Kaalvoet Vrou Monument (Barefoot Woman)

About Kaalvoet Vrou Monument (Barefoot Woman)

The Kaalvoet Vrou Monument (Barefoot Woman) is a historic stone statue sculpted by Alfonso Smuts and erected on the Drakensberg escarpment near Retief's Pass, along the border of KwaZulu-Natal and the Free State near Bergville. The monument commemorates Susanna Catharina Smit, a Voortrekker woman who in 1843 declared to a British commissioner that she and her fellow women would rather walk barefoot back over the Drakensberg Mountains than live under British colonial rule.

Facing away from KwaZulu-Natal toward the interior of the country, the statue stands at a high altitude surrounded by indigenous protea bushes and is situated approximately 1.5 kilometers from the Drakensberg Mountain Retreat. The site is unfenced, lacks public amenities such as restrooms or shops, and is accessed via a rough gravel road that generally requires a high-clearance vehicle. Historical landmarks in the immediate vicinity include Retief’s Klip and Kerkenberg, which mark the routes and campsites used by Piet Retief’s trekking party during their 1837 descent into the region.