Rose’s Round-Up November-December 2001 No 95
CLOSER LOOK AT TOWNSHIP TOURISM
Four members of the Mandlenkosi Township Route Forum of Beaufort West recently had an enriching tourism experience in Cape Town. A two-day educational trip, arranged by Western Cape Tourism Board, allowed Sylvia Dyum, Sylvia McKam, Keith Kedama and Clarence Metsing to take a closer look at tourism and meet people involved in township tourism promotion in the province. “Networking with organisations similar to our own has shown us that our problems are neither unique nor insurmountable”, says Sylvia Dyum. “We have gained a much wider perspective of tourism, a better grasp of where our market lies and an insight of how to implement small and meaningful businesses on a township route”. During a “Free at Last” guided tour through the Mother City the group saw many historic sites such as St George’s Cathedral, Freedom Square at the City Hall, where former President Nelson Mandela addressed the people after his release from jail. They also visited the Cape Malay quarters in the Bo-Kaap to learn more about the history of slavery, the significance of the Coon Carnival and “Tweede Nuwejaar” festivities on January 2 each year. They visited District Six for a perspective on the scar left by apartheid’s forced removals and to view a photographic exhibition at the nearby Moravian Church. Then it was on to Langa, the oldest black township in Cape Town, to see migrant worker hostels, the Chris Hani container school, Smiley’s Deli, an initiation school, traditional healers and shebeens. In Gugulethu they visited the Sivuele Craft Centre for talks with crafters. In Khayelitsha they also visited the craft market and the Philani Weaving Project as well as B&Bs before lunching at Eziko Township Restaurant. Then it was on to Kirstenbosch, Table Mountain and the Waterfront. “We now understand how important history and culture are in the tourism mix of South Africa”, says Sylvia. “We were touched by the friendly people we met and their readiness to share experiences with us”. The next day the group attended a Joint Marketing Initiative (JMI) meeting at Century City. They listened to talks by JMI manager Ian Douglas, WCTB CEO Mike Fabricius, DEAT development manager Brent Walters and Faiz Nordien of SATSA. “This gave us a new perspective on the importance of working together”, says Sylvia. “These two days in Cape Town were an unforgettable, enriching experience”.
MURRAYSBURG ROEP ALLE FIETSRYERS
Die jaarlikse 100km Murraysburg Sneeuberg Crawl fietstoer vind op Saterdag, 7 Desember, 2001, plaas. Dis ‘n gewilde en uitdagende rit deur die asemrowende Sneeuberg gebied. “Deelnemers sal om 07h00 vanaf Murraysburg skougronde wegspring”, sê Sarie Reynolds, een van die organiseerders. “Die roete begin met 60km grondpad, gevolg deur 40km teerpad en dan nog 22km grondpad en 10km teerpad tot by die wenstreep”. Die inskrywingsfooi is R30 en daar is medaljes vir almal. “Ons gee tot swart medaljes aan dié wat nie in die gees van die ‘crawl’ deelneem nie”, sê Sarie. “Die ‘crawl’ gee alle fietsryers voorwaar ‘n goeie rede om die pragtige natuurskoon van ons kontrei saam met ons te geniet”.
BEAUTIES OF THE SWARTBERG DELIGHT THE EYE
A delicate, white lily-like flower with reddish details on its petals often catches the eye on the Swartberg Pass. “Few realise that this is the only place on earth where the gladiolus nigromontanus is found”, says Pat Marincowitz, an acknowledged expert on Karoo flora. “These much-admired beauties are members of the sword lily family”. The gladiolus nigromontanus is illustrated on the cover of the handy, pocket-size Guide to the Roadside Veld Flowers of the Swartberg Pass compiled by Pat Marincowitz and fellow Prince Albert resident Derek Thomas in collaboration with botanist Jan Vlok. The guide contains small, clear full-colour photographs of the most commonly found flowering plants There is also a brief description of the Swartberg range and weather conditions. “More than 700 flowering plants have been recorded within 50 metres of the road verges of the pass”, says Pat. “The pocket guide makes it easy to identify 111 of these. There are 19 members of the protea family, 20 ground orchids, 31 ericas and 41 members of the iris family”. The guide is available from the Fransie Pienaar Museum. More and more tourists are becoming interested in the flora of the Karoo. A quick telephone call recently to Karoo expert David Shearing also helped a Dutch tour guide identify drosanthenum arterii for his passengers. “This flowering ground cover makes such a spectacular display that overseas visitors almost always want to stop and photograph it”, says guide Jack Korten.
TOURISM GETS A WAKE-UP CALL
Unless South Africans accepted the challenges that demarcation had brought to national tourism and the significant changes caused in world travel by the terrorist attacks on the US, the SA tourism industry would plod a path to nowhere, warned Steve Botha, chairman of the Community Tourism Association (CTA), at the association’s recent annual general meeting. He also said that a grass roots organisation like the CTA could help government and private sector determine the future of tourism in South Africa if its collective voice was heard before policy decisions were made. Mr Botha said the political promise that tourism was the goose that would lay the golden egg was worn out because unless municipalities appreciated the need to give the goose sustenance, there would be no golden egg. “The politicians must realise that talking about tourism’s rich benefits is of no use unless expectations are met”. Mr Botha said: “Local communities will regard the industry with suspicion unless tourism is seen to be rewarding people at grass roots”. Mr Botha also called on all small platteland towns to join the CTA to turn a “whisper into a voice that will be heard”.
GROOT TOERISMEPROGRAM VIR SKOLE
Wes-Kaap Toerismeraad fasiliteerder, Msi Nxele, het onlangs met Karoo skoolhoofde en onderwysers op Murraysburg, Beaufort-Wes, Leeu Gamka, Prins Albert en Laingsburg vergader om volgende jaar se skoolprogram voor te lê. “Dit sluit in MTN se ‘Meet a Gladiator’ kunskompetisie wat groot pryse aanbied”, sê Msi. Hy het ook met drie Beaufort-Wes hoërskole besprekings gehou oor hulle deelname aan ‘n ekologie-, ekonomie- en entrepreunerskap-kompetisie. Die hoërskole wat gaan deelneem is Bastiaanse, Beaufort-Wes Sekondêr en Mandlenkosi.
CEMETERY SHROUDED IN MYSTERY
Mystery surrounds a neglected little cemetery at Hanover in the Karoo. “Locals simply call the old Caledonia Street graveyard “the English Cemetery”, says resident researcher Jennifer Slade-Baker. “I’ve discovered that the ground was registered as a burial place in 1861 by Edward Seymour Turner, but I’ve been unable to find out anything about him. There is a Turner Street behind the museum, so perhaps he was an important man. Years ago, most of the headstones were moved to the new cemetery. Among those left behind is one in memory of someone called Marks, who died in 1877, and one for two children whose surname was Baty”, says Jennifer. “I am now trying to discover whether Turner intended the cemetery to be a private final resting place for himself, his family and friends or the English community as a whole and why some headstones were moved and others not. I really would like to know more about Edward Seymour Turner and his descendants”. All this has led to a revival of interest in history and the little the cemetery.
DOMINEES UNDER THE MICROSCOPE Tel No 021-782-1583
A Pietersburg dominee is following the trail of men of the cloth with military ties. Ds Sybrand van Niekerk’s research for his PhD has led him through old missionary journals and the Anglo-Boer War to the present. He is now after more information on the treason trial of Ds John Neethling Murray, son of famous Ds Andrew Murray, at Beaufort West in 1901. According to an item in Hooyvlakte, a book on the history of Beaufort West, Ds John Murray worked in Warmbaths and was sympathetic to the Boer cause. He was first arrested at Elandsfontein in October 1901 but paroled to his parents’ home at Wellington. Then, because of an anti-British remark he wrote on a postcard, Ds John was re-arrested and brought to Beaufort West to be tried for treason. According to Hooyvlakte, a military court found Ds John guilty and sentenced him to death. After pleas by certain influential people, his sentence was commuted, and he was banished to Silkot in India. Ds Van Niekerk is particularly interested in the text of the postcard which led to Ds Murray’s trial. He would appreciate help from Boer War researchers.
VAN VELDPREDIKER TOT VEGGENERAAL
In Beaufort-Wes geskiedenis is daar twee dominees wat sterk bande gehad het met die Anglo-Boereoorlog. Albei is verban. Na ‘n militêre verhoor in Beaufort-Wes is ds John Neethling Murray in 1901 ter dood veroordeel maar later na Indië verban. Genl ds Paul Hendrik Roux is gevange geneem en na Ceylon verban. Ds Roux, ‘n Karooseun van Hopetown, het net na die uitbreek van die Boere-oorlog by die Boeremagte aangesluit as veldprediker. Hy was 37-jaar oud en in diens van die kerk in Senekal. Aan die einde van Mei, 1900, is hy as veggeneraal aangestel in die plek van genl “ I de Villiers, ‘n Vrystaatse generaal wie swaar gewond is tydens die geweldige nederlaag by Biddulphsberg, noord van Senekal, volgens Jacques Malan se boek Die Boere-Offisiere. ‘n Paar dae na die slag het genl De Villiers aan sy wonde beswyk. Na sy aanstelling as generaal het ds Roux die Winburgse kommando by Doornberg en Lindley kommandos saam gevoer. In Julie, 1900, het hy by genl Christiaan Rudolph de Wet se kommando aangesluit. Saam is hulle na die Brandwaterkom, maar sy beplande ontsnapping het nie soos De Wet s’n geslaag nie. Op 19 Julie, 1900, het hy saam met genl Prinsloo oorgee. Daarna is hy na Dyatalawa op Ceylon verban. Daar was heelwat ontevredenheid oor ds Roux se generaalskap. Omdat hy voorsitter was van die Krygsraad toe Prinsloo oorgegee het, is ds Roux nooit van die blaam oor Prinsloo se oorgawe onthef nie, skryf Malan. Na die oorlog het hy na Senekal teruggekeer maar is kort daarna na Beaufort-Wes geroep. Hy was in diens van die Moederkerk vanaf 1905 tot sy dood op 8 Junie 1911. Op ‘n sendingsveldtog na Njassaland (tans Malawi) is hy deur ‘n tsetsevlieg gesteek en hy het slaapsiekte opgedoen. Vir vier maande kon niemand waag om hom terug na Beaufort-Wes te bring nie en sy eggenote het hom in Malawi gaan verpleeg. Na ‘n verdere ses maande se leiding het ds Roux van slaapsiekte gesterf. ‘n Gedenknaald ter ere van hom staan voor die Moederkerksaal.
SEARCH FOR BACKGROUND ON EXECUTION
In October 1901, a 23-year-old Boer soldier was executed in the Karoo for wearing a British uniform. John Alexander Baxter was captured by Colonel Harry Scobel and tried on the farm Gowermentsvlei near Aberdeen. He was sentenced to death and executed. His grave is in the Aberdeen cemetery. Now Boer War researcher Martin Venter is trying to find out more about the circumstances surrounding this execution. The incident is described in Denys Reitz’s diary and in his book On Commando. Reitz writes that Baxter was unaware that Lord Kitchener had issued a proclamation that anyone found wearing a British uniform would be shot as a spy. Reitz quotes General Jan Smuts, who hailed Baxter as a hero and praised his bravery. Smuts said Baxter was not wearing khaki because he was a spy, but because he had nothing else to wear. “Without this British uniform Baxter would have been naked”, Smuts said. It was an “agter-ryer” in Smuts’s commando who saw Baxter being captured by Scobell’s Lancers on the Aberdeen road. He raced to report the incident to the commando, but it was too late.
AT LAST, GRANDPA’S MATJIESFONTEIN IS FOUND
Since childhood Delysia Terrill has treasured her grandfather’s stories about Matjiesfontein. “I never tired of listening to grandpa talking about Matjiesfontein, a mountain farm outside Beaufort West. I always promised myself I would find the place where he farmed”, she says. “But every time I mentioned it, family and friends were quick to point out that Matjiesfontein was a village near Laingsburg”. Recently, on her way to Cape Town, Delysia popped into the regional tourism office in Beaufort West “just to check”. She could almost not contain her joy when she discovered there was a farm called Matjiesfontein, exactly where grandpa said it was. It is now a holiday farm and belongs to Paul Neethling. Delysia’s father, Charles Patrick Hull, served on the Beaufort West Town Council from 1934 to 1936. Her mother, Susanna du Toit, was the daughter of Hendrik and Maria du Toit (nee de la Roche-Hipner). Delysia’s grandpa’s stories of beautiful views, spring flowers and winter snows are now even more treasured. “He also told exciting stories of farmers who prospected for diamonds. Their dreams were dashed when they discovered the shiny stones were crystals”. She also remembers her granny telling thrilling stories about the Anglo-Boer War. “They once hid a piglet in an oven so that British soldiers would not take it. Fuel was scarce during the war and the old bakoond had been cold for a long time. Gran was terrified that the piglet would squeal. It never did. Perhaps the darkness inside the oven kept it quiet. When the door was eventually opened, the piglet meekly strolled out”.
MINISTER KEUR KAROO PROJEK GOED
‘n Groot werkskepping projek vir Beaufort-Wes is onlangs goedgekeur deur mnr Pierre Uys, die Wes-Kaapse Minister van Plaaslike Bestuur. Volgens ‘n berig in Die Burger van 14 November, het die minister ‘n som van R560 000 uit die GMIP (Gekonsolideerde Munisipale Infrastruktuur Program) vir ‘n kuns-en-handwerkprojek bewillig. Die plaaslike munisipaliteit het grond langs die N1 vir dié projek geidentifiseer sodat die sentrum die deurreisende verkeer kan benut. Die plan is dat die sentrum selfonderhoudend moet wees en dat dit ook ‘n platform sal bied vir produkte gemaak in die werkswinkel vir gestremdes net langsaan waar dit opgerig gaan word. Die plan is om die sentrum teen Maart volgende jaar in gebruik te neem en dit as toerisme lokmiddel te gebruik.
A BUILDER OF ROADS LOOKS BACK
Retired road-builder Graham Ross remembers the “birth of many a Karoo road”. During his time as acting district roads engineer and later provincial roads engineer he developed a love for the Karoo which still has not dimmed. “I had many adventures on Karoo roads and was privileged to see sides of the area which others never will”, he says. “In 1952, Prince Albert was agog at the news of a tarred road that would link it to Laingsburg and Beaufort West. I was given the task of establishing exactly where this road would be. At the time, Prince Albert had two unsurfaced links to the national road. The western one ran to the station at Prince Albert Road and the eastern one to Kruidfontein. Both were the same length, and each had strong protagonists and detractors. It seemed never a day went by without the two entering a heated debate about which was the best route”. Graham was instructed to “find a route midway between the two”. This involved much driving across the veld, walking, climbing many koppies with flags and making Abney level observations to search for lines over the east-west ridges. “But it was winter and a great time to indulge in such activity”, says Graham. “By the time I finished my studies, the locals had agreed that the station road was the best one. “I have never regretted getting so close to this area. One of my memorable trips was a ride up the Gamka River to find the most suitable sites for bridges. This, of course, could not be done in a vehicle, so I managed to find a fairly tame horse. Armed with a water bottle and a few supplies, I was hoisted into the saddle and set off upstream. I had only ridden once before and never realised just how tough and agonising the trip would be. I estimated the distance to be about 15 kilometers as the crow flies, and did not reckon on having to make detours, nor having to mount and dismount many times to take geological samples, do Abney observations and flag suitable spots. By the end of the day I felt like an old cowboy. I was quite delighted to sit quietly listening to the peaceful sounds of the Karoo”, says Graham. “Looking back, I am delighted to have been chosen ‘to ride the river.’ It is was an unforgettable adventure”.
