Emmarentia Dam
Earth and stone dam built by unemployed war veterans, now ringed by reed beds, sailboats and picnic lawns.
Location
About this audio guide
This guide to Emmarentia Dam in Johannesburg follows Louw Geldenhuys, a young landowner who rode with the Krugersdorp commando in the Boer War, and the destitute Afrikaner veterans he put to work hauling stone for a dam wall across the Westdene spruit after 1902. It traces the arrangement he struck with those men, land and peach trees around the new water in exchange for a share of the fruit they grew. Look at the rough stone bank beneath the reed beds, patched only twice since it was built.
This audio guide was created using AI.
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