John Vorster Square Police Station, was officially opened on the 23 August 1968 by John Vorster, the then prime minister of the Republic of South Africa. It was a 10 storey, blue coloured cement building. Floors 9 and 10 were occupied by the Security Branch while the detainees’ cells were on the lower floors of the building. During the Apartheid era, this Police Station, was notoriously known as a site of interrogation, torture and abuse of the Apartheid resistance fighters by the South African Security Police.
Personal Information
Gladys Thomas
Born:
1935
in Salt River, Cape Town, Western Province (now known as Western Cape), South Africa.
Died:
April 2022
in Cape Town, Western Cape
Gladys Thomas born was in 1935 in Salt River, Cape Town. She was adopted by a family in Lakeside, Cape Town in Western Cape as she was an orphan. She grew up in Lakeside, Cape Town, Western Cape with her foster parents until she was a teenager. Being a female was not easy for Thomas because it meant she would encounter a lot of challenges like being denied an opportunity for further education as a consequence of being a female[1].
May Day celebrated on 1 May annually, is a celebration of workers and their work. It has a long history, being a day of commemoration and celebration of the international working classes. Historically, the South African Communist Party (SACP) has organised protests, strikes and rallies on May Day.
Ohrigstad was founded in 1845 by Hendrik Potgieter, the well-known "Voortrekker" leader. He named the Town after himself and George Ohrig: Andries-Ohrigstad. Sadly, the Town was plagued by malaria mosquitoes and abandoned in 1848. Ohrigstad was only resettled in the 1900's when the malaria plague was controlled. Today, Ohrigstad is a malaria-free zone.
Only 4 hours drive from Gauteng and less than 60 minutes from Nelspruit’s Kruger Mpumalanga International Airport.
Positioned on the Kruger National Park's Southern boundary, between the Malelane and Crocodile Bridge gates, the Reserve enjoys 10km’s of spectacular river frontage and is fenced into the Kruger Park.
A nature Reserve offering ranger tours to see Big 5 game, with a long river frontage & several lodges. Mjejane Game Reserve is South Africa’s premier reserve bordering Kruger National Park. It falls under the juristriction of the Nkomazi Local Municipality.
Casper’s Nek Pass looping off it through the Mountains, to join the R36 North of Ohrigstad. It is 1404m at its highest point! This old Pass is still in use over this part of the Drakensberg.
Way back in the 1840's, when the independent-minded Voortrekkers had settled at Ohrigstad, their mission was to find a route to the Harbour at Delagoa Bay (now Maputo), where they could trade free of British control. Casper Kruger, went out scouting on horseback and found this route through the mountains which connected to the Blyde River Valley.