe Becomes A Unitary State
13th December 1918: An aloe stands in Europe and it changes to a bunch of flowers—cosmos, crown-of-honour and devil’s bush. (He said in the future Europe will stand under authority of a single government (one aloe). Although that government will look good on the surface (bunch of flowers) it will be inherently diabolical and corrupt (crown-of-honour and devil’s bush are weeds).
10th January 1919: Then there is a team of oxen in Europe led by two speckled-backed oxen and they move away. (Europe as a unitary state is lead by a motley crew).
The new world order
6th April 1919: Many poplars come in sight in Europe; then also in the Union. A Zulu beast approaches the Union from the west. Then I stand before a newly-built white house. Many small aloes are destroyed in Europe. The large trees are an avenue, they wither and go North West.
(The poplars indicate that governments in Europe and South Africa will eventually stand under the same authority—the New World Order. The Zulu will eventually become part of that system, but retain its traditional char- acter. Eventually it will only be the Afrikaner who will exist fully apart and independent (the white house). Many smaller European states, as well as some of the larger powers collapse).
The Real Struggle Still Lies Ahead
I received a long letter dealing with visions related to the end of this century from Mr. Joos Haasbroek of Pot- chefstroom. Among other things he writes: “I am not collecting this information about the Seer -I virtually grew up with it, because ‘Oom’ Boy (a bosom friend of the Seer) was married to my father’s elder sister. My uncle also told me that when visiting ‘Oom’ Klasie, he would sit and talk about the fortunes and misfortunes of nations of the world and one would think that he had travelled far and wide, but ‘Oom’ Klasie only read his Bible.
“’Oom’ Klasie joined in the Dingaan’s Day festivities on our farm Botchwick in 1924. I do not enjoy writing about future events, because as my uncle told me, the real struggle still lies ahead. My uncle passed away in March 1973, and the way things are going today, I would love to say to him: ‘Look, Uncle, something that ‘Oom’ Klasie predicted is happening!’”
On 10th March 1961 Boy Mussmann wrote to a friend in the then Southern Rhodesia. “I recall that you had previously written to me about Seer van Rensburg. You ask whether these events have already happened, or were still to happen. The Seer told me he did not give dates, for the Bible teaches us that the times and occasions are only known to the Lord. Not even the Angels in heaven know the times. But we see certain signs which indicate when events must occur. It is a pleasure for me to write to you, ‘flesh of my flesh, blood of my blood’.
“You once asked me whether the article I wrote in the Volksblad was still correct. I received many air mail letters, among others from a lady who said that her mother had moved back to the Transvaal. I wrote to her and other people, saying: Do not leave your property or sell it at giveaway prices… for as the Lord rescued us at Blood River, so it will be again.
“The signs referred to are already becoming reality and can be seen as the advent to the dark times or furnace Van Rensburg spoke about before his death. This includes the apparent collapse of Communism; the dramatic reform in South Africa; our greatest drought in memory; a new government taking over and the power of the NP being limited to the Cape only before finally disappearing from the political scene; strikes which will cripple the economy and also the spread of a world-wide disease (AIDS?) which will wipe out millions of people and for which no cure will be found.
“He also said he saw a thick wall behind which a fire raged. This was the Board of Censors. It is dark because all the candles of information have been snuffed, meaning that we are deliberately being deceived by the media—nobody knows any longer what is going on in the country and nobody dreams or sees visions any more.
“Van Rensburg said all these things would go hand- in-hand with a resurrection of racial uprisings throughout the world. It will start in Europe, he warned, and then spread throughout the rest of the world (There is a white cloth in the west (Europe) (a symbol of racial purity). The cloth opened up (people will live more openly and push racial purity into the background) and inside are white beans (beans indicate people with the same genetic characteristics—in this case, the whites) and they spread across the earth (against all expectations, white racism will increase worldwide).
At first the Westerner in Europe withheld himself from making any distinction between his white heritage and that of other nations. However, Van Rensburg said that when they become overrun by ‘aliens’, their aspirations for the ‘preservation of the whites’ cannot be stopped any longer.
Liberal intellectuals regard racism as being an abnormal, unnatural condition—a ‘disease’ which they call ‘xenophobia’, (a loathing of aliens, or foreigners).
The 19th century German philosopher, Fichte, was a rabid racist, and so was his contemporary, Hegel. During the 20th century it first was Adolf Hitler, and now the present generation of Germans, or Neo-Nazis—also known as skinhead- gangs who are terrorizing all non-German immigrants.
In Germany alone during 1992 there were 2084 attacks against, among others, black South Africans, Afghans, Romanians and Turks.
Asylum seekers
Rapport—20th December 1992): “The swell of asylum-seekers already started in the late 1970’s and with the collapse of the Berlin Wall on 9th November 1989, it grew into a tidal wave. In 1995 there was still no end to this tidal wave and between 40 000—50 000 asylum-seekers crossed into Germany. Holland, England and France face the same problems and the authorities cannot handle it any longer. The German Government cannot keep up with the number of applications and in 1994 they already had a backlog of over 1-million.
“The spate of racial attacks were sparked off after the crumbling of the Berlin Wall of Shame when the so-called unification of Germany did not bring about the promised prosperity. The disillusioned younger generation of Germans had to stand by looking on from the sidelines as hundreds of thousands of ‘aliens’ were granted asylum and financial aid, while they could get neither work nor refuge. (The situation is identical in South Africa, and nothing has come of the promised “peace, prosperity and harmony”, and things are looking just as grim as the Seer had predicted).
“Young Germans are frustrated and rebellious for being openly betrayed and sold out to alien parasites by their leaders, and for these reasons these ‘aliens’ are being attacked daily by German youth gangs.
“However, it is not so much these attacks which are causing problems to the church, German scholars and sociologists—it is that ‘echo of approval found among the silent masses.’ It is also disconcerting to the liberal thinkers that such a spate of unstoppable racial hatred is building up all over Europe. And the question no one dares ask—as the answer may be too shocking—does Europe find itself on the eve of a new glorification of race?”
During the same year (1992) America experienced its worst racial violence in history when whites were openly attacked in the streets of San Francisco by bloodthirsty Negroes in a week-long orgy of violence, and their businesses, cars and houses were plundered and trashed.
White Americans are literally fleeing from states such as Florida, Washington, Oregon, Montana and California which are being overrun by Negroes and other blacks from Africa. During a period of three years (1992—1995), 3.7 million whites left California, while some 3.5 million non-whites settled there during the same period.
An Ominous Prophecy
In the last years before his death, the old Boer prophet was often visited by people from far and wide, who wanted to know: “What lies in the future? Will it become worse for our nation, or is there hope for a free, independent state? Then Van Rensburg would sit staring in front of him and eventually reply cryptically: ”one day the nation will take matters into its own hands, and those who refuse to get out, will be trampled to death. A great silence will prevail just before the storm breaks, which will be violent, but of short duration. A bucked filled with blood will topple over and our flag will be dipped it in, after which this blood flag will be hoisted over a free nation.”
This is truly an ominous prophesy. For those who do not share the Boer’s struggle for freedom, these words spell out serious problems. For the Boer it means the unavoidable bloodbath to gain that freedom which has always eluded him. But Van Rensburg said the nation must first bend its knee before God and be willing to walk every inch of that road. He also warned them that the road was going to be very tough, because: “Before we get our own (Boer) republic, a bitter struggle awaits us. During the 1914 Rebellion, we (the Boers who would not associate themselves with Government policy) had to go through a sieve. This time we will go through a furnace. At that time I told you I see darkness ahead, because when I sat on my horse, I could not see its mane; but in the difficult time ahead it will be so dark that I cannot see my hand before my eyes.
Pigs In Johannesburg
Van Rensburg warned that large-scale reform, revolution and chaos would break out here at the same time the Soviet Union began to crumble.
It has happened exactly as he had predicted!
One day he asked his eldest son, Kallie, to write down the following vision: I see a pig hanging on a hook in England. It disappears from there and reappears in Johannesburg, after which sausage was made from it. The sausage is draped over the chairs in Parliament in Cape Town, and I ate some of it. (The Seer represents the Boer nation). The sausage hanging in Johannesburg is confiscated by legislation and it indicates that it is a justified case. We do not rob or steal; we only take back what we have received from the Lord through blood and sacrifice, the Seer said. Then he interpreted the vision more fully: The pigs (capitalists) in Johannesburg will—in co-operation with the enemies of the Boers overseas —confiscate his property (the sausage), but it will be of no use to them, for the Boers will regain power with help from God (the sausage draped over the chairs in Parliament). At the same time the mines and minerals will become State property and all the old Republican farms fall back to, and are distributed among my people.
Annexations
As far back as the Boer nation can remember, everything he worked for, everything he discovered and everything he built up, was confiscated by others. The after-effects are still running strongly through our modern history. It is a well-known fact that white South Africans are the poorest Westerners, despite the fact that we have a wide variety of natural resources and mineral riches.
When going back to that first annexation, and going through history step by step, one begins to realise just how much have been taken from them. The goldfields are not controlled by them today, but by the Jewish financial giant, Anglo-American, the English and Americans.
But according to the Seer’s interpretation of the vision, it does seem if there will be an end to foreign interference of many years and reckless usurping of land and mineral rights by foreign robber gangs. He also says the Afrikaner who rises up from the dust this time, will not crawl before the enemy, hat in hand again, as he did 90 years ago at Vereeniging.
Nationalization will take place, but not by the ANC or Communists as most South Africans fear. They will initiate it, but (if ‘Oom’ Klasie is correct) there will be a sudden change and the Boers will be sitting on top! Diamond, gold, copper, silver and tin mines—everything will be nationalized, the foreign parasites will be driven out of the country, or they will leave of their own accord. They will be dispossessed and all their fixed properties such as farms, houses and land will fall back to the Boer nation—as it should have been right from the beginning.
On one occasion ‘Oom’ Klasie openly named these ‘robber gangs’ who had taken everything for themselves in South Africa: the British money-barons, or ‘pigs’ as he called them. In a letter to Mr. H.J. Dreyer of Senekal he wrote: The disappearance of the speckled beast in Europe (the seeming crumbling of Communism) followed by the earth going black here is a sign that the time is coming—the time for great reform and revolution.
Even in these modern times, South Africa is fairly isolated and far from the European continent. Thus it remains an expensive exercise to come and wage war here, and these circumstances could also be the main reason why South Africa will not immediately be involved in any world conflict, because during that time the whites in South Africa will have their own problems; being trampled on and dominated by blacks and Indians in every walk of life, large-scale violence, unemployment and poverty. Dur- ing wars against black tribes in the distant past, the whites had a right to defend themselves, but today they are compelled by the church and Communist authorities to passively sit looking on while being stripped of everything that is precious and sacred to them—own flag, language, culture, education and religion.
The black horse
28th January 1926: I see a fat black horse and then a dirty-yellow one. The black horse spells trouble with the ‘Kaffir’; the dirty- yellow one spells trouble with the ‘coolies’. A gun appears out of India and is so close to me that I am looking down the barrel—indicating a lot of trouble with the ‘coolies’ during those dark times.
The Seer also told Boy Mussmann that for us who know (the loyal Afrikaners) the trouble with the ‘Kaffir’ will not be quite as bad as was the case with whites in our neighbouring states. He then told him about the red flag coming out of the north and that the earth there will be overturned with the plough. (At first Communism will have its greatest influence in our northern neighbouring countries; the earth is overturned with the plough. It was the case when the Belgian Congo gained independence at the time, followed by a terrifying period of bloodshed and chaos.
The Red Flag
Communism was but the forerunner of the present New World Order: ‘In each and every one of us there is a piece of God’ they said, ‘which is why all differences must disappear and we must aspire towards one person, one vote, one world government and particularly one world religion; for this is the only way in which we can achieve a lasting world peace and Utopia. (According to Allan Boe- sak, Pretoria will be the capital of this ‘New Paradise’!).
(Allan Boesak was a pastor of the Mission Reform Church of Africa until he became involved in leftwing politics and was a co-founder of the United Democratic Front movement, a cover-up for the then banned ANC. At the moment he is on trial on charges of fraud and theft, having skimmed off large amounts of money donated by Danchurch, a Danish organisation, for the ‘upliftment of the disadvantaged’).
Van Rensburg not only predicted the fall of Communism in Russia, but also added that it would continue to exist here in Africa, causing unprecedented violence in our country: A red flag comes out of the north and the earth there is ploughed under, but I see a second red flag emerging (it will be resurrected). Then I saw teams of black oxen (Kaffir) being yoked up (they are organising) and they look straight in our direction. (They are preparing to start trouble). The grass catches alight (violence breaks out) and the fire comes in our direction.
We hear and read: ‘Communism is dead’ almost on a daily basis, but Van Rensburg asked “where is its grave?”, because he ‘saw’ how it was gaining new momentum in Southern Africa.
Peter Hammond of the Frontline Fellowship confirmed this in his 1992 report on events in Eastern Europe. According to him, Communism is all but dead, for, he said, the Communists operating in Macedonia, Bulgaria, Rumania, Hungary, Czechoslovakia, Poland, Lithuania, etc., are the same ones that have been persecuting Christians for decades; the same comrades who have, for decades, been responsible for mass murders and persecution. Even the KGB is still in control of affairs. Proof of this is the fact that the Russian Federation retained the hammer and sickle emblem on the athletes’ sports clothing during the 1992 Olympic Games in Barcelona. “But the South African flag and National anthem was unacceptable during the same event…”
Jean Raspail—A Modern Times Prophet?
The Seer van Rensburg was not the only one who foresaw the uncontrolled influx of blacks into the Western World. A noted French author, Jean Raspail, accurately predicted and described this course of events in his sensa- tional novel, Le Camp des Saints (The Camp of the Saints), publish in 1973 by Robert Laffont-Fixot, S.A..
The following extract is from the Publisher’s Note in the lastest American edition published in 1995 by The Social Contract Press:
“The novel alternately has been praised as a clear minded view of the future or, contrarily, vilified as ‘racist’. Individ- uals have even been attacked for merely being familiar with it…We are indebted to Jean Raspail for his insights into human conditions, and for being 20 years ahead of his time…”
In an Afterword to this edition Jean Raspail confessed: “I wrote The Camp of the Saints ten years ago (after) one morning in 1972, at home by the shore of the Mediterranean, I had a vision:
“They were there! A million poor wretches, armed only with their weakness and their numbers, overwhelmed by misery, encumbered with starving brown and black children, ready to disembark on our soil…I literarily saw them saw the major problem they presented, a problem absolutely insoluble by our present moral standards. To let them in would destroy us. To reject them would destroy them. During the ten months I spent writing this book, the vision never left me…I came out of it totally exhausted, almost unrecognizable even to myself. I have written other novels since, but this one, I must say seemed to have been dictated by an otherworldly force, by an inspiration from on high I wouldn’t dare name.
“Only after I had finished the last chapter and reached the point of no return in the final confrontation between us and them, did I woke from the horror and became myself again…”
Since 1973 this much talked-about novel had already sold 3 million copies worldwide. An Afrikaans translation by Naomi Morgan was published in 1990. The cover text of the Afrikaans edition makes chilling reading:
“By the year 2000 there will be 7000 million on earth, out of which only 900 million will be white. This fact compelled the author, Jean Raspail to sketch a frightening vision of the future.
“It is a futuristic story, but Raspail’s description of thousands of blacks streaming into Europe (particularly France) to find refuge there, almost reads like the front pages of today’s newspapers.”
( It takes place in the early future (the 1990’s). About a million Third-world men, women and children board dilapidated boats on a ‘Last Chance Armada’ to the white man’s paradise—a peace-loving convoy who will knock on the doors of abundance and prosperity).
“Their only weapons are their numbers and the sympathy they invoke—the ideal weapon. It hits the fragile Western conscience; must one give in to deep feelings of compassion and drown oneself in the process, or must one use force against mere weakness? The government is in a quandary, the moral and religious authorities are caught in their own trap, and lastly, the nation in the grip of a storm in which our last shaky and confused Western values clash and shatter to pieces in an almost comical manner.”
On the jacket of the English publication the question is asked: “Is it an allegory—or a prophecy? Is Raspail’s apocalyptic vision really the way in which the world will end for the white man?… This gripping novel will anger some readers, but nobody will be able to forget it or remain untouched.”
Concerning conditions in our own country, the following was written:
“This is fiction which has already become a nightmarish reality in South Africa during the 1990’s, with its 30 million (now 45 million) blacks and 5 million (now 3 million) whites. Third-world hordes are streaming into the cities and towns in their pitiful countless numbers. Already peace is the catchphrase for every crime imaginable. Our government, even our moral and religious authorities are capitulating.”
This ‘racist novel’ for which Raspail was vilified, doomed and even ridiculed at the time, is now becoming a terrifying reality.
The Dirty-Yellow Horse—Oriental Forces
The dirty-yellow horse points to the Indians in our country, as well as their country of origin. In the 340-year history of South Africa, Indians have never played any significant role. They have only now started coming to the foreground and making demands during the last decade.
They have particularly established themselves in the sports arena where they blow the whistle and penalise players left, right and centre. The Indian has also realised that the Boers are very tolerant and will make sacrifices as long as nobody interferes with their ‘sports-god.’ However, the omission of the Boers from the sports and all other areas has only just begun. They have already been warned: no lily-white team will ever again compete internationally, for we are now living in the Third World and words such as norms, merit or qualifications do not exist in the vocabularies of the third-worlders.
In one of the Seer’s visions which was reported in the media, we get a clear prophesy of the far-reaching influence the Indians would have in South African society.
According to somebody who was interviewed by a reporter, his family held a dinner Party in Witbank to celebrate his great-grandfather’s 99th birthday in 1963. During the meal somebody made a remark about Bronkhorst- spruit (a small town between Pretoria and Witbank). His great-grandfather heard the remark and wanted to know from one of the grand-children whether the heathen temple had been built at Bronkhorstspruit.
This stunned everyone at the table and some even laugh- ed, as it was still during the premiership of Dr. Verwoerd before he was assassinated, and a very prosperous period for the conservative Afrikaner.
Replying to the question where he got that notion, the old man said: “Seer van Rensburg prophesied years ago that such a temple would be build at Bronkhorstspruit before the divided Boer nation would unite again…”
Thirty years later Dr. Hennie Senekal, a retired church minister and erstwhile Mayor of Bronkhorstspruit, proudly announced that one of the largest Buddhist temples was being built in this same town and would become one of the greatest tourist attractions in the country.
It is also the first Buddhist temple on the African continent and built at a cost of R300 million in the suburb of Cultura Park, Bronkhorstspruit. The guest house, which would serve as temporary temple, was completed in 1995 at a cost of R34 million while the other structure was being built. Most of the building materials and tiles were imported from Taiwan; so also the massive steel bell weighing 6 tons which would be rung by 20 campanologists (bell-ringers). The inside is adorned by a huge golden statue of Buddha with hundreds of smaller statues lining the walls.
While the main temple was under construction, numerous marble statues and pillars stood in the garden of the guest-house and which would be used to decorate the main temple.
A well-known Afrikaans architectural firm was assigned to draw the building plans.
There is no church complex in South Africa which is comparable to this idol temple.
The Muslim influence has been increasing in the country. They regard Christians as their biggest enemies, and should a Muslim befriend a Christian, the latter is an enemy of his god, Allah. So ties of friendship are taboo. Yet ironically the world’s largest Islamic propaganda centre is situated here in Durban, South Africa!
The Boer leaders are probably the only ones in the world who sit watching passively while foreigners, who have no part of their national symbols, can stand up during a news conference and announce:
“Away with your national anthem! Away with your flag!”
However, ‘Oom’ Nicolaas’ warning rings mercilessly in the ears:
A second red flag emerges. The grass catches alight and spreads southwards. Then I see teams of black oxen being yoked up (they are organising) and they look in this direction … This will be times of bloodshed, teason, fraternal quarrels, conflict and severe tribulations ¼ Times when the Boer’s hats are pulled over their eyes and their heads hang low.
The spate of violence, rebellion and revolution which has been plaguing Africa for the last 30+ years, has already spread here. It forms part of the Great Revolution which has been instigated by the Communists (the red flag).
On 2nd February 1990 we entered the final stage of capitulation to Communism, which has been very carefully orchestrated over a period of many years to prepare us for the final surrender.
Spiritual Leader From the Eastern Cape
Should the old great-grandfather have been correct on his 99th birthday, this recalcitrant Boer nation will not come to its senses before another 3—4 years’ have passed to reunite. And by that time the darkness will already have descended over us.
However, Van Rensburg said that this time they will not rely on the fleshy arm of their leaders again. Nonetheless a spiritual leader who will unite and arm the nation, will rise in the Eastern Province. Although Van Rensburg did not say how this man would arm them, I believe it will be spiritual as well as physical.
The man in the brown suit also steps forward at this stage. On 15th June 1920, Van Rensburg had a vision of England being conquered by Germany in a future battle; a well-built Boer in a brown suit will play an important part in this victory.
It is the same Boer who will come here to address and pacify the people at Lichtenburg.
This shows another clear parallel between the oppression which the Boer nation finds itself in and the experiences of the Israelites when they were subjected to op- pression by God because of their disobedience.
During such times, strong leaders and God-fearing people rose from the nation to lead them to freedom—and without exception that freedom was gained through Divine intervention.
Think of Moses, Samson, Gideon, David, Andries Pre- torius and Charl Cilliers.
No other modern nation in the world has the testimony of a Blood River or Vegkop (to name but two) in their history. And as was the case with Israel, it was the spiritual leader, Charl Cilliers, rather than the warrior, Andries Pretorius, who armed the ill and trapped Voortrekkers in preparation for the looming battle against the advancing Zulus.
CHAPTER 22
Reform—the Time of Darkness
Van Rensburg prophesied the total reform which would take place in the country before the Boer nation would get its own republic. Mr. Boy Mussmann wrote that ‘Oom’ Klasie told him: “Before we get our own Republic, there must be total reform; reform as in the days of Nehemiah (Nehemiah 5). Not only in politics, but also in the churches, because even in my church (‘Nederduits’ Reform Church) there are many wrongs. Yes, it will be as in the time of Nehemiah who did not receive a salary from the Governor for 12 years to assist his people to rebuild Jerusalem.”. He added: “During the time of reform, virtually nothing in the country will be right; either in Government, nor in our churches. I see the Union overturned by the plough; what was above is now below and the masters have now become the servants. Total reform will also occur in general society…”
We already know the reform process brought about by F.W. De Klerk and the Church. But what ‘reform’ had Nehemiah in mind an why was it necessary?
Amos 4:6 says: “My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge; because thou hast rejected knowledge, I will also reject thee, that thou shalt be no priest to me: seeing thou hast forgotten the law of thy God, I will also forget thy children”.
In Nehemiah 5 Israel was ordered to separate themselves from their enemies, return to God and confess their sins against Him, but they refused and had to bear the consequences: “We have had to borrow money to pay the king’s tax on our fields and vineyards ¼ we have to subject our sons and daughters to slavery ¼ our fields and our vineyards belong to others…”
And in Neh. 13 God told Israel in what they have sinned against Him and how He expected them to reform: “On that day the Book of Moses was read aloud in the hearing of the people and there it was found written that no Ammonite or Moabite should ever be admitted in the assembly of God …. When the people heard this law, they excluded from Israel all who were of foreign descent ¼ In those days I saw men in Judah treading winepresses on the Sabbath and bringing in grain and loading it on donkeys ¼ and selling them in Jerusalem on the Sabbath to the people of Judah. I rebuke the nobles of Judah and said to them, ‘What is this wicked thing you are doning—desecrating the Sabbath day?’ ¼ Moreover, in those days I saw men of Judah who had married women from Ashdod, Ammon and Moab ¼ I rebuked them and called curses down on them. I beat some of the men and pulled out their hair. I made them take an oath in God’s name and said: ‘You are not to give your daughters in marriage to their sons, nor are you to take their daughters in marriage for your sons of for yourselves. Was it not because of marriages like these that Solomon king of Israel sinned?’”
The Afrikaner does not really know why reform must take place, or what it boils down to. He blindly agrees and hopes for the best. He allows everything to be taken from him and everything to be changed. He prefers doing nothing to stop it, for it may be ‘offensive.’
This total reform also links up with the vision of the pork sausages hanging over the chairs in Parliament. South Africa is rich in minerals and precious metals and this is the prize everyone is fighting over. However, it belongs to the Boer nation and will remain with them, the Seer assured his people. The Boer is solely responsible for everything that is happening to him now. Over the years he was made to believe that he is inferior, and to blame for the misery of the blacks. He believed it as he believed in peace and prosperity if he relinquished his power and everything else.
However, things only became worse. The racial question is still unsolved and meanwhile violence continues spilling across our borders. Van Rensburg had this to say: I see the State carriage travelling through Taungs, (a black area where thousands of blacks reside and was well-known to Van Rensburg) leaving deep tracks. He repeated that the Government of the day would experience a lot of trouble with the ‘Kaffir’.
According to other visions in this connection, it seems that secret agendas emanating from America, England, the ANC/SACP alliance and liberal Afrikaners to destroy the handful of Boers, will come to nothing.
The Seer’s Timetable
Glancing through the Seer’s timetable since the official abolishment of Apartheid (vision: 9/1/15) it is astonishing how accurately he predicted events. Revolution, violence and rebellion will break out in the country (1/8/14); ‘necklace’ murders are committed on a large scale (13/9/14—This particularly cruel and diabolical method, invented by ANC members, entailed the intended victim’s hands to be tied with wire; a tyre placed around his/her neck, soaked with petrol or diesel fuel and then set alight. While the victim suffered a slow and agonizing death, his/her tormentors would scream and dance around him/her in a demented manner, often poking at him/her with sticks or hurl stones at him/her). At this time the Soviet Union will crumble (1/8/14). Then the SEVENTH LEADER of the National Party appears on scene (1/8/14), but he will be a traitor, because Van Rensburg saw him as a clean-shaven young man (9/1/15). He also rejects the principles of the NP (13/9/14—the sole of my shoe comes off).
Communism now also comes strongly to the foreground (9/1/15—the sickle bends) and during that time of chaos and confusion, the Afrikaner is sitting in sackcloth and ashes (his hat is pulled over his eyes); he sacrifices everything, even his precious cultural heritage is left behind (9/1/15—wagons flee past me). And the loyal Afrikaners who bravely prepared for the struggle, offer no resistance; they, too, are dismayed and without hope—(9/1/15—horsemen, in other words, men who were ready for war, stand helplessly looking on at the passing, fleeing wagons). But there are also a number of so-called ‘true Afrikaners’ who are involved in backhand- ed wangling with the traitors of the nation for the sake of lining their own pockets (8/1/15). A moderate Communist-inclined leader (13/9/14—with half-long horns—Mandela, takes over the reins. However, he has many problems, for his followers are war-minded (13/9/14—savage red cattle are with him). After this, the bloodiest period in our history begins—hundreds of innocents are murdered in their houses (9/1/15—dappled white horses (sly murderers) appear before the house and I see a hat with a band of mourning cloth around it).
A very important Communist dies during this time—Joe Slovo? (21/1/15)—the red mule drops dead).
Illegal immigrants and squatters stream into the country (10/1/15—a dark blanket approaches us in the footpath). The black tribes in Africa are involved in an intense struggle, but this is kept secret by the leaders and the media (12/1/15—I see mixed-up people fighting, but a white canvas covers them).
The present situation here, as well as in the rest of the world confirms that the Seer van Rensburg’s timetable is swiftly approaching a great and final crisis.
According to that timetable, the blacks will first ‘disappear’, after which the jingoes and English will flee:
We are going to have more trouble with the ‘Kaffir’, for years ago, shortly after the War I saw a small ‘Kaffir’ rising halfway out of the earth. Then I had another vision. I saw he had grown into a mighty warrior who now appeared fully out of the earth, and the shadow of the spear and shield he held above his head, fell right across the land. This is far in the future, then he disappears into fog. But before that time I also saw darkness descending down over the land. My advice is, fight, even if you do so with your backs to the wall!
He also saw the English leaving Johannesburg for England; “they stand on the wagon (aeroplane), clad only in shirts and trousers, without jackets, hats or shoes. In other words, they leave the country as they entered it. I then opened my Bible and read Exod. 14:13. You see, this is the word of God and as long as the world exists, there will never be another enemy in Africa to wrong us. the less chance there is for our people to think how these things can still happen, the greater is the miracle created by God to return us to being a faithful nation and show the Strong Arm which fed and watered the Israelites in the wilderness.”
Jer. 32: 20-21 tallies surprisingly closely with this: (My God) which hast set signs and wonders in the land of Egypt, even unto this day, and in Israel, and among other men; and hast made thee a name, as at this day; and hast brought forth Thy people Israel out of the land of Egypt with signs, and with wonders, and with a strong hand, and with a stretched out arm, and with great terror. (Also compare the Seer’s prophesy re: the Spectre of Terror).
The discord and violence which broke out among the black population groups about a decade ago and which was kept under control by a state of emergency by Mr. P.W. Botha, is still rife, and the militant factions studiously ignore the ANC’s desperate efforts to bring about peace and reconciliation. The open enmity of blacks towards each other, towards whites and the moratorium on the death penalty, is no deterrent. It confirms what the Seer said about the spear and the shield held above the black warrior’s head. The shadow falls across the land, in other words, the violence will affect the whole country. But then the warrior disappears into the fog. He will disappear to where he will be no further problem to the Boer nation. How this will happen, the Seer prophesied that God will create a miracle which will finally free the Boers of his enemies.
However, in the same breath he also warned his people against Communism, adding that this was the source of all our problems with the blacks. The Communists plan to use them as cannon fodder in the planned revolution. Blacks allow themselves to be misused because they have been promised a great ‘reward’: prosperity, nationalization, a luxurious Utopia and the enslaving of whites. These empty ‘promises’ urge the blacks on to unprecedented hate and violence.
The violence which we are experiencing in the country today, has come from a long way back and we are only beginning to feel what was the order of the day during the 1960’s in the rest of Africa.
Black On Black Violence
During my visit with the late ‘Oom’ Paul Prinsloo (July 1991) we sat in front of his house in the suburb of Eloffsdal, Pretoria, discussing the Seer. He suddenly lean- ed over and said: “There is a vision which I have not told you about, because I don’t know whether you should write about it in your book.” After much wheedling and pleading he finally spoke about it: “The Seer first had a vision about a big black with a spear emerging from the ground, after which he saw the warrior’s shadow across the land. Well, on another occasion he saw a number of blacks emerging from the grass. They all had guns and all the guns were trained on the Seer (the Afrikaner nation). Just as he thought they were about to shoot him, they turned away to where other blacks were running. The Seer thought it meant blacks warring on blacks again (the Seer had a vision while in Boksburg prison on 15th February 1915 which links up with the above vision: The prison cells are all open and the lines are full of clean washing—criminals are freed and many of them occupy privileged positions. On the northern side there are ‘Kaffir’ armed with guns, but I only see their legs. This is a clear indication of Mkhonto we Sizwe (MK), the military wing of the ANC. The fact that he can only see their legs means he does not know how well-armed they are. He saw two railway carriages to the north and one was painted brown (brown is the colour of the Afrikaner, and according to the Seer, his beloved people will be forced to play second fiddle during those sad times. THEN PRESIDENT KRU- GER CAME IN SIGHT. (this reference to President KRUGER’s face means that events described in the vision correspond with events during the Kruger-era, when a handful of Boers had to fight against an overwhelming super-power for three years under terrible conditions to save themselves from extinction).
Under A Black Government
One night, while in prison (1916) ‘Oom’ Klasie dreamt what would happen to his people when they found themselves under a black Goverment and without a true leader. He saw himself (the Boer nation or Nationalists) walking on his socks—this means there is no longer a Boer Government.
But at the same time they have no guide because their leader left them in the lurch by resigning:
It was shortly before daybreak. (South Africa enters a new era). Leaves—they look like poplar—appear out of thin air. (Preparations are going ahead for an election). At first they were just a spot (prior to the election it will be dark and violence and bloodshed will erupt). until they increase and the air is full of leaves. (The election takes place (April 1994) and everybody, except the ‘maize leaves’, or ‘loyal Afrikaners’, votes). All the leaves disappear. (The next planned elections (1999?) been postponed or cancelled and the situation of the Boers worsens day by day).
However, in two other visions ( 10th and 12th July 1923) the Seer saw the many blessings God had given South Africa, but the nation became faithless towards God, and because they show no remorse for their sins, things will become worse for them. Then they will trample each other and fight as never before. And when their leader, who bent his knee before Europe (vision of 26th February 1922) in order to hand his nation over into alien hands, (A Boer in the Union is pulling off his shoes and kneeling before the west to give in to their demands), suddenly resigns, he will finally turn his back on his dismayed and humiliated nation.
When I reached the door, my children came out of the house (the National Party leadership is taken over by a younger genration—the new leader, Marthinus van Schalkwyk, is only 36 years old ,but this youngster and his followers have no further interest in the Boer nation, because they ‘leave the house’)
Then: I walk to my stable and while walking, my head seems to give a jerk. (This is the time when the nation will wake up and realise that he has been robbed of everything and he finds himself sitting in sackcloth and ashes). I look up, the sky is clear and immediately black letters with a silvery glow appear from South East to South West. The whole sky seems to fill with letters; then I saw specific numbers: 14376 before everything vanished.
According to the Seer’s granddaughter, Mrs. Ria James, this refers to an important invasion operation which took place in Angola on 14-3-76. However, it may also stands for fourteen-thousand-three-hundred-and-seventy-six days. This is exactly 40 years, forty years of National Party ruling (1948-1988) before the SEVENTH LEADER appears on scene in 1989 (vision: 1/8/14), but Van Rensburg said he will be a traitor, because he saw him as a clean-shaven young man (vision: 9/1/15), and under his presidency everything the National Party stood for vanished into thin air (before everything vanished).
The rest of the vision: In a valley in front of my door I saw a number of cattle; two red bulls, one with a blaze (ANC and Inkatha) were fighting). The one with the blaze jumped away, ran some distance and fought again. I am not worried about the fighting. (The struggle between the Communists (ANC) and In- katha continues, but the Boer nation ignores them).
Two houses are burning in the northwest. A third one has already burnt and only the walls are left standing. (Refers to the unrest, violence and arson which will occur during the years after the elections. When I woke up, I saw a man dressed in grey, (a spiritual messenger who will call the nation to the struggle) the doors are wide open and he leads me to the wall of the large door where he stopped. On the western side there is no fort, the doors are open. (We enter a period of unprecedented peace and prosperity—a time when burglar proofing and locks will not be necessary).
Deproclamation of the Alluvial Diggings
An important event took place near Lichtenburg on 15th May 1993, fulfilling another of ‘Oom’ Nicolaas’ visions: 10th June 1922: The weather is misty in the east and a new rifle approaches with butt forward. The diggings are washed out but the people have left. At Johannesburg lies a large mound of soil, but no one is to be seen. The diamond diggings are washed out but nobody is there. (The mines are closed). Trains and cars have stopped on the rises as they have run out of fuel.
I will concentrate only on the ‘washed-out diamond diggings and the people who have left them’:
In March 1993 I received the following invitation from Mr. Jan Schutte, curator of the Lichtenburg Museum: “The Lichtenburg World Museum Day festival will be celebrated at Bakerville (a small town some 20 km from Lichtenburg) on 15th May 1993, as the Deproclamation this year will close an era in the history of one of the world’s richest diggings.” The festivities include digging demonstrations, diamond rush and sorting, as well as donkey rides. During the festivities on 15th May I learned that the diamond field would be privatised after Deproclama- tion and the handful of diggers who were still eking out a living there, would have to seek other employment.
The most astounding aspect of this vision is that Van Rensburg had already seen the shut-down of these diggings almost four years before the diamond fields were discovered at Lichtenburg! It also gives some indication of the timetable when some of the events, written down by Dr. Rossouw and others, could be expected: From the above vision we can deduce that the ‘big strike in Johannesburg’ will only take place after the diggings have been shut down and the diggers have left.
The Deproclamation of the diggings came into force on 31st December 1993, and sooner or later a large-scale strike in Johannesburg can cause trains and cars to come to a standstill!
A Terrible Drought
The Seer said: Parliament is in session when trouble starts here and there is drought in our country—a devastating drought.
In 1991-1992 South Africa experienced its worst drought in history. Never before was so much State aid granted to the drought-stricken areas. Parliament can be convened with human intelligence, but droughts come from the Lord, according to the Seer. Christians believe poverty and these droughts must be seen as punishment, for the Bible clearly states one may not pull in the same yoke with the heathen. They say as long as we have blacks, Hindus and Muslims in Government, we will continue to be punished.
It is also asked, how does a Christian nation govern hand in hand with the Muslim, the Hindu and ancestral spirits without betraying his Redeemer?
I see merino rams (cabinet) in session with their heads put together, as there are extremely urgent matters to be discussed.
These ‘urgent’ matters must mean some great crisis for the Government of the day. This is the first vision of this kind Van Rensburg has had.
During this time I see a much bigger strike than that of 1922 and all the trains in the Union, except the train between German West and Prieska, are at a standstill. Their crews are also on strike.
Concurrent with the strike, Seer van Rensburg also saw a massive power failure in Gauteng (formerly PWV, ab- breviation for Pretoria/Witwatersrand/Vereeniging triangle); some people will still have firewood for cooking purposes, while others will have to eat cold food.
1st August 1917: In the direction of Johannesburg lies a large pile of dried wood, about 100 yards in diameter. A table is set and a dish of cold (dried) crushed maize is on the table, followed by a dish of cold porridge.
The strikes will expand and have serious consequences for the economy. According to the Seer, nothing will bring an end to the strikes. Continuous demands for higher salaries will be made until businesses cannot afford them any longer, and they will be forced to close. This mass action is part of an organised campaign by the Communists to make the country ungovernable in order to take over completely.
Today the ANC/SACP/Cosatu alliance has so much power that it would present no problem to call a nationwide strike which would cripple transport and the economy. However, the railway line between Prieska and Nam- ibia will remain in operation, according to the Seer.
Van Rensburg paints the following picture: All the trains and motor vehicles in the Union are at a standstill at that time. Only the train from Prieska will be running, as our cannons and guns will be coming from Lüderitzbucht. (Lüderitz Bay).
From here events start gaining momentum and begin to speed up to the end of the old man’s visions.
The Krause Document
The above events are confirmed in the Krause Document confiscated by General Smuts in 1942, for fear that should the Seer’s visions become public knowledge, it would incite rebellion against the Government.
The above-mentioned nationwide strike will go ahead in 1999 just prior or after the second ‘democratic’ election, which would be the time when Afrikaners would finally turn their backs on the Government. The Seer said things would go very badly for the strikers, as he had seen ‘the pig hanging from a hook in Johannesburg’. Then revolution would break out and in the confrontation that follow the Afrikaners would take back the country.
The Seer told ‘Oupa’ Krause: “However, before that happens, the English, Jews and jingoes will not only use the riches of our country to oppress us; they will also incite the Indians, black Communists and liberal Coloureds to lay charges against, and murder us.
“Some white policemen and members of the Defence force will also take part in this persecution, and in return many false promises will be made to them. A father will betray his son, a sister her brother and a friend will betray the one who trusted him. The renegade chiefs will go to England where they will be plotting in secret with the English, getting their plans in order.
“Then, when we least expect it, they will strike—we will be disarmed, brought before Court on trumped-up charges and imprisoned immediately. You see, these plans were already in the pipeline long before a black government came into power. Many of our people will be killed in the intense struggle which will follow. For that reason we must never surrender our weapons; we must settle our differences and unite if we want to save ourselves from going under.
He then explained how we will get help from Germany: “When these things start, a man rises up in Germany who will take over the reins. They have been preparing in secret for this takeover for many years. And the arms that Germany will produce will be of such a nature that many countries will be afraid of attacking them.
“They also become liberated, regain all their states in Europe and become so powerful that I see it (Germany) seated at the head of the table just after the Third World War ends. England’s place is empty as it isn’t a nation any longer. And now Germany gets an opportunity to avenge all its men who were hanged after a war (the Second World War?) and deliver the Coup de Gracè to England. Yes, it is Germany with its unbelievable weapons which will destroy the Englishman for what they had done to it (Germany) during WW2, and we also owe them…”
However, he said at this stage our people are very divided; many will resign from the security forces—military as well as police—but many will stay on to assist the English to subvert the Boers”.
The Seer also said many people in the country will claim to be staunch Nationalists (for the Boer cause), but their only aim is to strengthen the hands of the enemy against us.
Furthermore, our enemies will secretly import arms and ammunition from England and other places and hide these in secret caches around the country, and the day they are ready to attack us, they will incite the Indians, blacks and coloureds to join the uprising which they had been planning for so long. It will become a full-scale revolution in which our women and children will be exposed to the greatest danger.
“But we must not forget: many of the men in the Security Forces who are supporting us, are now being arrested and replaced with jingoes.
“However, when they are ready to attack the rebels (whites who are resisting), things will turn ugly and all their well-laid plans will be destroyed. It will be so horrific for them that they will flee, but it will not be of any use, for many will die when we—as well as German forces—retaliate. They will never be able to fight against us again.
“All those advanced secret weapons I wrote about earlier, will be used and their destructive power will be like firebombs that can destroy large cities. Smoke and fire will cover everything like a thick blanket for weeks—perhaps months—and it will become dark early in the morning, while birds will nest early. A toxic gas will also kill silently in the cities without even cracking a window pane. This will be released over port cities from German submarines and warships and it will colour the sky a shiny yellow-orange hue which will be seen daily on the horizon.
The war will not last long, but peace will only prevail once we have ‘cleaned up’ into the north. Many of the neighbouring states will then willingly reach out their hands to us…”
Two Leaders Die With Dishonour
The Seer had two visions in 1923 which are concurrent with the ‘arming’ of the Boers and the overthrowing of an existing government. Although the first date cannot be accurately pinpointed, the Seer himself described it to Mr. Lood Kirsten, furnishing interesting details of how those Mausers will reach the Boers, as well as what conditions will be like here and in Namibia.
First vision: (Yellow peach rain)
“A large dam is full of water; it is raining, all the sluices are open and the dam empties. A peach tree grows on the dam wall and peaches are lying on the ground. Crates of Mausers, still packed in grease, are being offloaded from the train. Aloes are uprooted and roll eastwards when Germans return.”
(According to the Seer’s timetable for this vision, trouble is going to break out when the ‘yellow peach’ rain starts falling. (In the early part of the century the old people always referred to the late summer rains as the ‘yellow peach’ rain—usually starting mid-February and lasting two weeks). The dam running empty means the nation will suffer financially.
Second vision: I travel to Europe and cross mountains and arrive at a place where new Mausers are hidden under boards. Some distance further is the corner of a house where two people lie covered under a sheet and they become covered with earth. A bit further there is something similar to a clock/watch with stripes, from which a ‘Vierkleur’ (the four-colour flag of the old Transvaal) emerges.
He said weapons are being collected and stored for the Boers in a mountainous region of Europe. (When he refers to a Mauser, it refers to the Afrikaner). According to the vision above which he described to Mr. Lood Kirsten, ‘the Mausers were still packed in grease when they were offloaded from the train.’ Those weapons were therefore used to overthrow the government which was referred to, because: ‘he sees only the corner of a house. The uprooted aloes further indicate that the government was violently overthrown, after which some M.P’s and other officials fled in an easterly direction (Durban?) (Compare the prophecy in Chapter 28 referring to the large number of liberals who will leave the country ‘naked’)These events will become reality when the Boers in Namibia return to South Africa.
The two corpses lying covered under a sheet means they did not die a natural death; (if they did, they would have lain in the house) they were probably fusilladed. They also receive no honourable burial, as they are simply covered—‘they are covered with earth’. They were definitely important people, otherwise he would not have ‘seen’ them—probably leading figures from the collapsed Government.
After a short passage of time and significant changes (stripes on the clock) the Afrikaner will rule under the ‘Vierkleur.’
Foreign Support For the Boer Nation
As far back as 3rd December 1918, the Seer had a vision of Westerners who would be fighting a furious battle in the far future for the retention of their white heritage; he described the campaign of rabid hatred against them, but also saw that white racism would increase worldwide.
Looking at recent events in Europe. America and South Africa where race riots occur regularly, that vision of the Boer prophet is already being fulfilled. A poll held in America during 1993, indicated that approximately 30 million white Americans classified themselves as being right- wing and racist; the majority of them also admitted being against Government policy of enforced integration and that they were secretly fighting it at every opportunity.
CNN recently did several interviews with rightwing groups in—among others—Germany, Holland and Sweden. They expressed a lot of sympathy for the cause of the Afrikaner; however, what probably struck few viewers, was the bitterness among German ranks over the ‘handing over of Namibia and Swakopmund’ to a black government by the South African Government. Their strong opposition to this move, indicates that another vision of the Seer (Germany will render military aid to South Africa in the future) suddenly does not seem so far-fetched, after all: “The South African Government had no right to cede South West Africa to a black government,” a German viewer said: “because with the surrender at the time (July 1915) it was agreed that if South Africa had no further interest in Namibia, Germany would be given the option of gaining control over it again, but we were totally ignored in this matter.”
The New Germany
The father-in-law of ‘Tant’ Bessie van Rooyen of Hen- neman was a long-standing friend of the Seer and he often told her of the visions the Boer prophet saw:
“He (the Seer) predicted the Second World War and its outcome. He said he saw Germany as a large black snake whose back is broken and paralysed (losing the war). Then Van Rensburg saw a white canvas covering (protecting) it. It lay there for a number of years and when it had healed, the canvas is removed. Now the snake lifts its head and strikes towards the east—the Wall of Shame is demolished and Germany is united again. Then Van Rensburg saw the snake strike at a woman on a throne across water and she disappears. (According to this vision, he said the Monarch (Queen Elizabeth) will lose her throne because of Germany and it seems likely that there will not be a successor).
“However, as long as the snake lies there, Van Rensburg sees our nation fighting amongst each other as never before. He also sees a red (wooden) beam pressing down on our nation and when the fighting is at its worst, dolerite rocks (bombs) fall on Johannesburg. Only then will the nation wake up and begin uniting, and just when that happens, Van Rensburg sees the red beam breaking and the snake striking at South Africa.”
After the Berlin Wall is demolished, the last purification of the Boer nation begins—by means of betrayal, strife and dissension when they will be divided into two camps. However, it will not be for too long, because the German nation will assist the Boer nation (the striking snake) and together they will triumph and live peacefully.
The Seer’s son, Kallie, confirmed this sequence of events during a newspaper interview in 1966 and added that his father not only saw what would happen during WW2, but that Germany would ignite the fires of that war and subsequently lose the war. One of the Seer’s visions also refers to this period: “I see a blue stone (Germany) rotating, then it becomes a cannon wheel which falls and shatters on the ground. The ground is dug up and becomes fertile.” He added: “After Germany loses the war, it will rise up again, but not as a formidable military force. The fruits of Germany will not be death and destruction, but economical and industrial prosperity…”
He also said that although the world despised Germany, God had not forgotten it, for he “saw a hand covering Germany under a white canvas where it was lying—the same white canvas which he saw covering the Rebels at Rooidam in 1914″.
The snake was hidden under the canvas for many years. And after WW2 had ended, there was no movement from the snake, as it took a long time for its back to heal and the canvas could be removed. God had blessed Germany during those years and made it prosper…
Germany and the Warships
Van Rensburg first sketched the history about the role played by the Boers and Germans in the capture of German West: He said when Generals De Wet and De la Rey heard that Botha and Smuts intended attacking German West to capture it for the English, General De Wet called a meeting at Koppies. He decided there: “if Botha and Smuts pass a law through Parliament that we must capture German West, we would hoist the Vierkleur and fight for a republic.”
On the day Botha introduced the draft bill to invade German West, Koos de la Rey told him not to do it: “because if England wins the war, German West will automatically fall into England’s lap. However, should England lose, then you are sending us into a war against Germany and we will have to conquer Germany.”
He put forward another very important reason: “We must not shift boundaries and shed innocent blood of a nation who have done us no harm, because during the War (1899-1902), Germany supplied the Boers with cannons and guns with which we fought the English until we could fight the English with their own guns.” An important reason why General de la Rey did not want to fight against Germany was because he believed, according to Hosea 5:10: “…that remove the bound; therefore I will pour out my wrath upon them like water.”
Now, after all these years, this important history is recalled. Part of the Boer nation will move to Prieska (or close vicinity), the Seer said. During the 1914 Rebellion the train only went as far as Prieska. A rebel who was there, said: “It helped us, who had to go to German West, to negotiate with the Germans, because during that dry year, General Botha’s troops also had to struggle along from there with horse commandos and wagons with food.”
Railway Line To Prieska
Mr. Boy Mussmann writes: “When ‘Oom’ Klasie said we would surrender (Feb 1915), the railway line had been completed as far as Upington, but there was no bridge. After surrendering, General Botha decided to take German West. (Opposition to this by the rebels was in vain). Then the Seer told an old friend: ”We are against General Botha going into German West to take it. I say we are against it, but if General Botha does not take German West, the Germans will have no reason to reclaim it again one day. General Botha cannot take German West if he does not extend the railway line from Prieska to join the German line to transport his troops and supplies.
‘So,” the Seer said: “we willthen see that the Lord’s ways are not our way. We will come into power, for I see a Boer-shoe (Boer government). I see a Boer thatched house (Boer Cabinet).
“However, before that day arrives, ‘dark times’ await South Africa when drastic reform will ‘uproot’ the land… who was the master is now the servant. During this time our leaders will attempt to establish a new government in a helter-skelter fashion. However, it will not be the long- awaited Boer republic, as there is still too much strife.”
He said he saw many Boer-lasts (on which shoes are moulded): “Now I see so many lasts on which the future republic, will be moulded. Almost all the little organisations and groups want a share in this.”
During that time the Boer nation will be fighting with its back to the wall, seemingly without hope.
Submarines At Lüderitzbucht
(Commonly known as Lüderitz Bay. However, the correct name is Lüderitzbucht).
After publication of the first edition of Voice of an Prophet, I received a telephone call from a very irate Commodore in Cape Town, lashing out at me in no uncertain terms for the ‘rubbish’ I had written in the book. His main gripe was against the section in which I dealt with the five German warships in Lüderitzbucht, which would bring arms to be sent to Prieska for the beleaguered Afrikaners when they would have their backs to the wall without any hope of help.
His opinion was: After WW2 Germany signed an agreement which forbade it to build warships. According to the Commodore, the railway line between Prieska and Lüder- itz had already been in disuse for 80 years, and it would be impossible to restore it, as it was covered under metres of desert sand in places.
I told him I was unaware of any such agreement. Furthermore, I had no first-hand knowledge of the present condition of the railway line between Prieska and Lüder- itz.
However, in the light of the Commodore’s scathing criticism, I added the following to Seer’s vision about German warships in the second edition of Voice of a Prophet: “At this stage the possibility of this happening (ships in Lüderitz, as well as the line being reopened) seems like a chimera, a vague figment of the imagination.”
I would dearly love to contact this particular Commodore today to determine whether he still considers the Seer’s visions to be ‘rubbish’, for since then, Germany has not only had warships built, but the railway line between Prieska and Lüderitz has been in use for quite some time again!
German Frigate Visits Cape Town
Die Burger of 20th November 1996 reported as follows about a German frigate which visited Cape Town:
“The flagship of a German Naval Task force, the Schles- wig-Holstein, recently visited Cape Town. Mr. Leopold Scholtz wrote that the name of the ship has a very interesting history which is connected with South Africa in more than one way.
“During a press conference on board the Schleswig- Holstein, Captain Jan Scharf, Commanding Officer of the German Task Force, (consisting of two frigates and two battle support vessels), said the ultra-modern ship was so new that it was taken into service only two months previously.
“It is the first German naval visit since 1938, when a previous ship, also the Schleswig-Holstein, was the last German warship to visit South Africa. However, it was an unofficial visit to take in fuel; the last official visit, accompanied by the usual pomp and ceremony, was at the beginning of 1935, when the light cruiser, Emden, under com- mand of Captain (later Admiral) Karl Doenitz, anchored in Table Bay. Between 1932–1934, the Emden was under command of Captain Wilhelm Canaris, who later, as Admiral, was appointed as head of the German espionage service. The Berlin external office of the South African Embassy in Germany is situated in his old house, Villa Harteneck.
“The original Schleswig-Holstein gained notoriety by firing the first shots of World War 2 through its 28 cm guns. It so happened that the ship, accompanied by a few cruisers, destroyers and minesweepers, appeared in the bay of Danzig (now Gdansk), Poland, before daybreak on 1st September 1939.
“The largest part of the Polish fleet, consisting of 4 destroyers, 6 submarines and other smaller craft, was concentrated in the port of Danzig. The Schleswig-Holstein pointed its guns at these ships and gave the signal for the bloodiest and cruellest conflict the world has ever known.
“However, as outdated the old Schleswig-Holstein was, its later namesake is super-modern, equipped with all the latest technology of the 1990’s.
“Military shipbuilding has come a long way since the old Schleswig-Holstein. And it is fitting that a common visit to Cape Town has forged a link between the old and the new.
The Lüderitz Railway Line
During the past year I have received numerous letters and telephone calls from people who were either directly involved in the upgrading of the railway line between Prieska and Lüderitzbucht, or who have visited the area to gain first-hand knowledge.
The Commodore of Cape Town was correct when he said the line was buried metres deep under sand in places. According to a lady whose son was involved in the restoration project: “only the tops of telegraph poles next to the line were visible in places, and because of the ‘shifting’ dunes in that area, workers have to patrol the line regularly to ensure that it is not covered by sand again.”
I also received a very interesting letter from Windhoek, concerning the upgrading of Lüderitz harbour: “Mr. Don Vermeulen, the man in charge of expanding and deepening the harbour at Lüderitzbucht (the Germans insist that we speak of Lüderitzbucht, under which name the town is registered), says that R50 million is being spent on upgrading—so much so—that when the work has been completed, ships lying 8 m deep at low tide and 160 m long, will be able to anchor there.
“In their latest economic report on Namibia, Huysamer Stals say this is the fourth consecutive year that Namabia’s economy has been sliding downwards. Lüderitzbucht is the only place in Namibia where the opposite is happening. Mr. Vermeulen says the fish have increased to such an extent that they were compelled to enlarge the harbour.
“He also said that the 300 km railway line is being rebuilt through the Namib desert to Keetmanshoop, adding that all railway lines in Namibia are being upgraded, including the one from Keetmanshoop to the Namibian/South African border.
“According to Mr. Vermeulen, he has no knowledge whatsoever of Seer van Rensburg, or books written about him.
“What lends more importance to the harbour and rebuilding of the railway line, is that Germany is providing the finance for these projects.
“One can rightly ask: Did the Lord decree that the fish population increase to such an extent that the harbour had to be enlarged, and the railway line be rebuilt at the same time?”
Lüderitz: Our Day of Reckoning
Mr. M.F. Botes of Merweville wrote: “During a recent trip to Namibia, my wife and I paid a flying visit to Lüderitz. On the return trip we spent the night in a hotel at Aus where we had a convivial chat to the manageress and her son, and during the course of the conversation, the railway line was mentioned. She said part of the line had been inoperable for two years, but last year the Government decided to repair and utilize it again. Apparently it was covered under so much sand that only the tops of telephone poles were protruding. The line was cleared with bulldozers and had to be repaired in some places, from what we could judge from the ballast and fillings.
“They further told us that the German Government is pouring in vast amounts of money (mainly for specific projects) which has to keep the wheels turning, so to speak. Then I told them something about the Seer van Rensburg’s visions, particularly those that had a bearing on the railway line to Lüderitz.
(Among other things, Seer said: During that time all the trains in the Union are standing still; all the motor cars are standing still. The only train line which will be operating is the one from Prieska. We will get our cannons and guns from Lüderitzbucht along that route).
“In the light of the above information, the day of reckoning for the ‘New South Africa’ is closer than we realise.”
Prieska and the Treaties
The Seer said during that time the German Government will not only honour the treaties signed between the Rebels and Germans in 1914, but: “they are also coming to help us clean up the country.”
Then five German warships will dock at Lüderitz, and Van Rensburg says they will arm us, because we will be unarmed (we will have no defence force any longer): as soon as the warships dock I see the English fleeing from Rhodesia and the Cape. The Lord will use the railway line built by Smuts and Botha to annex German West for England, to grant us total freedom and independence.
Just after the end of the Rebellion, the Seer told General Kemp: “Our work is complete. Now we must lay down our arms, for the time for realisation of our freedom is not yet at hand.” He then explained to Kemp that they would lose this round of the battle (this was before the end of WWI). “Because in the distant future another war will break out to continue this one, but division and confusion will leave the Boers without any hope, after which the war will be rekindled, and with it, hope. For that reason General Botha must take German West, otherwise later the Germans will have no reason to reclaim it, thus honouring our treaties.”
According to the Seer, the loyal Afrikaners will then drive every jingo (Anglicized Boer) out of the country.
However, before that happens, they (the Boers) would go to Prieska (or vicinity) in their thousands to be armed. Van Rensburg remarked about this rally: “I could saddle my horse and ride for days without knowing how many Afrikaners have gathered there, for when I look down from a high place for a good view, there are grey donkeys (loyal Afrikaners) as far as the eye can see.”
It seems unlikely that the Germans will come to our assistance, but let us return to the 1914 Rebellion: It was the decision of Generals Smuts and Botha to attack German West. The Afrikaners were opposed to it, but Smuts and Botha went ahead with their plans. This sparked the Rebellion by dissatisfied Afrikaners, and approximately 600 of them, under command of General Kemp, went to German West to negotiate with the Germans. English troops attempted to prevent them from reaching German West, nonetheless they got through and handed written agreements to the Germans in which they undertook to not take up arms against Germany.
But South African Government troops eventually took German West for England and in the process the agreements were forgotten.
However, Seer van Rensburg has predicted that those same agreements will once again become extremely important for the Boer nation. At a time when they find themselves in dire straits, he said, Germany will not only come to our aid and arm us, but also acknowledge the agreements.
Merino Rams and Blue Letters
In March 1955, Mr. Boy Mussmann wrote a letter to Die Volksblad, relating what the Seer had told him about four important events which still had to be fulfilled, and when they could be expected to do so: (1) Great war troubles which would plunge the country into chaos; (2) A brown- suited man who would unite the nation again; (3) a coup d’etat, and (4) Total freedom and prosperity for the Afrikaner. Mr. Mussmann wrote as follows:
“Sir—During the past few days many people have asked me about the man dressed in a brown suit as mentioned by the Seer van Rensburg. He did not say this man would necessarily be the president. Brown is our national colour. He said the man who would address the burghers from a hillock north of Lichtenburg, would be dressed in a brown suit. The Seer spoke about our future Republic… if the Seer’s predictions are correct, then we must not expect to get our Republic via the ballot box, but by means of a coup d’etat.”
(The above mentioned declaration of the Seer’s vision 40 years ago caused great upheaval and it was ridiculed by everybody; but after the April 1994 election, only an absolute fool would dare hope that whites would ever win another election in South Africa, which would enable them to declare their own republic).
“Please allow me to state which predictions are concurrent with this. He (the Seer) sees Parliament in session:
Vision: Our Parliament is in session. It has rained and the grass is green; then it becomes white and dry, and when the grass becomes green the second time, the Germans will land in German West. Then three blue letters arrive in Parliament. The merino rams (Ministers and/or cabinet members) stand with their heads together, planning and legislating. When the first blue letter arrives, the merinos become shifty. A second blue letter arrives and they begin jumping around and with the third blue letter they scatter and flee from the Cape. I see the MP’s rushing home, as they now appear as wild muscovy ducks.
Because the Seer saw blue as the German colour, the ‘blue letters’ indicate this as a sign that sooner or later there could be direct German intervention in the affairs of South Africa. It runs concurrently with the presence of German warships in Lüderitz at that stage. “The consequences will be war. There is no government in the country and total chaos and mayhem will be the order of the day.”
This ‘intervention’ will be to the benefit of the Afrikaner, but it will cause serious problems for the Government, as the arrival of the first letter will start putting pressure on it to give in to certain demands. The second letter indicates that these demands were not met and Government feels threatened, as ministers are jumping around as they will not know which way to go. The last letter indicates a possible ultimatum to the Government, followed by the coup, after which Parliament is dissolved and flees from the Cape.
Van Rensburg interpreted the further course of the vision to Mr. Mussmann: Parliament dissolves in chaos and there is no government any longer. When the ministers arrive here, we are mounted and ride in the direction of Lichtenburg. (The Boers are now ready for whatever lies ahead and they do not hesitate to act.) We gather at the hillock where a man in a brown suit (a loyal Afrikaner) addresses us.
The rest of Mr. Mussmann’s letter reads: “Seer sees hobbled horses grazing around the hillock and he says: The fact that they are hobbled horses indicates they are commando horses. They must soon be caught and saddled again. (Ready for war).
We Cannot Persuade Them
Mr. Mussmann states further: “There are other visions related this one. I asked the Seer: ‘How is it possible that we cannot convince the ‘Afrikaner-sappe’ (liberals) with the best arguments and facts?’ Seer replied: I saw their eyes—they are white like those of a blind animal and they pop out. We cannot convince them. I then asked: ‘So how will we Afrikaners ever come together then’ the Seer said: I have seen the divided nation: two pieces of wood, one with pegs in it and the other with holes. The red pickaxe goes over them. The pegs are then in the holes and the two pieces of wood join so neatly that one cannot see the joints. I then asked Van Rensburg what this pickaxe meant, which he then explained: War troubles or a furnace… it is the Lord who will unite us again with that red-hot pickaxe. And there (at the hillock north of Licht- enburg) we turn back and trek down here again just as we did in 1914, but in our own time. Western Transvaal, Southern Free State and Eastern Cape meet at Grootrivier (Orange River) where we will meet the Germans and get all the guns and cannons we will need.
The Boer Nation Is Armed
At Prieska where the Germans armed us (made possible by the railway line between Prieska and Lüderitz, originally built by Botha and Smuts), Van Rensburg sees us turning around and that our horns are sharp. (We are now a force to be reckoned with).
We turn back there and I see us rolling in the first dolerite rocks at Kimberley. (The dolerite rocks being rolled in means that Kimberley will be the first place to be bombed by the Boers). This is the start of great trouble. The Boers advance and on arrival, a number of dolerite rocks (bombs) fall. The trouble has scarcely started at Kimberley when I see the Union’s Jews, English and Jingoes (enemies) fleeing to Vereeniging where they all assemble.
Seer said: They also flee from German West, Port Elizabeth and East London to Vereeniging. The English flee from Rhodesia as far as Mafikeng, then turn towards Vereeniging.
The burghers from Northern Transvaal and Free State (those from Lichtenburg pursuing the English) surround the English there. Seer said the refugees trample each other to death at a bridge spanning Orange River (Uping- ton). Then the Germans arrive by rail to Prieska with cannons, guns and ammunition for us. He then sees the place where they are trapped is hollow like a well, indicating that their position is critical.
CHAPTER 23
Blood River Recalled
Prompted by a question why these people were fleeing, Van Rensburg replied in an interesting, but strange way: “It will be because of the Spectre of Terror which God has created in their hearts. (As it happened at Blood river on that day [16th December 1838]). Humanly speaking, they have just as many brave people as we do, but we must remember: nobody is brave before God. In reply to the question why they were fleeing to Vereeniging, the Seer said: We had to sign the humiliating Treaty at Vereeniging, as well as give up our freedom—this, after thousands of lives had been sacrificed and our country literally turned into a wilderness. Go read Isaiah 14.
Van Rensburg also issued a clear warning that before this Spectre of Terror came over the enemy, the Boer nation would have to kneel in genuine reconciliation and renounce the world as they did at Blood River. We must pray that our sun does not set (26th February 1922). Lev. 26: 15-17: And if ye shall despise my statutes or if your soul abhor my judgments, so that ye will not do all my commandments, but that ye break my covenant: I will also do this unto you: I will even appoint over you terror, consumption, and the burning ague, that shall consume the eyes, and cause sorrow of the heart; and ye shall sow your seed in vain, for your enemies shall eat it. And I will set my face against you, and ye shall be slain before your enemies; they that hate you shall reign over you; and ye shall flee when none pursueth you.
(Virtually everything the Boer sows and plants today is eaten by his enemies).
As though he sat watching a movie, Van Rensburg described to Mr. Boy Mussmann what lay in store after reconciliation of the nation: They (the enemy) burst out of the east and flee to Durban, and even when they are on board the ships, they still shoot back at us.
It is interesting that he sees them fleeing to Durban. Since early days it has been the seat of the Englishman, the Indian and Zulu, all enemies of the Boers; furthermore, it is a very liberal city that will welcome the enemies of the Boer with open arms and try to assist them. The great and final battle will take place there, but eventually our enemies will sound the retreat and leave the country, he said.
Van Rensburg said he opened his old State Bible at Exodus 14:13: And Moses said unto the people, Fear ye not, stand still, and see the salvation of the Lord, which He will shew to you to day, for the Egyptians whom ye have seen to day, ye shall see them again no more for ever.
A Warning
Mr. Boy Mussmann describes it thus: “We’re sitting in front of his little home and he says to me: Do you see, between those two aloes—they burst out due east and flee to Durban, and once they are on the ships, they still fire back at us who are pursuing them, then when they leave, I open my Bible at Exod. 14:13. Look, this is the Word of God and as long as the world exists, no Englishman or other enemy will ever be in Africa to harm us again. We signed the humiliating Treaty at Vereeniging, and it is there where we will deal the English the death-blow. A warning, not so?
After that I see brown horses coming from Durban. It is the returning burghers who had pursued the enemy. My blue roan, which I had lost during the first battle at Mafikeng on 12th October 1899, was with the brown horses. Then my shoes fell off my feet and I put on new ones…(This is the Boer republic).
In closing, Mr. Mussmann emphasized, remember, Van Rensburg said: “We get a perfect Republic from a perfect God, without a penny’s national debt. At Prieska my one shoe gets a new upper (an interim government): then I see a blue suit of clothes (Germany,) then a brown suit (Boers), then a grey suit (a Divine person), and when the burghers return from Durban after driving off the enemy, I get a new pair of shoes, a new saddle and bridle—this means a permanent Government and a totally new beginning.
After the enemy has been conquered, the Vierkleur is dipped in a bucket of blood and hoisted over this new Republic which Afrikaners have been fighting for over so many decades. It will be a Republic won through sorrow, suffering and bloodshed and for which the nation had to make many sacrifices. After that, the Seer predicted, the Boer will enjoy unprecedented freedom and prosperity.
In closing, ‘Oom’ Klasie confirmed that Northern- and Southern Rhodesia (Zambia and Zimbabwe) would become part of our Republic when the Germans come to reclaim German West.
It is interesting to note that the Seer points to a man in a brown suit as the one who will pacify the angry Boers.
A Nation Without A Leader and A Shepherd
Messrs Joos Haasbroek and (late) Paul Prinsloo were of the opinion that the ‘silence’ mentioned by Van Rens- burg, will be concurrent with the period of despondency which will descend on the Afrikaner nation after the election (April 1994). This will ring in the ‘dark period’ when matters will worsen for the Boer.
I see the Boers’ hats pulled over their eyes and their heads are hanging low. (They look very despondent). I see they have spots on their eyes like pearls (Cataracts) (They are blinded and cannot see what is really happening around them). Then I see Hosea 4;16 appearing before me: For Israel slideth back like a backsliding heifer; now the Lord will feed them as a lamb in a large place. (Now Israel will be homeless and without leader or shepherd).
“Then Van Rensburg said he saw the grass becoming dry (the advent of winter—but not necessarily the first winter after the election); he also sees the grass becoming white dry (a bitterly cold winter—as we have never experienced before)…”
The ‘silence’ and seeming peace after the election will soon be something of the past, for, according to (recently late) Mrs. Elize Botha, her father, Dr. Servaas Rossouw, often told them over dinner that Van Rensburg had seen how drops of blood had rolled across the land from North to South; much more in the north and Natal than in the Cape, and here and there fires also sprang up—this predicts trouble, murder and violence again.
(Today, since the ANC takeover in 1994, that vision has become reality. The unrest, robberies, violence and bloodshed in the Cape is not as intense as in Natal or Gauteng).
After that he saw people marching down the streets in Johannesburg (mass-action). Violence erupts in Gauteng and strikes take place all over the country: 1st October 1917: The maize-cobs are on fire in Johannesburg. 15th July 1919: People with shovels behind their backs come from the same direction (they are on strike) and when they start work, there is a large floor (negotiations that fail).
He also sees Parliament in session and it will be a long session, then added: When the first rains fall and the grass starts turning green, I look at Parliament, because trouble will start there…
The merino sheep (not only Boer leaders any longer) sit with their heads together, talking and arguing about the many problems, strikes and violence in the country.
At this stage, hostility from Indian ranks reaches a crisis over the Afrikaans language, and all efforts to maintain it have already failed, because Van Rensburg sees Afrikaans fading into the background: 24th April 1923: A yellow paper (Indian influence) appears in the Union with something written on it which fades (my writing) (the Language of the Boers—my writing and everything connected with it is now being denied and trampled upon. All the protests of the Boer fall on deaf ears and he can only watch helplessly as the official status of his language ‘disappears’).
Important news reports are deliberately and openly being witheld from the public, and there is total ignorance about events in the country, for news coverage on TV and radio is now in the hands of the enemy with strong Communist ties: There is a tunnel and the largest stream runs East (reports of unrest and bloodshed in Natal). A wide stream of blue water flows and in front it becomes a sickle (Violence in Germany becomes world news; the local media now in the hands of the Communists (the sickle).
In another vision (11th July 1919) he foresaw more serious problems: (financial crisis and the collapse of public services) in store for the new government—A sieve lies on a floor in the northeast (the April 1994 election) and sorghum husks disappear, (state-controlled institutions collapse and money becomes very scarce—gold decreases in value and/or the Stock market collapses) then another sieve appears on the floor, (another election seems inevitable).
It is at this point the three blue letters arrive in Parliament. According to Mr. Haasbroek, the Germans are now demanding their territory which we handed over to a black Government. When the last blue letter arrives, Van Rens- burg sees: A vehicle which looks like a flat-bottomed boat, landing (on the west coast).
For some or other reason Van Rensburg once again asked Mr. Mussmann not to ‘tell the people everything; in particular do not say too much about the strong German force which is coming to assist the Boers’.
Mr. Haasbroek said: “Shortly after this, ‘Oom’ Klasie saw the Government falling apart. It will not only be the NP, but also the Government that took over from them.
“The Boer nation is still divided at this stage, and it is then ‘Oom’ Klasie saw the red pickaxe go over it (the divided nation is suffering badly under the Communists, but unite under a spiritual leader). I think the Communists will initiate something…”
Now nothing can prevent the bloody conflict ahead.
Van Rensburg said he sees everyone who played a part in the surrender (whether they were actively involved, or approved of it) will be attacked by the Spectre of Terror he previously saw coming over the enemies of the Boer. He sees how these people—women in particular—fleeing from their homes, not even having time to shut doors or windows, because while they are running in terror, the curtains are blowing around in the open windows.
But for those who knew that reform would only bring about harm and humiliation, there will be no fear, for their salvation is at hand.
This period will also ring in the start of WW3.
Rivers of Blood In Eastern Europe
Van Rensburg warned that things would go horribly wrong in Eastern Europe (Russia) and on our northern borders, for when the struggle in Russia is at its peak, he sees a pot with fire in the southwest (Angola), indicating that ethnic violence will start up in all its fury again.
However, matters will be far worse in Russia, for it is there he saw the dreadful civil war, and while this is raging the world will stand by, looking on helplessly.
No doubt the war in Bosnia can be seen as one of the worst civil wars humanity has ever experienced. And there is no end in sight…
Under the banner: Hell of Bosnian war shakes world, the newspaper Rapport of 16th July 1995 reported the following: “’A second tragic human refugee drama threatens as the Bosnian conflict rapidly worsens. Late this week, photographs and TV coverage shook the world. And now it seems as if the ‘hell of Srebrenica’ is going to repeat itself.
“Touching scenes were enacted as thousands of women and children had to flee their homes with their few possessions…”
Mr. Joos Haasbroek, brother-in-law of Mr. Boy Muss- mann, remembers almost verbatim what the Seer told Mr. Mussmann about this dreadful civil war: “Boy, you have already stood in the open when a heavy shower comes down and you see water streaming through the grass. Well, that is how the blood will flow in Eastern Europe!”
With these words, the Seer also referred for the first time to a vision he had about the start and progress of the Third (and last) World War. The details were only made known during the 1940’s by one ‘Oupa’ (Grandfather) Krause. Seer said this war would start in Eastern Europe (Russia), but would soon cause conflict between Russia and America and then spread worldwide.
The Beginning of the Third World War
On one occasion the Seer told his son, Klasie: “God will raise Germany up again after that great war (WW2). However, night will fall over England. I see a black snake lying there—this means England’s black problem. It indicates civil war and famine. the snake curls up—blacks and Coloureds will settle in England and then its problems— and its collapse—begin.
While incarcerated in the Fort in Johannesburg in 1914, Van Rensburg told Mr. Willie Lourens: “I see England as a black pig with a white hair here and there. It is the black nations, along with a few whites, who will rise up and cause problems overseas against the whites, particularly in England. Then Van Rensburg saw the pig hanging from a hook in England—it had been cleaned, but with a stain. This is the English stain on our flag. He then saw the pig hanging in Bloemfontein, but without the stain, indicating that our flag, now clean, will be flying over the Union. He added he did not know whether they (he and Mr. Lourens) would still be living by that time, as this lay far in the future, but in the meantime he saw more trouble between blacks and whites in the country.
When England’s problems begin, civil war will erupt in France as blacks will also stream into that country. However, before these events, a dreadful civil war will break out in Russia and consequently America and Germany will stand together. And when things have progressed further, Germany will attack German West; the present Government there will scatter in confusion as they will rely on the arm of their generals and leaders—all bustards, in the same manner General Hertzog relied on Smuts in 1934, and brought him to a fall. Read Jeremiah 7: 5-7: For if ye thoroughly amend your ways and your doings; if ye thoroughly execute judgment between a man and his neighbour; If ye oppress not the stranger, the fatherless, and the widow, and shed not innocent blood in this place, neither walk after other gods to your hurt; Then I will cause you to dwell in this place, the land that I gave to your fathers, for ever and ever.
These visions of the struggle in Russia and Angola reminded Mr. Mussmann of another vision Van Rensburg had in connection with an aircraft-carrier which would anchor in German West, adding that he saw this long before such a vessel was ever built! Mr. Mussmann said he spoke about the vessel at Senekal in 1938, saying Van Rensburg described it as looking like a punt. “Later I saw a photograph of this ship in Die Volksblad and received a letter from Commandant Erasmus in which he wrote: ‘This is the vessel seen by Van Rensburg!’
Mr. Mussmann continues: You ask whether we will still have another war. I relied: ‘Definitely’, and this time Germany supports America and a strong German force will take action—something few people will expect if they are unaware of the Seer’s prophecies or have practical knowledge of them. How will the Germans anchor 5 warships in Lüderitz if these ships are not handed over to them by America? And the war he ‘saw’ will start in Russia and spread right across the North Pole, from Iceland to Moscow, and from Greenland and Alaska to Siberia.
Outbreak and Course of World War III
(An eyewitness report!)
During 1942/43 a member of the Ossewa-Brandwag, ‘Oupa’ Krause gave an almost unbelievable description to Mr. E.L. Brits, of the Seer’s visions on the outbreak of a future world war. His narrative of that destructive war almost reads like an eyewitness report by a war correspondent who had been present during the battles. What follows is a somewhat abridged version of ‘Oupa’ Krause’s narrative taken from the archives of the Ossewa-Brand- wag (emphasis my own).
We are in grave danger, our enemies are legion and strong and wealthy. The English, Jews and jingoes incite the ‘coolies’, coloreds and ‘Kaffir’ against us. Even sections of the police and military oppose us in an effort to bring us down. Everything was pre-planned covertly in England between that Government and the leaders here, to send troops at a given time to help them against us. They have been at the ready for some time and waiting to fight against the Boer and his Government. A revolution is brewing here and many of us will be slaughtered. We will have to defend ourselves against them and all Afrikaners will have to stand together to save ourselves from extinction.
They are secretly plotting to regain power by means of revolution and violence, which is why British troops will secretly be transported here to assist them. Our army will split; our people will go out from them, but they will be left with everything. The English are very purposeful and their spies are all over. Many people in the country allege they are staunch nationalists, but they are not. The same is happening in the police. Our enemies will carefully meet covertly, secretly import arms and ammunition from Eng- land and other countries and store them in all their secret meeting-places and caches. When this has been completed, they will invite all the blacks and coloureds and incite them to take part in the revolution, during which our women and children will face the worst dangers.
Although times will be very dark for us, our enemies will not succeed in getting us down completely. All possible and suspect Military officers (Magnus Malan and others?) will be replaced by jingoes. Something happens which they did not take into account, and this permanently ends their reign and activities. United States troops will also be here to try and prevent the English from succeeding in their goal. It seems as though they intend interning some of the Boers, although the camp differs from those during 1939 -1945. They transport us to another country, possibly Australia, where we are liberated by Japanese army officers who are pleased to learn that we are Boers.
As was the case during the previous war, our troops are sent North again, but this time there is more dissension amongst them. There is friction between the English- and Afrikaans-speaking troops and many are shot dead during in-fighting.
Our troops run into an obstacle. U.S. troops who have already annihilated the English army, block our passage. Our troops are disarmed and separated. The English are taken prisoner, but the Afrikaans troops are sent home and arrive here without any weapons.
Darkness Descends Over the Republic.
(When ‘Oupa’ Krause described these events, the Republic of South Africa was still 20 years into the future).
The first troops who went North were volunteers, but later ones were commandeered. Those who refuse to go North, are interned, while others are beaten to death in the streets because they are not in uniform. Up North where our troops are being captured, fighting is intense and fires burn high. Meanwhile a great darkness descends over the Republic. ‘Coolies’ from India, and English attack us here in the Union, but after a lengthy struggle they leave. Although warned by the USA to stay away, they nonetheless arrive in a large fleet to attack us. The USA Navy stops them near Durban, bombards them and sends them back to India. The Chinese who also wanted to join in the fray are warned by the Indians to be on the lookout for the USA who are protecting the Afrikaners.
England Fears Russian Bombs
Because England fears a Russian bomb attack, they connive in secret with the Russians. They betray Western military secrets to Russia and sign treaties with Russia against the USA. Russia mistrusts the English; the USA learns of this treachery and realises the danger of English betrayal against it.
The great clash between American and British troops takes place in Egypt after the next world war has started. The English army is defeated and those still alive after the battle, are taken prisoner. It is also there where our troops are stopped and disarmed. The English attempt to get help in secret from the Japanese, but are unsuccessful.
During the night Russia storms through Turkey (Iraq) en route to the Suez region, while Turkey offers no resistance. The Russians make contact with the American army in Syria and Palestine where they (the Russians) are stopped by the Americans.
Palestine is destroyed during the fighting. Some Arabs side with the Americans. Many oilfields in the Middle-East are set alight. The Red Army is defeated by the more advanced secret weaponry of the USA.
The Russians break through to Spain en route to Gibraltar, and when they are stopped there, they turn on England and attack them from the air.
England is totally destroyed. The Germans of Stalingrad are with the Russians—they are being intimidated, thus they have no choice. the Russians continue fighting in Europe and while flattening everything in their path on the way to Gibraltar, they are stopped once again at the Spanish Pyrenees mountains by Spanish and American troops. Intense fighting takes place here, and a miracle occurs with the German army. The Red army is completely defeated. The Spanish attack Gibraltar and annex it, thus Spain reclaims its stolen property.
Many secret weapons and gas is used everywhere. While horror (atomic?) bombs sow death and destruction, nations will be annihilated. While some nations cease to exist, others will still survive, but will be worthless. It will be a devastating war and everyone will be expected to go and fight.
Our Boer nation will not be destroyed, for we have a purpose and destination. England will be a very minor factor. Ireland also gains its freedom and drives the English from their country. Holland surrenders without a whimper. France will somehow survive; Russia will be finished and although the USA will not be destroyed, it will be a very weak nation.
The Germans declare peace in Europe and become the strongest nation in a very short time. We get our freedom through Germany who becomes the leading power in Europe, while she regains all her erstwhile colonies. Even we, who harmed her, must pay the price. Peace and prosperity lasts many years and every nation has its rights. Our country becomes very large and prosperous.
West-Germany is preparing itself in secret to save itself from ruin. It manufactures everything for the allies, but its thoughts are different. A miracle occurs in Germany in which they recover again. They become involved in fighting again, and through this they regain their freedom and also become a great nation.
All their provinces in Europe are returned to them and they retrieve all their stolen property. All their prisoners-of-war—men, women and children, as well as those of Rumania, Hungary and Bulgaria who are alive, must be repatriated. The war in Korea will continue, albeit in low key, until the next war breaks out.
Resurrection of the German Army
Across the sea in Europe the German army is miraculously resurrected, and history will make an about-turn. We receive our weapons from the Germans in South West and our enemies flee the country. They are obsessed with fear and flee as swiftly as possible, leaving all their belongings behind, only to be confiscated by the Government. We receive our weapons from the Germans on the border and at the same time elect our Government and President. The people are in awe of him. He is not a large, or old man, but with thinning hair, thick eyebrows and sharp eyes.
The Boers annex the Union and expand further North. Many distant colonies join us, for there is danger in their countries and Mother England is no longer there. Boer and German commandos march together in Africa to safeguard the country and make it habitable for the white man again. It takes time, but there is unity and everyone is working together. A better nation, with one Church which is now stronger than before! We become a great and prosperous nation and many immigrants settle here, and new towns and cities, with gigantic factories, are built.
The Germans sent many secret weapons across the Spanish border when they were forced to surrender after WW2. They could not, or would not use them, as the time was not yet ripe to do so. German engineers and technicians manufacture arms for the USA and Germany and it is no secret in the USA. The Red army will be destroyed at the Spanish border and the Russians will discover armaments which they never expected in the Pyrenees—all German made.
When the Germans have finished fighting in Europe, they will send armed forces and armaments to us, which they will hand over to us at the South West border; organise us into commandos and German forces will march to the Union with us to reclaim it. There will be the odd skirmish here and there, but not many. The enemy are fleeing to the coast. The Queen’s head will disappear from our coinage and a new design will take its place. The English language will disappear. One Nation, One Language, One Crest and One GOD.
‘Oupa’ Krause added: It seems if the trouble in Europe starts in the vicinity of the present Yugoslavia (Bosnia-Herzegovina). At the moment (1995) the Serbs and Moslems are engaged in a bloody civil war.
The Beginning of Oppression
War breaks out in Europe around April or May (year unknown) as soon as the thaw sets in, but by the time there is no more ice and snow, it will have progressed considerably—so much so that it seems if the Russians are winning. An atmosphere of oppression will prevail not only in Europe, but also in our own country.
The Germans will make use of the opportunity to take revenge on England, which will be totally annihilated. As usual, the USA in Europe will initially flee, but return later with a strong military force and stop Russia in Spain. Van Rensburg says the Germans will be fully armed—probably with secret armaments from underground arsenals, which, indeed, is the case.
The war will be very swift, destructive and dreadful. Nations will be annihilated very quickly by means of air attacks, horror (nuclear?) bombs and germ warfare.
Laser Beams?
The worst will be ‘electric beams’ sowing death and destruction above and below; even the soil will be destroyed and few people will remain alive. The Russians storm through Hungary, Yugoslavia, through Austria to Italy to occupy these countries, then through France—which supports them—en route to Spain where the Spanish put up a fierce resistance before the USA goes to their aid. The Russians have one purpose in mind—Africa, to incite the blacks, so by the time summer sets in, they have virtually conquered the whole of Europe. This will be our time of oppression when our enemies make a concerted effort to annihilate us, incited by English clergy, Jews, ‘coolies’, Kaffirs and jingoes. English and USA troops in Germany will be wiped out. That war will be one of terrible battles and Van Rensburg says: “a great well will be filled with blood.” This indicates that blood will flow as never before. This leaves the Russians no time to think and at this point God comes to the Germans’ assistance. They, with help from the USA, attack the Russian communication lines and press down on them from all sides until the Russians are completely defeated. And people will say: God has helped Germany, otherwise how else could she have done this?
(‘Oupa’ Krause often told me this in prison, but added he did not know how this could happen).
German vengeance will go beyond Europe, which is why the English will flee every time things go wrong—even in our own country. They will sell out here and flee, according to Van Rensburg. Wherever the Germans go, the English will be in trouble – they will have no friends, whereas Germany and the USA will be partners. In the long run, when all this is over, there will be peace. Remember, Van Rensburg said he saw Germany sitting at the head of the final peace table. Germany will then stand by us with aid and armaments to put the Kaffir back in line again.
Germany—the Strongest Force In Europe
Van Rensburg saw a vision on 14th February 1921: I see a thick grove of willows standing in Europe ; they start thinning out and behind them I see a hornless blue beast which is hobbled. The hobble loosens and falls off, the beast becomes fat and horns appear on its head.
The hobbled, hornless blue beast means that after World War 2, Germany had no military aspirations at first, but when the hobble falls off—the fall of the Berlin wall— things change and they again build up a military power base. In the not to distant future this will also benefit the Boer nation:
1st January 1918: A man dressed in a blue suit and white collar stands in Europe and looks our way.
Van Rensburg says this is nothing short of a miracle. Things will change in Germany when a strong and important German leader (blue suit, white collar) comes to the foreground and takes command of the Defence force. He will also make a dramatic announcement that he favours the cause of the Boers (he looks our way).
When the Boer nation is told the good news that Germany favours his cause, it will bring about such a dramatic awakening that they will stand united again, at the same time being extremely dangerous. This could cause a situation where they will trample everything to death in their path. Although the black will attempt to resist, they will be unsuccessful and swiftly retreat: “The Boers will take matters into their own hands, and those who do not give way, will be trampled to death”. (1920).
19th September 1920: In the southwest is a small pond filled with grass and a small amount of water. Muscovy ducks run around in it and the water becomes more and more. The ducks represent our people and the water means good news for us. In the north, sheep become white-backed cattle. The sheep are Boers who undergo such a change that they become dangerous. There is some movement among the ‘Kaffir’, but nothing dangerous.
During these critical times England is experiencing, there is a total news blackout, while at the same time we receive the good news about German armaments in Lüder- itzbucht. India will also be much in the news—not good, however. In our country the English who acted in unison against the Boers are stripped of everything and flee the country post-haste. Shortly thereafter trouble erupts in the Eastern Province, causing food shortages as a result of the disruption and extended labour strikes.
5th March 1922: A vat emerges from a well and pours yellow water on the grass surrounding the well. The water runs back into the well, after which the floor of the well came up and it was dry, indicating that English news has dried up. A broad stream of blue water enters the Union from the west—good news from the Germans and Americans. Far North lies a town from which a broad stream of water flows. (Seer’s son, Kallie, said his father was of the opinion that the town could represent India). A clean-shaven Englishman dressed only in shirt and trousers goes West from Johannesburg, while people carrying small pails go from West to East. The earth makes a turn and the Boers sit on their various coloured horses, looking Northeast.
Money Shortage
On 11th July 1919 Van Rensburg already prophesied that a future black government would take part in two elections, but with the advent of the second election they would face more serious problems (financial crisis and collapse of public services): There is a floor in the northeast and a sieve appears on the floor (the April 1994 General election) and the sorghum husks disappear. (State-controlled institution and municipal services collapse, followed by a serious shortage of money—gold loses its value and the Stock Exchange collapses). Then another sieve appeared on the floor (preparations for a larger election [than that of 1994] takes place). Only then the three blue letters arrive in Parliament—the first one is merely a warning, then an ultimatum and lastly a declaration of war by Germany. “During this time there will be problems with the Indians and blacks,” the Seer said after his last vision of 28th January 1926: (I see a fat black horse and then a dirty-yellow horse).
The Seer interpreted his vision of 21st January 1921 by saying that the Indians and blacks would be armed when they took the country and law into their own hands. This would cause riots in which many people would lose their lives—so much so that the country would be ungovernable. (Compare the present bloody conflict between Pag- ad Muslims and druglords on the Cape Flats).
He also predicted that the Indians would not do these things on their own, but would be secretly incited by Jingoes (Boer-traitors).
“The rapes and robberies on whites and murders of white farmers will continue to escalate as the second election draws closer. And neither the Government, or the Boer leaders who do nothing but talk, can, or will do anything about these outrages.
They will, as usual, just sit looking on as they did prior to the 1994 election…”—as the Seer warned us against them in his vision of 9th January 1915: “But the so-called ‘loyal’ Afrikaners who prepared for the struggle so bravely, offer no resistance…”
Even our own brave young men who were prepared to fight until the bitter end prior to the 1994 election, would be betrayed by their own leaders and they can only look on helplessly.
From the 1994 election until the next one (1999), distress will increase and become uglier. ‘Oom’ Klasie said the country is entering a night in which many are going to lose their jobs, houses, pensions and everything else; a time when municipalities and many state departments will go bankrupt; the churches will also be very motley and running empty.
On the morning of 8th September 1925, the Seer told his daughter, Anna, he sees a black man being released from prison in the distant future, visit Russia, and on his return, be appointed in an important post. The country will be thrown into chaos under his rule. However, it is only after the violent death of a black leader, and a massive strike cripples the country, that real trouble starts.
This black leader will lie in state on Church Square in Pretoria, while people flock there in their thousands to ‘pay their last respects’: “The body of the king (black leader) is placed in a glass coffin and he lies in state on Church Square, Pretoria—for seven days. Mourners came from all over the world to pay homage to this king (of the rainbow-nation). Nobody worked—for seven days, for people moved past the coffin day and night, fell on it and wept bitterly, and could not be consoled—for seven days.
“On the eighth day he was buried in Heroes’ Acre.” (A special plot in the old cemetery in Church Street, Pretoria, reserved for statesmen).
Thus what the old prophet, the Seer van Rensburg, said, came true: “I see a coffin being lowered into a grave. Fires emerge, but one great fire emerging in front. Naked people appear.” This tells of violence and civil war which will erupt with the burial of the (black) king. Then the Boer nation will also stand naked, stripped of everything and experience dreadful oppression…
This vision concurs with the ‘bloody funeral’ he saw on 4th April 1915’.
Chaos and decline are visible everywhere; the cold- blooded murders of whites escalate by the day and our pension schemes are being plundered. In a vision on 26th December 1921, the Seer saw a fatal stomach disease break out in the Johannesburg area. The disruption this would cause even greater violence: “There is a round tank in the east and fire falls out of it.”
It is at this time the Seer saw the red pickaxe going over us—a time when the nation will still be very divided and dissension at its worst.
But then he sees the man in the brown suit rise very unexpectedly to gather the nation together and take matters in hand by means of a coup d’etat. The first large-scale violence erupts and the Witwatersrand (Gauteng) in particular feels the brunt of black violence, and bloodshed in that area will also be unexpected.
However, when the armed forces advance on Pretoria at dawn, the Boers are ready for action and Johannesburg is bomb-attacked, which shakes the whole world. The ensuing war will quickly spread northwards until the whole of Europe is in flames. But England will suffer the most as a result of race riots and famine…” he predicted.
This concurs with what his son, Kallie, remembers about his father’s prophecies about England: Shortly after the collapse of our pension funds, race riots erupt in Europe in which England will be particularly hard-hit: Small peach trees are at Pretoria and they suddenly disappear so that the empty space is like a floor. A large black snake lies curled up in Europe, but night is going to descend over England. I see a black snake lying there—this depicts England’s black problem, as well as famine and civil war. The snake curls itself up—blacks and coloureds will go to England and settle there. Then England’s problems begin—and its ruin.
During this critical period in England, all news channels are shut down and we receive the good news of German armaments in Lüderitzbucht.
India will now also be much in the news, but it is bad news. The English in our country who unanimously acted against the Boers are stripped of everything and hastily flee the country. Not long after this, trouble breaks out in the Eastern Province and there is famine as a result of disruption and an extended labour strike.
On 22nd March 1922 the Seer had this to say about this strike: The last sign I saw about the strike was a slaughtered sheep hanging on a hook, this being a sign that the strikers came off badly. Our cause is still going well and the wheat and chaff is on the floor where the chaff goes out of the threshed wheat. At first there was darkness only in the east of the Union, but now it is completely covered. Three pots are boiling rapidly in Europe, indicating that trouble is brewing there. Then a ditch full of blue water from Europe indicates news from that quarter. A woman dressed in black emerges in Europe, indicating a sign of mourning. Here by us a man steps forward, but his shoes remain behind. This is a sign that the nation must reconcile. A woman appears, indicating the same. Another woman appears and looks towards Europe, which is in heavy mourning. Thus something significant lies ahead there.
However, the Boer prophet ‘saw’ that the strike would be counter-productive and things will go wrong for the strikers, as many of them will die during that time. Matters start coming right for the Boers when the ‘true’ Afrikaans elements separate themselves from the liberal factions. The troubles that started in the Eastern Province now spread across the rest of the country. Three civil wars are waging in Europe, but once again we receive good news from Germany. And the spiritual leader from the Eastern Province unites the nation, and once again, as it occurred at Blood River, he humbles himself before God. One of the greatest tragedies of all times hits Europe now.
The symbols in the Seer’s visions have very clear meanings. The slaughtered sheep means violence and bloodshed, which, in this case, coincides with the strike. The wheat and chaff separate—liberals and conservatives divide into two camps. Three boiling pots in Europe—the Seer says trouble is still brewing and civil war will still break out, but not at the time when our country is preparing for the coming war. At the end of the vision he says something horrific is going to happen in Europe—several civil wars will break out and conditions will swiftly become critical: A woman sits on a chair on maize leaves, the leaves catch fire and disappear. The woman places more leaves on the chair. This indicates France in the Rhine area. English cattle move away among the maize cobs; they seem to be fleeing. They are the fleeing English (9th August 1923).
France will experience major election problems and there will be severe rioting in the Rhine area when England finally faces destruction, and everybody who can possibly do so, flees.
England is Destroyed
Van Rensburg said that England will be totally destroyed, so that “only a lean pig will be left lying in the mud here and there.” England put other countries to the torch—as was the case here and in Germany and murdered their women and children, and so the same will be done to her. She will sink further into poverty and horror(nuclear?) and other incendiary bombs will rain down on her, even into bomb shelters, without any means of stopping them. Remember, ruin must also strike them over the MURDER of our women and children here. Van Rensburg said when it is all over, he sees a colossal gallery where the thousands of Boers, women and children murdered by the English during the period 1900-1902, are sitting. He also sees his own children who died in the hell-camps among them. They, and Angels, are weeping tears of joy over our liberation and God’s vengeance against the murderers.
A Great Future For the Boer Nation
The Afrikaner nation faces a great and bright future. We are liberated from our enemies. We get a God-fearing Boer President. He is an exceptional man, free of Party- politics; he ignores trivialities and looks past them. He is righteous and genuine and looks at our future. Transvaal, the Orange Free State and Cape form the nucleus of our great Republic and from here we look North. There is unity among the Afrikaner people, attached and loyal towards one another, standing solidly behind our good President who is a true leader.
During the war we secure our borders. In the beginning everything is very chaotic. We rout certain numbers of our greatest enemies when the first shots are fired about 280 miles from here. It is not serious, for our enemies flee to the ships in Durban.
We become a large Republic—larger than anyone could have dreamed of.
The head of the snake is crushed permanently; the jingo elements disappear altogether; the blacks come under our control and we are our own masters—“the slave has become the master once again.”
Our own Republic
Circulars distributed by (late) Advocate Oswald Pirow based on the Seer’s visions, make mention of the Great South African Republic of which the borders stretch as far as south of Sudan and then east and west. It becomes a very important country, particularly in the field of industry and economics. It will be vastly developed and everything a state requires will be built—for we will be rid of the great bloodsucking vampire—the English and its jingo. Huge factories—even larger than those in Europe and the USA will be built. This is the country of the future world and will even surpass the USA in industry and economics. We will be far away from all the turmoil and other nations and they will fear us, for we will be a God-fearing nation. At the end of time we will also be the last country to fall. Remember, ‘Oom’ Nicolaas said: “We slaughter the pig right here.” The wealth of the country will belong to us and not to foreigners.
Many of the hostile organisations in our country will be stopped. They are indignant, but what can they do about it? Nothing! Those who are not happy here, must pack their belongings and get out. Our population grows in strength. Many Germans come to settle here. Van Rens- burg said we will never experience English domination again.
Everything looks very rosy, but we first have to face great darkness before all this becomes reality. Van Rensburg says what and how this will be, he cannot say.
However, bear in mind that our salvation must come from Above. Distress will drive us together and to God, so that we, like the Germans, can say that our salvation comes from God. The great black armies from the Northeast Africa threaten us even more so that we will call to God for help. He will stop this—how, I do not know. Yet this great ‘darkness’ will envelop us, but fortunately not for long.
Bloody conflict erupts during which black nations will attack each other in a war like none other this country has ever seen. Parliament will be in session and by the time the members have adjourned and everyone hastens home to arm themselves, the Zulus will already have started a conflagration against the Xhosas and they are busy annihilating them with ‘knobkerries’ (a traditional fighting-stick with a knob on the end, not unlike a mace), machete knives, spears, AK 47’s and great rejoicing; nobody will be overlooked and they will kill everything and everybody— men, women, children, stock, poultry and dogs.
The Boers are summoned to a hillock north of Licht- enburg in Western Transvaal, and it is at this hillock that the man in the brown suit makes his first appearance. The onus rests on him to call the rebellious, dissatisfied and pugnacious Boers to order and channel their fury in the right direction.
Nobody will know beforehand who this man is, as the nation will only become aware of him when he goes to address them from that hillock at Lichtenburg.
The English historian, Julian Oxford, writes in his book: A Prophet with Honour, that he was told by ‘Oom’ Nicolaas’ daughters their father was ‘very well acquainted’ with a man in a brown suit who ‘appeared to him’ for the first time during the disturbing vision of death and destruction during the 2nd “War of Freedom” (Anglo-Boer War). Oxford says that this man continuously appeared to the Seer to interpret the meanings of “complicated visions to him.” (Coinciding with this, there was also a second person who also appeared regularly to Van Rensburg in his visions, viz. “the man in the grey suit.” Van Rensburg described him as being a Divine being, and after one such appearance, told Adaan de la Rey: I was sent home on 29th February 1900, as I was suffering intense pain from a whitlow on my finger. I was staying with a German family in Hopetown and fell asleep on the couch. The Divine being appeared before me and asked whether I would refuse to obey an order given to me by God. Since then I have never hesitated to tell what I have seen).
In later years the Seer often described the man in the brown suit who would address the nation from the hillock at Lichtenburg. One was as follows: He is not tall and will address the tempestuous Boers in a restful, soothing manner. He will be a genuine Afrikaner, a Boer down to his marrow. What he has to say will touch the hearts of the nation and anyone who still harboured any doubts, will accept him immediately as leader…
When the new leader has ended his speech, Van Rens- burg sees many hobbled horses grazing around the hillock. This means the men are ready and willing to fight; there is no stopping them now. Even the new leader does nothing to stop them, as he urged them to unite, take up arms and meet the enemy as believers.
The Boers turn southwards towards Prieska from Licht- enburg. A miracle occurs and the Boers get unexpected help in the form of ‘new guns’ at Lüderitzbucht. For the first time since the War the Boer nation will rise up to reclaim his freedom and stolen heritage through the barrel of a gun.
Everyone will be well-equipped with brand new weapons and ammunition which had been hidden by the Germans during WW2 in the Pyrenees mountains near Spain, and which were now transported in warships to Lüderitz Bay.
Everything takes a turn, for they are extremely active in preparing to confront the enemy along with the German forces en the Third (and last) War of Freedom. When the battle finally starts, the grass will be green, and side by side with German troops they turn around for battle. The Northern Transvaal and Northern Free State troops check the snake, wheel and springbok (Government troops) at Vereeniging. This allows Southern Transvaal, Southern Free state and the Cape the opportunity to march from Prieska. On the way to Vereeniging, the first bombs fall on Kimberley where thousands will die. They then advance on Vereeniging for a great battle. The government troops at Vereeniging are in dire straits; the place where they find themselves, is hollow, like a well.
Undated: A troop train moves towards Bulawayo and somewhere among the hills it comes to a standstill. A fight breaks out between Rhodesian and Union troops (who all speak Afrikaans) on the train.
This vision gave the Seer a brief picture of the war which will still be fought between the Boers and the black forces of Zimbabwe (and possibly Zambia also) after the rest of Southern Africa has already been taken over by them, and the English driven out of the country. The Krause document indicates that a strong German contingent will also assist the Boers here.
The Seer saw the ‘Spectre of Terror’ descending over our enemies at the ‘well’ near Vereeniging, and obsessed with fear, they fled, leaving everything behind that they had stolen from us since the time of the Vow. The Boer forces drive them to where they will never be able to worry us again. And when the Boers return, they confiscate everything; from the upper reaches of the Limpopo River to where the Cape pushes its tongue into the sea.
7th August 1923: A large pile of straw lies in Europe and next to it, maize leaves, which are on fire. Afterwards there are maize cobs which are also ablaze. I saw the same vision when Greece and Turkey fought against each other. Oxen with white on their bellies are hauling wagons northwards, but I do not know the oxen. A speckled ox in the far north of Europe stands looking our way (unknown). When the beast disappears, the earth turns black—black being a sign the world receives when matters will take a turn. Then I am in a new thatched-roof house and this is good news for us.
World War III is in full swing. Europe is almost totally destroyed by incendiary bombs. Italy joins the war. In the far north of Europe a plot is being hatched against the Boers; however, before it can be executed, those involved all die and matters become favourable for us when German troops appear, take over power and establish a new Boer Government for us.
The Face of Our President
Shortly before his death, in 1926, the old the Seer described to his son what the new president of the new Boer Republic would look like: “I see him, someone with a full face, similar to that of Minister Piet Grobler, Minister of Lands; a man with a broad face. I may not reveal more, but what I have said is clear enough…”
(7 Aug. 1923): The world looks like summer here, camps which have been completely trampled by yellow horse-drawn wagons are moving down to the Cape. The yellow wagons indicate the English. Wheat lies on the (threshing) floor, signalling that the time is drawing near. Where the earth is without grass, it is (like) brown pudding in my plate—a good sign for us. A dish of honey appears from the west, a knife cuts slices from it and one slice lands in my plate. I saw this honey in the west ten years ago and only now it lands in my plate.
And when we have finally conquered the Government troops at Vereeniging, we also drive the English (yellow wagons) out of the country.
White Tents In the Karoo
After all these events have been fulfilled and millions of blacks invade the European Union, thousands of white Christians will leave Europe to settle in South Africa. Seer said he saw their tents stretching from the Cape to the Kalahari and South West Africa (Namibia). Tents will also be standing from Durban to Mozambique (now Maputo). These will serve as temporary shelter for all the Christians from over the world, for South Africa will not only be the safest country in the world, but also the only Christian country.
Every tent dweller will be under the protection of God’s Hand—as was Israel in the Sinai desert in the time of Moses.
The Kruger Millions Rediscovered
The Covenant made with God by the Voortrekkers at Blood River on 16th December 1838 plays a role in this last vision of the victory by the Boer nation.
In one of the last visions regarding this, Van Rensburg saw thunder clouds, and a woman holding flowers, in the west. When she places the flowers in a jar, a Vierkleur blows out if it and then he sees a gallery.
10th November 1921: The fog lifts and a wagon is loaded with sheaves. (Those people who identify themselves with the aims and aspirations of the Boers are already standing together). Then the sheaves lie on the floor and the floor becomes clean. Small clouds in the north move away from each other and the sun shines brightly. (The fight for survival and unrest is past and there is peace). There is a gallery in the sky to the north and on the gallery there is an inscription like that on the Tabernacle with gold candlesticks (the sign of a Covenant/Vow, and also indicates the presence of gold—one of the sources from the collection of (late) ‘Oom’ Paul Prinsloo mentions that the ‘gold’ refers to the rediscovery of ‘Paul Kruger’s missing gold bars and coins’—the much talked-about ‘Kruger Millions’ hidden in various man-made caves). A host of children emerges from behind the gallery and they come South. The children are all approximately 10 years old;, all dressed in white and all have blue eyes. My own two children, Anna Katrina and Maria Elizabeth, who both died from measles in the murder-camp at Mafikeng, are in the lead. One of my sister’s children, as well as the daughter of my old ‘blanket-mate’, Jan van Wyk—those two children also died in the murder-camp, and then I saw all four girls at the head of the procession.
According to the Seer’s own interpretation, the Tabernacle, the golden candlesticks and that host of children were all ‘camp-sufferers.’ While he was still watching them, they all descended down to earth. Van Rensburg says that is the moment when our nation will be free and independent again.
He also said that all those children in their lifetime were not all 10 years old, and not every one had blue eyes, but that is the way he saw them. After they had descended, he heard then say in unison:
“We have come to share in the joy of our fellow brothers and sisters for whom we were a sacrificed.”
Van Rensburg further said that when the children turned back to heaven, their eyes were full of tears. However, they were not tears of sorrow, but of joy for the new freedom of the Boer nation…Van Rensburg never doubted that those children knew when we would acquire our freedom: “for we read in the Bible that if one sinner on earth repents, there is rejoicing among the Angels in heaven…” he said.
He further saw how liberals fell to their knees with tears in their eyes. He said to General de la Rey’s son, Adaan: “Then we will also see tears in our eyes.” To which the young De la Rey replied: “That will be the day when I cry over a SAP (South African Party, which was to the left of the political spectrum in opposition to the rightwing National Party). Then Seer said to him: ”No, brother, they are tears of joy that God is not humiliating us as He is humiliating them.” He added that for the upright people in the ‘Boer laager’, it would be like a second Blood River, and no blood of any Afrikaner who sought shelter in this ‘Boer laager’ would be spilt—in other words, those who did not take the road of surrender and betrayal!
According to Adaan de la Rey, Van Rensburg told him that we would elect our first President at Groot River (Orange River), and he is of the opinion it is the same person in the brown suit who addressed them outside Licht- enburg.
Electing the President
(From the Krause document)
“There in the fertile area of Prieska we elected our first Government and our first President.
People were in awe when they saw him in his top hat and tailcoat, for he was not old, nor was he a large man, with bushy brows, sharp eyes and thinning hair. They were even more overawed when they saw him pass by in his coach on the new road that had been built with German help, for since the days of President Kruger, they had not seen a president riding in a coach again.
That night he was inaugurated in festive mood in the presence of the whole nation—exactly ten years after their freedom had been given away to the heathens on 2nd February 1990…”
(According to this declaration, it seems as if the first Boer president will be appointed early in the year 2000).
‘Oom Nicolaas added that the president would be the first man to write a note in the Book of State—so the new Boer Government would not acknowledge a penny’s debt made by the previous government, as the new government would have access to its own huge fortune (the Kruger millions) which was recovered by the Boers from the man-made caves where it was hidden.
Van Rensburg saw our newly-elected President covered under a blanket—the outer cover was torn, but the blanket was clean. Thus it was no secret who was chosen as president by the Boers. All the mines now become state property, as well as the farms given to the settlers by Lord Milner.
After the ceremonies everyone went home, sleeping in the open without fear and also entering the city without fear.
‘Oupa’ Krause said: “The Afrikaners face a great and beautiful future. We are freed from our enemies; we have a God-fearing Boer President, free from Party politics. He is not concerned with petty matters but looks up. He looks at our future. The nucleus of the great Boer republic is the Transvaal, Orange Free State and Cape. From here we look north. The Afrikaner nation is a great unit, and we support our good President, a true leader.
“In the course of time the Boers took possession of the Union and expanded further north as far as the equator. Boers and German commandos marched forward in Africa to make the country safe and habitable for the white man once again. This takes time, but everyone works together to achieve this.
“People from many overseas colonies come to settle here, for there is only death and destruction in their own countries, and Mother England is no more.
“We became a great and prosperous nation, for immigrants arrived from all over the world to live in peace and security with us…”
Then Van Rensburg saw himself walking during the night to the house of his brother, Piet, who lived just across the stream. Great raindrops started falling and the Divine person (in the grey suit) appeared before him once again and asked him whether he could see the storm clouds; two in the east, two in the north, two in the west and one in the south—those were the seven plagues which would torment England.
CHAPTER 24
The Seven Plagues of England
The vision of the seven ‘thunderclouds’ is one of the most alarming regarding a series of disasters which will hit England, and which has only partially been fulfilled. According to resources at my disposal, there are more than 20 direct references to these strange and fearful events. The Seer predicted that the seventh—and last—plague will finally spell the end for England when the Boers have regained power in South Africa.
Van Rensburg has never doubted that England’s ruin would be caused by crimes she committed against Afrikaner women and children during the War of Freedom. He once said to a friend: “Every time some great world event happens, women and children are murdered, followed by retribution. Did Pharaoh also not order the midwives to kill all newborn male children? And the punish- ment that followed was that he and all his horsemen were drowned in the Red Sea…”
In this context he referred to 1 Samuel 15:2-3: : Thus saith the Lord of hosts, I remember that which Amelek did to Israel, how he had laid wait for him in the way, when he came up from Egypt. Now go and smite Amalek, and utterly destroy all that they have, and spare them not; but slay both man and woman, infant and suckling, ox and sheep, camel and ass…
Mr. Boy Mussmann wrote to Mrs. S.M. van Tonder in 1949: “’Oom’ Klasie says he ‘sees’ a multicolored pig standing in a well in England and it is so hungry that it is licking against the walls (Famine and scarcity of water). It will probably die from hunger and thirst when the struggle is at its worst here in South Africa. There is also a pot of fire in Russia (civil war) and then ‘Oom’ Klasie sees the grass catch alight in England—the start of civil war. (Possibly this could indicate another major flare-up in the long drawn-out conflict between England and Ireland).
England has not experienced any famine since the old Boer prophet saw that vision, and will only take place when ‘a very dark period’ breaks out over the Afrikaner. Distressing times also lie ahead for the English here in South Africa—some will flee ‘in confusion and desperation’, others (white Angora goats) will side with the Boers while others (goats) will take up arms with the Communists against the Boers.
Boy Mussmann—1947: When Jan Smuts’ detectives wanted to arrest me at Vryburg because of the Seer’s visions, one of them asked me: “What does the Seer predict—what is going to happen here?” I replied: “We will get a republic, but prior to that times will be dark for us.” The detective said: “Yes, it will be financial trouble.” However, I replied: “No, the Seer said he saw the peach tree changes into a cypress—the tree bearing fruit (golden pounds) becomes a luxury article tree. Gold pounds will disappear and will be replaced by notes, and when the coming war is over, you can paper the walls of your house with English banknotes as they will be worth less than wallpaper.”
This vision still awaits fulfilment since the Seer announced it.
“’Oom’ Klasie saw pigs (English statesmen) running across a dam wall to go and drink water. But when he looked again, he saw the dam was almost empty and the pigs wallowing in the mud.” (England will experience extreme financial problems).
Boy Mussmann—1960: “’Oom’ Klasie saw a well in England. Someone is pouring yellow water from the well on to the grass, but the water runs back into the well. The bottom of the well comes up and it is dry.” This is the start of England’s ruin because of betrayal (yellow water). The traitors come from within their own ranks (the bottom of the well comes up and it is empty). Ironically enough, it seems this treason will take place when South Africa is fighting her final struggle for survival.
This is followed by England’s surrender to starving invaders from Africa who (as they did against white South Africa) were there to demand their rights.
Seer held several in-depth discussions about this extraordinary vision of ‘the seven plagues of England’ with a few intimate friends:
“I see a woman decorated with ribbons (a symbol of the English nation). Then I see the ribbons unwinding one by one until she is totally naked—and eventually I see her die. This means that in time England will lose all her possessions and colonies…”
(This part of the vision has already been fulfilled).
Europe Becomes Black
Mr. H.J. Dreyer of Senekal sporadically corresponded with the Seer about his visions until his death in 1926. However, it was only during the 1940’s (and as Ossewa- Brandwag supporter) that Mr. Dreyer published these visions and their interpretations in Die Volksblad.
Vision: “White-backed oxen (America), led by a small boy are hauling wagons in Europe. Then there were red oxen (Communists) with two white-backed oxen (America) led by a little ‘Kaffir’ (Africa)…” Van Rensburg remarked about the two boys to Mr. Dreyer: The little ‘Kaffir’ is a weaker, less intelligent leader as a boy and would always be beaten in every aspect by the other boy.
Interpretation: In Europe the whites were always the rulers and they enjoyed strong support from the well- wishing Americans. However, things will change drastically when Africa begins to overrun Europe and black Communists (as here in South Africa—compare next vision that follows) take over temporary power in Europe with America’s help.
In conjunction with this, Van Rensburg wrote to Mr. Dreyer: In South Africa there are also two boys—one white and one black. The latter has an old sack around his waist (the conditions of the blacks will be critical). The two begin to fight—trouble between white and black, and right from the start the white boy gets a deadly grip on the black one so that he loses his sack and is naked and the black boy flees in a northerly direction (from where he came).
On 29th September 1919 Van Rensburg had a similar vision and he gave a precise indication where the ‘destination’ of the little ‘naked Kaffir’ would be.
According to what he saw, such a great depression would come in Europe so that England would lose everything in the process. Even America would be in no position to render any assistance to save the situation and when it withdraws from Europe, thousands of hungry and destitute ‘Kaffir’ from Africa stream there: (A shop stands in Europe, but there are no people in it, and people with wagons loaded with rubbish flee northwards. Many white-backed oxen appear in Western Europe and when they disappear, little naked ‘Kaffir’ run North).
The First Plague
In time to come matters will go badly, said Van Rensburg. “I see seven black clouds in the sky and raindrops begin to fall. A man in a grey suit (somebody divine) appeared and asked me whether I had seen the clouds, and I replied yes, I saw two clouds in the east, west and south, but only one in the north. Then the man said to me: ‘Those are seven disasters God is going to send over England which will destroy it…” Then Van Rensburg remembered the vision of the woman covered in ribbons.
The Second Plague
He tells that when he was imprisoned in the Fort in 1914, one night he saw how a Rebellion officer stood in a well with him (great trouble). However, there was a ladder in the well and he (the Seer) stood with one foot on the first rung. Simultaneously he saw the grass in England catch alight (civil war) and the flames are high, then disappear, and the country looks like a harrowed field after ploughing.
Then a multicoloured pig stood in a well (England in dire straits) and it was licking the sides of the well. It seemed unable to get out. Some aloe stumps lay across the well (The British government was attempting to hide its problems from the rest of the world). The pig is very hungry, indication a great famine in England in the future.
When he saw this, he knew immediately that their group in the Fort would be rescued from the troubles of the Rebellion and its consequences—being the thousands of pounds demanded from the rebels by the Government. But there was no salvation (ladder) for the multicoloured pig, indicating England’s downfall, also economically:
“I saw pigs running across a dam wall. The dam becomes empty and a large bird sits on the paving stones beneath. A small bird comes flying along but is immediately swallowed up by the large bird.” He interpreted this as follows: “The dam is America who intends lending money to England, consequently England will be financially ruined.”
The Third Plague
Famine and hunger will come over England and during that time great herds of black cattle (people from Africa and India) will enter the country from the east. One beast will stop and look back, indicating from which quarter the danger will come; all the coloured races from England’s colonies will go there, resulting in racial conflict—for Africa and the Orient will be suffering and desperate hordes of sick and hungry Indians and blacks will seek refuge in England and other parts of Europe.
The Fourth Plague
He sees this as a pot with fire underneath. Normal pots stand in England and France, indicating civil wars, but a huge cauldron, with a glowing fire, stands in Russia, indicating a large-scale civil war. Then Germany and America attack Russia as allies.
The Fifth Plague
The Seer relates how, during WWI, he saw how the British fleet attacked Germany at Jutland. He saw Kitch- ener dying there and the British fleet looked like scale- dishes on the water. “This means they clashed, but were found to be too light…” But he saw the future British fleet as empty boxes, floating without direction. They are useless and without direction, for: “What nation can fight if it is experiencing civil war and famine?”
The Sixth Plague
He told Boy Mussmann: “I see a man on a black horse riding into the water. I see him as clearly as I’m seeing you and the water is splashing over him. Horse and rider disappear under the water. ”England’s military force will meet the same end as did Pharaoh’s horsemen who pursued the Israelites in the Red Sea.
The Seventh Plague
“I see a multicoloured pig. Taking the pig by its legs, I overturned it. And that is our (the Boer nation’s) contribution to England’s downfall…”
(During the first decade of this century it was general knowledge in a certain part of the Transvaal that a church minister pronounced a curse over England just after the end of the War of Freedom (1899-1902). Allegedly his words were: “What you did to our women and children, the same will be done to yours.”).
The last plague to hit England will be as a result of strong action by the Boer nation.
The answer to the question: what is this ‘action?’ can be deduced from other visions and their interpretations. On 29th September 1919, Van Rensburg saw thousands of blacks and English fleeing South Africa to England to seek refuge after the struggle in which the Afrikaner regains his freedom. Once the black hordes arrive in England, its economy will collapse and the country will finally be ruined.
Mr. Johannes Gagiano also pointed out to me the interesting fact that the Seer spoke about the ‘seven plagues’ which would mean England’s ruin; plagues which—according to Die Burgher of 13th July 1940: “spells punishment for the enemy. Van Rensburg saw that plagues would infest England and it seems as if they would all occur on the same day.”
Revelation 15 mentions the ‘Seven last plagues’ which would mean the end of Babylon and usher in this dispensation: Compare Revelation 18:8: Therefore shall her plagues come in one day, death, and mourning, and famine; and she shall be utterly burned with fire; for strong is the Lord God who judgeth her…
Then he saw three women dressed in black (mourning). They were an English woman, a German and an Afrikaner. Then the Afrikaans woman said to the English woman: “I wept, now you are weeping.”
‘Oom’ Nicolaas’ prophecies for his people and country end here…
CHAPTER 25
The Seer’s Last Days
In his book, Gewapende Protes (Armed protest) about the 1914 Rebellion, P.G. Hendriks sketched the Seer’s last years after the Rebellion:
“In years the frail man is not old—fifty-four—but he became grey and bent in prison. It seems as if his deep religious sense and love for his people shine ever brighter as his body wanes.” When he did not preach to the congregations on Sundays, he usually spent them with his family. telling them about his prophecies, particularly during his later years when age started bending him.
However, with his gift of prophecy he was always a person who could never be understood or explained.”
In the dusk of his life, because of ill-health and concern about the future of his people, the Seer became more withdrawn into his own world of thought to meditate in solitude.
Although he suffered from high blood pressure and arthritis, it is unknown whether he ever consulted a doctor, or whether any medication was prescribed for him.
Nevertheless, a number of well-known doctors of his time knew him well. Among them were people like Doctors Von Rennenkampf, Ramsbottom and the poet, C. Louis Leipoldt. Only Leipoldt once wrote down a few impressions about the Seer and said this about his appearance and health: “He is a commanding figure who im- pressed even those that did not believe in his gift. He is no medium—rather, an introvert, obsessed with his own meditations which he interprets with symbolisms. His long slender fingers, and his longish limbs (a leptosomic type), were remarkable and seemed to be easily influenced by changes in the weather.
Kallie van Rensburg told how, in the weeks before his father’s death, he would often enter the kitchen and see him sitting alone in a corner, his large right fist folded over the head of his walking stick, gazing far away like someone who was astonished at something happening there.
Sometimes Seer van Rensburg would speak to him, his brother, his sisters or friends about it, whereas on other occasions many days would pass—as though he wanted to gather courage en then mutter sadly and audibly to one of them:
“Our nation suffered bitterly in past years, and that suffering is still not over. I see a black curtain hanging over the far future. But I would rather die in battle than to give up. My child, it was the motto of our fathers—let it also be your motto. You will only find happiness with your own people.
I see our commandos trekking to German West again. You will fight in a different manner from ours and there will be many more of you. And I see the Vierkleur flying again. It is God’s will and His will shall be done.“
On another occasion he told his brother’s son, Andries: “Our nation will become free; I see them trekking inland where they congregate in a large mass; I see some going west where they will fight and revolution breaking out among them, but everything will happen without any blood being shed. On the past of our nation, and on the present, there is no stigma; hope in the future and aim for the best you can achieve.”
During the last months before his death, his health slowly but surely deteriorated and he looked much older than his years.
One day he went to his catechism teacher, Gerrie Ros- souw, requesting him to catechise his youngest son, Jo- hannes, to be confirmed in the church. He said to the catechism teacher: I see the children digging and taking our white clods and in the hole lies a long diamond.” He knew he had not long to live.
FIve Death-Bed Visions
1. The unification of the Afrikaner.
2. A bloody war.
3. A large maize crop failure.
4. A new diamond mine.
5. Boer exiles returning.
Shortly before his death, he told his two children, Kallie and Anna, about the five remarkable visions he had while ill in bed. However, because of the serious condition of their father, the children only revealed these visions after his funeral on 13th March 1926 and three days later they were published with his obituary in the Cape Times.
The English press was never kindly disposed towards him, and in the weeks following his death, numerous journalists and reporters grabbed their pens to comment on the Boer prophet and his visions. His contribution to, and influence on the history of the Afrikaner during the Anglo Boer War, Rebellion and the period after were ridiculed as being unimportant and insignificant. He was described as being an uncultured, highly emotional and unstable person whose sanity was questionable. His visions were seen as the semi-religious rantings of a quack and compared his piety with that of “age old superstitions of barbarians all over the world.”
They also said that Nicolaas van Rensburg’s fame as ‘prophet’ would stand or fall by those last five visions.
Because one of those visions is already becoming reality, it should be interesting to see what happens with the rest.
1): Unification of the Afrikaner: This was the second time he clearly saw the unification of the Afrikaner. He told his children: The first time was years ago—I was sitting on my verandah and saw Generals Hertzog and Smuts approaching and talking like two bosom friends, and while I sat in surprise, they both disappeared into an ant-bear hole. After a while General Smuts emerged alone and walked away, but I did not see General Hertzog again.
The amalgamation between the South African and National parties came in 1934 and five years later, at the outbreak of WW2, Smuts’ and Hertzog’s ways finally parted when Hertzog disappeared from the political scene.
2); A Bloody war: “There will be a bloody war and even more will die than in the Great War of 1914. This time white and black will fight together against the enemy outside our borders.
When the Seer had that vision in 1926, the possibility of another world war was so remote that people openly mocked about it. However, Kallie asked his sister on 3rd September 1939: “Do you remember that Dad spoke about a war still to come? This is it…” South Africa joined and its troops (black and white) went to fight in North Africa and Italy.
3): A very severe crop failure: “I see drought coming and maize crop failures such as the country has never seen before.”
Lawrence Greene alleged in 1956 that such details were too vague to determine when such a drought would come again. However, today there is no doubt that Nicolaas forecast frightening droughts and crop failures. The authorities admitted in a 1992 newspaper that the 1991-1992 drought was the worst to hit the country this century, and that about ten thousand farmers faced ruin as a result of crop failures.
4): New diamond mine: “A large new diamond mine will be discovered.
Scarcely a year later, the well-known archaeologist, Dr. Hans Merensky, was prospecting along the Namakwaland coast and discovered large amounts of diamonds in old oyster-beds and terraces of Alexander Bay. This is the richest diamond field discovered thus far.
5): Afrikaner exiles return. “I see many Afrikaners who had immigrated to Argentina after the Anglo-Boer war, returning to their homeland.
More than 300 Afrikaners left our shores on 21st October 1905 on board the Highland Fling to seek a new home in Argentina. However, three decades later in 1938, many felt that they had endured enough hardships and about 400 returned.
Seer van Rensburg’s fame as prophet was upheld!
During the last three years of his life, Nicolaas van Rensburg became even more of a recluse and spent many days with his Bible on the hillock behind his house. This was probably because his visions of events from the past and present, and particularly the future, predicted fearful anxiety, suffering and changes to come, upset him so much that he was hesitant to discuss them.
Two visions he saw in July 1923 give a good indication of what still lies ahead from 1960 up to the turn of the century for his beloved people:
10th July 1923: A dish containing honey appears from the west and a knife cuts pieces off. I am sitting at a table and one piece lands in my plate.
(On 12th July 1923 he saw a similar vision): A great pile of maize cobs appears from the west and they are on fire. Then there was a new thatched-roof house which I entered.
Then honeycombs emerged which were being cut with a knife and honeycombs were on the table.
These two visions are concurrent: The Afrikaner (Boer nation) enjoyed blessings and prosperity over a long period. However, things gradually changed. The maize cobs and fire depict rebellion and unknown problems accompanied by violence. The Boer would get his own parliament only after these events were fulfilled (the new thatched-roof house). No foreigner would ever have the privilege of reigning over him again. Isaiah 35:4: Say to them that are of a fearful heart, Be strong, fear not, your God will come with vengeance, even God with a recompense, He will come and save you.
Once this vision has been fulfilled and a new Government elected, unprecedented blessings and prosperity await the Boer nation and it will eventually be given his share in the riches of the country.
My Flesh Disappears
When Andries, the Seer’s nephew visited him for the last time at Rietkuil, he spoke to him about his coming death: I see a piece of wood lying across my chest; the flesh on my arm disappears. I think my end is near, it is not far any more.
A few days later, on the evening of 11th March 1926, Nicolaas (the Seer) van Rensburg suddenly died of stroke.
Mrs. Ria James, one of his granddaughters, wrote: Unfortunately I remember nothing about Grandfather’s funeral; I only remember his face and the accompanying sadness, and then our (the girls’) black dresses we wore to the funeral service which was conducted by a Reverend S.J. Strydom. (He read from Psalms 90 and 93 and they sang Hymn 20: 1-3).
Following is a verbatim quotation of the funeral list as written down by Nicolaas’ son, Kallie:
Funeral list:
Of the late Nicolaas Pieter Johannes van Rensburg.
The Lord of Life and Death has called him to eternity. Our dearly beloved Father and husband at the Age of sixty one years, six months and 11 days. After a happy marriage of forty two years. (Directly translated from original Dutch).
Bearers: Second Bearers:
P.N.J. van Rensburg B.J. Botha Snr.
D.F.J. van Rensburg (P. Smith) P.F. Kruger
N.J.J. van Rensburg C.F. Terblanche
J.C.J. van Rensburg A.B. Terblanche
R.J. Coertze M.J. Smith
B.J. Botha Jnr P.L. Smith (M.J. Smith)
G.J. Coertze Van Wijk
J.C. van Niekerk J.C. Botes.
More than 800 people attended his funeral at Rietkuil. “And”, wrote Dr. G. van der Westhuizen in Knapsak: “there could not be a more fitting epitaph for this outstanding person than the text of the lesson which was delivered at his funeral (by Reverend Strydom). Exod: 15:18: The Lord shall reign for ever and ever.
Anna Badenhorst did not write down her father’s last vision as it upset her too much, and only some while after his death she spoke to outsiders about it: “Shortly before his death, my father told my sister and me: I see my walking-stick lying across me. I see them nailing boards around me. I see a table with mourning cloth and a pile of white stones…
The role of Nicolaas (the Seer) Janse van Rensburg in our nation’s history was unique, and undoubtedly he was destined to exercise a far-reaching influence on the course of events in our nation’s history—in some respects even greater than that of the statesmen of his day. For while many of them are now half-forgotten, it seems as if the personage of the Seer van Rensburg has suddenly been drawn clearly on the horizon of our history. In fact, he is the only ‘prophet’ whose name appears in our parliamentary ‘blue books.’
He was a strange figure—mysterious and mystic, but at the same time a shy, humble man who walked with his God and his nation every day.
However, he was more than just a true patriot and legend; his life was like that of an old-Testament prophet and Divine messenger—one of the most gripping enigmas of our nationhood.
CHAPTER 26
Fulfilled and Unfulfilled Prophecies
(The interpretations of ‘Oom’ Nicolaas’ visions are as I received them. However, there could be other interpretations).
Although Van Rensburg also had visions about events abroad (England, America, Europe and Japan), his visions constantly reverted back to his own people and their interests. Even in his own time many of his prophecies were fulfilled, yet there are hundreds of symbolisms which only now are beginning to have any meaning and being fulfilled. Treason, fraternal quarrels, conflict and severe tribulations were the most important themes thereof. He spoke of soap cauldrons over a fire (rebellion); empty bowls ( expectations); a new shoe (new government); pigs (capitalists); snakes (enemies of the Boer); a man on horseback (strong leader); aloes (past government) and a host of other symbols with which he prophesied the course of history, particularly that of the Boer nation.
Most of his ‘fulfilled prophecies’ have, where possible, been mentioned in the text. However, there are a number of visions which need special mention and they are treated separately.
Van Rensburg did not only see death, spilling of blood, war and destruction. He also ‘saw’ a number of future events regarding the nation and which have contributed to him being recognised as a true National prophet:
1. Boy Mussmann’s Prediction
1973: Mr. Joos Haasbroek of Potchefstroom said that shortly before Mr. Mussmann’s death in 1973, he asked him why he did not write a book about Seer van Rens- burg’s life and visions, as there were few people who knew so much about the Seer as he did. Mr. Mussmann’s reply was: “No, Joos, someone else will write the book, somebody in Mossel Bay.”
(At that stage the author, Adriaan Snyman, and his wife, Annelize, were residing in Pretoria and he was employed by the Department of Agricultural Technical Services. They only settled in Mossel Bay in 1980—publisher).
2. Louis Botha’s Suicide
1st October 1916: A ladder stands in the East and a man descends from it (Botha). A number of wagons are trekking around Europe.
In this instance the Seer explained exactly what this vision meant. He even furnished the names in brackets to his daughter: General Louis Botha who would become alienated from his people and succumb to an early and tragic death. The wagons trekking around is an indication of the uncertainty and chaos after WWI.
3. Rise of Communism (1)
One evening when the Seer grew quiet during the meal, his eyes narrowing and his beard began trembling, the family knew he was having a vision: “Please fetch the writing materials,” he said to Kallie. “Write there: I see a black cloud creeping over Europe from the east and covering it in darkness like night. A large black ox with speckles emerges from the north. He is looking straight at us. The earth here becomes like fallow land. But it is pitch black in Europe…
Kallie’s interpretation: The black shadow moving across Europe from the east is undoubtedly the rise of communism. The speckled ox is Africa which will also come under the influence of Communism which is seeking a foothold here. We are facing very difficult times, but it will be far worse in Europe.
4. Rise of Communism (2)
4th April 1919: Three sickles appear one behind the other and stack one on top of the other until they become one.
Then wagons trek from North to East; they look like Turkish wagons, but they are new and are covered with canvas.
Russia’s division will be short. It will return to its old ways of ‘oppression, permanent revolution and dictatorship.’ (The sickles becoming one). Shortly thereafter a Turk (Hussein?) will ignite a new war in the Middle East. (Wagons on the way are always a sign of approaching war. However, this time there are two great differences: (1) The Turk is ready for war (new wagons) and (2) It is planning in secret and will attack on a certain day and place (in the East—Serbia?) when least expected, and possibly with nuclear weapons.
5. Rise of Communism (3)
21st August 1916: A woman emerges from the east and goes west. She is dressed in black; red cattle and a little ‘Kaffir’ are behind her and the cattle approach me straight on
The woman in black indicates the death and destruction which Communism (red cattle) would introduce to the West. When the Seer had this vision in 1916, it was a year before the start of Russian revolution. The little ‘Kaffir’ points to a union between Africa and the Communists. Whenever the Seer saw himself or his shoes in a vision, it always indicated the Boer nation. The cattle going straight at him is just a confirmation of what already has transpired: right from the beginning the Boers (Afrikaners) were the main target of the Communists.
6. Spreading of Communism
21st November 1918: A small red flag emerges from the far north and the world is ploughed under from the north.
This indicates Communism spreading its evil influence over the world and causing chaos and misery.
7. Ireland Gains Independence
9th September 1922: A woman sits with a child covered with a blanket on her lap. The woman removes the blanket; the child is strong and has dark brown eyes. The child suddenly grew up and became a big girl. (Interest in Ireland).
The woman symbolizes England and the child, Ireland. The blanket is removed. This means that Ireland will gain independence.
During 1920 a referendum was held in all 32 county districts of Ireland after the southern part demanded self- rule. Only 6 districts in Northern Ireland decided to remain under British rule. The southern part was established as a dominium in 1922, but only left the British Commonwealth in 1948. Ireland became a republic on 18th April 1949.
8. The Symbolic Ox-Wagon Trek
1920: During that year the Seer gave a detailed and amazing inter-pretation of his visions to Dr. Servaas Ros- souw (father of [recently late] Mrs. Elize Botha, wife of ex- President P.W. Botha) about everything that would still happen to the Boer nation. I will only touch on one of these outstanding visions because it coincides with what Van Rensburg told Mr. Lategan and his family.
According to Dr. Rossouw, Van Rensburg said he saw donkey- and ox wagons moving from South to North. The donkey wagons start lagging behind and the ox wagons multiply in number. They are being led by a horse commando and Van Rensburg saw how he, Dr. Rossouw, was leading the cavalcade with six other men mounted on pure white horses.
Dr. Rossouw’s detailed account of his visit to the Seer in 1920 was published in Die Burger of 25th October 1938, and with that he confirmed in writing that this vision was literally fulfilled when, accompanied by a large commando, he led the Symbolic Ox Wagon Trek from Swellendam to the Transvaal on a white stallion.
This vision of the Seer is confirmed in a newspaper article by Mr. Lategan of Wolmaransstad: I had almost forgotten about the black lines across the Union, he wrote, when Van Rensburg mentioned it again: “I see thousands of people from all over the country moving along those black lines to a hill near a big city where they all assemble. There is a great festival around a very large house which is built to window height. Various flags flutter around the building and in the centre the Republican flags are also hoisted, and I see our nation becoming free…”
Mr. Lategan was present at the laying of the corner stone of the Voortrekker Monument in 1938. He tells the story: “I sat looking at the monument with all the flags flying, particularly the Republican flags occupying a prominent place in the centre, and suddenly I realised this was the vision that Van Rensburg had seen! Then I remembered him saying that our nation would be free.
I went to call my wife and asked her whether she could still remember what Van Rensburg had said, remarking that if Van Rensburg was correct, our nation would be free to work out its own future when the Monument was completed.
However, scarcely nine months later World War 2 broke out and the monument had to remain incomplete for years, while attempts were made to acquire scarce and good quality building materials and process them.
When an election was called in 1948, I told several people about the vision Van Rensburg had seen and added that the National Party must win the election, otherwise how else could we be free? But I did not know how the NP could win.
The Boer was in power with the inauguration of the monument, and for the first time in history we were a free nation—albeit temporarily, for Van Rensburg also ‘saw’ that sometime in the future the nation would lose its freedom again and go through the furnace of its last and severest fight for freedom…”
9. The Second World War
(The following five visions all have a bearing on World War 2)
8th January 1917: Wagons in Europe covered with white canvas and without oxen are fleeing in all directions.
12th January 1917: Wagons are approaching us in the Union. In Europe a yellow stone rolls South, followed by wagons with blue mules.
19th January 1917: A bucket filled with blood falls over in the northwest. (This vision also has a bearing on events discussed in Chapter 20, Spectre of Terror as it forms part of a whole series (of events which would follow decades later): The rioting in the Belgian Congo in the early 1960’s and the whites who fled to Northern Rhodesia (Zambia)—this is where the bucket of blood falls over.
24th January 1917: Blood flows into a round hole until it is almost full.
Much blood would be spilled during that war, the Seer said, and history has proved him correct. It was a war in which millions died. South Africa (the Union) is also involved: (wagons approaching us in the Union). The ‘blue mules’ depict Germany; the ‘yellow stone’ is Japan attacking America at Pearl Harbour on 7th December 1941. An old woman scooping maize (out of a bowl) means that the war will last for years. The bucket of blood, as well as the hole filling with blood, indicates the senseless bloodshed.
10. World war 2—the aftermath
10th October 1921: A piece of paper with small writing appears in Europe and a hand holding a pencil draws flowers and draws a line across it. Then a team of yoked oxen appears with grey ones in between and which have a connection with Germany. Then a fat blue roan (horse) appears in Europe.
These visions point to events before and after WW2. The founding of the German Federal Republic and negotiations which would follow, are absolutely meaningless! Cross out the finely worked-out war plans, etc. The team of oxen means that Germany acts with a partner. With German surrender Van Rensburg sees a blue road disappear into the bushes in Germany. Germany will (in the future) take strong action against England. England is dying (a pig). The pig is being dressed, meaning our (the Boers’) troubles are becoming very serious: I see a pig lying in Europe with its head towards the west. It is being scraped clean with a sharp knife. Dusk is falling and I see them hanging up the pig in the Union. (Then I saw a camp surrounded by shining wire and the grass turns white around the camp. Brown horses appear in the east and my blue roan is amongst them. My old shoes come off my feet and I put on new ones. Then a boot comes into sight, but the sole is missing).
After the end of WW2 there would be great discord in South Africa. ‘Oom’ Nicolaas’ blue roan indicates that the Boers would not only assume a leading role, but that they would also win an election and rule the country—new shoes (1948). The Boers would be in power for many years. (Then a boot without a sole comes into sight—a sole only wears out after many years).
11. Inauguration of the Voortrekker Monument
21st November 1920: I am going North and a wire is strung across the road. A woman’s hand loosens the wire and I continue my journey. Then I saw green grass in the burns and people are running around a hillock. My old Bible appears before me.
12. The Death of Advocate Strydom
20th April 1919: I am between four walls; the roof has blown off and it is becoming dark.
A Boer leader, Advocate J.G. Strydom, dies during his term of office (the roof has blown off) and dark times lie ahead for the nation.
13. Rioting In Europe
15th December 1917: A large cauldron is in Eastern Europe and a fire is burning beneath it (bloody rebellion and rioting). I see new shoes in the north of the Union, but the tacks are falling out of them in a pile and they become melted lead.
Rebellion and rioting are rife in Eastern Europe, and shortly after the Boers got a Republic, but when it changed its policies, it was the start of its downfall. This is precisely what happened: on 9th November 1956 the Hungarian uprising broke out and a handful of rebels fought fiercely against the superior numbers of Russian oppressors while they pleaded in vain with the West for assistance. In one of the bloodiest conflicts since WW2, Budapest was entirely destroyed by Russian tanks and heavy artillery and hundreds of men, women and children died (cauldron with fire under it).
Not long after this, the Boer nation got its republic (new shoes, 1961). However, scarcely five years later (1966) the republic was beginning to fall apart at the seams (tacks falling off the shoes). Advocate John Vorster succumbs to the financial powers with his ‘outward policies’ (melted lead).
14. South Africa Leaves the Commonwealth
More then 30 years ago the well-known journalist, Koos van der Merwe, wrote about the Seer in a newspaper: “Page with me through this book of prospects. It was written 40 years ago, but is dated tomorrow and the day after. See, here on 9th September 1922 he saw Dr. Verwoerd leaving a conference hall in London 39 years later.
“On 23rd May 1923 you are a witness to trouble waiting for us in the future, and some years later it is written precisely what our First President of the New South African Republic will look like one day…”
Seer’s third eldest son, Kallie, who, with his sister, Anna, wrote down their father’s visions, said to Koos van der Merwe: “When I read about these visions, I see most of the troubles lie with blacks. Here is one: 23rd May 1923: I see a thick black cloud bank lying to the northwest. It grows denser and denser, then the storm breaks. When it passes, the clouds disperse and the sun breaks through.
15. Dr Verwoerd Murdered
8th July 1919: I leaned on my walking-stick and a small vein opened at the bottom, and blood flowed from it on to the ground and my shoe. Then a corrugated-iron roofing sheet came off a beam and I saw the sky. The sheet returned to the beam and the walls of the house became high.
Dr. Verwoerd was murdered in Parliament in 6th September 1966 -full vision and interpretation, Chapter 20.
16. The Cuban Crisis
18th December 1918: In the far north a pugnacious red bull stands with its head to the east. Then a white-backed bull with very sharp horns goes from West to East.
The only time America (white-backed bull) and Russia (red bull) ever squared up to each other was during the Cuban crisis of 1962.
17. Aids: The World Looks Like A Dung-Yard
He saw immorality on the increase throughout the world; how a disease broke out in Africa as a result and mainly blacks dying from it. It spreads throughout the world, but whites are relatively untouched by it:
12th December 1917: A great tank (reservoir) comes from the north. Fine sheep droppings roll from it (sexually transmitted diseases as a result of immorality), the tank rolls South and the earth becomes like a dung-yard.
30th March 1918: An old little ‘Kaffir’(third world)dressed in women’s clothing (homosexual)sits in Europe and droppings roll off him in the West (he is totally infected with this disease and the Western nations will also be infected).
This was the first vision the Seer had which predicted worldwide decadence, immorality and pornography, also referring to a horrendous ‘dirty sickness’ as a result. In a later vision he cautions his people to lead chaste lives.
At that time nobody knew of the existence of Aids. Today the whole world is like a ‘dung-yard’, particularly in Africa and the rest of the third world.
He had a vision on 22nd February 1922 and warned his people to live chaste lives: The world is clean, but it gives a turn and is then filled with sheep droppings. I then clearly heard someone saying to me: ‘Gird your loins and let your light shine.’
After that the old prophet saw a Great Broom (11th March 1922) sweeping this filth from the earth. The meaning of the broom is discussed in chapter 22.
18. Lesotho Becomes Impoverished
In Masus (Maseru, Lesotho) white goats trek South. I arrive at a large corrugated-iron house which is empty, and then a shop full of goods, but there are no people.
Basotholand, now known as Lesotho, gained independence in 1966 and after the blacks took over, whites left the country. Lesotho reverts back to its traditional lifestyle, crippling the economy. People are leaving as there is no more buying power.
19. Russia Changes Its Spots
22nd April 1917: A door opens in the east and gnu (a buffalo-like animal of the African plains) heads are seen; these become the horns of tame cattle. A man emerges from the east. His watch-chain shines in the sun. Another man emerges from the south and he takes the man from the east around the waist.
More than a decade ago it would have been unthinkable for Russia to open its doors to the West. When the Seer had this vision, Communism had not even been established in Russia yet. But after more than 70 years, the ‘Iron Curtain’ is drawn back and Westerner and Communist move freely across the borders. The man with the watch chain is undoubtedly Mikhail Gorbachev with his ‘perestroika’ and ‘glasnost’ (reform and openness) policies. In due course he also signs an agreement with America and/or Europe.
20. Religion—Communism’s Trump-Card
13th August 1922: There is still a cauldron on the fire, but the fire dies down. (Last of the uprisings).
30th October 1922: Two chickens are fighting in Europe—one black/grey and the other red/grey. The latter runs away and suddenly many chickens are running East.
Birds can indicate either the economy or treason. Here we see a definite sign of division and struggle between two groups; on one side there are black spiritual leaders (black/ grey chickens) and on the other the red/grey—the Communists, under the pretext of religion. When the latter concedes victory, everybody in the ‘east’ frantically looks for new investment possibilities. After the Berlin Wall was destroyed in 1989, exactly this happened. It was not cattle going east, otherwise it would have meant war.
21. The Chernobyl Disaster
22nd October 1923: I see a ‘boiler’ in Europe; fire bursts from the cover. A woman is gazing North; her white dress drops down and she is then dressed in black. She turns and sits down in a chair and is completely dressed in black.
The ‘boiler’ mentioned here undeniably points to the disastrous explosion at the nuclear power station in the Russian town of Chernobyl on 26th April 1986. The after- math of the explosion was far greater than the Russian authorities were prepared to admit at the time. Leading scientists are of the opinion that this explosion was equal to that of 30 Hiroshima atomic bombs.
A massive ground area was contaminated by radioactive radiation which affected harvests as far as Finland two years later. The explosion in the immediate vicinity of Chernobyl was catastrophic and 31 people died in a hell of flames. Another 160 000 Ukrainians were uprooted and left without shelter. Since then more than 8000 have died from the effects of radiation. Thousands of contaminated reindeer, as well as great herds of cattle meant for slaughter, and even house pets had to be destroyed. Crops failed and in 1987 a famine raged in that area.
However, it was a nightmare period for the inhabitants of the Chernobyl area which, in many cases, still continues. Information leaked to the West paints a horrific picture of the pain and suffering among the impoverished farming families (particularly women and children) who had to remain on their contaminated smallholdings, as there was nowhere else for them to go. Many are already dead; others are slowly dying because of contaminated water and other natural resources.
According to the latest statistics (1995), three million Russians were exposed to radiation when nuclear experts ‘dusted’ radioactive clouds to prevent them from reaching Moscow. Most of these victims will die within the next 10—15 years.
A Biblical connotation of these events came to light when a linguistic expert pointed out the meaning of the Ukrainian word ‘Chernobyl’—it means bitter or wormwood. We read about it in Revelation 8:10-11, and has a bearing on one of the plagues during the Great Oppression resulting from contamination and poisoning of water resources: “And the third Angel sounded, and there fell a great star from heaven, burning as it were a lamp, and it fell upon the third part of the rivers, and upon the fountains of waters; And the name of the star is called Wormwood, and the third part of the waters became wormwood; and many men died in the waters, because they were made bitter.
22. Russia Collapses
30th May 1917: A cotton seed emerges from the east; leaves cover the seed like white cloths, and on this are red blood spots. A dark-red bull with sawn-off horns is walking from north to south. There is a lot of chaff in the Cape. The chaff comes towards us, followed by reeds moving west.
Russia loses power and collapses. The seed (money) emerging from the east, sketches the complete picture in present Russia. It is financially bankrupt (leaves on the cotton seed), mainly as a result of its excessive military activities
The blood spots on the white cloths indicate its long history of bloodshed before its power is broken. A defeated Communism seek support from America. At the same time empty promises (chaff from the Cape) are made to the nation. The reeds represent those elements in society who blindly believe and accept everything they are told.
23. Ethnical Violence In Russia
10th April 1919: Two cattle—one speckled and one red—in the east of Europe are on the point of fighting when the red one disappears. Then a wood fire burns in Eastern Europe. The speckled beast (representing various ethnical groups) and the red beast (Communism) both indicate Russia. When they confront each other, Communism disappears, albeit temporarily, because:
18th July 1919: Shining sickles emerge in Europe and go west. Red oxen appear again. When they emerge, blankets roll up. (The sickle, symbol of Communism, is revived in the West— red oxen appear again—under false pretences of offering care and protection, but only death and destruction result). Smoke from dynamite spreads far out and pieces of wood scatter in the smoke.
24. Alliance With the British
2ND May 1920: The same direction in which the snakes were, is now a raging fire under a willow tree. (Rebellion and rioting).
10th June 1920: A speckled ox stands in Europe and turns around; then he becomes a white pig, then a white dog, then he disappears. Then English wagons trek South. (Added later): I am standing in Western Europe and my hands are covered in blood.
The speckled ox (Russia) will change course once and undergo a metamorphosis twice. The first turnabout (the speckled ox turning) occurred in the late 1930’s when Russia, despite a peace treaty with Germany, also signed a military treaty with England (the pig)—to stab Germany in the back.
The second change (becoming a white pig) would occur more than 40 years later when Russia ostensibly changes its Communist mantle for that of Capitalism (the pig). He would then, despite a front of integrity and good intentions (he changes to a white dog) continue his ‘savage dog’ policies until he receives the final death-blow (he disappears). However, this will only happen after a bloody battle in which South Africa (hands covered in blood) will also be involved.
25. Margaret Thatcher
12th December 1918: A straw hat appears in Europe and then a woman with blue eyes appears and she dons the hat.
This is the era of Margaret Thatcher—the first woman who would rule as premier in Europe (a hat being the symbol for a head of state).
26. Dismantling of Apartheid
23rd September 1917: Many black and white goats are mixed together east of Johannesburg. A road runs from East to West and in this road a little ‘Kaffir’ is driving pigs this way. Many donkey carts assemble in the Free State; a dusty road runs West and I suddenly take this road.
With this vision, Van Rensburg saw the dismantling of apartheid coming (black and white goats mixed together). England (pigs) under pressure from Africa (little ‘Kaffir’), influences our leaders. The Afrikaners stand together for unity and self-preservation (donkey carts assembling). But they return to their fixed traditions and erstwhile home (republics?) (a dusty road and I suddenly take this road).
27. Parliament Without God’s Blessing
20th December 1918: Cars (carts?) in the Cape Colony go East and a hand pushes them along, and old yellow wheel follows them, rolling on its hub.
Then black chairs stand in a circle. Cleaned (animal) intestines are draped behind the backrests.
A slaughtered pig hangs there; it disappears and sausage is lying on the ground. A small ‘Kaffir’ is here, driving cross-bred sheep to the east. Some goats are among the leaders.
This vision has distressing undertones—people are being forced in a direction they do not want to go, by the government of the day. The yellow wheel points to a major and important role being played by the Muslim leaders. (Van Rensburg also told Boy Mussmann that a wheel rolling on its hub means ‘it is not according to God’s will’, and legislation being passed in parliament, will be done without His blessing). Black chairs in a circle mean a black conspiracy. Intestines—foreigners co-operating. Slaughtered pig—a bad sign for the Boer every time. Little Kaffir—the same evils and problems; and the cross-bred sheep are jingoes, or Boers that have become anglicized. They are being involved in Communism by blacks.
28. Chris Hani Murdered
4th March 1922: The Union is dark, but it is as though the darkness is alive and opening up and a three-share plough emerges from the east. Then an Englishman arrives from Johannesburg to the south, dressed only in shirt and trousers and clean-shaven, and without a hat. People come peeping from south to East, holding small tin pails in their hands; the earth makes a turn and Boers riding multicoloured horses trek Northeast.
The death or ruin of a very prominent man in Johannesburg creates wide interest. It is an Englishman and the fact that he does not wear a hat, indicates that he might die violently. There is wide interest from all over, but it is not about sympathy—rather, what advantage people could gain from the matter (tin pails). After a while the Boers turn away and leave for a destination Northeast on their nulticoloured horses. They are not true Afrikaners.
29. Sports Idol—Sword of the Enemy
Undated: During December 1993 I received a visit from Mr. and Mrs. P. van Rensburg of Plettenberg Bay (a great great-grandson of the Seer’s brother, Pieter, and his wife). According to notes left by Mr. Van Rensburg’s father and also to Boy Mussmann, on a few occasions the Seer, before his death in 1926, said he saw two major sins in the hearts of his people which would cause them much distress, confusion and despair.
He often first spoke of the Boer’s mistake to always idolize his leaders, for they were also people of flesh and blood who would not be able to achieve anything without the will of God. Secondly, he not only saw that we would become sports fanatics in the future, but it would be idolized so much that the enemy would use it as a strong weapon against us. Eventually our enemies would compel us to sacrifice our principles, our religion, yes, everything for the sake of sports.
Mr. Van Rensburg said: “My late father often reminded us of this, but because we, as children, did not understand, we ignored these warnings which Van Rensburg issued, saying that sports would be used by foreign forces to bring us to our knees and give in to their demands. It was only during the 1960’s when I heard about other countries mentioning ‘sports boycotts’ over the radio that I suddenly realised with a shock what Van Rensburg had meant by that sombre warning…”
Once again the old Boer prophet was correct: For the sake of international competition, an overseas tour, a gold trophy, we yielded to the outside world’s demands and pressure; today we do not honour the Sabbath any longer and kneel before a ruling power which has rejected Christ and who calls on the ancestral spirits during national assemblies.
And there is not a single Stephen among our leaders who has the moral courage to stand up for Christ, or like an Elijah of old, to drag the treacherous priests of Baal to the river and slaughter them there. No! They prefer apologising to the drinkers of blood and atheists, and their cause is defended on TV, from the pulpits and rostrums!
The tendency to idolize their leaders, Van Rensburg said to Boy Mussmann, will cost them dearly one day. In a letter written by Mr. Mussmann to Mr. Cornelius Borman during June 1960, he wrote: “The truth ‘Oom’ Klasie told me was: ‘Our mistake is to idolize our foremen. For that reason the Lord let them fall…’”
(The prophet, Jeremiah, also warns his people against this sin: Thus saith the Lord: Cursed be the man that trusteth in man, and maketh flesh his arm, and whose heart departeth from the Lord. For he shall be like the heath in the desert, and shall not see when good cometh; but shall inhabit the parched places in the wilderness, in a salt land and not inhabited. (Jer: 17: 5,6).
According to Mr. Joos Haasbroek of Potchefstroom, there is a definite link between the idolizing of our leaders and the punishment and dark times which the Seer referred to:
“When that dark time comes,” the Seer warned the nation, do not tie yourselves to the leaders and depend on the arm of flesh, for they will disappoint you very deeply. Rather trust in God, as you should…” He also predicted that these events would occur around a big election, one in which everyone, except loyal Afrikaners, would participate and which would lead to the final split between Boer and Boer.
30. The Necklace Murders
Something like a human head emerges, wearing a white collar. These white collars become like rubber bands. Then a black hat lay there. I see two people resembling officers who had been caught and they have lettering on their caps. (Two very prominent Police or Defence Force officers are placed under arrest and tried).
31. A Black Man In A High Position
26th December 1921: A team of oxen, with grey ones in between, is in Europe and they are unyoked. The Union is ploughed under and merino sheep trek to Johannesburg. There is one black sheep among them. A round black tank emerges from the east and fire falls out from it.
The oxen are unyoked. This means that aggression in Europe will diminish temporarily. At the same time the ground in South Africa is ploughed under. Everything is upside-down and what was on top is now below and vice-versa. Merinos (ministers) move to Johannesburg, which has always been the centre of liberal activities. It is also the centre of financial power. A black sheep is among them; this is a black man with so much authority, he is offered a government post. A round black tank emerges from the east and fire falls out from it. Revolution and aggression incited from the Orient, spreads to our country.
32. Black Power Rips Boer Nation Apart
28th November 1917: There is a valley in the south and sheep appear from either side of it. A little ‘Kaffir’ appears and drives the sheep on the west side northwards.
The Boers (sheep) achieved their goal after a long struggle—the Republic in 1961 (they appear out of the valley). However, it was the strong influence of the black man over the liberals which caused division (and tearing apart) of the nation (a little ‘Kaffir’ drives the sheep on the western side—the leftwing elements among the Boers— northwards).
33. Woe To Him Who Gathers the Nations
Undated: (Mr. Joos Haasbroek): “Whenever I visited ‘Oom’ Boy Mussmann, he always called me aside to speak about the Seer’s prophecies. I had heard them so many times, and when I questioned him about them, he could speak until dawn the following day. So, one day, while we were alone, he said: ‘What I am going to tell you now, I haven’t mentioned to anyone, and please keep mum about it, because nobody will believe you, anyway. You see, ‘Oom’ Nicolaas told me that we would have a black government one day and we would lose everything, but everything!’
“That night I could not sleep. Today I believe the Lord gave ‘Oom’ Nicolaas the gift of prophecy because He wanted to give him (‘Oom’ Nicolaas) to the nation as a prophet, probably because the Lord knew the dark times that lay ahead for us.
“Regarding the Republic: ‘Oom’ Nicolaas spoke about Total Reform which would precede it, and it seems to me that the 1961 Republic was too soon for this prophecy—it still has to be fulfilled (our own Republic), but only after the turbulence of Total Reform.
“If you read the three chapters of Habakkuk, you may get a better understanding of God’s plan for us. Why do I say Habakkuk? It is because we read about God’s judgments in chapter 2, and this indicates to us what Van Rensburg said about God’s plan for us.
‘And the Lord answered me and said, Write the vision and make it plain upon the tables, that he may run that readeth it. For the vision is yet for an appointed time, but at the end it shall speak, and not He; though it tarry, wait for it, because it will surely come, it will not tarry… the just shall live by its faith… a proud man cannot be satisfied… but gathereth unto him all nations, and heapeth unto him all people. (Since 2nd February 1990, F.W de Klerk has done just that—he has gathered all the nations in South Africa for himself! But today he is also picking the fruits thereof): ‘Shall not all these take up a parable against him, and a taunting proverb against him, and say, Woe to him that increaseth that which is not his…’ (The Good News Bible is even more merciless towards the man who would gather all the nations under one blanket): ‘The conquered people will taunt their conquerors and show their scorn for them. They will say: “You take what isn’t yours, but you are doomed! How long will you go on getting rich by forcing your debtors to pay up? But before you know it, you that have conquered others will be in debt yourselves and be forced to pay interest. Enemies will come and make you tremble… but now those who have survived will plunder you because of the murders you have committed and because of your violence against the people of the world and its cities…’
“’Oom’ Nicolaas saw a vision during the War (1899-1902) which is worth a lot to us:
“After Cronjé was trapped on the hill at Magersfontein, General de Wet had Danie Theron crawl through the English columns to tell him that he would shoot open a passage for him, so that they could escape. However, Cronjé did not want to do so. The Seer and some burghers managed to get out and were then under the command of General de Wet. ‘Oom’ Nicolaas had a whitlow on his finger and asked permission to go home to treat the condition. He was granted leave and on the first evening he slept over with a German family. That night he had a vision of the Hand of the Lord putting pressure on the nation— sometimes lighter, sometimes heavier, and which would continue until we were a completely free nation, followed by peace, blessings and prosperity.
“God is prepared to do His bit for us, but then He expects us to be a faithful nation. Once again, read Habak- kuk. About the punishment the Lord will mete out to the enemy for their sins, we read Samuel 15: 2,3: Thus saith the Lord of hosts, I remember that which Amalek did to Israel, how he laid in wait for him in the way, when he came up from Egypt. Now go and smite Amalek, and utterly destroy all that they have, and spare them not, but slay both man and woman, infant and suckling, ox and sheep, camel and ass.
34. Corrupt Government Disappears
15th Nov 1917: An old boot appears from the north, the leather deteriorates and eventually there is a bare foot.
This points to a government which has been in power for a long time (the boot is old—the NP) but corruption and other misdeeds eventually led to its downfall.
In the Seer’s day the National Party was at the beginning of its existence. The first elections had just been held when he died. Nonetheless he saw the course of this Party, which would later become the strongest Party in the country, right up to it’s decline.
Seer van Rensburg saw the end of the National Party from 1919 until 1921 in four stages. There would first be a split; then surrender to a black government under pressure from the West; after that he predicted the swift decline of the NP; then the resignation of its leader and lastly a change of name (poplar tree) and disappearance.
a) Split: The splitting of the National Party was very clear in Nicolaas van Rensburg’s visions, particularly the vision of 9th May 1919: Wagons loaded with wood assemble in the Union; and when they disappear, the whole world is black as though everything is burnt. A pole stands in the Cape and a butcher’s cleaver hacks off a piece.
The wagons assembling indicate preparations for a war, but although it is an undeclared war, (wood on the wagons), the effects thereof would cause vast distress and bloodshed. A pole was always the symbol of a strong party or government. However a piece is hacked off the pole, meaning the ruling party (NP) would be split in the Cape (Parliament). This occurred when first the HNP broke away in 1969 and later the CP in 1982.
The split in the Boer nation was often seen in ‘Oom’ Nicolaas’ visions. But this vision indicates a great and final split which would originate in the Cape—Parliament.
Wagons loaded with wood assemble in the Union; and when they disappear, the whole world is black as though everything is burnt. A pole stands in the Cape and a butcher’s cleaver hacks off a piece.
This vision is not just another variation. The cause of this great split in Afrikaner ranks will originate in the Cape, presumably in Parliament.
Two days later, on 11th May 1919, the Seer had an even clearer vision of this split:
A saw cuts a piece of wood in half in the Union and it becomes a piece of poplar wood.
The interpretation of this vision partially links up with the previous one. The wood is sawed in half and changes into poplar. A Boer Government or white ruling power are symbolized as an aloe. A poplar is alien to our nation and in this case it will be the ANC with their Communist ideas on one hand and the waning NP full of foreigners on the other hand. The new Party, the ANC, will take over power.
Meanwhile a reader from Lichtenburg pointed out to me that there is also another interpretation for the vision of 11th May 1919: The saw cut a piece of wood in half in the Union and it becomes a piece of poplar wood.
According to this man, this vision complements the vision of 9th May 1919, except that the poplar wood has nothing to do with the ANC, but ‘refers to the splitting of the NP’ (the sawed-through wood). After the split the NP gets a new image which is unacceptable to the Boer nation, and shortly thereafter the NP leader will resign and the name of the Party will change (becomes poplar). As was said in Messenger of God, an aloe has always been the symbol of white rule in the Union—but after the split in the Party, he is hostile towards the Boers, causing the bitterest dissension in our national history.”
b) Surrender: The surrender of white rule began on the day Van Rensburg saw the Boer removing his shoes and kneeling before the West, followed thereafter by a black government.
26th February 1922: In the north of the Union a Boer lets his shoes come off his feet and he kneels to the west.
And he already saw on 12th March 1917 that we would have a black Government…“I am at Wolmaransstad and I put on new black shoes).
c) Retrogression: Despite De Klerk’s promises after the 1994 election that the NP would grow from strength to strength and that he (De Klerk) would still be there in 1999 to beat the ANC and take over the Government again, he has let them down once again, for today, four years later, the NP is totally ruined, and Mr. De Klerk is not there to lead them any longer.
In 1914 a certain Jan-Petrus wrote about a vision the Seer had concerning the decline of the NP: The Seer spotted a tall tree in our country, and it started crumbling from the top, or ‘pluiings’, as he expressed it; and then the tree died, leaving a hole in the ground where it stood. After that he saw a beautiful blue tree rise in both the Transvaal and Free State, bearing grapes as large as a good-sized peach.
His interpretation was that our Government would disintegrate and that two other governments would rise in the Transvaal and Free State.
Seer not only correctly predicted the NP’s dramatic retrogression, but also the large-scale racial integration which would take place.
15th November 1921: And old boot appears out of the north, the leather deteriorates and eventually there is a bare foot. I walk among my sheep here on the hillock and they are sleeping mixed up—mixed breed and merino.
When the Seer was in prison with Mr. Willie Lourens after the 1914 Rebellion, Willie complained to the Seer that they had to sit in prison because they rebelled against the Boer traitors and England. Van Rensburg consoled him by saying that he saw something good for the Afrikaner far in the future: I see a black pig with a white hair here and there in England. Seer said this means that the black nations overseas will rise up against the whites (in England) one day, and some of the whites there will support these blacks. He added: Then I saw this same pig hanging here and I knew we would also have trouble with the blacks, but this will not stop us from getting our own free and independent Republic one day.
d) NP Leader abandons the ship: The ‘bare foot’ the Seer referred to in the back of his Bible, indicates that the Party is now without a leader (boot)—he either died, or resigned. (F.W. de Klerk resigned as leader of the NP at the end of August 1997). According to the Seer’s vision, this will spell the end of the NP, for in the vision there is no indication that the NP will last much longer after the boot (leader) has deteriorated to such an extent that it fell off by itself. It might last in coalition with other parties for a while, but as party it has no further say or influence any longer.
e) NP changes its name:
According to several letters I received, it is virtually a fait accompli that the new NP leader, Mr. Marthinus van Schalkwyk, ‘will have to change the name of the party before the 1999 election, as the Seer has already predicted: The saw cut a piece of wood in half in the Union and it becomes a piece of poplar wood.
35. Black Government Takes Over
12th March 1917: A great enclosure full of fat cattle is in Europe. There are three types; grey, black and red. They emerge from the enclosure and wagons flee West; the world becomes dark. In the east a long iron wagon is under a rock and it moves the rock. I am at Wolmaransstad and putting on new black shoes.
This vision depicts black rule and persecution. At first everything went well with Europe and with us, but the peace and co-operation would be of short duration. The nation wakes up too late and an exodus to the west begins. Dark days break for us. Insecurity, violence, confusion and ignorance become part of our daily existence (the earth grows dark). The national leaders will be manipulated and controlled mainly by the iron fist of the treacherous Communists (in the east a long iron (treachery) wagon under a rock and it moves the rock). There is underhanded manipulation and then ‘Oom’ Klasie put on new black shoes at Wolmaransstad (his home). This means that a new government will come into power. For the Republic it means a black government, but the Afrikaners will be the ‘west’ (Western Cape) and not be ruled by this government.
36. The New Constitution
10th June 1919 (NB): A hand holding a pencil makes two noughts on a clean sheet of yellow paper. (Seer told his daughter: This is a very important vision for my people” Then she wrote N.B. next to it. Interpretation: A new constitution which will be worthless, is concluded).
Then I am in an empty house; the door opens and I go out and enter another house and it is very light through the window. (When this agreement is concluded, the nation rejects this government (an empty house). The Afrikaner nation does not only get a new government—entering another house— but its misery and hardships are at an end and faces a future of unparalleled peace, prosperity and blessings (light through the window).
A white lady’s hat appears in Europe. (At this time a woman will take over power in Europe—note that the Seer refers to Europe and not England. This vision does not point to Maggie Thatcher).
37. Brotherly Discord and Treason
Undated: The Boer nation was important to the Seer. Next to God, he loved his people the most, and their interests rested heavily with him. He always spoke of the struggle that lay ahead for his people—the most intense struggle in its history, but it would also be the final purification of his torn and confused nation. One afternoon, shortly before his death, he sadly confessed to his nephew, Andries: “Andries, the Afrikaner nation will be purified once again, and nothing can stop it. Although fraternal quarrels and treason will be intense among our people, I see we are still forging ahead on the road God has decreed for us…”
Seer always saw the Hand of God in the future of his people, and he implicitly trusted his God.
38. Schism…
This is fully dealt with in 34—Corrupt Government disappears, section a).
39. …and Division
20th September 1919: Goats and sheep are all mixed, but the goats stand together.
Pro- and Anti-Government people will still live together. But in contrast to its enemies (the goats) who stand together, the Afrikaners (Boers) will be divided amongst each other—a whim dating back as far as the days of the Great Trek. After this it has cropped up repeatedly in the history of the Afrikaner, but now it is at its worst, although a pretence of unity is maintained.
40. Government of National Unity
10th October 1919: Many long nails lie around in the West of the Union. Then new shoes appear. The toe of one shoe is not yet completed.
Frantic efforts are made to form a new government. However, many plans and agreements will have to be abandoned to satisfy all the relevant parties: (many nails lie around). It will also result in various government systems (regional management?): Note the plural ‘shoes’. Seemingly it will not succeed, for one of these ruling systems of parties are doomed to failure right from the start (the toe of one shoe is not yet completed).
41. The ‘Rainbow’ Nation
8th February 1921: Many shoe tacks lying around on the ground and I have a handful of rusty ones in my hand. I am wearing new shoes.
‘I’ refers to the Afrikaner nation and the ‘new shoes’ on ‘Oom’ Klasie’s feet indicate that in the political context we are now moving within a new sphere of the ANC, for the original little tacks turning into lead (Dr. Verwoerd’s policy), are unusable for this party. They are rusted: and we know that a hammer-blow on the head of a rusty nail bends it in any direction. Then there are the many party members who say today: “There is no room for me in the ‘old dispensation’.”
Therefore a ‘rainbow nation’ had to be created out of eleven nationalities; but the grand peace which had the outside world and the ANC/SACP rejoicing, is all wishful thinking, for in this colourful rainbow, every ethnic group is fighting desperately to keep its stripe pure!
There will be many attempts and battles before the Afrikaners (Boers) will get a new Republic. This search for solutions has been ongoing for years; rusty nails thrown aside. It is only now that the future of Azania on the one hand, and the Boer Republics on the other hand, is beginning to get on course. But the new shoes (Government) may probably not be what many people had in mind.
42. Murder Gangs Released
27th November 1915: A large sheet of dark red paper appears. On the right hand side there are blood red squares and on the left hand side the squares are white. (Much will be written about bloodshed when the struggle against Communism by whites in South Africa begins). I see wagons with red oxen. (The Communists are armed and ready for war). The prison pot comes to Pretoria, but it is empty. (There is a general shortage of food). The prison cells are all open and the lines hang full of washed clothing. (Thousands of criminals are released countrywide—criminals who have not nearly completed serving their sentences yet).
43. Uninvited Immigrants
18th April 1917: Wagons arrive from the South with a mixture of red speckled oxen. The two lead oxen unyoke themselves, the two rear oxen turn black and then all the oxen turn black.
A mixture of red speckled oxen represent a variety of people from various national groups. However, red is the dominant colour representing Communism or the British. The fact that the oxen unyoke themselves means that they are uninvited and make themselves at home over here and have a change of heart. They turn black and pursue black idealism. (The next vision links up with this one).
44. Squatters On the Advance
16th April 1919: Black cattle come through hills in the north of the Union. There are also black cattle in the east.
This vision, seen as far back as 1920, confirms what the Seer said—hordes of blacks descending down on us from North and East Africa. When this happens, a very young and inexperienced leader figure will emerge and purposely drag the liberal English through dark times into a chasm: A small boy drives pigs towards the west; it grows dark and they disappear. Then there is an enclosure from which cattle emerge, but they turn around and return to the enclosure.
Meanwhile the blacks will have returned to their traditional habits of separate living areas (there was an enclosure) and many of them will try to break away again, but without success.
The enclosure and black cattle that do not know where they want to go, is also an indication of how much confusion there will be—even among the blacks.
45. They Swarm Like Locusts
Undated: A Mr. W.H. Boshoff of Marble Hall writes: “I am sending you two original letters (still in their original envelopes!) written to me by the late Mr. Boy Muss- mann while I was residing in the then Southern Rhodesia. You will notice that they were written many years ago, and as a result of my moving around, I had lost interest and forgot about them. It is a miracle that these two letters were pre-served and I discovered them after my wife passed away while I was clearing up three months ago. I’m very pleased about this!”
Deducing from these two letters and other statements and documents which had come into my possession, it might be necessary to take another look at the Seer’s visions connected to the events in Zambia and Zimbabwe (the old Northern- and Southern Rhodesia), as well as his incredibly accurate predictions of the Communist onslaught against White South Africa which followed:
“Foreigners will flock into our country; they are as numerous as locusts and they arrive, regardless of race, language, colour or creed. One shipload of 500 arrived. Only one woman was a Protestant—the rest were all Roman Catholics, along with the blacks—all enemies of ours. Read Nehemiah 13: On that day they read in the book of Moses in the audience of the people, and therein was found written that the Ammoniate and the Moabite should not come into the congregation of God forever, because they met not the children of Israel with bread and with water… Now it came to pass, when they had heard the law, that they separated from Israel all the mixed multitude… In those days saw I in Judah some treading wine presses on the Sabbath, and bringing in sheaves, and lading asses… and I testified against them in the day wherein they sold victuals…and I contended with them, and cursed them, and plucked off their hair, and made them swear by God, saying, Ye shall not give your daughters unto their sons, nor take their daughters unto your sons, or for yourselves!
After that, Van Rensburg saw the English lose Tanganyika, Zambia and Zimbabwe: he told of the red flag coming from the north and the whole world being ploughed under; then he saw a snake in this up-rooted earth and after that a black ox with speckles looking South (at us).
Communism first gained a firm grip on Central Africa before spreading further to Malawi, Zambia, Zimbabwe, Namibia, and eventually South Africa. He describes it thus: “I see small and large red cattle (the English) from Nyasaland (Malawi) and Kenya fleeing in a north-westerly direction (Zambia) from the snake. A long line of ‘Kaffir’ spears appears behind the English, then a bucket of blood falls over.
(Every time Van Rensburg saw a bucket of blood, this was followed by massive human slaughter. During his lifetime he had four such visions in which he saw a bucket of blood. The first was early in 1917, referring to WW2, the second one was when violence erupted in the (then) Belgian Congo; he described the third to a minister, Dr. Servaas Rossouw—a bucket of blood will fall over in the north when the Afrikaner takes matters into his own hands, and in the fourth, after the conclusion of the Afrikaner’s freedom struggle and after “our enemies have fled”—he saw the ‘Vierkleur’ being submerged in a bucket of blood and then hoisted over a free nation)..
He saw the progress of the Communist onslaught in Africa as follows: Other whites flee our way. The dust before their wagons catches alight. I see it is mountainous country; smoke and flames erupt from the mountains and people, fighting fiercely, come into sight. They flee so swiftly that the dust flies behind them. Their cause is our cause and we will have to stand together. A snake (Communists) comes sailing out of Southern Rhodesia (Zimbabwe), keeping low in the long grass ( it is sly). ‘Oom’ Klasie does not see its head. When it reaches Mafikeng (the original name, later changed to Mafikeng, then reverting back to the original name), it turns and goes to Vereeniging. (Here we are given an unbelievable description of the route by which the Communist insurgents entered South Africa and where their power-base was situated).
“The snake from Southern Rhodesia goes to Vereeni- ging (Sasolburg). Many English leave East London and Port Elizabeth; some will flee while others will go to assist the enemy at Vereeniging. Now ‘Oom’ Klasie said: ‘I am walking among the mine dumps in Johannesburg and not a human being is to be seen (all the mine ‘Kaffir’ have gone home) and all the cars are standing still.’”
46. the ‘chicken run’
10th December 1920: Sheep come together in the north where they turn into white-backed cattle. A pile of ash lies in the west and a hobbled white horse walks across the ash; it becomes free and young people run to where the white- backed oxen are.
They are fleeing before the Spectre of Terror which God will create in their hearts…
While aliens are overrunning the country, the great ‘chicken-run’ begins: the sheep become white-backed cattle. These are Americanised and anglicized Afrikaners, and driven by a spectre of terror, are fleeing pell-mell out of the country in droves. The prefer leaving their compatriots in the lurch rather than staying and fighting for their rights.
(Since Mr. de Klerk’s reform on 2nd February 1990, the white population has diminished from 5.5 million to 3.9 million over a period of five years, and the end is not yet in sight. Ironically, these ‘chicken-runners’ are not only the top brains in the country, but also those who hailed De Klerk’s reform initiatives the loudest; who eagerly voted ‘yes’ in every election and referendum. Small wonder, then, that the NP is on its last legs—its most ardent supporters have all fled!
Until recently the Censorship Board still had the power to prevent the youth of South Africa from being exposed to undesirable publications and movies from America; the horse was hobbled and could not do as it pleased. The Board has now been muzzled and done away with by the ANC, because that same horse is now free.
Since the Censorship Board has been stripped of its powers, an unprecedented wave of pornography and violence has hit our nation. Every norm of decency has been done away with, and unfortunately our youth is no longer prepared to adhere to decent Christian standards—they have boisterously embraced America and its filth. The evil influence is very much apparent in our movies and books.
47. The Boer Nation In Sackcloth and Ashes
26th February 1922: A woman, heavily dressed in mourning attire, emerges from the west of Europe. A farmer in the north of the Union lets his shoes fall off his feet and he kneels towards the west.
The nation is in mourning. Dark times are experienced and people are despondent. A time will come when the nation will kneel down before God in humiliation—political and other differences are forgotten, for they do not matter any longer. In the face of the destructive attack on the Afrikaner, he returns to God with whom he made a Vow, and now he is praying that the sun will not set over him.
48. The Boer and the Parasite
5TH May 1921: A woman flees from a house standing in the east. A small hole appears and a whip goes into the hole. Then donkeys pull a yellow cart and they go through a muddy marsh. Eventually the cart becomes a wagon with a long team of donkeys in front. The wagon brake is on, but the team manages to pull the wagon through the marshland.
A woman fleeing from a house, a lady head of Government (Margaret Thatcher) is forced to resign. At the same time a whip enters a small hole. A whip is used to exert authority and to discipline, but there is no longer authority. And the Boers (donkeys) have become the slaves of the Indians (yellow wagon), being expected to do the dirty work while the Indians sit on the wagons like parasites. The lengthening donkey team indicates increasing financial pressure on the Boers.
48B. Election Fraud
10TH May 1921: A yellow wagon comes from Johannesburg and a yellow sieve emerges from the wagon. A yellow wagon and sieve means fraud in an election or referendum. (This vision must be read in conjunction with the previous one).
49. America and Russia Bend the Knee
11th August 1918: White-backed oxen, led by a small boy, draw wagons in Europe. Then there were red oxen with two white- backed oxen, led by small ‘Kaffir’.
America exercises influence over England. But here in Africa, Russia and America are led by the nose by blacks.
50. The Truth Commission (1)
11TH August 1918: A folded blanket emerges from the east and unfolds. Then there is a pole and a ‘Vierkleur’ hangs on top of it. The earth is pitch black in the west.
Although the Boer leaders will attempt to keep their deeds of the past secret, they will be exposed, largely through the aid of Indians. The pole with the ‘Vierkleur’ flying from it, refers to the ‘loyal Afrikaners’. When the struggle is over, they will not only stand more firmly, but also gain their long-sought freedom. At this stage, bloody wars will still be fought somewhere in the world (…the world is pitch black). (Also compare the vision of 10th May 1922).
51. The Truth Commission (2)
10th May 1922: The Union comes into sight, completely ploughed under and it looks like an ash-heap which has been ploughed through.
Everything is turned upside-down. Corruption and deceit, lies and secrets from all sides and parties are revealed.
52. Free State Boers Meet Opposition
23 June 1918: A large sheet of brown paper is burning from the west. I am trying to douse the fire, but it flares up in a steep road running West. I ride South on an open road. Clouds over Europe seem as if they are alive and where they touch the earth, the look like harvested maize fields.
This indicates a vast orchestrated campaign to finally finish off the Boer nation and bring it further into disrepute. It is initiated in the Free State and the farmers, in particular, will suffer the most. The campaign intensifies and gains momentum. The ‘upright Afrikaner’ turns away on his own course where there is no resistance or obstacles. Secret things are being done in Europe against the Afrikaner (There are clouds that seem alive). The harvested maize fields indicate a period of famine and misery for the whole of Europe.
53. Divorce and Death of Princess Diana
According to Professor A.G.W. Raath and N. van Zyl (Die Vierkleur wapper weer: Die Visioene van Siener van Rensburg, Vierkleur Uitgewery, Bloemfontein, 1994) (The ‘Vierkleur’ flies again: The visions of the Seer van Rensburg), the Boer prophet already predicted Prince Charles’ and Princess Diana’s divorce on 20th January 1919: A ditch is in the Union and a woman emerges from the top end. She is dressed in khaki and a sieve is above her head. When the woman disappears, ears of wheat are fully developed. A thin stream of yellow water runs across an old road from North to West, and when the water had finished running across, a large flock of merinos walked along the road.
The Seer said a ‘divorce was hanging over the head of a very renowned British lady of noble birth’ (Diana), and when she dies, we prepare for a big election…
The Seer often said when he ‘sees’ ripe wheat, it means an election is on the cards. (Compare his vision of 1st July 1925). And this is exactly what happened! A few days after Princess Diana’s death on 29th August 1997, the first election shots were fired by the NP and ANC, and shortly thereafter (4th October 1997) the Conservative Party announced during its annual congress that it would participate in the elections. The vision further indicates Oriental involvement (yellow water) and that many loyal Afrikaners (merinos) would turn their backs on the NP and CP to return to the ‘old ways’ and act in their own interests, as their leaders had never done for them.
The Free State farmers did so when they took the law into their own hands at the end of 1997 to avenge the cold-blooded murders of white farmers. However, according to the Seer, they will soon be stopped by the Government, although the murders will escalate until the planned election in 1999.
In three other important visions (16th and 23rd January 1916 and 3rd September 1920), he not only saw how this English Lady would be stripped of everything after her divorce, but that her sudden death would plunge the whole of England into mourning. He further said that there would be dirty tricks involved in her death, and that she would die in a car accident. 1. (16th January 1916): A beautiful noble lady dressed in yellow is English. She becomes naked. (After her divorce the Princess lost her claim to the throne, as well as her titles).
2. (23rd January 1916): A lady wrapped in mourning cloth (death) and a sieve on the western side. There is a large shining table with cotton lying on it (dirty trick). A pile of ash lying there (the scandal which she brought over the Royal House was the reason she had to die. Among other things, there were rumours that Diana was expecting her Muslim lover’s child and also that she would be marrying him shortly). There are car tracks in the road (she would die in a motor car accident).
3. (This vision comes from the Krause-document. Van Rensburg wrote to Mr. S. Naudé of Bethlehem about this on 3rd September 1920:
…A yellow ‘spider’ (a light English coach) travels East and when it stops, a beast emerges from underneath and overturns it. The red-spotted beast stands there and the spider has disappeared.
In his letter to Mr. Naudé, the Seer explains that one of the occupants in the spider was an English nobility, and that the speckled red beast (America—CIA?) was responsible for the accident.
But Van Rensburg also saw at the same time of the divorce and accident, it would hold serious repercussions for the British throne.
During the 1920’s he told Mr. van Rooyen some interesting predictions about the British Royal House. Mr. van Rooyen was a good friend of the old prophet and the visions were sent to me by his daughter-in-law, Mrs. Bessie van Rooyen of Henneman:
“Every time ‘Oom’ Klasie saw a snake in a vision, he said there would be racial problems and that the earth was overturned (ploughed under). This racial conflict leads to treason, or dirty tricks; an important person dying violently. and/or war (in other words, there will surely be bloodshed).
“The Seer told us in great detail how World War 2 would break out, who would participate and also that Germany would emerge a defeated and broken nation from the conflict…”
54. Election In the Western Cape
31st August 1917: Wagons assemble on a floor in the Cape; when they reach the floor, wheat sheaves fall down and they are winnowed. In the west a blue flag appears and it seems if it wants to come here. An enclosure with aloes stands in German West; the enclosure gives a turn and then wagons were travelling South.
When the Seer specifically refers to the ‘Cape’, the old Boer republics are not included. At some or other stage an election will be held in the Western Cape only, and against all expectations, drastic political changes occur (winnowed or clean wheat). This is followed by German intervention (blue flag). By this time blacks are already ruling the country here and in South West (Namibia), (aloe enclosure). With the passage of time (enclosure turning), South Africans leave Namibia and return here (wagons travelling South).
55. The Last Sifting
10th November 1921: The mist clears and a wagon is loaded with sheaves. The sheaves fall on the floor and the floor becomes clean. Small clouds are seen in the north; they move away from each other and the sun shines brightly.
The harvest is in and loaded on the wagon. There is division among the Boers and those who do not belong to the nation. The latter have no share in the vision. Sheaves on the floor means that preparations are being made for winnowing. This will be the last sifting process for the nation. After this the sky opens and the sun shines on the Boer nation.
56. Nuclear Disaster at Koeberg?
13th September 1914: Darkness descends. Two small lights. A massive engine emitting smoke which covers the mountains and then people come walking across the bare earth. He (the Seer) sees a town where the houses disappear. Our people appear. He sees a large red bull with shortish horns and he is surrounded by fierce red cattle. The carts go up and it is SO DARK HE CANNOT SEE HIS HORSE’S MANE. The world is burnt black. The further he goes, the hotter he feels the glow in his face. He then enters the home of ‘Tant’ Nonnie (General de Wet’s wife) and the carts pass by.
A massive power failure will occur countrywide at the same time the Boer nation is engaged in its final battle for survival. It seems if a massive explosion will occur at Koeberg and everything in the vicinity will be destroyed by radiation (the earth is bare and the houses disappear). Followers of a moderate Communist leader (Mandela) are dangerous and pugnacious. Once this leader disappears, the dark time arrives for the Afrikaner-Boer. The destruction caused by the nuclear disaster will be felt for a long time. During this time ‘upright’ Boer women will take care of their compatriots. Many people will move North from the disaster area.
57. Night Attack On Johannesburg
In 1921 the Seer had a terrifying vision of a night attack on Johannesburg by black terrorists. He said it would occur very suddenly and unexpectedly:
A man would be standing on his verandah in the evening, looking out over the city and say to his wife: “What a beautiful evening.”
However, the barking dogs will awaken them in the early hours of the morning and they will hear gunfire and bloodthirsty screaming of the attackers running through the streets. Then they will realise that it has begun. However, nobody will be able to stop them and thousands will be killed in that night attack.
Even the Bible speaks about this in Job 24: 12-14, describing how murderers will strike before dawn; how the wounded will lie groaning in the city, but God will not answer them, because this will be the divine judgment which they have deserved.
The Bible also predicts this in Isaiah 29:3: And I will camp against thee round about, and will lay siege against thee with a mount, and I will raise forts against thee. Even the first chapter of Jeremiah warns us that the enemy will descend on us and raze everything we possess within sight. And exactly as the Seer has said, Jeremiah tells us that this attack will take place at night when the enemy will be plotting against us—Jer: 6:5: Arise, let us go by night, and let us destroy her palaces. Verse 11 says they will spare nobody, neither women nor the grey- beards; then they will take our houses, fields and women for themselves. God Himself says in verse 16 why this judgment will fall on us, for we have gone astray from the right ways. He wants our church leaders to stand up again and ask to return to the old ways which were the right ones. But our church leaders said: We do not want to follow those.
The horrifying slaughter which will take place among the whites, and the terror they will experience, will be their punishment because they did not continue to follow the old ways.
According to Isaiah 17, these murderers will descend down on us with a terrible roar—like that of many waters.
However, just when we think it is over, God will send His Angels to our rescue. These locust swarms (murderers) will be overpowered by a spectre of terror, and they will flee, according to verse 13: The nations shall rush like many waters; but God shall rebuke them, and they shall flee far off, and shall be chased as the chaff of the mountains before the wind, and like a rolling thing before the whirlwind. But they will flee too late, for according to verse 14, He will then release the spectre of terror over them and destroy them all in one night: And behold at eveningtide trouble, and before the morning he is not. This is the portion of them that spoil us, and the lot of them that rob us.
58. Our Interests In Europe
6th August 1922: In Northern Europe a man dressed in a brown suit stands looking South.
During the dark period of our history, a South African in Europe bears our interests at heart.
59. Treaties Reaffirmed
9th August 1922: A large blue cloth appears before me and opens up, showing photographs of people and writing in blue lettering. I could not read it completely. Then a large sheet of paper with black lettering, at which I looked, appeared. This was followed by an open Bible.
Germany approaches the Afrikaner with a suggestion, undertaking, or perhaps an agreement—perhaps the treaties of 1914 are related to this. However, the Afrikaner does not sign, and is not informed of the contents. Then there is a very important document or letter, followed by the Bible, which represents the Vow. There is no sign of aggression or opposition, and the blue letters could mean that the Germans will honour the Vow.
60. Cause For the Boer Gains Support
25th May 1922: White goats assemble, but the angora goats trek West. The angoras come so close to me that I pat them on their backs with my hand. Wheat is being winnowed and clean wheat covers a large area.
The English will stand together, but Englishmen with Boer hearts break away and join the Afrikaners, who accept them. An election follows and the cause of the Afrikaner gains strong support.
61. The Boer’s Faith Restored
10th February 1921: Something grey, which looked like a tent, was above my head, and it became light in the Free State. The Free State flag appeared and a dry vineyard started budding and green leaves appeared.
A tent represents a nation and a grey tent is the Boer. This vision refers to Boers in the Free State, and the light, as well as the flag, indicates that the Free Staters with Boer hearts will return to their roots and their national identity. They not only return there (the vineyard starts budding), but this also means that their faith in God has been restored with good results.
62. Faithful Afrikaners Apart
21st August 1921: A number of cattle are running in Europe. There are grey ones in between; they gradually take the lead and run as though something is chasing them. A road goes West and donkeys stand in line at the bottom of it.
Authorities are scrambling around in Europe and South Africans are among them. Possibly this scrambling has something to do with the situation in South Africa, seeing as the South Africans take the lead in this scrambling and running as though being chased.
This means South Africa is fleeing from the European governments. Contrary to a situation of war, the South African Government is attempting to get away from the influence of overseas countries. However, the faithful Afri- kaners are not involved in this.
They are following their own road and do not participate in the fleeing. They are organised and on course. (Sometimes grey also has something to do with Germany).
63. Germany Arms the Boers
5th November 1922: A white dog enters a hole in the Union. I come in front of the hole which grows larger, and tracks lead West.
The hole becomes a dam wall on which I am standing and the dog emerges from among the paving stones. A gun with its barrel pointing East is in Europe and bags are tied shut. They disappear East. I am standing with a new Mauser against my head (German interest).
A dog is a head of government which has degenerated and is now hiding in a hole, seeking shelter, or fleeing somewhere, or to someone, who will give him sanctuary. When the Afrikaner confronts him head-on, he has already fled to the West. The sanctuary becomes a dam wall (the economy of a country). Whoever gives him refuge has strong ties with the economy. A white dog emerges from among the paving-stones. These paving-stones symbolize state debts and this leader is responsible for much of it. At the same time war is threatening in Europe, but this is being planned in secrecy. The aggression will be aimed at the East-bloc and will eventually move there. The Afrikaner will co-operate with the Germans in the area of weapons. This could include arming.
64A. They Receive Secret Support
10th June 1922: It is misty in the east and a new rifle comes to me with butt first.
Extracted washings are seen at the diggings, but everybody has left. A large pile of soil lies in Johannesburg, but nobody is to be seen.
A gun is given to the Afrikaner (he is being armed), but the vision does not say by whom, or what. He takes a stance against the East (Russia, Oriental, liberal, etc). War clouds are building up and the misty weather indicates that this is being done covertly. The mines close and nobody is working them any longer. It seems if this happened very suddenly as the washings have all been extracted, but nobody has had time to work them further.
64B. Arming At Prieska
5th July 1922: A rifle appears with its butt to the east in the Union. I am aiming east with a new rifle.
The Afrikaner receives good weapons and can continue the fight against the onslaught from the east.
65. The Battle At Vereeniging
10th July 1922: A yellow piece of iron is at Vereeniging and it draws a yellow circle on the ground. A black pig with a long snout goes to Vereeniging from Johannesburg.
This vision is part of the Seer’s visions about the last great struggle for survival of his people. He said the enemies of the Boers will flee to Vereeniging in confusion when the first bombs begin falling. The piece of yellow iron drawing a circle indicates the traitors who assemble at Vereeniging in an effort to finish off the Boers.
Seer also refers to the black pig with a long snout coming from Johannesburg. Black pigs point to liberal-minded capitalists who support black ideology. The long snout indicates that they will have much to say in announcing this. They also go to Vereeniging, probably to encourage their own people there.
66. Collapse of Black Government
10th August 1921: There is a big house and it is almost dark. The house disappears and only the foundation remains.
I then walked North down a road in the darkness and eventually stand on a dam wall with a piece of rope in my hand.The house standing in near-darkness indicates the country concerned is in an extremely desperate state of affairs. The house disappears and only the foundations remain—in other words, the Government has collapsed and is virtually destroyed. The darkness remains, but in this darkness (extremely critical time) the Afrikaner will continue on the road which he has decided upon—he will stay on course until he reaches a dam wall—this indicates something to do with the economy. The rope in the Seer’s hand is a source of rescue which only he will have at his disposal.
67. Namibian Whites Come To South Africa
27th July 1918: Brown wagons, (Southwest Boers) with their shafts pointing South-west stand in South West (Namibia).
White Afrikaners in Namibia are preparing to emigrate south and join the Boers of South Africa.
68. Loyal English
29th May 1917: Wagons trek from East to West in the Free State. There is dim writing on brown wagons without oxen. A large house stands in the south. Angora goats at the rear of the house go out of the yard, which remains empty.
In the course of time numerous English (angora goats) will identify themselves with the Afrikaner (Boer). Throughout the years they supported the Government in all its reforms, but this changes. These English Boers who remained loyal and fought on the side of the Government (behind the house) are now leaving and the yard remains empty. The Government will not be able to rely on their support any longer. Dim writing always indicates lies and the truth being hidden.
69. Financial Power Flees To Gauteng
15th September 1921: It is very dark and pigs are running to Johannesburg where there is a fence. Then it became light, but the world is pitch-black.
Uncertainty and fear drive the financial powers together. They seek refuge in Johannesburg (Gauteng); possibly to the stock exchange or large corporations as antipodes against nationalization. Johannesburg is the capital of large corporations, Stock Exchange, etc. They get temporary respite, but the earth is pitch-black, meaning that all their efforts will be shipwrecked and they will go under in the process.
70. Glow of Fire Over Gauteng
Vision: 1st October 1917: Maize cobs are on fire in Johannesburg. On this side of Johannesburg a number of grey goats with white bellies are gathered on a rise. Wild muscovy ducks come from the east and fly in the direction of the fire. ‘Kaffir’ spears appear in the east. Small and large red cattle go out from East to Northwest.
Interpretation: The maize cobs on fire in Johannesburg is a sign of riots and bloodshed occurring there. (Compare other visions with this one: 12th August 1922 and 12th July 1923). At the same time there are English (grey goats with white bellies) who identify themselves with the cause of the Boers. Foreigners (wild muscovies) from East Africa (Mozambique and Tanzania) flock into the country and wherever they go, there is violence and bloodshed (‘fly in the direction of the fire’). But the actual violence with the blacks and their communist allies starts at this point (‘Kaffir’ spears appearing in the east and small and large red cattle go out).
71. Power Failure
On 1st August 1917 Van Rensburg saw people in Gau- teng using firewood again—there is no power, and most people have nothing but cold porridge to eat. This is a clear vision of a massive power failure in Gauteng.
72. Pension Funds Collapse
On 1st March 1919 he saw several leading Communist-aligned figures being shot dead in a single attack outside a building where peace negotiations were in progress. I am standing next to a large white house and many people are on the eastern side of the house, but they are without hats. The white pension funds collapse; it will coincide with massive race riots in Europe and England will be worst-hit. A number of small peach trees in Pretoria disappear so that the area where they grew, is as bare as a floor. A large black snake lies curled up in Europe.
73. Collapse of Government of National Unity
10th March 1922: Horsemen and one riderless horse approach alongside ploughed fields. Then there was a large field of maize alongside which brown horses and a donkey are running East. The maize disappears and the field looks as if it has never been ploughed. Old roads run on either side of maize fields, and the maize disappears and once again it looks as though they were never ploughed.
Several leaders (Government of National Unity) are in control of the country. Among them is a parasite which has contributed nothing. At first it seems if progress is being made (there are crops). The Afrikaners among them are well-disposed towards the Orientals; however, one of them is a ‘loyal Boer’ (a donkey). They go East—for the Afrikaner it is the direction of the enemy. Then degeneration and chaos begins and all their efforts to establish unity, are destroyed. They receive no further support, and have nothing to fall back on, as the things they had pinned their hopes on, are non-existent.
74. Destruction of Andalusia (Jan Kemp Dorp)
I received several letters from people who have knowledge of a vision the Seer had shortly before his death; a sinister vision which would be fulfilled in the future in that area. He allegedly said: “I see a dreadful conflagration at Andalusia (renamed Jan Kemp Dorp). It will be the worst fire the country has ever seen.”
(It is relatively well-known that one of the largest weapons and ammunition stores in South Africa is located at Jan Kemp Dorp, and fairly recently a military expert, speaking at a meeting held in the town, stated that sabotage of the stores would cause a frightening and total destruction in a radius of approximately 200 km [including Vryburg and sections of Kimberley]. Much of the ammunition stored there is old and very unstable).
75. Vaal Triangle Prepared For War
13th May 1918: Numerous small grey locusts in Johannesburg.
Locusts or grasshoppers represent Government troops or a nation preparing for war. The locusts are not large, thus it is not a large army as that of a large country. Their grey colour identify them as Boers in the Johannesburg area (Vaal Triangle?) preparing for war.
76. Boers Also Prepared For War
Vision: 25th May 1923: Unarmed ‘Kaffir’ come in sight far in the east. I felt something alive in the pocket of my jacket and when I put my hand in and turned it inside-out, live locusts fell out and hopped northwards (Locusts indicate a nation preparing for war).
77. Nation In Revolt
6th October 1917: Four clean tin bowls in the west; then three ‘Boer’ pots (round three-legged cast-iron pots) with fire underneath them. When the fires died down, I scooped food from one of the pots into a bowl.
The four empty bowls represent expectations harboured by the Boers. Because their expectations are not met, the nation revolts. It will be a large revolt as there were three pots with fires under them. The Boers themselves will stop the revolt, for the fires die down naturally. As a result of the revolt and pressure on the government, certain concessions will be made to the Boer’s demands.
78. Parliament Dissolves
Undated: One of the prophesies concerning the present split in Afrikaner ranks was noted down by 82 year old Mr. P.M. Prinsloo of Pretoria. This will take place immediately after an election of referendum: “Parliament dissolves, and dissolves again, after which things happen very quickly. Boers go in and out of their houses. Their hats are pulled over their eyes and their heads hang low. (They are very despondent). I see spots on their eyes which look like cataracts (they are blinded and cannot see what is happening around them). Then I see Hosea 4:16 appear before me: For Israel slideth back as a backsliding heifer; now the Lord will feed them as a lamb in a large place. (Israel is unprotected).
While liberals and the outside world rejoiced over the election results, a spirit of total dismay and despair descended over the rightwingers, as though they could not believe or understand what had happened to them. Even the AWB (Afrikaner Resistence Movement—an ultra- rightwing group) had retreated into the background, and all their intentions and plans to fight for the cause of the Boers, were forgotten. The Boers were never so badly demoralized, even after the Treaty of Vereeniging, or the failed 1914 Rebellion.
In this condition of bitterness and depression, they could possibly still swing into action and rip the delicate, tottering democracy to pieces. However, that had to be avoided at all costs; give them sports, sports tours, and even more sports; but the main course always had to be ‘king rugby’—the nectar to which the Boers were addicted for so many years. And happily satisfied, they spent their days in front of TV, held barbecues and guzzled beer while they watched every smash-hit and every movement of their heroes while cheering them on the cricket grounds and rugby fields of the world. For while in that condition of euphoria, one forgets that you’ve been retrenched, that you have no livelihood, neither have you any rights or privileges, and that you have been reduced to the status of beggars by those to whom you gave yesterday and the day before.
79. A Coup d’Etat
1st July 1917: Cattle with very sharp horns in far Eastern Europe. New wagons are in the West. A ladder stands against the wagons. Somebody comes along and picks up the ladder and when he does this, there is a platform on top with three Boers on the platform.
Violence is still a threat in Eastern Europe. Things have changed here (new wagons). However, power and prestige will be taken from a new leader and he is replaced by leaders of the three Republics. it is not clear whether the Seer refers here to three different parties, or whether it is someone who will act on behalf of the three Republics. However, it does point to a coup d’etat (the ladder is removed).
80. Salvation For Our Women and Children
On 24th June 1923 Van Rensburg saw how true Afrikaner women and children were almost supernaturally taken away to a safe haven shortly before the great trouble started. He also saw degenerated Afrikaners and liberals fleeing the country as there was no refuge for them.
Other new visions I have received, surrounding the possible death of this leader, is the following:
81. Face of A President
Shortly before his death, the old the Seer described the appearance of the State President of the New Boer Republic, who would be elected by the nation:
I see him, a man with a full face, rather like that of Minister Piet Grobler, Minister of Lands. A man with a broad face. I cannot reveal more, but this is clear…
82. A Completely New Life
12th August 1922: I stand dressed in a new grey suit and new shoes next to a new saddle and bridle. A blue rolled-up flag comes out of Europe. A large pile of maize cobs lies in the west and these are burning on the sides (Europe). A pot containing food and fire under it is in the east (Union), and (23rd August 1922) there is another pot on the fire, but the fire dies down.
Everything is new—appearance, future, Government and also the seat. Total renewal is in store for the Boers, but not in the manner it is being forced upon us. This renewal only applies to the Afrikaner. The blue, rolled-up flag is Germany. That country may play a role in our future, but we do not know how. The pile of cobs burning on the sides indicates a revolution or war in Europe which is in its last throes. At the same time there is rebellion in South Africa, but because there is a pot full of food on the fire, it means it is good and justified.
83. Traitors Mercilessly Punished
12th July 1923: A great pile of maize cobs appear in the west and they are all on fire. Then I entered a large new thatched-roof house. Honeycombs appear and a knife slices through them. Then honey was on the table.
Maize cobs symbolize useless whites (who call themselves Afrikaners, but they are not) and they are burned (evicted from Afrikaner ranks). A new Government of Boer Ministers is indicated by a new thatched-roof house. It is also a large house, indicating a strong Government over which the Afrikaner has full control. The honeycombs symbolize great prosperity. It is served on the table and is available to all who wish to partake of it.
84. An Interim Boer Government
4th August 1922: While I am standing, my shoe is covered by a new upper, and I am wearing a beautiful new suit.
Then I was dressed in a new brown suit—the colour of our nation.
The Boer nation gets an interim Government. The new suit symbolizes self-respect, pride and prosperity. After that he wears a brown suit, indicating that everything will be genuinely Afrikaner.
85. Confiscation of Property
29th November 1917: Two large slices of bread, spread with honey, come to me. Vast riches which were traditionally the property of the Boer nation, falls back to it and repossesses it.
86. Prosperity For the Boers
29th July 1917: This morning I saw a basket full of almost-ripe yellow summer peaches in the west.
This means great prosperity is on the cards for the Boers. However, he did not say when this would be fulfilled.
87. Their Ultimate Destiny
10th November 1921: A large gallery is in the sky to the north, and this gallery is like the description of the Tabernacle with the golden candlesticks, and a large number of blue-eyed children, dressed in white, emerge from behind the gallery and come South. They are led by two sisters; all are about ten years old and they say: “We have come to share in the joy of our fellow brothers and sisters for whom we were a sacrifice.”
This vision has a bearing on the ultimate destiny of the Boer nation and is discussed in detail in Chapter 22.
88. Englishman, Now You Will Mourn
25th December 1918: Oxen, ploughs and people in the Union come West and then the whole earth is ploughed under. On the eve of the Rebellion, Gen. de Wet and other war veterans held a meeting at Koppies and made a resolution that if Botha and Smuts decided to annex German West for England, we would hoist the Vierkleur and fight for a Republic.
Then Van Rensburg saw a rolling apple and when it stopped, it was a newborn baby girl. As we progress towards a Republic, the child grows until she is an adult woman (dressed in brown). Then there were lily-like flowers of a shiny yellow colour in the Union. They rose into the air and a woman in brown lay on her side. She got up and walked. A human spirit appeared and said: “We mourned, now you will mourn!”
The shoe is now on the other foot—on that of the Englishman and other enemies or the Boer! According to Mr. Boy Mussmann, Van Rensburg had this to say about the vision: “We must remember that Ireland’s daughter is just a little older than ours. Independence could have fallen into our laps like an apple (during the meeting at Koppies), for the Lord is mighty, but He wants His share, namely a faithful nation. That is why the apple rolled.
So, when all the difficult and dark days are over, and those still to come, a faithful Boer nation will be born. During the dark times of the nation’s existence, Van Rensburg saw a woman with a bunch of grapes in her hand. The women of the nation are more resolute in their faith than we men. When dark times descend over our nation again, as Van Rensburg said, that we would not see our hands before our eyes, the man will be doubtful, but he sees a woman who greets him.
On another occasion he saw black, rained-out clouds around him, except for an open place in the west. There he saw two women, one with a bunch of flowers in a basket; the basket overturns and the Vierkleur spills out. Van Rensburg said the rained-out clouds meant that the difficult times were over and the grain-basket is something in which fruit was packed—this was the contribution made by the women to obtain our freedom. He said we must acknowledge that our men suffered, but our women suffered even more.
89. England’s Ruin
18th October 1917: A dam full of water comes into sight. The water disappears and the paving-stones fill it; another dam in sight, this time empty. Then I see a mountain behind which lies a large empty town.
According to what Van Rensburg told Mr. Boy Muss- mann, this points to England’s ruin. The dam which runs empty is the economy which collapses and the stones that fill the dam is the (national) debt. The empty town behind the mountain is England which finds itself in dire financial straits…
In connection with England’s credit to America, he says: “Pigs run across a dam wall. The dam is full (lots of money in America). When we look again, the dam is empty. The paving stones fill the dam. (America’s treasury is full of IOU’s).”
He sees a large bird (America) sitting on the paving stones of the dam. It gulps down a small bird. This means that America will swallow England financially.
90. Racial Conflict In Europe
8th April 1918: A great cloud of smoke like that of an explosion erupts in Europe. Englishmen, with ‘Kaffir among them, arrive on horseback and they veer away from the smoke.
Europe is going to experience major racial conflict. Sabotage and arson (explosives) will be the order of the day and require strong action from involved Governments (horsemen). The smoke indicates riots breaking out and the Englishmen with blacks among them means that those two groups, in particular, will clash.
91. Depression In Europe
29th September 1919: An empty shop stands in Europe; people flee North in wagons filled with rubbish. Many white-backed oxen emerge from Western Europe, and when they disappear, little naked ‘Kaffir’ run North.
A depression which will make all other disasters look like child’s play, is facing the world. (See also 3rd August 1918). Nothing will have value any longer, and there will be no money. It will hit Europe so hard that England will financially go under in the process. America will intervene and try to help, but a starving black Africa will swarm to Europe (naked little ‘Kaffir’).
92. White Racism Increases
3rd December 1918: There is a white cloth in the west. It opens and contains white beans which spread all over the world.
The shocking incidents of racism which reoccurred in America and Germany during 1992, and are still continuing, was already predicted by Van Rensburg more than 70 years ago; White racism (the preservation of the white race) which has been suppressed by decades of brainwashing and exaggerated feelings of guilt, would, according to the Seer, be resurrected in Europe (the West) thereafter accelerate and rapidly spread throughout the whole world.
93. Rioting In Europe
13th May 1917: The grass is alight in Europe with a massive smoke cloud and the fire moves Southwest. In the north of Europe a large dam is full of water, but suddenly dries up.
There is unrest and rioting in Europe. All the smoke indicates confusion and revolution. The fire moving southwest means that the unrest will spread in that direction. In that sector of Europe we find Hungary, Rumania, Yugoslavia and Bulgaria. Greece lies further south, so it may even spread to that area. The prosperous nations such as Norway, Finland, Sweden and Denmark lie to the north. The large dam full of water (financial prosperity or financial aid) dries up and they will no longer be in a position to render assistance to the poorer countries. It also indicates drought and possible causes of the riots will be the critical economic conditions and famine.
94. Capitalist In the Trap
5th August 1920: In the east of Europe the grass is alight and flames shoot high into the sky. When it disappears, the world is level like a harrowed field.
Then I saw a well with pieces of wood laid across the top, while a multicoloured pig is in the well. It seems unable to get out.
After the original wars and rioting in Eastern Europe, the dust will settle for the time being. The harrowed field means that the basic differences will ostensibly be settled and everything does not look like a ploughed field any longer. However, the well is a trap, and the dry pieces of wood across it spell nothing good. The pig is the Westerner (capitalist) caught in this trap, but he is powerless to save himself. Just then the East-bloc countries will cause a worse situation for the West.
95. Famine In Europe
3rd October 1918: The maize is green and standing about 2 ft high in the fields, but is sparse. It then disappears and there is nothing.
A rough blue stone in Europe changes into a wheel, and when it starts rolling, it falls to pieces.
The sparse 2 ft high maize indicates waning prosperity, eventually ending in famine and want in Europe, with Germany initially being worst hit (a rough blue stone). This is followed by total collapse of the gigantic money powers (probably also the Wall Street Stock Exchange) which will begin shortly after financial institutions in Europe suffer setbacks which cannot be stopped.
96. Collapse of Government In Europe
18th February 1921: A tall tree falls in Europe and a saw is cutting along its trunk.
A country or Government divides. A strong Government will collapse in Europe and cause discord.
97. Advance of Asians On Europe
24th July 1918: A yellow stone is in the west of Europe and a blue stone in the south. The stones grind against each other, the yellow one approaches the blue one and they grind again. Eventually the yellow one is like the hub of a wheel which falls over, and then large wheels roll on their hubs on the ground. The world in the southeast looked like a harvested maize field and black cattle walk Northeast through the field. When they arrive in the east, they become white speckled cattle. Where the stone changed into a wheel, there is a large water hole, the water is alive and cattle enter it from the western side. The bank enlarges on the eastern side and a train with blue coaches emerges from the opening and goes South.
There is an organised march (not necessarily military) by Orientals who could be Indians or Japanese. The blue stone represents Germany which is resisting these Orien- tals. The yellow stone changing into a wheel indicates Islam which supports this march. The wheel falls over—the results of the confrontation will be disastrous for them. The other wheels turning on their hubs on the ground, indicate that faith in God will triumph. People do things in faith while putting their trust in the Creator. It seems as if it could be a religious war, a Jihad, initiated mainly by the Muslims. When the confrontation is over, there is a harvest in the southeast which has been gathered. The maize- cobs are people who are up to no good, and the blacks, or liberals trample over them in their tranquil march to the East. The black oxen are negative, a threat. In the east the black oxen change to speckled oxen, the symbol of Russia. The fact that they become white-speckled, changes the negative implication, as white represents good, but speckled beasts are a motley lot. They undergo a change of heart and lose their threatening attitude. Where the Muslims supported the Oriental march, a certain amount of prosperity develops. It is a lively economy and the West enjoys the fruits thereof. A fort is built to the East to protect the economy and the good news and prosperity spreads south.
4th August 1918: (Links up with previous vision): In a field where black cattle passed through, there are maize-cobs which become a pile and become clean white maize kernels.
When a strong black consciousness establishes itself in the country, the Afrikaner steps forward and begins fighting for his survival. The Afrikaners also become more united. The harvest is good and the people pure of vision. An election or referendum will determine how the people feel. Here are overt signs of apartheid and/or white racism again.
8th August 1918 (Links up with previous vision): A huge conflagration rages towards the northeast of Europe, then the flames turn south. The wheel which turned in Europe now turns here in the Union.
There is war in Europe, first in the northeast and then in the south. the Muslim movement also makes its influence felt in South Africa.
98. Earthquakes Destroy Japan
Mr. Mussmann recalls how he often sat on the little field-stool in front of Van Rensburg’ home at Riet- kuil, listening to the Seer describing the lots of nations. “And to think he was an illiterate man who never read a magazine or newspaper; he also knew nothing of the histories of nations, but he knew everything about them.
“Ah, what joyous times I spent there! He often told of events which still had to happen here and in Europe, and one day, while he was speaking about that again, I asked him: ‘But what about Japan, ‘Oom’ Klasie?’ His reply was: ‘We need not fear Japan, for the Lord will fight it with earthquakes.’”
In 1991 Peter Hadfield predicted in his book, Sixty Seconds that will Change the World, (Sidgwick & Jackson) that a major earthquake would hit one of Japan’s most populated industrial areas in the 1990’s.
On Tuesday, 17th January 1995, the Japanese city of Kobe was hit by a devastating earthquake, in which 2872 people died during the tremor, while weeks later rescue teams were still battling to rescue the wounded and destitute from the ruins.
According to Hadfield and seismologists, this quake was just the “prelude to an era of intense seismic upheaval directly below Tokyo itself, the world’s premier financial capital”; and they predicted a series of far worse tremors which will not only claim millions of lives, but also destroy the Japanese economy, causing a chain reaction which could also destroy the shaky economies of the whole Western world.
CHAPTER 27
The Bible and Seer’s Visions
(Amazing parallels)
The further I delved into the old Boer prophet’s visions, the more I came to the realization that many of the prophecies of the Old Testament were applicable to the Boer nation, for the symbols and comparisons in the Seer’s visions were, in many cases, almost identical to those utilized by the Biblical prophets when they came to Israel with a Divine message.
Therefore I have no doubt that Van Rensburg van Rensburg acted as a prophet for the descendants of the Boer nation.
For quite some time now I have been making a study of this interesting aspect of the Seer’s prophecies, and in the process received much assistance from Messrs Johannes Gagiano of Van der Bijl Park and Pieter White of Johannesburg. However, because it would justify writing a separate book, I will touch on only a few references:
Mr. Johannes Gagiano writes: “The Biblical truths are reconfirmed through the visions of our own prophet, whom I had the privilege of knowing personally. He often took my child’s hand in his and confirmed to us (my grandfather, father and myself) these things which were prophesied through God thousands of years ago.
“There are many of ‘Oom’ Nicolaas’ visions which are a direct revelation of the prophecies from the Old Testament over God’s people, and over the histories of Judah and Israel. Van Rensburg often named the relevant Scriptures to explain his words. For example, he quoted Isaiah 14:1: For the Lord will have mercy on Jacob, and will yet choose Israel, and set them in their own land; and the strangers shall be joined with them, and they shall cleave to the house of Jacob…
He also spoke of a greater division which will come than the one which we experienced the past 40 years.
The Bible: In Deuteronomy 28:44, God warns His people that if they do not obey His orders, He will make those that were at the head, the tail end, and their enemies around them will then become the head.
Seer: Van Rensburg also warned that in the times when we, as nation, take the wrong road, and when everything is upside-down and inside-out, they (our enemies) will be the masters and we will be the slaves.
The Bible: Ecclestiastes 10: 6,7 (Good News Bible) tells us: Stupid people are given positions of authority while rich men are ignored. I have seen slaves on horseback while noblemen go on foot like slaves.
Seer: In the past the Afrikaner was always privileged to ride on the wagon, while the black man acted as his ‘rope-leader’ (the ends of a rawhide rope were tied around the horns of the two lead oxen, and the boy or man would literally lead the oxen by means of this rope). However, it was NEVER expected of this rope leader to pull the wagon.
On 5th May 1921 the Seer had a vision of a team of grey donkeys pulling a yellow wagon (Indians) through a muddy marsh; the brake was on, but the donkeys managed to pull the wagon through.
When the Seer speaks of donkeys in general, it refers to ALL Afrikaners, but when he describes them as GREY DONKEYS, these are the TRUE AFRIKANERS; in other words, only the conservative elements in the BOER NATION.
With this vision he saw the nightmare which has now become a reality for us. We have been forced to alight from the wagon; the
rope-leaders not only ride the wagon now, but have also tightened the brake. According to the Seer, we will have to pull the wagon through this MUDDY MARSH, whether we like it or not.
Of course, he did not know that today it would be known as the GRAVY TRAIN!
At the moment we are running easily with the wagon, the traces are hanging loose, for the road is still level and the brake is not too tight. However, sooner or later we will reach the MUDDY MARSH, and then the brake will be tightened and we will begin to pant and sweat under the load.
The Bible: We read in 2 Chron. 7:13,14 of the distress which must first come upon us before the nation will purify and humble itself before God: If I shut up heaven that there be no rain, or if I command the locusts to devour the land, or if I send pestilence among my people; If my people which are called by My name, shall humble themselves, and pray, and seek My face, and turn from their wicked ways; then I will hear from heaven, and will forgive their sins, and will heal their land. (‘Oom’ Nicolaas’ vision resembles this one):
Seer: The Lord will help the Boer nation, but they will first have to truly humble themselves, yes, truly humble themselves before the Lord.
He also applied these things described in Jer. 30:11 to the Boer nation. He refers to the time when the nation will once again live peacefully and quietly: For I am with thee, saith the Lord, though I make a full end of all nations whither I have scattered thee; yet I will not make a full end of thee…
The Bible: (Isaiah 14:1,2) …and the strangers (heathen) shall be joined with them, and they shall cleave to the house of Jacob. And the people shall take them, and bring them to their place; and the house of Israel shall possess them in the land of the Lord for servants and handmaids; and they shall take them captives, whose captives they were; and they shall rule over their oppressors.
Here is a clear reference to the ‘great chasm’ Van Rens- burg spoke about—however, the final division will cause an even greater chasm than was the case among the Afrikaners in 1914.
Mr. Gagiano states further: “I also get the impression from the visions of Van Rensburg, where he speaks of the wars between West and East, that he had insight into the sin of Jerobeam with which he led the nation of God astray. God then sent the Assyrians to go and wage war against Jerobeam. Since that time God has warned Israel to observe His Sabbaths, but they rejected God’s ordinances and refused to follow His institutions, but followed filthy gods.
“The nation will split, but Israel and Judah will be joined again like two pieces of wood.
The Bible: (Ezekiel 37:19): Behold, I will take the stick of Joseph… and the tribes of Israel, his fellows, and will put them with him, even with the stick of Judah, and make them one stick, and they shall be one in Mine hand…
Seer: Verbatim his vision was almost identical: I saw the divided nation; two pieces of wood, one with pegs and the other with holes. The red pickaxe goes over them. The pegs go into the holes and the two pieces of join so well that one could not see the seams. Asked what the red pickaxe was, he replied: Troubles of war, or a furnace. It is the Lord who will bring us together with that red-hot pickaxe (Communist onslaught).
Another Seer-expert, Mr. Joos Haasbroek of Potchef- stroom, wrote to me on 15th November 1993: “The Seer did predict that God will create a miracle which will finally free the Afrikaner nation from his enemies. And he also said God is prepared to do His part for the nation, but He expects something in return from us, and that is to be a faithful nation, for, ‘Oom’ Klasie added: I had a vision in which I saw the Hand of God pressing down on our nation, sometimes lightly, sometimes more heavily. And it will continue pressing down until we are a totally free nation, after which I see unparalleled blessings and prosperity for the upright Afrikaner.”
“However, in the same breath ‘Oom’ Klasie warned us against the communists, for they were the source of all our troubles with the blacks. And our nation must humble itself before God, as this was the cleansing process and will serve to prepare us for the Return of Christ.
“Now God has given us a prophet like Van Rensburg so that he could tell us of everything that would occur at Codesa!
“Every now and then I say to my wife: Look at what is happening now—Van Rensburg predicted exactly this. We must just cling strongly to our faith in God, because we have not yet reached the point to which we are descending. It is just around the corner. The whites are systematically being degraded; so much so that we are almost just good enough to pay in order for them to continue with their evil deeds. However, we must never forget that we are now exiles under the blacks as Israel was in exile under the heathen nations. What we did wrong, is not so terrible as what the Jews did, for they murdered Christ.
“Look, South Africa to me is the way Johanna Brandt described it: God’s jewel, and therefore I believe the Lord wants us to live here in ‘Harmony’, and show love towards one another. But instead of love, there is so much rancour and hatred among the whites now, that God can do nothing else at this stage but to exile us, so that we, as a result of hardships, will eventually be compelled to live together (in harmony) if we want to survive in South Africa.
“It is not a pretty picture, but these things are staring us in the face and which we will have to rectify before God will change His vision towards us.
“Do you recall Van Rensburg saying about events to come, that we will be the last to enter, but first to emerge? This could have something to do with all the disturbances here in Africa? There is trouble everywhere in Africa, and it could just be that we will be the last to become involved in the disturbances, but be first to see the end of it? At this stage I think that Zimbabwe and South Africa have the most whites to put a swift end to the disturbances. But then I say again, we will have to get our priorities right towards God, otherwise we could find our- selves in trouble here.
“Remember, Van Rensburg also said in this day and age of our people, we must not tie ourselves to the foremen(leaders). This is very important, for even in the crisis hour of our nation’s existence, they will pretend to assist us, but their only purpose will be to gain advantage for themselves from the critical position we find ourselves in. Our greatest battle will not be against the enemy, but against the bustards (traitors)among our own people…
“Of prime importance is those little blue-eyed girls he saw descending down from heaven: I see, when we are free, a large house like the gallery in a church. A large multitude of children emerges from the gallery, in ranks of four; they descend down to earth, and when they turn around, their eyes are full of tears of joy over our new freedom.
(Compare Revelation 7:17 with this vision): For the Lamb which is in the midst of the throne shall feed them, and shall lead them unto living fountains of waters; and God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes. Seer said two of the children in front were his own two children and two were those of his neighbours; therefore he knew they were camp-sufferers. He saw them all at the age of ten years old and they were all dressed in white. (Compare Rev 7:14): These are they which came out of the great tribulation, and have washed their robes, and made them white in the blood of the Lamb.
“We look forward with longing for their coming, for: ”We came to share in the joy of our fellow-brothers and sisters for whom we were a sacrifice”.
This vision also links up with what we read in Revelation 6:10,11 about the multitude of white-clad Angels calling day and night under the throne of God: How long, o Lord, holy and true, dost Thou not judge and avenge our blood on them that dwell on the earth? And He replied: Rest a little while longer until the complete number of your fellow-servants and brothers had been killed, as you have been…
Mr. Gagiano continues: “We now daily see our fellow- brothers dying around us—cruelly. Yet Van Rensburg saw the rams (leaders) doing nothing to stop it. Some of them will retire, fat and stinking-rich. But when trouble starts, the rest flee from the Cape and come flying like muscovy ducks, each to his predestined place—overseas.
“He often also warned that his people would succumb to the temptation of wealth and prestige and be dragged to hell.
Seer: I see a pig lying in Europe with his head towards the west. It is scraped clean with a sharp knife. Dusk falls and I see them hanging up the pig in Johannesburg.
In reply to a question from his daughter what it meant, he said it was the degenerative spirit of Mammon which will become skilful among the Boer nation. Van Rensburg said these things would only happen in the distant future (during the last days?)
The Bible: We read in James 5:3: Your gold and silver is cankered; and the rust of them will be a witness against you, and you shall eat your flesh as it were fire. Ye have heaped treasure together for the last days. (Isaiah 9:16): For the leaders of this people cause them to err, and they that are led of them are destroyed…
Then Russia will also exchange its Communist coat for that of the capitalist (the pig) with a pious expression. But it will not cease its cruel ‘dog-policy’ until it has finally been conquered in the bloodiest struggle the Boer nation has ever known.
Seer: That day Van Rensburg once again spoke about our nation’s mistake to always idolize his foremen and rely on their arms of flesh.
The Bible: The Lord says in Amos 9:9,10: For lo, I will command, and I will sift the house of Israel among all nations, like as corn is sifted in a sieve, yet shall not the least grain fall upon the earth. All the sinners of my people shall die by the sword, which say, The evil shall not overtake nor prevent us.
Seer: In this regard Van Rensburg said again: In 1914 we(the Boers opposed to Smuts’ war policy) went through a sieve. I also told you then that I see dark times. But for us who know, it will not be so dark—it is those who prepared themselves and did not blindly believe that “the evil shall not overtake nor prevent us.”
The Bible: Political and church leaders in South Africa should take notice of God’s relentless instruction to His prophet to warn the nation against those who announce peace, for: Thus saith the Lord of hosts, Hearken not unto the words of the prophets that prophecy unto you; they make you vain; they speak a vision of their own heart, and not out of the mouth of the Lord. They say still unto them that despise Me, the Lord hath said, Ye shall have peace, and they say unto every one that walketh after the imagination of his own heart, No evil shall come upon you. (Jer 23:16,17).
Seer: On 12th December 1917 Van Rensburg saw a large tank coming from the north. Fine sheep droppings rolled out from it (sexually transmitted diseases connected with immorality); the tank rolled South and the world changed into a dung-yard. A vision of 30th March 1918 links up with this one: A little old ‘Kaffir’ (third world) sits dressed in women’s clothing (he is gay) and dung rolls off him on the western side (he is not only afflicted with this disease, but spreads it among the Western nations).
The Bible: (Jer. 16:4): They shall die of grievous deaths (aids?); they shall not be lamented; neither shall they be buried; but they shall be as dung upon the face of the earth; and they shall be consumed by the sword, and by famine; and their carcasses shall be meat for the fowls of heaven, and for the beasts of the earth.
Mr. Gagiano adds: “Van Rensburg also prophesied that the Boer nation would have to find a strong leader, as in the time of Nehemiah when he had to lead his people to their land, Palestine. Van Rensburg even went so far as to say that the (Boer) nation would have to cut themselves loose from this world. He added that there were many wrong things in his own church—traditions and rituals which they would have to get rid of.
“That is why I was so encouraged when Van Rensburg spoke about the white canvas he saw appearing over the Boer nation: (God’s protective hand), and he also saw us living in ‘white tents’ again.
“When one reads Isaiah 14 along with chapters 24 and 25, then one understands that Van Rensburg was referring here to the Israelites—Israel will once again live in their white (reconciliation) tents again—after the purification at Armageddon.
The Bible: (Isaiah 43:8): Bring forth the blind people that have eyes, and the deaf that have ears… (Luke 11:34): The light of the body is the eye; therefore when thine eye is single, thy whole body also is full of light; but when thine eye is evil, thy body also is full of darkness.
Seer: He told the late Mr. Paul Prinsloo’s father: Their hats hang over their eyes and their heads hang low. (Their mood is sombre and dark). I see spots on their eyes which look like pearls (cataracts—they see, but do not understand what is really happening around them).
The Bible: (Mark 9;40): For he that is not against us, is on our part. (Compare with Luke 9:50).
Seer: According to a letter written by Mr. H.J. Dreyer to Die Volksblad, Van Rensburg told him: Who is not with us, is against us…
The Bible: According to Micah 2:12, God Himself will gather his people together again: I will surely assemble, O Jacob, all of thee; I will surely gather the remnant of Israel; I will put them together as the sheep of Boz’-rah, as the flock in the midst of their fold; they shall make great noise by reason of the multitude of men. Micah 4:8 tells us the nation will be assembled at the Sheep Tower, and Micah 4:10 tells us they will have to leave the city to go and live in the field, for there the Lord will deliver them from the hands of their enemies. The Hebrew word for ‘Sheep Tower’ which is referred to here is Imigdal, Imigdol or Migdol.
Seer: The nation will assemble on the other side of Lichtenburg and be led by a man in a grey (brown) suit. It is significant that approximately 128 km beyond Lichtenburg, between Schweizer-Reneke and Delareyville, there is a farming community called Migdol.
The Bible: (Amos 9:9,10): For lo, I will command, and I will sift the house of Israel among all nations, like as corn is sifted in a sieve, yet shall not the least grain fall upon the earth. All the sinners of my people shall die by the sword, which say, the evil shall not overtake nor prevent us. (Isaiah 48:10): Behold, I have refined thee, but not with silver; I have chosen thee in the furnace of affliction.
Seer: In 1914 we went through a sieve, but now we are going through a furnace. The Afrikaner nation went through its first sifting during the Rebellion of 1914, when brother stood up against brother, the second during the 1989 election and the third and last sifting was during the April 1994 election. It seems we are now standing before the ‘furnace of distress.’ Pieter White of Johannesburg writes: “Seer said we are God’s people , and a comparative study between many of his visions and Biblical pronouncements, this is verified.:
Seer: It becomes very clear from ‘Oom’ Nicolaas’ actions during the War and Rebellion, that God’s protective and rescuing Hand was over the Boers every moment on the battlefields. The Almighty disclosed plans to the Seer so that he could lead the Boers and they were capable of cheating, dodging or conquering the enemy.
The Bible: We read in 2 Sam. 5: 23—25 that God Himself fought with Israel on the battlefield: And when David enquired of the Lord, He said: Thou shalt not go up; but fetch a compass behind them, and come upon them over against the mulberry trees… David did as the Lord commanded and conquered the enemy.
Seer: (19th May 1925): A fig grove, which I saw in 1910, appeared when the figs were ripe, but now they were just swollen. when they were ripe, I picked some.
The Bible: (Jer 24:5) Thus saith the Lord, the God of Israel; like these good figs, so will I acknowledge them that are carried away captive of Judah, whom I have sent out of this place into the land of the Chaldeans for their good… And I will give them a heart to know Me… and they shall be my people and I will be their God… The tribe of Judah has always been compared with the fig tree. The Jews are the rotten figs and the exiles of Judah the good (edible) figs. (Read also Hosea 9:10; Amos 4:9; Nah. 3:2; Micah 4:2-4 and Luke 13:6).
Seer: The fig grove is standing again, but it seems if the trees are somewhat dry, and there are a few ripe figs.
The Bible: (Jer 4:2,8; Jer 29:17; and Isaiah 18:5). In the Seer’s vision and the quoted texts, the division between nations is clearly symbolized. Compared with the ‘green’ or ‘rotten’ figs which are numerous, only a few ‘ripe’ or ‘good’ figs (true believers from the tribe of Judah) are to be found.
Concerning the ‘rotten’ figs, God told Jeremiah: And I will deliver them… to be a reproach and a proverb, a taunt and a curse in all places… And I will send the sword, the famine and the pestilence… (Jer 24:8-10).
Seer: (17th November 1915) A friendly Englishman arrived here. I see vines coming up, but a great flame consumes them.
The Bible: (Isaiah 18:5): For afore the harvest, when the bud is perfect, and the sour grape is ripening in the flower, he shall both cut off the sprigs with pruning hooks, and take away and cut down the branches. (The sprigs being cut and branches being cut down, indicate the division which will occur and which the Seer described as the furnace).
Seer: He said in the days when everything in the country will be upside-down, the truth will be violated in our churches and the ministers will cling to many wrong things; traditions and rituals which they will have to get rid of.
The Bible: (Acts 7:47-51) And Solomon built him an house. Howbeit the most High dwelleth not in temples made with hands… what house will ye build me, saith the Lord… Hath not my hand made all these things? Ye stiffnecked and uncircumcised in heart and ears, ye do always resist the Holy Ghost… (2 Tim 4:3-4) …For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine, but after their own lusts shall they heap to themselves teachers, having itching ears, and they shall turn away their ears from the truth, and shall be turned unto fables.
Peter white closes his comparative study with these words: Almighty God sent His servant, Seer van Rensburg to us. those that believe his words and listen to them, will live in triumph, and those who despise his words, will be thrown to the ‘fowls of the mountains and wild animals of the earth!’ (Isaiah 18:6).
EPILOGUE
(Let us now bow our heads in the same spirit of humility and unwavering faith in God as did Nicolaas Seer van Rensburg as we take our final leave of him in his last days).
(To his son, Andries, shortly before his demise): No stig- ma rests on your past, on the past of our nation; place your hope on the future and aim for the best you can achieve. Our nation has suffered bitterly during the years that lie behind us, and that suffering is still not over. I see a black curtain hanging over the future. But rather die in battle than surrender. This was the motto of our fathers, my son; let it be your motto, too. You will only find happiness among your own people.
(the Seer is critically ill): I see a piece of wood lying across my chest; the flesh around my arm disappears. I think this will be my end which is not far any more.
His nearing death.
(On his deathbed): I see you trekking back to South West Africa, and I see the Vierkleur flying once again. This is God’s Will, and His Will shall be done. You will fight in a different manner from the way we fought, and there will be many more of you… You are coming to take care of me, but God will take better care…
Symbols and Their Meanings
Symbol Interpretation
Aloe enclosure Government whose time is running out
Aloe tree A government which will go under
Antbear hole Sanctuary or refuge
Black block Epidemic
Black child next to horse Defeat for Boers
Black horse Major problems with blacks
Black oxen Danger
Blue letters Good news for the Afrikaner