Reconciliation Day

Voortrekker Monument

Outside of Pretoria is a monument to the Afrikaner expansion of the 1830's known as the Great Trek when the pioneers trekked from the western Cape Colony east across the vast Great Karoo in order to escape British domination. (NB: They prefer the word "expansion" rather than "migration." There was a display in the museum explaining the difference.) Eventually they established a separate Afrikaner nation in the Transvaal with Pretoria as its capital.

The Voortrekker Monument itself is massive. It houses a Museum, a Hall of Heroes and historical timeline Frieze, and the great Cenotaph Hall. The Monument sits high atop a mountain protected by a symbolic Laager (or wagon train) Frieze Wall against a Zulu spear fence. You can see it for miles. The monument was built on the grounds of Fort Schanskop and still has the old (1897) fort to explore along with a new (2008) Afrikaner Heritage Center.

Much like the American pioneers who drove their wagon trains westward along the Oregon Trail, the Voortrekkers as they were called faced incredible hardship, strong resistance by the native people, subsequent wars, disease and hunger. One of the darkest days for the Voortrekkers was the Battle of Blood River against the Zulu nation.

The battle took place on December 16, 1838 in what is now KwaZulu-Natal. The Afrikaners had taken a vow before the battle to build a church if they were successful that day. They were and they did. The great victory over the Zulus was celebrated in the new Afrikaner republic as the Day of the Vow.

After apartheid was abolished in 1994, the Day of the Vow was renamed Reconciliation Day with the intention of fostering greater reconciliation and national unity between all peoples of South Africa.

The monument is built to house the great central expanse of the Cenotaph Hall. The word "cenotaph" means "grave without bones." It is an empty grave, a symbolic resting place for the Voortrekkers who were killed at the Battle of Blood River. The idea behind the cenotaph is the same as our Tomb of the Unknown Soldier, a memorial to the thousands of nameless Afrikaners who died for their country.

the oculus

Just like the Pantheon in Rome, this pantheon to the Afrikaner heroes has a rotunda ceiling two stories above the cenotaph with an oculus. The dome was constructed and the oculus was placed so that on December 16 at noon, the sun shines a beam of light directly onto the center of the cenotaph below. Like a modern day Newgrange on the Celt winter solstice.

The beam of light was shining to the left of the cenotaph when we visited in November..

The cenotaph below seen from the viewing gallery on top of the monument.

the viewing gallery under the oculus.

On December 16 at noon the oculus's beam  illuminates the words on the cenotaph that reads "Ons vir jou, Suid-Afrika" which translates to "We for thee, South Africa."

plaque depicting the December 16 event

 


Look at that crowd in this display! I will leave the Reconciliation Day event at the Voortrekker Monument to the South Africans and sit this one out ...