Johannes Coetzee

Jan Carel’s eldest son, my Great Grandfather Johannes (d7e1f13g3), farmed on Kruitfontein, to the west of Magaliesburg. Known as a man of few words with a singular, personal view as regards matters of the church, religion and affairs of state and with a great sense of humour; he was referred to as Seroepe (Serupe) by local farm workers.
Johannes married the widow Ooosthuizen, Aletta Elizabeth Debora (maiden name van den Bergh born 13 November 1857, daughter of Joseph Erasmus van den Berg, b2c6d6e4f3 and Catharina Adriana Aletta van den Berg) on 21st August 1879.
My Oom Hans (the oldest son of Jan Carel h3 above) told a story of his grandfather Johannes g3 at the battle of Ingogo (also known as the battle of Schuinshoogte) in 1899: “One of the most noteworthy character traits of my Oupa Johannes was his good sense of humour and he told me about a risible incident at Ingogo near Newcastle when the Boer forces and the English where engaged in a sharp battle. The Boers had pushed the English back and took shelter in a concession store. The shop had a large supply of gin, probably stocked up to sell to British troops. Those amongst the Boer troops who took a drink, helped themselves to the spoils of war. Nobody noticed a very pale and shaken Englishman at the station, watching the antics of the Boer troops and judging that they would soon be under the influence. In the small office where the man sat was the telegraph that connected back to Newcastle and tapped out a message that the Boers were in their cups and if the British wanted to overwhelm them, they should come right away. Thus it happened that he British raced from Newcastle to Ingogo where another sharp fight followed. The Boers who were not under the influence quickly recognised that with half-inebriated colleagues no fight could be won. They all leapt on their horses after the short skirmish and raced away. As night fell the ambulances came to recover and nurse the wounded. The next morning the wagons arrived to pick up the corpses of the fallen for burial. When they tried to pick up one of the corpses, the “corpse” awoke with a start. It was a Dutchman, who was so enamoured of ‘jenewer’ (gin) that he had passed out completely When he leapt up, he looked around dazed and with a couple of ripe curse words he said in Dutch “het schijnt me of ze gevochten hebben” – by golly (but somewhat riper words were used) it would appear as if they have been fighting! As a result we know that Johannes was on commando with the force under General Piet Joubert who invaded Natal in 1899.
After the 1899-1902 Anglo Boer War the farms around Magaliesberg had been razed as part of the British scorched earth policy. It would appear that great grandfather Johannes returned to the area to rebuild the farm. The family bible records the family records in 1912 at Steenkoppies. Note the Dutch spelling of the forenames in the media file.
Johannes's’ wife, Aletta, is recorded as passing away on 4th January 1937 at Maloney’s Eye in Magaliesburg.
Johannes followed her four years later – he died in 1941.
Stef Coetzee