THE STORY
Reported Haunting
Since the 1970s, motorists near Uniondale have reported a female hitchhiker believed to be the ghost of Maria Charlotte Roux, who died on the Barandas-Willowmore road in 1968. She is said to enter vehicles and then mysteriously disappear.
One of South Africa's best-known ghost legends is associated with the Barandas-Willowmore road near Uniondale. Maria Charlotte Roux died in a motor vehicle accident on the road in 1968, roughly 20 kilometres outside Uniondale. Beginning in the 1970s, motorists reported encountering a young female hitchhiker believed to be Roux. According to the legend, she accepts a ride and then disappears from the moving vehicle, sometimes accompanied by unexplained sounds, opening doors or a sudden chill. The mapped point represents the traditionally associated Barandas road area rather than a confirmed exact crash site.