The Northern Cape’s capital city shines brightly as the so-called City of Diamonds, but it also has a sinister side.

Kimberley boasts numerous haunted buildings that can be visited by appointment. Two of the more spooky sites are the McGregor Museum and Rudd House.

“Rudd House has quite a few ghosts,” said the author Ware Spookverhale van Suid-Afrika, Daniël Lötter. “Sometimes, in the children’s room, a baby cries in broad daylight.

“At other times, you can hear cutlery and plates falling to the floor in the old kitchen, while from the pantry you can often hear glass jars breaking to pieces on the floor of the old kitchen.”

Ghosts can manifest in many different forms and shapes. Ghostly manifestations include a single apparition, crisis ghosts, poltergeists, interactive ghosts, ghostly lights, and more.

“From a cultural perspective, they’re often perceived as the spirits of the departed. It is, however, a lot more complicated than that,” Lötter explained. “Physics teaches us that energy can neither be created nor destroyed. It can only be transferred, according to the Law of Thermodynamics.”

The corrugated iron house Charles Rudd lived in still stands behind the home. Picture supplied

People often wonder why ghosts appear in certain areas and not others. Lötter said it’s due to actions that leave an impact on the surroundings, whether through repetition or a single active abrupt implication such as in the case of a serious accident or disaster.

This can be seen in some cases where the repetitive action continues after death, which explains apparitions of an old lady walking down a corridor, like she did over and over again in her lifetime.

Charles Dunell Rudd came to Kimberley during the diamond rush of the early 1870s, alongside Cecil John Rhodes. He first lived in a corrugated iron house behind the beautiful home his son Percy designed and built.

McGregor Museum while it was being built. Picture supplied

The Rudd family moved out of this home due to the sounds they kept hearing, and it was later donated to De Beers. The history of the Rudd House being haunted is still a mystery.

The McGregor Museum is known to have a lady in a white dress who roams around the administrative section of the building and her appearance dates back to the thirties.

“During the Siege of Kimberley, the building was occupied and equipped as a military hospital,” said Lötter. “After that, the building had numerous residents. In 1908, it became the Hotel Belgrave and between 1933 and 1969 the Sister Order of the Holy Family rented it as a monastery.

Author Daniël Lötter. Picture: Facebook

“Eventually, the De Beers Company donated it to the Alexander McGregor Foundation to be used as a museum.”

“Ghosts’ appearances tend to fade away as time goes on, like an old videotape recording. At first, they’re audible and visible, then only audible, and eventually only a shadow or slight movement or sensation of their presence remains.”

If ever you feel like meeting a ghost or two, join a ghost tour in Kimberley. Bookings may be made on the McGregor Museum’s website.

OFM News/Casey-Lee Anthony cg