Oosthuizen family disappears down a massive sinkhole in Carletonville

The Oosthuizen family lived in a mining village called Blyvooruitzicht in Carltonville. Because of the area’s extensive underground mining, it became known for having unstable ground conditions and sinkholes.  Since 1997 the mine nearby, “blyvvor” has been owned by Durban Roodepport Deep (DRD).

On 3 August 1964 two houses and parts of two others disappeared down a massive sinkhole. The Oosthuizen family house was one of them. The family of five and their domestic worker perished in the disaster and no trace of them or their car was ever found. A monument in their memory has since been erected on the hill overlooking the area where the houses had been. The fitting inscription on the monument reads, "God himself laid them to rest".