Lost History – Kruger’s missing millions
On the 5th of June 1900, the British Army entered Pretoria. It marked a decisive change in the course of the Boer War. The day before, a train laden with gold and diamonds left Pretoria station for the new Boer HQ at Maraddop. There, Paul Kruger, the Boer Prime Minister and Britain’s bitterest enemy inspected the iridescent inventory. Not long after, he departed his country to lobby for support from Britain’s European adversaries. He would never return.
With his death, the impetus to continue a military struggle against the Cape Colony dwindled. The treasure he amassed and left behind vanished and was never recovered. However, many members of the Boer community insist that the hoard exists and is still hidden somewhere in Southern Africa. Recently, there have been several revelations regarding the whereabouts and value of Kruger’s missing millions.
The Boer War is widely considered the first modern conflict fought by the British Empire. Prominent members of British High Command wrongly predicted an end to the fighting by Christmas (just as their successors would say at the commencement of the Great War).
Their innocent optimism gravely underestimated the fighting capabilities of the two Boer states. Despite having an overall population comparable to that of Brighton’s, the biggest empire in the world was unable to overwhelm that community of tough farmers and unrelenting hunters.
The enormous gold deposits the Boers discovered in their acquired territories allowed them to purchase cutting-edge weaponry, and their inhospitable terrain rendered many traditional British battlefield tactics useless. These factors dramatically levelled the odds and humiliated an astonished government in London.
The war lasted almost three years and claimed the lives of approximately 200,000 soldiers and civilians. But the wealth and persistence of Britain’s imperial administration made only one outcome plausible, and in 1900 Field Marshal Lord Roberts marched his army into the Boer’s beleaguered capital. They found few people and the vaults of the national bank empty.
Only hours before, the last train leaving the city was loaded with every ounce of gold in the vicinity. When news of Kruger’s intention to travel to Europe and ask Britain’s enemy’s for aid reached the press, most commentators believed that the exiled Prime Minister would arrive in a boat brimming with money and jewels. This was not the case.
The treasure had been taken off the train and packed into carts before disembarking on a singularly dangerous journey across a war zone. Records of its whereabouts suddenly ceased, sparking international speculation. Rumours that the immense reserve was buried under the banks of the Blyde River prevailed for decades, and there were numerous claims of minted gold coins being unearthed on Boer farmland in North-Eastern South Africa.
Some “pods” of the trove were allegedly located in 2001 in the Transvaal, but the lion’s share remained elusive. However, in February 2021, a sackful of Kruger’s pods was chanced upon in a Swiss vault. The South African numismatic society authenticated the collection, and the coins were mostly sold at auction.
Even after countless claims, innumerable rumours, and occasional discoveries, the purported bulk of Kruger’s concealed treasury has not been officially obtained. A cache so large would likely have been dispersed and reduced over a century.
Although, there are some compelling interviews with elderly Boers who convincingly contend that they themselves have seen the treasure and that it is maintained as a secret relic, one that symbolizes their endless resistance against the British.
If anyone is lucky enough to find the lost riches of the Transvaal, they will quickly learn that it is estimated to be worth around $500,000,000 in its totality today.