EXCELLENT SPEAKERS FOR FIRST DEVELOPMENT CONFERENCE
Excitement is mounting in Graaff Reinet as plans mature for the First Karoo Development Conference scheduled to take place on March 26 and 27. This conference, the first of its kind, promises to be an event that everyone with an interest in the Karoo should attend. It will be opened by Daantjie Japhta, Mayor of Camdeboo Local Municipality, during a short session chaired by Prof Tienie Crous, Dean of the Faculty of Economic Sciences, at the University of the Free State (UFS). Sue van der Merwe, Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs, and Zohra Dawood, of the Open Society Foundation, will also deliver brief talks during the opening. Session One, entitled The Karoo as a Region, will be chaired by Prof Lucius Botes, from the Centre for Development Support at UFS. It will include a talk entitled The Karoo as a Unique Geological Site – The Economic Potential of Deep History, by Dr Bruce Rubidge, from the University of the Witwatersrand and author of Earth and Life, then Dr Sue Milton, of Renu-Karoo, will talk on Creating a Sustainable Business Environment by Bringing Together Ecological and Economic Issues. After tea Dr Jaco Mostert, from the Department of Economic Affairs in the Northern Cape, will speak on New Spatial Strategies, Prof Doreen Atkinson, from UFS, will discuss Promoting Cross-Border Collaboration in the Karoo; Dr Anton de Wit, from the Nelson Mandela Metro University, will investigate How the Quality of Life is measured in the Area, and Dr Daan Toerien, from UFS, will discuss Promoting Rural Development in the Karoo and New Paradigms in Economic Thinking. Afternoon speakers include Prof Johann Kirsten, from the University of Pretoria, who will discuss Rethinking Agriculture in the Karoo, and Dr Sue Taylor, from UFS, who will present the cases of hoodia and olives in a talk on indigenous products. Other speakers during this session will be Aggrey Mahanjane from the Red Meat Producers Organisation and someone from the National Wool Growers Association. Both will cover affairs relating to emergent farmers and Kay Bodman, from the Western Australian Department of Agriculture, will reveal how such farmers operate there. The session will be chaired by Dr Dirk Troskie, Western Cape Department of Agriculture. The third session will cover business opportunities.
MORE TOP TALKS ON DAY TWO
An equally interesting second day is on the cards for this conference. The main topic for the day will be New Directions for Tourism in the Karoo. In a session chaired by Steven Davids, from Conservation International and SKEPPIES Fund, Dr Judy Maguire, of the University of the Witwatersrand and Prince Albert Heritage Association, will talk on Understanding The Heritage Of The Karoo as a Tourism Asset, Peter Myles, from Nelson Mandela Metro University, will follow with a talk entitled Towards Developing Desert Tourism in South Africa; Mr Mark Ingle, of the University of the Free State, will discuss The Subaru Endurance Horse Race of Fauresmith in a section on small towns and their niche attractions; Al Soko, Department of Roads and Transport, in the Eastern Cape, will discuss Transport As A Catalyst For Tourism And Socio-Economic Development, and Darryl Davids, from the Department of Afrikaans, at the University of KwaZulu-Natal, in Pietermaritzburg, will cover “Literary Tourism in the Karoo”. After tea Broadening the Economic Base of the Karoo will be discussed under the chairmanship of Judy Abrahams, of the Industrial Development Corporation. Closing addresses will be given by Mike Crowe and John Huigen, from Desert Knowledge Australia, and Patricia de Lille, leader of the Independent Democrats. Cost of attending this conference is R230 for the first day, R130 for the second, which ends at lunch time, or R340 for both sessions. A series of 2 x 2 m or 3 x 3 m show stands are available in the Trade Fair section.
BEAUFORT WEST MAN A WORLD LEADER IN PAEDIATRICS
Victor Dubowitz, an internationally known doctor, who has played a monumental role in the field of paediatric neurology, hails from Beaufort West, where his father was store owner. After completing his schooling in Beaufort West, Victor went to the University of Cape Town to study medicine. He did extremely well and shortly after qualifying left to continue his studies at the University of Sheffield. He rose to become one of the most highly respected men in his field of paediatrics. He held the position of Professor of Paediatrics and Neonatal Medicine, at the Royal Postgraduate Medical School at Hammersmith Hospital, for 23 years and then became Emeritus Professor of Paediatrics at the University of London’s Imperial College School of Medicine. His major clinical and research contributions were made in the fields of neonatal neurology and neuromuscular disorders in children. Dr Dubowitz has published hundreds of papers, as well as a series of books on these subjects; many were co-authored with his wife, Lilly (nee Sebok). Their book entitled The Floppy Infant is considered a classic throughout the world. An excellent communicator Dr Dubowitz has been invited to lecture at hospitals and medical faculties around the globe. He helped found the European Federation of Paediatric Neurology Societies, was elected the first president of the European Paediatric Neurology Society, and he is also the founding president of the World Muscle Society. Dr Dubowitz was also the founding editor of the European Journal of Paediatric Neurology. He and Lilly have four sons.
AROMATIC WAY TO EASE HOARSENESS
Goat lard had pride of place in many early medical “chests.” To prevent the onset of chest complaints, hoarseness and bad coughs mothers fried blue-gum or eucalyptus leaves in buck or goat fat, added a little turpentine to soften the mixture, then cooled it and then rubbed onto a sick child’s chest. This aromatic liniment was also applied to a linen rag and this was placed on the chest to cure hoarseness, wrote Hildagonda Duckitt in 1902 in Diary of a Cape Housekeeper.
POWERFUL CURES FROM THE VELD
In the late 1800s, when Cape doctors were searching for cures for cancer and syphilis, many turned their attention to buchu. By that time buchu from the Cape had made a name for itself in European medical circles and individuals across the Colony were exporting leaves. In 1887 researchers in London announced that they were prepared to try anything to find a cure for cancer and requested the Agent-General for the Colony to obtain large quantities of the recently announced Fourie’s Cancer Cure “in the interests of trade and humanity”. This cure was thought to be buchu based, but Fourie, the developer, kept his recipe secret. Spurred into action the Government Medical Committee conducted wide reaching research and it was soon announced that the plant Sutherlandia, widely found across the Karoo, the Colony and the Free State, was also possibly a key ingredient. The head of botanic affairs at the Cape was instantly instructed to obtain supplies. The Government authorised the payment of £3/5/- to cover the cost of two trips into the hinterland to collect Sutherlandia leaves and it agreed to pay all costs involved in freighting the leaves to London. Dr Fosbrook, of Brompton Cancer Hospital, in London, tested the cure and reported that it relieved the pain of a patient suffering from breast cancer, and temporarily controlled the discharge of a patient diagnosed with cancer of the uterus. Further supplies of Sutherlandia were immediately ordered. British health authorities however did not have a positive attitude to these “African herbs” and the cures they were said to effect. While a few experts privately expressed the views that Sutherlandia might surpass buchu as an important import from the Cape, but there was little official encouragement for local researchers and herbalists.
A DRAM OR DUSTING BUCHU FOR WHAT AILS YOU
The indigenous people of the Cape, of course, constantly used buchu. “Men and women powder themselves all over with buchu,” wrote Kolben, in 1731. And, in 1889, Krönlein also reported that the Khoi-khoi used it widely. Latrobe wrote of the medicinal advantages of buchu brandy, internally taken for stomach disorders and externally applied for rheumatism. “We found the larger species of ‘bukku’ one of the most aromatic, medicinal plants in the country and justly esteemed for its healing properties. Its leaves steeped in brandy or vinegar, bottled and placed in the heat of the sun eventually emit an unctuous juice which becomes as thick as honey. This heals a variety of external complaints. It is particularly efficacious in the treatment of contusions and sores. Hottentots use it for inward hurts,” he wrote. Le Vaillant, who claimed to have been “boegoeed” himself, when dust of the leaves was sprinkled over him, mentions that the Khoi-khoi also sprinkled powdered leaves on cattle to keep them well.
SA’S FIRST AFRIKAANS OPERA ‘ROOTED’ IN BEAUFORT WEST
Afrikaans opera has a close link with Beaufort West. The man who wrote the country’s first full length opera in Afrikaans and, who at one time in his career gave music lessons to David Kramer, was born in this little Karoo town on September 28, 1925. His name was Cromwell and he was the son of Maria (de Wit) and Robert Everson. His Afrikaans-speaking mother passed on a such a love for this language to her children that Cromwell’s own children, Katrienka, Ludwig and Melina, were raised as Afrikaans-speakers. His wife, Hermine, also loved Afrikaans. After matriculating at Central High School in Beaufort West, in 1945, Cromwell went on to study at the Universities of Stellenbosch, where he completed his Bachelor of Music Degree in 1950 and at the University of Cape Town, where he graduated with a Doctorate in Music in 1974. He began writing music while at university and eventually ended up as head of the performing arts department of the Technicon in Natal. Dr Everson wrote a wide variety of Afrikaans vocal and choral works, song cycles and solo songs. He was basically a classical composer, but his repertoire also includes electro-acoustical works. Among his work are five sonatas, a trio, four song cycles, a piano suite, “a set of inventions,” miscellaneous movements for piano and guitar and an incomplete symphony, as well as a string quartet. He was a member of the Dutch Reformed Church, so he also composed some special church music. He died in Durban on June 11, 1991.
COMPANIONS ON THE LONELY ROAD
“Achter ryers” are often mentioned in early literature about the hinterland and writers describe these men in a variety of amusing ways. Burchell equated them to English grooms. In his Travels he says: “the work of these achter ryers, or servants, who followed with spare horses, is two-fold in nature. Oftimes, they are merely intended for outward show, but most times their duties were similar to those of our English grooms.” In Wild Sports of South Africa Cornwallis Harris mentions that during the course of hunting one forenoon he and his party encountered a farmer from Beaufort West riding sedately along a little distance ahead of his “Hottentot achter rijder”. Writing of Anglo-Boer War times in The Weird of Deadly Hollow, Mitford says it was the “job of the Hottentot after riders, who followed closely with spare horses, to go around and collect the slain.” And, Charles Pettman, in his book Africanderisms describes these men as trusted, devoted servants who followed on horseback and generally, if the journey was long, lead an extra horse.” On the long and rugged roads into the hinterland “agter ryers” were often good companions and filled the need of someone to talk to around the camp fire on the lonely veld. When the English colonists arrived, they too needed the services of such men, so they translated the term and simply named them “after-riders”.
REALLY COOL, BUT ALSO QUITE DEADLY
Summertime temperatures in the Karoo and other areas of the arid zone can easily soar to 40°C, so it is little wonder that trees are so highly prized by travellers needing to shelter in the shade. Browsing flocks and wild animals also seek the shade, particularly in summer when it is essential to getaway from the scorching sun. Hugo Bezuidenhout considers the Shepherd’s Tree (Boscia albitrunica) the coolest tree in southern Africa. This tree, he says usually occurs on the mid-slope of desert dunes in such arid places as the Kalahari. In an article in To Go To magazine he quotes Professor Bothma as saying that in places like the Kalahari sand surface temperatures can reach a sizzling 70°C. “However, research has revealed that the temperature of the sand under the shepherd’s tree can be as low as 21°. It is also interesting to note that the temperature at about 0.3 meters, above the surface of the soil under such trees – that is to say the height at which the main body mass of a large predator – could be and be as cool as 36°, half of that of the temperature out in the baking sun, so the shade is not always a safe place. Also, sheltering in shade is not always smart because sand tampans, minute tick worms that can kill, also hide in the coolth.
BELTS STAVED OFF THE PANGS OF HUNGER
Indigenous people of the arid zone staved off pangs of hunger by winding a thong of hide around their waists. As times of scarcity increased, they gradually tightened this “belt” it to ease the gnawings of hunger. Krönlein explains that the Namaqua words for hunger and riem even have the same root. Lichtenstein called these thongs “girdles of emptiness.” After experiencing a lean time on the veld, Cornwallis Harris in Wild Sports, writes: “Dying of hunger, my girdle of famine around my waist tightened to the last hole, I felt strangely tempted to devour my Christmas dinner uncooked.”
COULD THIS BE LOVE?
Olive Schreiner, more than admired Cecil John Rhodes, she was totally captivated by him. She first caught sight of him at New Rush in Kimberley, in December 1872, but oddly enough, during her ten month stay on the diamond fields, did not meet him. Olive was 17 at the time and she’d gone to Kimberley to spend some time with a brother and sister, before moving off once more to take up a round of posts as a governess on a string of Karoo farms. Many people were aware that Olive was entranced by Rhodes long before she officially met him. She heard much about him when she was in London in 1881, and when she returned to the Cape in November 1889, and settled at Matjiesfontein, she constantly expressed a desire to meet him, writes Martin Meredith in The Making of South Africa – Diamonds, Gold and War. She wrote to Havelock Ellis complaining of the “Lower middle-class Philistines in Cape Town” and added “there is one man I have heard of, Cecil Rhodes, whom I think I would like to meet.” She followed this up the almost a year later, writing: “I am going to meet Cecil Rhodes, the only great man and man of genius South Africa possesses.” She confessed to feeling a “curious and almost painful intense interest in the man and his career.” Rhodes was equally impressed by Olive and her writing. He confessed he loved its passion, force and evocative descriptions of the African veld, but this mutual admiration did not end well.
MOUNTAIN PROPOSAL ENDS IT ALL
In time Rhodes and Olive struck up a warm friendship. They often met at dinner parties and on the station platform at Matjiesfontein. She wrote to Havelock Ellis saying: “the man is a genius, a sort of child,” and she confessed she felt very tender towards him. “It’s not love, it’s not admiration, it’s not that I think of him as noble or good, it’s a deliberate feeling.” She later added: “The man belongs to me.” She travelled with him to Bloemfontein, when he went to open a rail extension and confessed; “he is higher and nobler than I expected.” At Groote Schuur, Rhodes gave Olive precedence over other women, writes Martin Meredith. Rhodes spend more time conversing with her than with anyone else and the gossip in Cape Town was that they were destined to marry. Despite being aware of Rhodes’s general disdain for women, many encouraged the idea of such a marriage. Then, according to Leander Star Jameson, it all came to an end one day, when while walking on Table Mountain, Olive proposed to Rhodes. He turned and fled. His aide Philip Jourdan explained hat Rhodes had said: “Everyone asks why I do not marry. I cannot. I have too much work on my hands.”
ANT-HEAPS – THE BUILDER’S FRIEND
In days of yore builders kept an eye out for ant-heaps as these provided them with “most useful material.” Describing early building materials Brooks says that the material of the ant-heaps was used by settlers as plaster, mortar and cement. Charles Pettman says that this earth, which is brought to the surface by white ants or termites, is excellent for flooring rooms and surfacing tennis courts. “When properly prepared it gives a smooth, hard surface, eminently suitable for walking or running on.” In his Narrative Pringle also mentions it. “Following the custom of the country I directed a dozen or two large ant hillocks to be broken up and brought into the hut. This material, which has apparently been cemented by the insect architects with some glutinous substance, when pounded and sprinkled with water, forms a strong, adhesive mortar. It requires only to be well kneaded by trampling feet for a few days to become a dry and compact pavement, almost as solid and impenetrable as stone or brick.” Cow dung and mud were also worked into a mortar largely used for flooring, plastering and bricklaying, says Pettman. He quotes Pritchard, who in Friends and Foes of the Transkei mentions native woman smearing walls and floors with this mixture and, Adventures In Mashonaland By Two Nurses, who imagined that an essential part of their work in Kimberley would be daghering or smearing the walls and floors
WOODEN HORSE HELPS TRAVELLERS CROSS A RIVER
There are times, even in arid zones, floods present problems to travellers. In his Travels Burchell mentions the Khoi-khoi people in an arid area using an inventive device to help them cross flooded rivers. He calls this a houte-paard or wooden horse. He explains that a houte-paard was normally a block of wood about 6 to 7 ft in length with a peg driven in at one end. The people used this “float” to help them cross swollen rivers. “Most times they were loaded with three or four bundles and they would not have found it practicable to cross the stream in any other way.” said Burchell
The story of the human race is the story of men and women selling themselves short. Abraham H. Maslow
