Precinct Artist Map
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Karolien from Karoo designed this beautiful impression of our precinct: Magnolia Dal, Jacaranda Hospital, Unisa, Fountain Circle, Groenkloof Plaza, Blue Crane back to MagnoliaDal.
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The illustration is printed and / or laminated per order on 250mg A1 matt paper.
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Cost: PRINT: R870
PRINT & LAMINATE: R990
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Please send the following through to info@mlpora.co.za
Name and Surname: who the invoice should be made out to
Print / laminate option:
Proof of payment: with reference ‘Your Name - MAP"
Address: to be couriered
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Option 1
Option 2
Gems hidden in the illustrative precinct map
Magnolia Dell Park is a park in Bailey’s Muckleneuk, Pretoria. The park lies in the sharp-angled crook between Queen Wilhelmina Avenue and Justice Mahomed Street, otherwise surrounded by the Walkerspruit. The park is surrounded by high trees, and the aforementioned creek has a dam that featured a statue of Peter Pan and Wendy on opposite sodes of the dam. The park has a popular restaurant known as Huckleberry’s where one can enjoy nature while having a meal with friends / family.
The “bunny park” situated in a triangle formed by Ormonde, Lente and Sibelius street in Lukasrand, Pretoria. This nickname was given to the park by our Ward Councillor, Shaun Wilkinson, who noted all the bunnies in the park while he was engaging with us about plans to uplift the park.
Mackie street was named after Mackenzie Harry “Mackie” Walker (1848 - 1927). He was a land surveyor and owned the Muckleneuk Farm. In 1932 the street was named Tram street.
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Today the street is known as the home of Pretoria Association of Art.
Zuid Afrikaans Hospital (ZAH) has been a feature of Muckleneuk in Berea Street since 1904. The bloodiest war ever fought on South African soil, namely the Anglo-Boer War (1899–1902), resulted in the birth of the Zuid-Afrikaans Hospitaal en Diakonessenhuis.
By 1904 the Boers were finding it difficult to be admitted to the Victoria Cottage Hospital in Pretoria, which was a strictly British military hospital. They needed their own hospital where they could feel at home and be treated in their own language. The Zuid-Afrikaans Hospital started out as a 6-bed nursing facility in the home of General C.F. Beyers in Sunnyside. The name of the hospital was “Het Hollands Hospetaaltje”, mainly because of the funding being received from Holland.
In 1912 – 1936 an interest-free loan of £75 resulted in the Hospital being moved to a site on the corner of Berg and Walker Streets in 1912. The name then changed to “Het Zuid-Afrikaans Hospitaal en Diakonessenhuis” to indicate a nursing facility where Afrikaans would be spoken. The word Diakonessenhuis (Deaconesses’ home) was included in the name to indicate the Christian nature of the institution. The hospital was cast in the same mould as the Dutch Deaconesses’ homes where it was customary for the deaconesses to care for the poor. (Although times have changed, the word is still kept in the Hospital’s name today to commemorate and preserve the origin and noble purpose.)
In 1936, Edmond Francis Bourke (then Mayor of Pretoria) sold 34 of the best stands in the suburb of Muckleneuk to the hospital management, who managed to secure a loan of £3 400 to buy the stands. The cost of building the hospital was £20 000, which was funded by Dr CJK van Aalst from Holland (£7 500), the poet Jan Celliers (£1 000) and many more well-known donors. In 1936 the Zuid-Afrikaans Hospital’s doors opened on the site where it stands today, as a facility with a 32-bed capacity, an operating theatre and X-ray facilities.
In 2004, the hospital commemorated it’s 100 year existence! Construction and expansion was done and will continue to extend and expand the facilities
Unisa sits atop 40 acres of land donated to the University by the City Council of Pretoria. Unisa is the direct descendant of South Africa’s first university
-the University of the Cape of Good Hope (UCGH), which was created in 1873 by an act of the Cape Colony’s Parliament.
UCGH was modelled on the University of London, which performed no direct teaching, but rather set academic standards and examinations for associated ‘university colleges’. After the unification of South Africa’s colonies under a single government in 1910, UCGH was mandated to oversee university colleges across the country. Renamed the ‘University of South Africa’ (Unisa) in 1916 and relocated to Pretoria in 1918, it became a dedicated examination centre for many of the institutions that stand today as South Africa’s major independent universities.
In 1946, as the last of Unisa’s colleges moved towards independence, Unisa began offering ‘postal tuition’ and since then, it has grown into one of the world’s largest distance learning institutions. Unisa’s history spans the entire modern history of South Africa, with its tumultuous shifts from colonialism into apartheid and then democracy.
The Harlequins International Rugby Institute is based at the Harlequins Rugby Club in Groenkloof, Pretoria. Harlequins is one of the most reputable rugby brands in the world; and Harlequins Rugby Club Pretoria has a rich history and heritage of more than 120 years! Many Springboks have worn the Harlequins Rugby jersey.
Official records state that a club called Hamstead Rugby Club in London later to be named Harlequin Football club was founded in 1866 under the motto, “Numquam Dormio”- I Never Sleep.”
In 1902 a rugby club known as the Civil Service Club and catering purely for civil servants, came into being in Pretoria. Owing to limited membership and various transfers of the Civil Servants the committee proposed that membership be extended beyond the civil service.
At a special meeting established for this purpose, it was proposed by R Burns and seconded by J.E.C. Partridge, that the name should be “The Harlequin Rugby Club”. Permission to use the name and colours was readily given from London, resulting in the “Harlequin Rugby Club, Pretoria” being established in 1903. “Once a Quin always a Quin” became the more familiar slogan of the Harlequin Club Pretoria.
Additional official Harlequin clubs granted similar approval were: Melbourne - Australia (1928); Hobart- Tasmania (1933); Hamilton- New Zealand (1938) and Nairobi-Kenya (1952).
Today the Harlequin Club offers the sporting codes of; Rugby, Cricket, Bowls, Squash, Hockey and Road Running.
During a Conference of Teachers in Town and Refugee Camp Schools of the Transvaal and Orange River Colony of 1-10 July 1902, a resolution was passed to establish “Normal Schools” for the education of teachers in Johannesburg and Pretoria.
The Pretoria Normal School, was first established in a house in 126 Rissik Street. In 1903 the Johannesburg Normal School’s 40 students were transferred to Pretoria when it was closed and the Pretoria and Johannesburg institutions were merged to form the Transvaal Normal College. When the Transvaal University College was established in 1908 (Kya Rosa) the first students include students from the Transvaal Normal College.
In 1909 the school was renamed the Pretoria Normal College when new teacher training facilities were established in Heidelberg and Johannesburg. In 1954 the school was again renamed to the Onderwyskollege van Pretoria (English: Teachers College Pretoria). In 1974 the University of Pretoria took over the sole responsibility for training secondary teacher from the Teachers College Pretoria.
Although the Teachers College Pretoria purchased new college grounds in Groenkloof during 1975, the college only occupied the new grounds in 1988 and was inaugurated in 1989. The Johannesburg Goudstadse Onderwyskollege, ‘Gold-city Teachers College’, Transvaal College of Education, Laudium and the Transvaal Education College Soshanguve amalgamate and move their operations to the Teachers College Pretoria in 1993 and the latter two in 1998 respectively.
In 2000 the Teachers Training College Pretoria was incorporated into the university’s Faculty of Education, which saw the faculty moving from the main Hatfield campus to the self-sufficient Groenkloof campus.
Today we have a steadfast relationship with UP Groenkloof as they always accommodate our Annual General Meetings in their auditoriums.
The Lukasrand Tower (formerly known as the John Vorster Tower) is located on Muckleneuk Hill. The tower was built in 1978 and its primary purpose is wireless telecommunications with an antenna spire of 198m. It has always been an icon of our community.
Did you know that Ebbard lane was named after William “Bill” Drabbe who lived in the street. His surname was used in reverse spelling: Drabbe - Ebbard.
The Austin Roberts (Memorial) Bird Sanctuary is a 11.76 ha nature reserve located in the Walkerspruit Open Space System, in the Nieuw Muckleneuk suburb of Pretoria. It became the first bird refuge in Pretoria when it was opened by the then mayor of Pretoria, Mr. W. J. Seymore, on 27 October 1956. It was officially proclaimed as a nature reserve on 26 February 1958, and it was fenced in June 1970. The sanctuary is named after South Africa’s well-known ornithologist and mammalogist, J. Austin Roberts. Upwards of 170 native bird species have been recorded, but the presence or breeding of some have been transient, due to urbanization and other factors.
Situated next to the sanctuary is The Blue Crane Restaurant and Bar who offers various exciting areas, ideal for private or corporate functions, including a formal dining area next to the fireplace, a coffee deli on the outside deck of the extended restaurant and a classy upstairs bar with its own deck overlooking the dam and the bird sanctuary.
The “Stone Lodge”, as the home was originally known, was built in 1906, and is one of the first buildings that Sir Herbert Baker designed in Pretoria. The Stone Lodge was built for Captain (later Sir) Roland Bourne, who served in the British army during the South African War (1899-1902) and rose to prominence as a civil servant in the Colony of the Transvaal and later the Union Government. Capt Bourne married Lucy Dorothea in 1906 and moved into the home with his new bride that same year. He sold the property in 1922 and moved back to England. The main house is built of koppie stone giving it a sturdy appearance. A ‘dedication stone’ in Roman typeface tells us that the home was built in 1906 by Herbert Baker and John Barrow.
One of the two Kirkness Houses in Pomona Street on Muckleneuk Hill in Pretoria has been the official residence of the Belgian ambassador to South Africa for decades. The Kirkness family were Scottish immigrants who moved to South Africa in the 1870’s, settled in Pretoria and became famous builders and architects. They operated from the Kirkness Building on Church Square in the center of Pretoria and they became particularly well-known for the construction of landmarks such as the Ou Raadsaal on Church Square, Pretoria Boys High School, the Old Arts building at the University of Pretoria and the house which is at present the residence of the Indian High Commissioner to South Africa. Prominent as they were, founding father John Kirkness became mayor of Pretoria in 1906. In recognition of their place in the history of the South African capital, a street was named after them in the area of the Loftus Versfeld Stadium. In 1888, early in their building business, they acquired the Groenkloof Brick Works from where they produced the famous small red bricks, used in all their houses, as well as other building materials and decorative items. It was a major operation, reputedly producing up to 50 million bricks per year and using its own railway connection. Kirkness bricks were used in building all through Southern Africa, from the Grote Schuur Hospital in Cape Town to the old Post Office in Harare. Tom Kirkness, son of founding father John, first built in Pomona Street on Muckleneuk Hill a residence for his father and built later, in 1932, a house for himself on the neighboring stand. Both residences have a distinct and solid Edwardian character. They are imposing double story villas, defined by red Kirkness bricks, white window frames and shutters, verandas with pillars, balconies and pergola walkways. Inside, fireplaces reflect the Arts and Crafts movement and only the most refined building materials were used such as the gleaming red floor tiles and the brass hinges and door handles.
You might need to look a bit closer to see the White Jacarandas. Let me guide you a bit - at the bottom of Fountains Circle, move a bit to the right you will notice the purple outlined triangles symbolising jacaranda trees! You did not realise that - did you?
The white jacarandas, familiar for lining Herbert Baker Street in Groenkloof, had their origin in Peru. The tree was discovered in the Peruvian jungle and in 1952 nine cuttings were taken from Lima to California. One of the cuttings survived and it was grafted onto an established tree bearing purple flowers. In 1957 the first white jacarandas appeared in Los Angeles. On 17 November 1961 the Director of Parks in Pretoria, Mr Harri Bruins-Lich, received from a horticulturist friend in California, Dr William Steward, a specimen of the white jacaranda. Two years later the first white flowers appeared on Pretoria’s trees.
The white variety is said to be hardier than its purple brother and as their number has remained fewer than a hundred, they remain a curiosity.
Fountains Circle is one of the most well known entrances to the south of Pretoria. It serves as a welcoming point for visitors to the city.
The original fountains, designed by former city engineer, Mr JD Weilbach, with their gardens designed by Mr Hans Moolman, sent their first sprays skyward on May 31,
1960 - the anniversary of Pretoria’s 50th year as capital city. The fountains were to symbolise the two “eyes” on either side of the Fountains Caravan Park, which have, since Pretoria was founded, served the city with water. (Black & white photo)
Since around 1950, traffic through Fountains Valley had increased dramatically and during the fifties it was decided to construct a traffic circle to cope with the large volume of traffic. It was accepted, when designing the circle, that it would function as an interim solution for a few years, after which period some or other separation of levels would follow.
The upgrading of this R20 million project in the 1980s, meant that the two fountains on the eastern side of the circle had to be removed to make way for the wider Kempton Park/ Delmas road into the circle. (Color photo). It was decided to move the fountain to the southern side of the circle.
In 2010 the fountains circle was, through landscaping, once again transformed into a R4 million visual celebration of the 2010 soccer world cup. According to a report to the Tshwane mayoral committee in 2010, it was said the existing fountain as focal point, represents SA at the point of Africa - being the centre of everything that evolves and moves forward.
Today the fountains circle is still a well-known landmark in our city and community.
Kruin Park Nature Reserve is situated in the residential suburbs of Muckleneuk and Lukasrand, along the crest of the Lukasrand Ridge. It forms part of the Bronberg Ridge, which is one of a series of east-west orientated ridges that characterize the topography of the Pretoria area.
The park has a significant conservation value because of its location, the grass land and the rare quality and density of its bushveld in the city environment.
The Friends of kruin Park Group was established in 2005 to preserve the trees and flora. The Groups’ mission is to support conservation and rehabilitation of the natural environment of Kruin Park Nature Reserve.
Every day of the year the park is an oasis in the middle of the hectic city.
Come and enjoy the beauty of nature, keep your dog on a leash and recharge. All the by-laws for a Nature Reserve are applicable.
The Commons is located in Muckleneuk just below the Telkom Tower and east of Unisa. The Commons is used mostly by people who simply want to meet with friends in a comfortable setting and watch the passing parade. A variety of activities (training sessions, movie evenings, fundraising events and social gatherings) intuitively take place here as The Commons offers plenty of shade, from existing and newly planted trees, benches to sit, a drinking fountain and a large open lawn terrace.
The idea for The Commons originated during 2016 when MLPORA received a concrete hand sculptured bench, donated by PPC as part of the Cool Capital Initiative and designed by Sculptor, Isa Steynberg. It was an image of the hand of the sculptor’s father, which symbolized unity and protection. A working group from the community was called into action and after much debate on the site for this concrete bench, The Commons as it is known today, was decided on as the ideal location. However, not only was the selected area an open piece of land but also an abandoned site that was unkept, an eyesore and a location associated with negative elements. The community saw this as an ideal opportunity to clean up the site!
In the naming of The Commons, its philosophy was expressed immediately - the park should represent a common/central place in the neighbourhood where people could meet new friends, old acquaintances and socialise to create the social bonds which are so necessary to grow and sustain a healthy community. By way of a creative community initiative, a task led by the Commons Working Group, the neglected and abandoned piece of land has been turned around completely and changed into a beautiful and functional public space that has become a major asset to the community.
The Commons is a park for the community, by the community!
Established in 1945 in terms of the Standards Act, (Act No. 24 of 1945). South African Bureau of Standards (SABS) became one of the founder members of the International Organisation for Standardization (ISO) in 1947.
SABS has always been actively involved in the development of international standards through the technical committees they represent. Regionally, SABS is the leading standardisation body on the African continent.
In 1972 SABS helped to establish the Malawi Bureau of Standards (MBS) by assisting in the preparation of standards legislation and drafting of the Malawian Standards Act.
SABS has seen South Africa through many transitions with the application of standard protocols and pioneered many standards that have shaped the way South Africa currently operates. South Africa was the first country to lay down a national standard for radio receivers (SABS 766 in 1965) and developed the world’s first performance standard for colour television sets (SANS 454 in 1972) - before TV was even launched in South Africa. In 2005 SABS wrote the standard for the new National flag (SANS 1212)
Other significant achievements include the standardisation of the South African currency which moved from pennies and pounds to Rands and cents. (Decimal Coinage Act, Act 61 of
1959). SABS was also at the forefront of the change to our measurement systems - from an imperial system (gallons, pounds and miles) to a metric one (litres, kilometres and kilograms)
Today, SABS actively supports the development of young entrepreneurs to create sustainable and competitive jobs by assisting them step-by-step through the ISO 9001 certification.
In 1895, President Paul Kruger inaugurated the famous Delagoa Bay railway line-that linked Pretoria to that port. The line runs to the north of Muckleneuk. The line also served to bring people together. In fact, up to the time when the level of the railway line was dropped between 1947 and 1950, Muckleneuk residents used to party next to the trains on New Year’s Eve.
After the Treaty of Vereeniging in 1902, another period of growth began in the history of Muckleneuk with the building of the Zuid-Afrikaanse Hospital with funding acquired in Holland and soon after, in 1911, Muckleneuk was declared a township and in 1920 Berea Street was tarred.
Today Berea street is a main arterial road in Muckleneuk.
The former LCM (Little Company of Mary Hospital) started as a papal institute of nursing sisters familiarly known as Blue Nuns, in many parts of the English-speaking world, because of their distinctive blue habit.
The foundress, Mother Mary potter, was born in London in 1870’s, a frail young woman, from a single parent family. In prayer she receives what she calls her “four graces” and the vision that she is to found a religious Congregation. She meets opposition from her mother, her brother, Church authorities and others - yet she trusts in God’s providence and founds the Little Company of Mary in Hyson Green, Nottingham in 1877. Inspired by what she came to describe as the Maternal Heart of the Mother of God, Mary gathered other young women and together in an abandoned factory, five Sisters began to pray and care for the sick and especially the dying, just as that original little company’ that stood with Mary at the foot of the cross.
As the years went on, Venerable Mary Potter and her Sisters of the Little Company of Mary carried their mission of love from England to other countries: Italy 1882, Australia 1885, Ireland 1888, United States of America 1893, Malta 1894
-1991, Argentina 1913-1975, New Zealand 1913, Scotland 1919-2010, Rhodesia now Zimbabwe 1937, South Korea 1963, Kingdom of Tonga 1974, Wales 1983-2005, Haiti 1989-1998, Albania 1993-2004, Tunisia 2002-2004 and the Philippines 2009.
The Sisters of the Order first came to South Africa in 1904, and opened the Little Company of Mary Hospital in Pretoria in 1957. The Mary Potter Oncology Centre (MPOC) opened in February 1999 and is named after Mary Potter.
The hospital was later sold to Life Healthcare and is now known as the Life Groenkloof Hospital.
The CBC Old Boys Memorial Club was established more than 70 years ago as a memorial to the Christian Brothers College Old Boys who lost their lives in World War 2. The CBC Old Boys union signed a lease with the City Council in 1952 and the club house was completed in 1956. The club, that offers a large variety of sports, has over 300 members, making it one of the longest standing and strongest clubs in Pretoria.
Virgin active, Italian Club and Mozambik all lease premises from CBC.
House Bourke: Cloghereen is the official residence of the Principle and Vice Chancellor of the University of South Africa (UNISA). The house was designed by architect, Wilhelm (Wim) Johannes de Zwaan and given by Eddie Bourke, a former mayor of Pretoria, to his son, Myles Bourke and his wife, Marguerite, as a wedding gift in 1926.
They named the home Cloghereen, an Irish name meaning place of many stones. UNISA procured the house from the Bourke Trust in 1969 to serve as official residence for their rector.
(The name on the map spell out: van de Zwaan)
If one would drive by House Moerdyk in Pomona str, Muckleneuk, it would simply fade into the background and be discarded as just yet another normal home, but it is when one stops and look at it that you realise it holds something special.
Architectural interest is evident in Gerard Moerdyk’s home with the inclusion of a long, wooden, church styled bench next to a window connecting with his love for designing churches.
The stone that was used in the masonry work of the home came from the quarry that once existed in the Hillcrest area within Pretoria. The granite used to pave the area in front of the front door was excess granite from the Voortrekker monument that was left over after its construction. The pattern that is formed from the granite is a cross of which one of its limbs forms the main axis that flows through the home. Every gable on the roof differs from the other. The dining room contains niches on each of the four corners. Within these niches sits head statues of four important Afrikaner leaders and influencers within history, that includes Paul Kruger. A few years after Moerdyk’s passing, the house was sold. It is only recently, within the last 20 years that the house was bought back into the family bloodline and currently sits under the ownerships of the grandchild of Gerard Moerdyk, who, along with his family, has been living in the house for the past 10 years.
(Eben Wagner, July 2021)
It was declared a National Monument and is now a Provincial Heritage Site.
Wilhelmina became Queen of the Kingdom of the Netherlands in 1890 and reigned from 1898 until 1948. The previous Plantation Street was renamed Queen Wilhelmina Avenue to honour this Dutch Queen after her death in 1962.
She helped evacuate President Kruger from South Africa at the age of 20 and became a strong leader with a keen sense of business matters. She also wanted the Dutch society to change into a more modern society. The political connection between her and President Kruger is displayed at the Kruger Museum, with numerous artifacts from that era.
A stone was later placed on cnr Koning Wilhelmina str & Walker (now Justice Mohammed) to commemorate Wilhelmina. Paving bricks with granite tiles are placed all around the stone and inserted with a Dutch surname engraved on each granite tile.
Famous surnames can be found here, specifically those of past architects like Sytze Wierda and Gerard Moerdijk, contemporary architects like Boogertman and Verbeek, and artists like Lynette Ten Krooden. Even your own surname might be found here.
Since 2012 Queen Wilhelmina Avenue has been renamed Florence Ribeiro Avenue and is one of the main arterial routes surrounding our neighbourhood.
Have you been wondering about the purple triangles? Those triangles represent somw of the most beautiful streets filled with Jacaranda trees.
Jacaranda trees are native to South America and first came to Pretoria in 1888. A travelling nurseryman called Tempelman sold two jacaranda seedlings to Jacob Daniël (Japie) Celliers, who resided at Myrtle Lodge, 146 Celliers Street, Sunnyside.
In 1939 these trees were fenced in as a protection measure. A plaque was also placed at the site to commemorate the event. This was unveiled by the Mayor of Pretoria, Ben Swart, on 8 November 1939. It is said that many of the jacaranda trees in the city originated from these two so-called “parent trees”
In 1898 Celliers secured a concession from the government to plant trees in Groenkloof. The first of these trees were planted along Koch Street (now Bosman Street) and in Arcadia Park. They were mostly planted by school children. The two trees on the corner of Koch and Boom Street were planted by the Mayor (J Kirkness) and his wife. Many of these trees died, but were replaced. Frank Walter Jameson (Jacaranda Jim) planted 40 miles of jacarandas in the city in 1911. During this time the City Council even donated two jacaranda trees to all residents who allowed them to remove large trees with roots that became a threat to the sewage system in the town.
When he left Pretoria, no fewer than 6 000 jacarandas had been planted here. The policy of the City Council to plant jacarandas however remained and encouraged by Jameson, the numbers had risen to 17 000 by 1939. In 1957 this number had increased to 25 000. Jameson, who resided at Ellensgate in Arcadia, died on 16 February 1956.
Pretoria became famous for the purple flowering trees and received the nickname, the “Jacaranda City”. As a result of Jameson’s influence, the popularity of jacarandas as a street tree took off and they now line many kilometres of streets throughout Pretoria. It is estimated that the town is host to about 37 000 of these trees along its streets. It is also estimated that the figure may be as high as 65 000, but that would include trees in the outlying areas of the city.
Robert Loftus Owen Versfeld (7 December
1862 - 5 May 1932) after whom the Blue Bulls' stadium is named, was a South African rugby union player and administrator who was a founding member of the Eastern Province Rugby Union and of the Pretoria Rugby Subunion (1908) which in 1938 became Northern Transvaal. He introduced grass playing fields to the Transvaal.
The Pretoria Rugby Club was founded by Loftus Versveld as the Good Hope Football Club in 1888, making it one of the oldest rugby clubs in the northern part of South Africa. The land on which the club is located (75 Totius street, Groenkloof, Pretoria) was donated to the Pretoria Sports Union in 1968, and the club moved to its current location in the early 1970s when the clubhouse and other facilities were built.
The Deutsches Altersheim (German Old Age Home) located at 73 Oats Street, Groenkloof, Pretoria opened in 1963. The buildings were designed by Robert Gustav Schmikl.
The neigbouring Deutsches Senioren Wohnheim (German senior citizens’ home) opened in 2006. Both were founded by the Deutscher Frauenverein zu Pretoria (German Women’s Association in Pretoria) which was established on 29 Junie 1921 with the goal of serving the German population in Pretoria.
Today it is a home for senior citizins; serving the needs for independent living, boarding and frail care.