Very few South Africans know much about the Anglo War Concentration camps established as a result of General Kitchener’s “Scorched earth” policy during 1901 and 1902. During the war over 160,000 women and children were interned in concentration camps and many thousands died of starvation or disease.

We were very privileged to be invited on a tour of Doornbult Orange River Concentration camp organized by Northern Cape Tourism and met with Mrs Rina Wiid who is the Curator of The Museum and Cemetery.

The Orange River concentration camp was only discovered in 1996 and Rina Wiid has painstakingly restored the site.

The Museum contains a rather harrowing account of the Concentration camp and rather vivid photographs of daily life, newspaper cuttings and artefacts collected from the site from both the camp and the areas where the British forces were stationed.

Doornbult is situated 10kms outside of Hopetown on the R369 to Orania.

Allow at least two hours for a guided tour of the Concentration Camp museum, Cemetery and the British forces encampment with Block House, military emplacements, canons and the old Train Bridge across the Orange.