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 Two
Boer and two British soldiers were buried together in one of the more
Northern graves, probably after the battle of Ysterspruit when their
bodies were mutilated beyond recognition by wild animals.
News of the Boer victory inspired Lord Methuen, commanding officer
of the British forces in the Western Transvaal to advance from Vryburg,
but on 7 March 1902 he was convincingly defeated by General De la Rey
at Tweebosch. He was wounded in the battle and taken prisoner, but
sent to Klerksdorp by General De la Rey to be attended to by his own
people. After this incident thousands of British soldiers were gathered
at Klerksdorp. They undertook several drives in an attempt to trap
De la Rey at the rows of blockhouses, but could not succeed.
Delegates of the two Boer republics gathered in a tent on the bank
of the Skoonspruit on 9 April 1902 to discuss peace proposals. (The
table and some of the chairs used there are exhibited in the Klerksdorp
Museum). Delegates from the Free State stayed in the so called
Helm house to the south of the convent, and delegates form the Transvaal
stayed in the Grand National Hotel on the site of the present-day Constantia
Hotel. At the meeting Generals Botha, De Wet and De la Rey gave a report
on the situation in their areas. The conference resolved that it was
a suitable time to terminate the war and to ask the British government
to arrange a conference for that purpose. Although proposals discussed
here were not acceptable to the British, they were invited for further
discussions by Lord Kitchener.
 From
Klerksdorp the Republican delegates went to Vereeniging for negotiations.
The Peace of Vereeniging was signed on 31 May 1902 in Melrose
House in Pretoria and the Transvaal and OFS lost their independence.
There is a beacon in Neethling Street which indicates the place where
the peace negotiations took place.
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