Olifantsnek was a pass through the Magaliesberg mountains 15 km south of the town of Rustenburg. At the time of the South African War it was just a pass – today there is a dam there which was constructed in 1929.
After the fall of Johannesburg and Pretoria the pass was occupied by the Rustenburg Commando.
On 21 July 1900 the British, under Lieutenant-General Methuen, dislodged the Boers and the pass was then fortified by the North Lancashire Regiment and artillery.
