Wonderfontein


Wonderfontein was a settlement of Dutch emigrants who came to South Africa after the First World War. Most of the Dutch settlers who settled in South Africa at that time found refuge in the country's rapidly developing industry. An exception was the settlement on the farm Wonderfontein in 1928 and shortly thereafter. The area is located on the Mooi River and in the dolomite soil there are plenty of caves that could provide irrigation water. Most members of this migration group were farmers from the Province of Groningen.
After a period of various trials in the field of agriculture and animal husbandry, including with the cooperative cheese factory Adorp, the Great Depression of the early 1930s hit the farmers heavily. In addition, the available underground water had greatly reduced after the opening of the new gold mines Blyvooruitzicht and West Driefontein. After that, the farmers sold their land one after the other and Wonderfontein as an immigrant region ceased to exist around 1965.