Gert Johannes was die seun van Josias Gerhardus van der Westhuizen en Hester Elizabeth Botha.
Sy naam kom voor in hulle pa se sterfkennis van 1867.
Mafeking had come through the long, seven-month siege with remarkably few deaths. The local Barolong had continued to cultivate their fields almost throughout the siege, as far as they were able. A number of camp inmates had brought cattle with them and these they were allowed to graze throughout the war. Although the condition of the stock deteriorated during the dry winter months, once the rains started they did supply some milk. Poynton’s Stores, which had a monopoly of camp stores in the Transvaal, did not operate in Mafeking for many months, but the inmates had ready access to the town shops so some people, at least, should have been able to buy fresh fruit and vegetables. In theory, nutrition should not have been one of Mafeking’s problems. Mafeking may well have been the first camp to be established, and it appears to have been in existence by July 1900. A women’s ‘laager’ was established during the siege and it included impoverished ex-dorsland trekkers (who had trekked into Angola), who may well have remained on relief after the siege was over. The camp itself was moved several times in the early days, eventually located pleasantly on the banks of the Molopo River. It could not have been easy to manage for it stretched over a mile in length. (https://www2.lib.uct.ac.za/mss/bccd/Histories/Mafeking/)
A proportion of the inmates were Cape rebels, who were amongst the most bitter of the camp people, and were resented by the Mafeking townspeople after the hardships of the siege. Others came from the Zeerust and Lichtenburg districts. The relatively generous ration of the Boers continued at least until August 1901. The hospital, too, was more solid than most, being a wood and iron building rather than a marquee. A school had been opened as early as June 1901. The winter of 1901 was a hard time in Mafeking. Grazing deteriorated and dust storms blew constantly through the camp. In such an isolated place infectious diseases should not have been a problem but health was not good. In July 1901 there were about 500 cases of influenza and bronchitis and 800 of ‘enteric catarrh’. Conjunctivitis and laryngitis was also widespread, the result of the ‘lime-dust’ in Mafeking. There was a surprising amount of malaria, too, although this was not a malarial area. Despite all this sickness, the mortality rate was low but the general health of the people must have deteriorated, making them more vulnerable to infection. (https://www2.lib.uct.ac.za/mss/bccd/Histories/Mafeking/)
Sterftes in die Mafefing Konsentrasiekamp:
Van der Westhuizen, Catharina S V 3 Vleeschkraal, Schweizer-Reneke Masels
Van der Westhuizen, Jacob Jacobus M 6 Graspan Schweizer-Reneke Koors
Van der Westhuizen, Anna H V 2 Graspan Schweizer-Reneke Siekte
Van der Westhuizen, Anna Maria HP V 4 Rietfontein, Rustenburg Siekte
Van der Westhuizen, Jacobus C M 2 Graspan Schweizer-Reneke Stuipe
Van der Westhuizen, HJ 2 Welverdiend WMStad Diaree
Van der Westhuizen, Catharina S V 21 Rietgat Lichtenburg Ingewandsontsteking
Van der Westhuizen, Gerrit J M 14 Klossiespan, Lichtenburg Masels
Van der Westhuizen, Johannes C M 2 Rietgat, Lichtenburg
Van der Westhuizen, Albertus Jacobus M 1.42 Klossiespan, Lichtenburg
Van der Westhuizen, Anna Maria V 1 Rietgat, Lichtenburg
In August 1901, there were signs, though, that the camp itself was untidy. The women washed in the river, where the banks were fouled with excreta; there were rubbish and ash heaps everywhere; hospital accommodation was inadequate; there was no camp matron. Catastrophe struck with an influx of new arrivals from Taungs in the middle of August, bringing with them measles, whooping cough and typhoid. In Mafeking the numbers made it difficult to isolate them and disease spread rapidly through the camp, with the new arrivals suffering worst. Some children had not seen any medical staff for a week or more before they died. (https://www2.lib.uct.ac.za/mss/bccd/Histories/Mafeking/)
Dr Kendal Franks visited Mafeking camp in October 1901. On the whole he thought the camp was well laid out. Certainly it was not overcrowded, with an average of 3.5 people to a tent. The organisation of the camp, he thought, was very good, although there was a shortage of white men to do the more responsible work in the camp and he recommended that their pay be improved. When the Ladies Committee returned to Mafeking in November 1901, they found a very different camp, a prey not only to measles but to enteric, pneumonia, malaria, chicken pox and whooping cough, ‘fostered and aggravated by the insanitary conditions of which we had complained on our previous visit’. The camp had also been struck by meningitis, the most severe outbreak to occur in any of the camps. They felt that the general health of the people had declined since their previous visit and the food was partly responsible. Notwithstanding the more generous ration, it was almost impossible to obtain fresh meat in this isolated district in the winter. A brief attempt to grow vegetables had been abandoned. (https://www2.lib.uct.ac.za/mss/bccd/Histories/Mafeking/)
After the tragedy of 1901, 1902 was an unremarkable year for Mafeking camp and the people settled down to the monotony of camp life. A proportion of the men joined various volunteer corps, coming and going as their contract periods lasted. (https://www2.lib.uct.ac.za/mss/bccd/Histories/Mafeking/)
The news of the peace led to some ‘natural excitement’ but there was, to the superintendent’s relief, few signs of unrest. Repatriation began rapidly and, by the end of June, 1,400 people had already been sent home. By July all the Cape rebels had returned home. More problematic were the returning burghers who were unfamiliar with camp discipline and were rapidly turning the camp into a ‘large kraal’, Despite the rapid start, Mafeking camp lingered on until the end of the year, with a handful of people refusing to leave. The camp was finally closed in January 1903. (https://www2.lib.uct.ac.za/mss/bccd/Histories/Mafeking/)
Elizabeth Maria Susanna Magdalena vertrek op 18 Junie 1901 na Klossjespan, Bloemhoff
Personal Details
|
|
Name:
|
Mrs Elizabeth
Maria Westhuizen
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Born in camp?
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No
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Died in camp?
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No
|
Gender:
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female
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Marital status:
|
married
|
Nationality:
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Transvaal
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Registration as head of family:
|
Yes
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Unique ID:
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69477
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Camp History
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Name:
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Mafeking
RC
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Age arrival:
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38
|
Date arrival:
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12/08/1901
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Date departure:
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18/06/1902
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Destination:
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Klossjespan, Bloemhoff
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Tent number:
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T 35B C
|
Farm History
|
|
Name:
|
Blossiespan
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District:
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Bloemhof
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Notes:
|
nil
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Status
|
|
Type:
|
P.O.W.
|
Relation to family:
|
husband
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Notes:
|
Gert Joh
|
Sources
|
|
Title:
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DBC 158 Mafeking CR
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Type:
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Camp register
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Location:
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National Archives, Pretoria
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Notes:
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284
|
