We have no recorded evidence of how the Iron Age community on Melville Koppies was affected, but it was almost certainly disrupted or destroyed. Then the pioneer trekkers arrived and clashed with Mzilikatsi. They eventually drove him into what is now Zimbabwe. It is likely that by the mid 1800s the small settlement on Melville Koppies was abandoned. All that is left are the kraal walls and two iron smelting furnaces, the later one - now vandalised - possibly still in use in the early 1800s. But by mid century there was a rudimentary Boer republic in place, the previous black inhabitants were well on their way to becoming non-persons, and in their place were white farmers, and quite soon prospectors. The suspicion that there was gold on the Witwatersrand went back to the 1850s, but the prospectors were looking in the wrong places. They expected the quartz veins to contain gold - which some did, but not in payable quantities. It took until 1886 for the real riches to be discovered, not in quartz at all, but in the band of conglomerate which formed the main reef. Since then these rocks have produced 40% of the gold ever mined in the world! There is one name in particular which is associated with the Melville Koppies: Geldenhuys. The Geldenhuys family can trace their roots back to Johan ton Gyldenhaus in Westphalia in 1567. Lourens, or Laurens, Geldenhuys was a farmer who had trekked from Swellendam, and from the 1870s was showing a lively interest in gold prospecting. The family acquired several farms on the Witwatersrand and did make a lot of money from gold discoveries on the east rand. They also bought the farm Braamfontein. Melville Koppies is the last conserved remnant of that farm. Braamfontein gave them no luck with gold, but in effect the Geldenhuys brothers owned what was to become the affluent Northern suburbs of Johannesburg.

This area was proclaimed a nature reserve in 1958 in order to preserve its indigenous flora and fauna, and was done at a time when the Witwatersrand was becoming increasingly populated. It is characterised by a large variety of succulents, grasses, shrubs and trees as well as many species of insects and birds. The reserve also contains relics of iron-age settlements, including an ancient furnace where iron was smelted. We have no recorded evidence of how the Iron Age community on Melville Koppies was affected, but it was almost certainly disrupted or destroyed. Then the pioneer trekkers arrived and clashed with Mzilikatsi. They eventually drove him into what is now Zimbabwe. It is likely that by the mid 1800s the small settlement on Melville Koppies was abandoned. All that is left are the kraal walls and two iron smelting furnaces, the later one - now vandalised - possibly still in use in the early 1800s. But by mid century there was a rudimentary Boer republic in place, the previous black inhabitants were well on their way to becoming non-persons, and in their place were white farmers, and quite soon prospectors. The suspicion that there was gold on the Witwatersrand went back to the 1850's, but the prospectors were looking in the wrong places. They expected the quartz veins to contain gold - which some did, but not in payable quantities. It took until 1886 for the real riches to be discovered, not in quartz at all, but in the band of conglomerate which formed the main reef. Since then these rocks have produced 40% of the gold ever mined in the world! There is one name in particular which is associated with the Melville Koppies: Geldenhuys. The Geldenhuys family can trace their roots back to Johan ton Gyldenhaus in Westphalia in 1567. Lourens, or Laurens, Geldenhuys was a farmer who had trekked from Swellendam, and from the 1870s was showing a lively interest in gold prospecting. The family acquired several farms on the Witwatersrand and did make a lot of money from gold discoveries on the east rand. They also bought the farm Braamfontein. Melville Koppies is the last conserved remnant of that farm. Braamfontein gave them no luck with gold, but in effect the Geldenhuys brothers owned what was to become the affluent Northern suburbs of Johannesburg.

It was declared a National Monument under old NMC legislation on 27 September 1968.

Geolocation
-26° 10' 1.2", 28° 7.2"
References

https://www.mk.org.za/mkhist2.htm