Siener van Rensburg

Early life Van Rensburg was born on the farm Palmietfontein in the Potchefstroom district, the son of Willem Jacobus Janse van Rensburg and Anna Catharina Janse van Rensburg. He only received 20 days of formal school training at the Rooipoort farm school, and spent much of his youth as a cattle herder. He could never write, but assisted by his mother, he learnt to read from the Bible. He never read anything else.

At age 16, he participated in a government expedition against the rebellious tribal leader Mabhogo. He contracted and survived malaria on the expedition and afterwards settled near Wolmaranstad in the then western ZAR. At age 21 he was an elected elder for the Hervormde Kerk, perhaps due to his scriptural knowledge. He married Anna Sophia Kruger in 1884.

Boer war Van Rensburg and his brother Pieter were commandeered to participate in the second Anglo-Boer War under General Sarel P. du Toit. Van Rensburg however remained unarmed and never fired a shot. His contribution was to be a stream of visions and prophesies for the duration of the war. As the seer would later explain, he believed that a nightly visitor woke him only a day before the outbreak of the war, with a message that his work was dedicated to God. On 7 December 1900, General de Wet found himself cornered against the Caledon River, which was in flood, while British forces were assailing his position. When his surrender appeared imminent, a message from De la Rey was delivered by a Boer scout. Van Rensburg had allegedly foreseen the situation and the message outlined an escape route, which was duly followed, leaving the pursuers to flounder in the torrent which De Wet had just traversed. De la Rey, also hard pressed by his enemy, dispatched Van Rensburg to accompany President Steyn to Roodewal, De Wet's safe retreat in the northern Free State. Here Van Rensburg advised them to wait upon two horsemen which he described, who arrived the next day with a message from acting President Schalk Burger.

Flight from the enemy In January 1901 Van Rensburg had a vision indicating the flight of three Boer women, who were soon found and rescued by his host Willem Bosman. President Steyn, in the company of De Wet and Hertzog, arrived at Zendelingsfontein, De la Rey's headquarters near Klerksdorp, to consult De la Rey's physician about an eye ailment.

Gaining entry to General Kemp's war council in the bushveld region, he soon warned them against attacking a retreating enemy, which would leave them vulnerable to encirclement. At the subsequent Battle of Hart's River on 31 March 1902, some British units did fall back, though some Canadians stood their ground until overpowered by burgher forces. Kemp, though partially or grudgingly heeding the seer's visions, was generally reluctant to give him credit.

World War I rebellion When the Union of South Africa came out in support of the Allied Powers in World War I, Van Rensburg allied with the rebels. The rebellion received a fatal blow even before it started, when the influential general Koos de la Rey was killed at a police road block on 15 September 1914.

De la Rey, when killed, was en route to General J. G. C. Kemp, who subsequently organised the rebellion in western Transvaal. On 2 November, Kemp addressed a public meeting at Vleeskraal, near Schweizer-Reneke, with the locally influential Van Rensburg at his side. Van Rensburg also addressed the assembly, and assured them that his visions indicated they had little to fear. 610 men then joined the rebel cause, and with conscription imminent, the number of rebel volunteers grew to 1,800.

General Kemp decided on a company of 720 men, mostly farmers, which included Van Rensburg and his son. They departed immediately on a journey to join Manie Maritz in German South-West Africa. After a desert trek and much hardship they linked up with Maritz's company on 29 November. Rebels under De Wet and Beyers were rounded up by South African forces in the days that followed.

Returning to South Africa, Maritz and Kemp engaged government forces at Nous, Lutzputs and finally at Upington, on 3 February 1915. Van Rensburg's son Willem was mortally wounded in the Upington clash, and the whole rebel force captured, with the exception of Maritz who fled via German South-West Africa to Angola, and thence to Portugal. Van Rensburg, like his comrades, received a prison sentence. He however served about a year, first in Boksburg, then in the Old Fort, Johannesburg. 700 visions have been documented.

Van Rensburg interpreted his hallucinations as visions that were usually connected to the welfare of the Boere, the Netherlands and Germany. For example, a vision of the sisal plant was interpreted as a portent of an important meeting, assembly or parliament. Van Rensburg's visions have been described by some as predictions of local events, such as the death of general Koos de la Rey Van Rensburg and his followers have also interpreted his visions as being connected to international events, such as the start of World War I are heavily influenced by the prophecies of Van Rensburg.