Council to Develop Stone Age Cave. (20 September, 1996)

The Midrand Town Council (near Johannesburg) intends buying a farm where an ancient cave with African Stone Age artefacts is located and developing it as a nature reserve. Allan Dawson of the Midrand Town Council yesterday said the rare find, on 4 ha of private farm land, would help Gautengers to learn more about their origins and South Africa's heritage.

The historic news belongs to Avice and Ron Hindmarcif. It is situated next to the Glenferness homestead in Midrand. The cave was first discovered in 1949 by 20-year-old archaeology student Revil Mason. Professor Mason has now retired but will be helping to develop the site.

The Council needs to speed up negotiations with the Hindmarcifs to allow further research and this would be done under the watchful eye of Prof Mason,' Mr Dawson said. He did not say how much the land would cost, but said 'the Council is obliged to spend land trust money for purchasing land'. He added that to control the access to the planned reserve, an administration centre would be established and a full-time supervisor hired.

'The farm will serve as an investment of immense value for the Midrand community.' He said that students would be involved in the excavation process and research programmes to be conducted on the farm. 'They should get to grips with history, instead of reading about it in books.'

Prof Mason said the first traces of human occupation at the cave dated back more than 1 000 years. 'The cave was first occupied by Stone Age people, followed by a Tswana-speaking tribe,' he said. Staff Reporter. Courtesy of the Pretoria News.