Doornkop

Doornkop (literally "thorn hill") is a ridge and locality on the western outskirts of Soweto in the Gauteng Province, South Africa.

The area is currently being subsumed by the westward expansion of Soweto and the eastward growth of Krugersdorp's Kagiso township.

There is another place named Doornkop, a community 15 km north of Middelburg in the Steve Tshwete Local Municipality (http://www.stevetshwetelm.gov.za/) in Mpumalanga.

The Doornkop area is also linked in popular history to the third day (29 May 1900) of the Battle of Johannesburg that took place nearby from 27 to 29 May 1900 during the Second Boer War.

The ridge was taken by cavalry under command of Lt Gen John French while a nearby ridge, now covered by several Soweto suburbs, was taken by seven infantry battalions, including the following units on the left and right flank.

English tourists with horses and a cart at the battlefield of Doornkop, 1896