Johanna Brandt

Birth name: Johanna (Hansie) van Warmelo

Lifespan: 18 November 1876, Heidelberg - 13 January 1964, Newlands, Cape Town

Occupation: Volunteer nurse, author, Boer spy, Afrikaner nationalist propagandist, naturopath, and later self-described prophetess/health reformer

Family: Daughter of Ds. N.J. van Warmelo and Maria Magdalena Elizabeth Maré. Siblings: Dietlof, Willem, Fritz, Deliana "Line" van Warmelo. Her cousin was the well-known Dutch writer and psychiatrist, Frederik van Eeden. Her grandfather (on her mother's side) was landdros Dietlof Maré.

• Dietlof van Warmelo (c.1869/1872 Heidelberg - 1966 Pretoria). Studied in the Netherlands. Served on commando during the 2nd Boer War.
• Willem van Warmelo (1874 Heidelberg - 1948 Pretoria). Studied in the Netherlands. Served on commando during the 2nd Boer War.
• Frederik ''Fritz'' van Warmelo (1878-1943). Served in the 2nd Boer War.

Johanna as a nurse (unidentified photographer)

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Timeline

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Early life

Johanna received her schooling in English, first in Heidelberg, then at the Good Hope Seminary for Young Ladies in Cape Town. She later studied at the Doornfontein College in Johannesburg. In 1897, at the age of 17, she was briefly engaged to Karel de Kock. The wedding had been set for 7 April 1897, but the engagement was broken off (exact reason not recorded, but Johanna later described it as a fortunate escape).

• Karel de Kock: A Boer spy, he is believed to have been associated with the Witwatersrand Rifles Regiment, a volunteer unit formed in Johannesburg. The Witwatersrand Rifles were part of the British-aligned volunteer forces in the ZAR. Members were typically pro-British. In later reflections, Johanna was highly critical of him. She called him “not a Christian” and said he would “never make her happy”. During/after the war she also labelled him a traitor (“verraaier”) - he allegedly took the oath of neutrality and may have supplied information to the British. In 1886, Johanna wrote that it was painful at first, but they had a long conversation and “parted quite friendly with no signs of ill feelings on either side”.

Johanna's parents: Ds. N.J. van Warmelo and Maria Maré.

Good Hope Seminary. Source: axxter99 on Wikimedia Commons (2025)

Harmonie

Following the death of her father, Johanna and her mother were permitted to continue living in the NHK parsonage in Heidelberg until July 1893. After that, they were settled on their farm in the Heidelberg district for more than a year. In 1895, they moved to a spacious house on the Harmonie estate, adjacent to Sunnyside in Pretoria, in order to be near her sister, Deliana.

First visit to Europe

On May 13, 1897, Johanna and her mother departed from Pretoria on a long journey to Europe. The primary reason for the trip was to visit her brothers, Dietlof and Willem, who were studying theology in the Netherlands at the time. It was during this trip that she met her future husband - her brother's roommate.

Irene Concentration Camp

Irene Concentration Camp (Source: Irene Primary)

She served as a volunteer nurse in the Irene Concentration Camp from around 12 May 1901 until she fell ill and left in early-to-mid July 1901. She was one of a small group of six Pretoria women volunteers (organised by the Irene Voluntary Nurses group under Henrietta Armstrong and Mrs Rev. Bosman of the Nederduitsch Hervormde Sustersvereniging). She joined despite her mother’s strong opposition - Johanna had been resting for months after earlier health issues and felt a strong patriotic duty to help “the poor sufferers.” In her diary she wrote that she would devote “all my time and energy and patience” to the inmates and “shall not think of myself at all.”

• Henrietta (or Henriette) Esther Carolina Armstrong (1862-1944) wrote "Camp Diary of Henrietta EC Armstrong - Experiences of a Boer nurse in the Irene concentration camp 6 April - 11 October 1901".⁸
• Aletta Hendrina Bosman (nee Faure) (1851-1934) was wife of Ds. Hermanus Stephanus Bosman. She was chairman of the Irenekamp Hulpkomitee, secretary of the Irene Vrywillige Verpleegsters, and founding member of the Suid-Afrikaanse Vrouefederasie.⁸

Conditions were grim. By May 1901 the camp held over 4,118 internees (968 men, 1,397 women, 1,753 children). Overcrowding, malnutrition, cold winter weather, poor sanitation, spoiled and insufficient food, and epidemics (especially measles, dysentery, pneumonia, and bronchitis) caused horrific suffering. Mortality was at its peak during her time - 238 deaths occurred between 11 May and 11 July 1901, the highest in the camp’s history.

Nurses faced strict British rules: no use of traditional Boer remedies (“boererate”), no discussion of war or politics, and rudimentary accommodation (a large marquee for meals and four small tents for sleeping, with no furniture).

The emotional toll was immense. She felt overwhelmed by the constant death and suffering, and her diary shows a mix of deep empathy for the Boer women and children, bitterness toward British mismanagement, and admiration for the inmates’ fortitude.

Het Concentratie-Kamp van Iréne (1905). (Image source: Antiquarian Auctions)

This short but intense period became the foundation of her first book, The Irene Concentration Camp (published 1905 in English; Dutch edition Het Concentratie-Kamp van Iréne the same year). The book incorporated large sections of her lost diary and was written to document the suffering, raise funds for impoverished Boers, and preserve the history for future generations.

Spying activities

Petticoat Commando (1913). (Image source: Antiquarian Auctions)

Johanna and her mother Maria were central figures in the secret Boer intelligence network known as the “Kappie Commando” (or “Petticoat Commando”) in British-occupied Pretoria during the later stages of the Second Anglo-Boer War (roughly mid-1901 to early 1902).

Johanna kept three diaries: a personal, public, and secret diary. In January 1902, she applied for a permit to travel between Pretoria and Johannesburg. Small parties of Boers had been attacking the railway lines between the two cities. In 1902 it took an entire day to travel between the two.

Their home, “Harmonie” (on the Harmonie estate in what is now Sunnyside, Pretoria), served as the operational hub. After Johanna returned from her nursing stint at Irene Concentration Camp in July 1901, she learned of her mother’s existing involvement and immediately joined the “Geheime Diens Kommissie” (Secret Service Commission), a Republican network led by Boer spy, Kaptein J.J. Naudé.

The group’s goals were to gather and relay intelligence on British troop movements, help young Boer men escape Pretoria to join commandos, smuggle supplies (including explosives), and forward official reports from Boer generals to President Paul Kruger and Dr W.J. Leyds in Europe.

Their house was initially a popular social hub for celebrities living in Pretoria at the time, and during the war, it also served as a hiding place for Boer spies. The British representative's house was about 400 metres from Harmonie, and the Van Warmelo women could conveniently watch the movements of the English soldiers from their home and relay the information to the Boer spies.

They relied on everyday objects and feminine ingenuity to evade British censors and patrols:

• Invisible ink - Johanna wrote sensitive entries in her secret diary (Skrif VIII) using lemon juice, which became visible only when heated (sunlight or a hot iron).
• Hidden compartments - Messages were concealed in a Moroccan watch box (velvet-lined hinge), a silver cigarette case (under the silk lining), hollowed-out dolls (sent as “gifts” to her sister Deliana in Cape Town), and sealed cocoa tins.
• Intermediaries - Letters were routed through Deliana or trusted couriers; blue envelopes signalled ordinary mail, white ones indicated hidden lemon-juice messages.
• Social camouflage - Johanna used her fluent English and charm to extract information from British officers while appearing cooperative.

Her mother Maria took a leadership role (described as “president” of their new network after an August 1901 exposure), with Johanna acting as secretary. They worked with other Pretoria women (including former Irene nurses like Mrs Honey, Mrs Malan, and Mrs Armstrong).

Key incidents and operations:

• Dynamite smuggling (July-September 1901): Johanna collected two packages of dynamite from a Pretoria house and delivered them to a spy. On the way back to Harmonie she boldly obtained documentation from General Maxwell for camp inspections - a high-risk move.
• The secret railway timetable: A Boer railway worker (“Dan”) gave Johanna a detailed British military train timetable. She passed it to spies; it enabled successful sabotage operations (“trains flying into the air” with heavy loss of life). Johanna recorded both pride in the results and guilt: “The great loss of life in connection with these trains preys on my heart since I had a hand in it.”
• Sheltering spies (14 December 1901): Naudé and two companions (disguised in khaki) hid at Harmonie - the first time the Van Warmelos sheltered spies there. They concealed them in Maria’s room, packed supplies, and guided them out at night past British patrols.
• Intelligence relay: On 18 June 1901 Naudé delivered a report on a secret generals’ conference (Botha, de Wet, de la Rey, Smuts, Steyn) deciding to fight on; Johanna ensured it reached Kruger and Leyds in Europe.

Activities carried the death penalty under martial law. The network faced betrayal by hensoppers and traitors, house searches, increased censorship, and constant surveillance. After one exposure in August 1901, Johanna wrote of feeling “the cordon is drawing around us and I feel tonight as if there is no way of escape.” Despite the dangers, no direct action was taken against Harmonie, possibly because it was not suspected.

• hensoppers (hands-uppers) were Boer fighters who surrendered to British forces during the Second Boer War (1899-1902). Originating from Afrikaans, the term often carries a derogatory, traitorous connotation, specifically referring to those who capitulated early. They were frequently contrasted with bittereinders (bitter-enders) who fought to the end.

During the war her brothers were actively on commando, which made the van Warmelo women’s spy work at Harmonie even more emotionally charged - they were supporting their own brothers in the field while running the Petticoat Commando from Pretoria.

Marriage and life in the Netherlands

In 1902 she travelled to Cape Town, then on the SS Aberdeen to England, and on to the Netherlands. She married Ds. Louis (Lou) Ernst Brandt (1873 Netherlands - 1939 Johannesburg) in the town of Steeg, in Rhenen.

Brandt was born into a respected Dutch family, and was a keen sportsman. He qualified in Utrecht in 1898. He was also a trained carpenter. During her visit they met with Paul Kruger who was living in Utrecht at the time.

The Netherlands winters made her melancholic. She suffered from PTSD because of her service at Irene Concentration Camp during the war. She convinced her husband to move to South Africa. This was delayed by his contractual obligations and her pregnancy. There were few vacancies for Brandt post-war, and Johanna didn't want to live in a rural area. The schism between the NH and NG Churches also had a negative impact on his job prospects. They arrived in Cape Town in December 1903, and were back in the (now British) Transvaal by 1904.

Johanna and spouse Ds. Louis Ernst Brandt (unidentified photographer)

Zoutpansberg (Pietersburg) period

In April 1904 Ds. Brandt was installed as minister of the Nederduitsch Hervormde Kerk congregation in Zoutpansberg/Pietersburg (modern Polokwane). This became the family’s first settled home after marriage. While her husband served the congregation, Johanna threw herself into post-war reconstruction work: she organised schooling for poor Boer children, promoted women’s economic emancipation through home industries (huisnijverheid), and began her public speaking and writing career on Afrikaner women’s issues. This northern Transvaal period marked her transition from wartime activist to broader social reformer and laid the groundwork for her later books and health advocacy.

Later life and legacy

After leaving Zoutpansberg (around 1908-1909), Johanna’s life became one of frequent moves, intense public activity, deepening spiritual mysticism, and a shift toward naturopathy and controversial health advocacy.

The family relocated to Johannesburg in 1908 when her husband was installed as the first full-time minister of the Nederduitsch Hervormde Kerk congregation there (16 February 1908). They lived in several rented houses in the Braamfontein / Joubert Park area while raising their growing family (eventually seven children). Johanna threw herself into post-war relief work for impoverished Afrikaners on the Witwatersrand, supporting the Nederduitsch Hervormde Sustersvereniging and the South African Women’s Federation. In 1915 she played a leading role in organising the historic Vroue-optog (women’s march) in Pretoria to demand clemency for leaders of the 1914 Afrikaner Rebellion, and helped found the Vrouwen Nationale Party (Women’s National Party). Internal leadership quarrels led her to withdraw from formal politics around 1916-1917.

Her mother’s death from cancer on 2 December 1916, while Johanna was nursing her at the family home “Harmonie” in Pretoria, triggered a profound spiritual turning point. Johanna experienced powerful visions and mystical encounters (beginning on the night of her mother’s deathbed), which she interpreted as divine messages about Christ’s return and the future of South Africa. This led to her first major prophetic book, Millennium (1918), followed by Smeltkroes (1921) and later works that blended Theosophy, spiritualism, and Afrikaner nationalism. These writings caused significant controversy and tension with the NH Kerk.

From the early 1920s she increasingly focused on naturopathy and health reform. In 1926 she founded the “School van Harmonie” in Johannesburg and undertook a nationwide lecturing tour. Between January 1927 and November 1928 she travelled alone for 18 months through Europe and the United States, promoting her natural-healing methods and publishing The Grape Cure (1926/1927) and The Fasting Book. She claimed these cures (especially the grape diet) had healed her own serious illnesses. She also wrote an autobiographical novel, Patricia (published under a pseudonym in 1923).

'Patricia' (1923), a novel published under the psuedonym 'Marcus Romondt' (Image source: Antiquarian Auctions)

In 1923 the family moved to the Vereeniging-Heilbron congregation. By 1930 they settled on a smallholding near Johannesburg (in the Oakdene / Rosettenville area), where Johanna established a private sanatorium for her naturopathic patients. The 1930s Depression brought financial hardship, and the sanatorium struggled, but she continued treating patients with fasting, grape cures, and other natural remedies. Church tensions peaked in 1933 when it emerged that she had been baptised in the Apostolic Faith Mission around 1916; she faced a heresy inquiry, confessed, and recommitted to the NH Kerk.

Ds. Brandt retired on 16 June 1939 and died a week later (23 June 1939) after a fall from a ladder. Johanna outlived him by 25 years. In her later decades she published around twenty pamphlets on natural remedies and embraced an eco-feminist, New Age-influenced worldview as a self-described prophetess. She received an honorary doctorate in natural physics from an American institution in 1938 and a literary diploma in 1938.

She moved to Cape Town in the early 1940s. After her husband’s death she first went to live temporarily with her son, Rev. Andries Brandt, at his home in Vishoek (Fish Hoek). Andries's house was a seemingly beautiful place, but Johanna was dependent on him for transport to get anywhere. Consequently, she decided to rather go and live alone, where she would be independent of anyone. Furthermore, she wanted silence, as she was sometimes plagued by severe headaches.

Later life (unidentified photographer)

She settled in a flat in the Dean flat complex in Newlands. There, she had access to bus transport and could ride her bike, especially to go to the cinema - something she had always enjoyed. On Sundays, she regularly went to church. In the evenings, she listened to the radio and wrote. Even though she was elderly, she continued to write and by no means ceased her correspondence with her remaining circle of friends. Her many books, writings, and stacks of papers that she did not want to get rid of were stored in two empty garages near her flat. This documentation was destroyed after her death.

She died in her sleep on 13 January 1964, aged 87.

Sol Plaatje & Johanna Brand postage stamp (2000).

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Sources

1. Van der Merwe, M.E. (2016) 'n Historiese perspektief oor die kontroversiele lewe van Johanna Brandt. (thesis)
2. Koen, J. (2022) Johanna Brandt – siener, skrywer en baasspioen. Weet.
3. Brandt, J. (1913) The Petticoat Commando or Boer women in secret service. London: Mills & Boon.
4. Brandt, J. (2007) The war diary of Johanna Brandt, edited by J. Grobler. Pretoria: Protea Book House.
5. Latham, D. (2020) The dishonourable ex-fiancé Karel de Kock & the Witwatersrand Rifle Regiment.
6. (1969) Die Herkoms van die Name van die Strate in die Omgewing van die Pretoriase Onderwyskollege. Pretoriana, No 60.
   
7. Rex, H.M. (1979) "Mea Vota", Rissikstraat 62, Pretoria, 'n Sunnysidese Herehuis. Restorica, No 6.
8. Armstrong, H.E.C. (1980) Camp Diary of Henrietta E.C. Armstrong: Experiences of a Boer Nurse in the Irene Concentration Camp, 6 April-11 October 1901.