The Kruger Millions
As British forces advanced in 1900, the Boer republic's gold is said to have been hidden somewhere in the bushveld.
What was reported
During the Second Boer War, as British forces closed in on Pretoria in 1900, the government of the South African Republic under President Paul Kruger moved gold and coins out of the capital. Kruger later left for Europe.
Stories spread that a large part of the gold, the 'Kruger millions', was buried somewhere in the eastern lowveld to keep it from the British, and it has been hunted ever since.
Explanations offered
Historians think most of the gold was spent on the war, taken abroad or seized, and no hidden hoard has been found. The legend is kept alive by occasional finds of old coins in the region and by the vast, rugged landscape.
- When
- Rumoured since 1900
- Where
- Lowveld, Mpumalanga, South Africa
- Witnesses
- Rumour, prospectors and historians
- Status
- Never found
Famous cases are real, widely reported events. Each file sets out what witnesses said and the explanations that have been offered, without taking a side.