Van Tonder’s Pass is a gravel road pass located just to the west of the R33 between Dundee and Helpmekaar in northern KwaZulu-Natal. Details of the Van Tonder families that migrated to this area during the Great Trek are a little hazy, but it is most likely that the pass was named after Johannes Van Tonder (1788–1855), who owned the farm “Goedekeus”, located on the western extremity of the pass. The road is in a fairly good condition and can be driven in any vehicle, but this would depend on the prevailing weather conditions. There are some steep sections, and the pass could be decidedly slippery when wet!
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[Video cover photo: Mike Leicester]
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Note: Google Earth software reads the actual topography and ignores roads, cuttings, tunnels, bridges and excavations. The Google Earth vertical-profile animation generates a number of parallax errors, so the profile is only a general guide of what to expect in terms of gradients, distance and elevation. The graph may present some impossible and improbably sharp spikes, which should be ignored.
Digging into the details:
Getting there: To approach from the west, start off in Wasbank at GPS coordinates S28.309247 E30.103454. Travel in an easterly direction along the P33-1 for 5.2 km to S28.306594 E30.154979, then turn right onto the P192. Travel in a southerly direction for 15.9 km to S28.394493 E30.258755, then turn left onto the P193. Travel in an easterly direction for 3.9 km to S28.372383 E30.289434, which is the western start point. To approach from the east, start off in Dundee at GPS coordinates S28.162258 E30.237673. Travel in a southerly direction along the R33 for 24.2 km to S28.339589 E30.348338, then turn right onto the P193. Travel in a westerly direction for 1.7 km to S28.349833 E30.335273, which is the eastern start point.
Statue of Dick King / Photo: An Exploring South African
We have filmed the pass from east to west, in the descending mode. The pass begins at its summit on a gentle right-hand curve, adjacent to the farm Paddafontein. The descent is quite gradual at first as the road heads along a straight of 500 metres through a grove of wattle trees. This is followed by a long shallow S-bend, the road first turning right and then left, and then immediately by another right-left combination. Be careful; these last two corners are a little sharper than they first appear.
A short straight leads into right-hand curve, another short straight, and then another right-hand bend. On the apex of this corner, a farm road intersects off to the left; this goes to the farm Bedrog. The gradient decreases as the road heads into a valley through a few more shallow corners, skirting the edge of the Mkholomo Mountain which is on your left. The direction at this point is into the north-west.
At the 3.9 km mark, the road swings through a 90-degree turn to the left, taking the heading into the south-west. The gradient flattens out considerably as the pass tracks the course of a small stream on the right-hand side, with the bulk of the Woklo Mountain looming above you on the left. The road runs straight and true for 500 metres, then weaves through a shallow S-bend into a steep dip followed by a very long left-hand bend. A short straight leads into a shallow right-hander, then into a minor drop down onto a concrete bridge.
Immediately after crossing the river, the road swings to the left and the farm Weltevrede comes into view on the right. The steep slopes of the Khonkotha Mountain appear in the distance in front of you; it is here where the original Van Tonder farm Goedekeus is located.
uMgungundlovo / Photo: Wikipedia
The road bends through a very long right-hand curve for another 1.2 km, descending gradually, until the low point and end of the pass is reached at the 7.1 km mark. Continue straight onwards for another 3.9 km to get to a T-Junction; turning left will take you towards Helpmekaar, and turning right will get you to Wasbank and Dundee.
Van Tonder’s Pass was at one time the primary route through the Biggarsberg, a range of mountains which runs on a north-west to south-east axis between Glencoe and Ladysmith. The mountains were named after Alexander Biggar, a larger-than-life character who was to have a profound influence on the history of the region.
Alexander Harvey Biggar was born in Kinsale, Ireland, on the 29th of October 1781. He worked as a paymaster for the 85th Regiment of Foot before fighting in the Napoleonic Wars of 1803-1815 and in the War of 1812 in North America. His highest rank was Captain, but he was found guilty of embezzling £1,300 from War Office Funds and was discharged from service after repaying the money.
The Biggar Memorial / Photo: Wikipedia Commons
He emigrated to the Cape Colony along with other 1820 Settlers. Alexander paid deposits for 13 other settler families, who were then indentured to him and would receive 20 acres of land which they could cultivate on weekends, and receive title after three years. This was apparently a common practice at the time. The correspondence around this arrangement makes fascinating reading, and transcripts of these letters can be found here: https://www.eggsa.org/1820-settlers/index.php/pre-1820-letters/b-menu/103-2011-01-01-19-08-26
His family, which now included nine daughters and a son, Robert, arrived in Algoa Bay (Port Elizabeth) on the 15th of May 1820. His youngest son, George, was born during the voyage. Alexander was allotted the Woodlands farm near Bathurst, but in May 1836 he moved to the frontier trading centre of Port Natal. Alexander eventually had 13 children in total. This included a son by a Zulu woman, seemingly a common occurrence amongst Englishmen in the fledgling settler community.
Statue of Piet Retief / Photo: Wikipedia
Boer trekkers led by Piet Retief entered the Zulu Kingdom in 1837 and were cordially received by the motley band of English traders in the region. Retief requested assistance in travelling to meet Dingane, the Zulu king, and George Biggar accompanied him on his journey to show him the way. George branched off to some Voortrekker encampments along the Bushmans River to trade with the trekkers waiting there for the return of Piet Retief. After meeting with the Zulu monarch, Retief and his group were murdered, and orders were given to the Zulu troops to attack the rest of party.
When the Zulu impis arrived at the camp, George went out to meet them but was not attacked, because he was recognised by the Zulus after having made trading expeditions to Dingane. The Boers took exception to this and questioned why he had remained unmolested by the rampaging Zulus; they then shot him through the head on the suspicion that he was a Zulu agent. George was just 18 years old at the time. He would probably have died anyway, as the Zulus went on to slaughter 41 men, 56 women and 185 children in what became known as the Weenen Massacre; the town established two months later near this site derives its name from the Dutch word for “weeping”.
When Dick King arrived at the camp to alert the Boers of the death of Retief, and to ensure that George was safe as Alexander Biggar was concerned about his son’s safety, he was a day late and found that George had already died. Retaliatory raids were organised against Dingane by the settlers. A force of men was placed under Robert Biggar’s command, and four days later the raiding party returned to Port Natal, after some successful skirmishes and with about 7000 cattle annexed from the Zulus.
An artists impression of the Weenen Massacre / Photo: Wikipedia
They immediately mounted another expedition and reached Ndondakusuka village north of the Tugela on 17 April 1838. Here they were surrounded by a strong Zulu force under Dingane’s brother Mpande. The British soon found that retreat was impossible, and blundered by dividing their force in two to oppose their encirclement. Despite a desperate defence, the settlers were overwhelmed and Robert died with his comrades.
Alexander, having now lost both of his legitimate sons in the same year, joined the Wenkommando assembled by Andries Pretorius. On the 16th of December 1838, Alexander participated in the Battle of Blood River, where no lives were lost on the Voortrekker side. After the victory, the commando proceeded first to uMgungundlovo and then onwards to Mthonjaneni where, on the 27th of December 1838, Alexander joined Hans De Lange and some other men to search for Dingane’s hidden cattle. The party was decoyed into the Opathe Gorge and ambushed by the Zulus. Alexander was on his horse and it is claimed that he could have escaped, but he elected to fight besides his compatriots. He was killed at age 57 alongside six other Voortrekkers and some of his retainers.
[Text & video footage by Mike Leicester]
Fact File:
| GPS START | S28.349833 E30.335273 |
| GPS SUMMIT | S28.349833 E30.335273 |
| GPS END | S28.372383 E30.289434 |
| AVE GRADIENT | 1:23 |
| MAX GRADIENT | 1:10 |
| ELEVATION START | 1471m |
| ELEVATION SUMMIT | 1471m |
| ELEVATION END | 1166m |
| HEIGHT GAIN/LOSS | 305m |
| DISTANCE | 7,1 km |
| DIRECTION - TRAVEL | West |
| TIME REQUIRED | 7 minutes |
| SPEED LIMIT | 60 kph |
| SURFACE | Gravel (P193) |
| DATE FILMED | 19.11.2017 |
| TEMPERATURE | 23C |
| NEAREST TOWN | Dundee (30 km) |
Route Map:
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Route files:
||Click to download: Van Tonders Pass (Note - this is a .kmz file which can be opened in Google earth plus most GPS devices)
