Mafeking had been under siege since 14 October 1899 when the Boers under Commandant Eloff made an unsuccessful attack on the town.
On 14 October over 7 000 Boers under the command of Commandant-General Cronje, surrounded the garrison at Mafeking and a number of requests to surrender were dismissed by the British.
Late in October, Cronje, with half the Boer force, left for the battles around Kimberley, and the Boers were now forced to take a less active role in their efforts to effect a surrender. The British garrison, under the command of Colonel Baden-Powell, repulsed a number of attacks made by the Boers.
On 24 April Commandant Sarel Eloff, the grandson of President Kruger, with his commando, joined the Boers at Mafeking to plan an attack. The attack took place on 12 May and was initially successful. Eloff was able to overpower the British forces holding the ‘fort’ on the perimeter of the British line. However, the support from the Boers under Commandant Snyman failed to materialise and the initial success of Eloff was overturned, thanks to a material counter attack by British forces, ably supported by armed men from the Baralong tribe.
Commandant Eloff, together with over 100 Boers were taken prisoner and a further 60 were either wounded or killed. The British lost five killed and the supporting Baralong lost eight men.
Commandant Eloff spent the rest of the war in captivity on the island of St. Helena.
