[3]: 20  The Voortrekkers had arrived in the area a year earlier and the town's Dutch name (place of weeping) originates from the massacre of 100 men and women, 185 children and 200 coloured servants.

[3]: 21  A now-closed narrow gauge railway was built in 1907 to connect the town to Estcourt, 47 kilometres to the west until 1983 and provided an outlet for its produce and was thus called the "Cabbage Express'.

[3]: 22 The 6,500 ha game reserve is administered by KZN Wildlife and covers an area of typical inland KwaZulu-Natal acacia grassland with occasional thickets.

The reserve offers extensive game viewing facilities, guided walks, environmental education, and three picnic sites.

More than 230 species of birds have been recorded (there are two hides overlooking a dam) and the park is a good example of the successful rehabilitation of severely degraded habitat.