[1] Van Wouw decided to move to the developing city of Pretoria at the age of 28 and waited for ten years to receive his first commission.

This was from financier Sammy Marks to create a monumental statue of Paul Kruger, which stands on Church Square.

He was also responsible for the less successful figure of a woman incorporated into the Voortrekker Monument near Pretoria, a powerful bust of General Christiaan de Wet and the statue of Louis Botha in Durban.

This bronze statue honouring the role the Voortrekker women played in the Great Trek was van Wouw's last commission.

Models for the statue were Cato Roorda or Isabel Snyman as the woman, Betty Wolk as the girl and Joseph Goldstein as the boy.