Magdalena, daughter of W. Sauer, Cabinet Minister, was the first woman to practice as a qualified architect in South Africa. She mainly practiced in South Africa, and was also interested in restoring and preserving old buildings.
Magdalena, together with a colleague, was responsible for restoring a section of the Malay Quarter in the Cape. She also transformed the Old Supreme Court in Adderley Street into the South African Cultural History Museum in the early 1960s.