Sarel Cilliers

Who was Sarel Cilliers?

Charl Arnoldus Cilliers was a Voortrekker leader and a preacher. With Andries Pretorius, he led the Boers to a huge victory over the Zulus at the Battle of Blood River in 1838. In particular, Cilliers lead the Voortrekkers in a vow which promised that if God would protect them and deliver the enemy into their hands, they would build a church and commemorate the day of their victory as if it were an annual Sabbath day, which their descendants would also be instructed to honour.

He was a prominent member of the Gereformeerde Kerk, an offshoot of the Dutch Reformed Church. He is described as being a short, stout man, and was believed to have been very religious. He joined the Great Trek at the age of thirty-five.

The town of Kroonstad was, according to folklore, named after a horse belonging to Cilliers, which drowned in a stream where the town is situated.

There is a Sarel Cilliers Museum as well as a statue of him in Kroonstad. Numerous streets and roads in Kroonstad and throughout South Africa are named after him.