The Bantjes millions

In “Die Burger” of 12 July 1983 under the column “Van alle Kante” Gideon Joubert writes as follows: “Aunt Mattie Kriel turned 93 on Thursday. Her father, the late Rev. H T Kriel, was a pastor in the Bloemfontein Two-Tower Church almost a century ago. He swore in, among others, Pres. M T Steyn. Aunt Mattie was a kindergarten teacher in Paarl for many years. Her brother Theo, who died about 15 years ago, recorded his life history for his children. On their mother’s side, the Kriels descend from the Boswells and Bantjes who are remembered because of the legendary Bantjes millions.

They were descendants of Jan Geert Bantjes who left Holland in 1745 (sic 1755) and came to South Africa. His father was one of the bosses of the Dutch East India Company. He amassed an immense wealth and left it to his two sons. After his father’s death, Jan Geert could not be traced. Years later the Bantjes family heard of the inheritance and submitted their claim. Proof of origin was required. They sent a representative to Holland (Mrs. Alport told me that various attempts were made). They established that the record of Jan Geert’s birth had been torn from the register in Holland. The Bantjes millions remained in Holland.”

To return to Ouma Bantjes – I believe that it must be safely assumed that she has no “Bantjes” family in South Africa. Each generation produced only one son and if Ouma’s brother Matthys and his wife Elisa Melville had children, one would have known about it. There is no trace of them in Beaufort West. Ten years in a lawyer’s office in town would surely have been long enough to learn something about them. Boys in particular cannot, like girls, hide their “surname” within marriage.