Your guide to Heidelberg Gauteng
#Police Barracks
Heritage Blue Plaque #Nr 38
POLICE BARRACKS - Cnr of Marais and Voortrekker Streets
What is the story here?
These barracks was built after the Anglo Boer War to house the men of the “South African Constabulary” (S.A.C.) who had a base here in Heidelberg. They were camped out on the Old Heidelberg Golf Course which is where the suburb of “Overkruin” is now. Interestingly they established the shooting range which is still being used by the army to this day. (Although I hear that the steel frames of the targets have been stolen)
The previous building that was on this property was the “Transvaal Hotel” which was demolished to make way for the Police Barracks.
THE HISTORY OF THE SOUTH AFRICAN CONSTABULARY AND THE HEIDELBERG POLICE BASE
THE MILITARY ORIGINS OF THE SOUTH AFRICAN CONSTABULARY (1900 - 1908)
The South African Constabulary (S.A.C.) maintained a highly active, visible presence within the Heidelberg district during and immediately following the Second Anglo-Boer War. The S.A.C. was established as a specialized, heavily armed paramilitary force in October 1900 under the direct operational control of the British Army. Its strategic mandate was to police and pacify the territories captured by invading British columns from the two independent Boer Republics: the Zuid-Afrikaansche Republiek (Transvaal) and the Orange Free State.
The paramilitary organization was officially founded via Proclamation 24, issued by Field-Marshal Lord Roberts, the Commander-in-Chief of the Imperial forces in South Africa. The British high command appointed Major-General Robert Baden-Powell—who later achieved global prominence as the founder of the worldwide Scout Movement—to serve as the force's very first Inspector-General.
Following the formal cessation of hostilities and the declaration of peace in 1902, the civil administration established the Transvaal Police. A strict jurisdictional division of labor was enacted between the two forces: the S.A.C. retained supreme responsibility for policing the volatile, vast rural sectors and farm districts, while the newly formed Transvaal Police took over the management of the urban towns and villages. Sourcing no further operational need following the stabilization of the colonies, the S.A.C. was officially disbanded in 1908.
TRANSITIONS TO MODERN POLICING AND HISTORIC BURIALS (1910 - 2026)
Following the political unification of the territories and the declaration of the Union of South Africa in 1910, national authorities consolidated the various colonial forces, leading to the official formation of the South African Police (S.A.P.) in 1913. Decades later, following the historic democratic transition and the establishment of the "New South Africa" in 1994, the national law enforcement agency was restructured and renamed the South African Police Service (SAPS).
The historic sacrifices and daily realities of the early paramilitary era remain permanently recorded within the town's geographic landscape. A dedicated section containing a number of early S.A.C. military graves is preserved inside the historic family plots at the Heidelberg Kloof Cemetery.
Cemetery registers confirm that the final chronological interment executed within this specific S.A.C. casualty block is that of Constable E.S. Waters, who passed away while on active local duty on 23 May 1906.
THE OVERKRUIN CAMP COMPLEX AND THE CURFEW BELL
The original, sprawling wartime S.A.C. military camp precinct was strategically established on the high ground where the modern residential suburb of Overkruin is situated today. The surviving historic central brick complex remains fully operational, actively utilized by the contemporary Heidelberg Police force as their primary administrative base and station headquarters.
Throughout its multi-layered 20th-century lineage, separate wings of the extensive camp building were partitioned off to serve the changing requirements of the town, functioning alternatively as the local state mortuary and a temporary hospital facility. The historic building also holds a place in South African broadcasting history; the rear exterior grounds of the old camp were utilized as an active filming location to shoot a prominent episode of the celebrated early Afrikaans television series Trompie.
The station's direct link to the town's early pioneer families is highlighted by the lineage of local historian Sybrand van der Spuy, whose grandfather successfully served a tenure as the official Commander of the Heidelberg Police Station during its mid-20th-century operational era.
An enduring material artifact anchors the front entrance of the contemporary Police Station complex: a large historic bronze bell mounted on a permanent frame. During the early municipal era, this device functioned as the official town curfew bell, rung daily to enforce movement restrictions.
Military intelligence records from the Second Anglo-Boer War reveal that following the occupation of the town, British garrison guards confiscated the primary school bell from the historic Heidelberg Public School to serve as their official military curfew bell. Local heritage researchers and antiquarians note that structural evidence indicates this surviving station entrance artifact is very likely the exact same historic school bell utilized by the British military command over a century ago.
Sources: Archival military proclamations of the Zuid-Afrikaansche Republiek; early operational logs of the South African Constabulary; and the historical property records of the Heidelberg Heritage Association.
