Haunted places for would-be ghost hunters in South Africa

First published in Sunday Times, October 2021

Say boo and scary on

On Sunday, 31 October it’s time for Halloween again, also known as Allhalloween, All Hallows’ Eve or All Saints’ Eve.

According to www.history.com the tradition of Halloween originated with the ancient Celtic festival known as Samhain when people would light bonfires and wear costumes to ward off ghosts. They explain that in the eight century Pope Gregory III designated November 1 as a time to honour all saints. Not long thereafter All Saints Day incorporated some of the traditions of Samhain, when it was believed the ghosts of the dead return to earth.

The evening before Samhain was known as All Hallows Eve, later Halloween.

Over time Halloween evolved into a day of activities that include trick-or-treating, making mischief, wearing elaborate costumes and attending costume parties, lighting bonfires, playing pranks and apple-bobbing games, visiting haunted attractions, telling scary stories, carving pumpkin lanterns, watching horror films and visiting haunted attractions.

No-one knows exactly how the tradition of trick-or-treating on Halloween started. It involves getting dressed up in a costume and going from door to door asking for sweets whilst shouting “trick or treat”. This exclamation has the implied threat that if a “treat” isn’t given a trick will be played on those who refuse.

On Halloween witches come true

In 2020 the most popular Halloween costumes – according to Google – were witches, dinosaurs, rabbits, clowns, angels and ninjas.

Apparently one quarter of all candy sold in America is bought over Halloween.

In the States most haunted attractions are seasonal. These range from haunted houses to mazes and hayrides.

Halloween’s the time for ghosts

South Africa has enough haunted destinations to keep you busy throughout the year.

Wikipedia lists four ghost towns in South Africa: Millwood, an abandoned mining town near Knysna; Leydsdorp, also an abandoned mining town, and Schoemansdal, in Limpopo; and Eureka, another mining town run empty and now a historical site, in Mpumalanga.

From water to ghosts

Wikipedia neglects to mention Putsonderwater, an abandoned settlement in the Northern Cape. The two closest towns are Kenhardt, a drive of 80 kms, and Marydale, less than 40 kms in the opposite direction.

Putsonderwater (phonetically “put/sonder/water”) is “well without water” in Afrikaans. This place name is often used idiomatically to indicate somewhere far-off, much like Timbuktu is often used.

How the name Putsonderwater came about, is uncertain, even more so because it has an alternative meaning that indicates an overabundance of water, rather than a scarcity.

One version has it that a well was dug here by an individual who found ample water in this arid region. He didn’t want to share the precious water so he would always claim that his well had no water.

Another version has it that it once rained so much here that the water rose high enough to flow just under the ox wagons of the farmers who were trekking through the district.

Back then the tar used to lubricate the wooden wheels and axles of the wagons was kept in buckets that would hang outside the wagons as it was too dirty to be kept inside.

The tar bucket was known as a “teerputs” in Afrikaans. Apparently it rained so much that the buckets were under water which led to the name “Puts Onder Water” (Pits Under Water).

After the cattle trade stopped due to a succession of droughts and later the passenger trains stopped running too, the railway siding of Putsonderwater, that once won a trophy for the most beautiful station garden in the country, gradually emptied.

The station gardens that in its heyday featured rose bushes, foot paths and a wishing well, are now overgrown with tall yellow grass. The station building is burnt out; brick walls and remnants of window frames are all that is left.

It fits the description of a ghost town in every way – the fewer than three dozen houses, post office and police station are derelict, the school is empty, the quaint church is abandoned and covered in dust, the original hotel and general dealer are in a bad state of disrepair – all of it very sad to see.

Apparently once every few days a train still passes through Putsonderwater; it doesn’t stop at the station though because there is absolutely no reason to do so.

During the pandemic in 2020 Putsonderwater had one inhabitant who pitched two tents in the former general dealer building where he happily ensconced himself with his cat, Dorothy. With the help of farmers of surrounding farms he claimed to be fairly self-sufficient.

I never got to ask him whether he has encountered any ghosts since he has moved in here. He booby-trapped the outside of the building against threats of another kind though.

All I know is that I felt cold shivers down my spine wherever I walked, apart from an overwhelming sadness of what has been, but is no more.

No ghosts, only fans

Fancourt Hotel & Estate (www.fancourt.co.za), at the foot of the Outeniqua Mountains near George, has an interesting history.

In the late 1880s a British engineer, Henry Fancourt White, settled here with his wife and two children. He built a family mansion; later his adult son, Ernest Montagu White, moved into the home after having bought it. He named it Fancourt to honour his father.

In April 1916 Montagu White’s half-sister, a friend of hers and the friend’s son visited him. Monty, as he was known, went to pick mushrooms for dinner. As the story he goes he found a specimen of mushroom that he thought he knew from another part of the country but had not found in the Garden Route until now.

The cook had her doubts but cooked it anyway. It turned out that she was right; within 48 hours the adults were dead though the young boy survived. It is not clear whether he had some of the mushrooms too.

The Fancourt home stood empty for a few years. The townspeople were sure that it was haunted. When it was sold the new owner and his family lived there seemingly unperturbed by ghosts.

Today the former Fancourt abode, now known as The Manor House (manorhouse.fancourt.co.za), offers luxurious guest accommodation as part of Fancourt Hotel & Estate.

Are the ghosts still there? Who knows!? Some say yes, others an emphatic no.

The spooks have a midnight jamboree

The fun red-and-white striped façade of Green Point Lighthouse gives no inkling of a one-legged man that supposedly haunts this beacon of light. It is said it’s the ghost of a former light house keeper by the name of W.S. aka Daddy West.

Cape Town Paranormal Investigations (ctpi.co.za) took a video inside the lighthouse at night in 2014, and again in 2019, that they claim offers evidence of out of ordinary spooky happenings, and a conversation with Mr West. See the video here: youtube.com/watch?v=hueB05_-Y3I

The Rust en Vreugd Iziko Museum (iziko.org.za/museums/rust-en-vreugd), built in the 1770s in Cape Town as a home for a high ranking official of the Dutch East India Company, is reportedly one of the most haunted places in the Mother City.

Ghosts tap visitors to the museum on the shoulder, a female spook floats around and a second woman stares from a window.

Another manor house with a resident ghost is Tokai Manor House (sahistory.org.za/place/tokai-manor-house-tokai-road-tokai), a National Monument in the southern suburbs of Cape Town, built in the 1790s. It is currently used as the head office for Table Mountain National Park.

Because the wines of this area reminded the original owner of the sweet Tokaj wines produced in Hungary, the property was called Tokay, later Tokai.

This property belonged to an Eksteen family in the early 1900s. A young Frederick Eksteen took up a dare to ride his horse around the living room one New Year’s Eve. The poor horse got spooked and fell down the stairs of the verandah with his rider still clinging on. Both of them died.

It is said that the clippety-clop of hooves and raucous laughter can still be heard on some nights.

Ghosts abound in Kimberley, the capital of the Northern Cape. According to kimberley.co.za there are about 150 haunted houses and buildings in this city, with more than 200 still to be verified.

The ghost of the first librarian of the Africana Library throws books to the floor, or helps visitors to find a book if he is in a good mood, it is believed. At four in the afternoon you can sometimes hear teacups tinkling inesplicably. The librarian committed suicide by drinking arsenic after it was discovered that he pilfered money from his workplace.

Black cat on a fence, Halloween two days hence

Superstitious, or not, especially on Halloween you should avoid crossing paths with a black cat as they might bring bad luck. This idea stems from the Middle Ages when it was often believed that witches avoided detection by turning themselves into black cats. Also, try not to step on a crack in the road, spill salt or break a mirror.