HANTAM Primary School and Hantam High School in Calvinia reopened on Friday following protests that were held on April 24 due to the non-payment of school funding.  Members of the school governing body (SGB) said the schools were not able to operate as the municipal accounts were outstanding and the electricity was switched off due to non-payment to Eskom “Underprivileged schools cannot function without funding with over R1 million owed by each school in outstanding accounts Our concerns are being dismissed as being trivial,” they said and parents summoned the MEC for  Education to Calvinia.  “It appears as if action is only taken if we burn tyres,” some parents remarked.  Cosatu provincial chairperson Jacques Cupido added that the community and parents were at their wits' end over the department's failure to address the ongoing problems affecting the schools “While funds were made available to the primary school on April 24 we have not heard anything about the high school.”  He added that pupils had not been attending school for the past two weeks.  Northern Cape Department of Education spokesperson Geoffrey van der Merwe said the closure of Hantam Primary School was unjustifiable.  “The school has uninterrupted electricity and water supply and the school infrastructure is intact,” said Van der Merwe He added that school funding of R328,000 was paid for the School Nutrition Programme on April 22 “An amount of R68,000 for municipal services R20,000 for maintenance and R48,000 for learning and support material will be paid on April 25.”  Van der Merwe warned that the department would not hesitate to obtain an interdict to prevent the illegal closure of the school “We view the action taken by the school governing body as irresponsible and not in the best interest of pupils.”  He stated that a direct payment was made towards the municipal account of Hantam High School earlier this week.  Hantam Primary School resumed classes on Friday following protest action A Northern Cape magistrate has been arrested on fraud charges after he allegedly submitted fraudulent claims to his employer Northern Cape Directorate for Priority Crime Investigation (Hawks) spokesperson said the 54-year-old magistrate will appear at the Calvinia magistrate’s court on August 21 Thebe said the magistrate lodged fraudulent claims with his employer “The Hawks’ serious corruption investigating team has arrested a 54-year-old suspect on charges of fraud,” Thebe said the accused was appointed as an acting magistrate for the Calvinia district in the Northern Cape “His workload included travelling to other courts in the district which necessitated reimbursement of travel and subsistence by the state “He is accused of lodging fraudulent claims with the employer The matter will be before the Calvinia magistrate’s court on Wednesday the Kimberley Specialised Commercial Crime Court convicted and sentenced 25-year-old Jean Pierre van Niekerk to four years in jail for 40 counts of fraud According to Warrant Officer Nomthandazo Mnisi the spokesperson for the Hawks in the Northern Cape Van Niekerk first appeared in court on December 21 theft by Hawks’ serious commercial crime members who was employed by the Northern Cape Cricket Union as a financial manager misappropriated funds belonging to the employer,” said Mnisi “Payments that were due to service providers were deposited into his personal bank account The entity suffered an actual loss of R424 071.55 the court sentenced Van Niekerk to four years of direct imprisonment on counts one to 40 of fraud the accused was sentenced to 12 months imprisonment wholly suspended for five years on condition that the accused is not found guilty on the same offence during the suspension period “The accused was further declared unfit to possess a firearm.” the provincial head of the Directorate for Priority Crime Investigation Said Mabuela: “The sentence sends the right message; we appreciate the work of the investigation and prosecutorial teams.”  Visit SW YouTube Channel for our video content Δdocument.getElementById( "ak_js_1" ).setAttribute( "value" Tel: +27 11 268 6300 Use of this site constitutes acceptance of our terms & conditions and privacy policy Home | Politics The African National Congress (ANC) in the Northern Cape won back control of the Hantam Municipality in the Calvinia area in a crucial by-election yesterday The Democratic Alliance (DA) won the ward during the local government elections in 2021 says this is the third municipality they’ve regained in by-elections in the last three months They regained the !Kheis Municipality in an October by-election the Karoo Hoogland Municipality in a by-election in early December and the Hantam Municipality yesterday Electoral Commission (IEC) provincial manager “Yesterday’s by-election went very well There were three parties contesting – the DA We would like to thank everyone who participated in the by-election It was very peaceful and had no incidents.” The ANC welcomes the recent by-election results and expresses its full gratitude to the people of Ward 7 in Hantam Municipality, Namakwa Region for their strong demonstration of commitment to the ANC#LetsDoMoreTogether pic.twitter.com/vGQA9fBEXV — African National Congress (@MYANC) December 19, 2024 Please check your email and enter your one time pin below:   Open in Gmail Sorry there was an error loading the audio When September springtime arrives in South Africa Calvinia is abuzz with ‘flower tourists’ who have come to see the vast swathes of Namaqualand blooms that have made this region an international destination The small Northern Cape town is ideally situated for day trips in all directions: the Tankwa Padstal to the south, Nieuwoudtville to the west, Brandvlei to the north and Williston to the east. Along the way, there is always a chance of flower sightings.advertisementDon't want to see this? Remove ads But what makes Calvinia so special all year are its hospitable people and the very special museum in the centre of town To the right of the entrance stands the Makadas Class 24 steam loco that used to haul Calvinia’s wool to Williston then to Hutchinson and finally onto the mainline to the markets of Gqeberha (old Port Elizabeth) There are also some eccentric displays, designed to catch the eye, like the infamous ‘four-legged ostrich chick’. A Calvinia carpenter, remembered only as ‘Du Preez’, glued two artificial legs to the stuffed chick more than a century ago and charged local children a penny each to view it.advertisementDon't want to see this? Remove ads One entire room is dedicated to the ‘Lombard Quads’ The Philadelphia Enquirer reported that the Lombard Quads (Klasie Jan and De Villiers) used to sing and rock each other to sleep at night like Boeta Gammie the local entertainer and traffic policeman who the Coetzee family run the Hantam Huis collection of guest houses in Calvinia including Die Boeke Huis (The House of Books) which is made available to authors completing their manuscripts Dr Erwin Coetzee is also the man behind the Giant Postbox a shade taller than its counterpart in Australia “Karoo Roads II” and “Moving to the Platteland” by Chris Marais and Julienne du Toit book covers For an insider’s view on life in the Karoo, get the three-book special of Karoo Roads I, Karoo Roads II and Moving to the Platteland – Life in Small Town South Africa by Julienne du Toit and Chris Marais for only R720, including courier costs in South Africa. For more details, contact Julie at [email protected]; to read more stories on the Karoo, go here In case you missed it, also read Prince Albert — The creative nerve centre of the Karoo Prince Albert — The creative nerve centre of the Karoo ' + scriptOptions._localizedStrings.webview_notification_text + ' " + scriptOptions._localizedStrings.redirect_overlay_title + " " + scriptOptions._localizedStrings.redirect_overlay_text + " Boeta Gammie is a bit like that Portuguese white wine everyone used to quaff at summertime lunch tables: singing snake-catching and traffic-fining – sometimes all at once Gammie, aka Akkedissie, aka Jan Isaacs, first caught our eye at the 2010 Williston Winter Festival, when he was featured in a long and illustrious performance bill that included groups like Flying Angels, God’s Beginners, Never Trust Boys, Butterflies, Re-loaded Hip-Hop and the aged but ever-rockin’ Tannie Grietjie, the Grand Dame of Garies.advertisementDon't want to see this? Remove ads flaps down and packed to the gills with sound equipment and a forest of microphone stands Up stepped a sharp fellow dressed in a silver suit red satin shirt and the kind of pointy two-tone shoes your mother warned you about The ensemble was completed by a tipped-down fedora-style hat The crowd of dancers moved as one mass towards the Coca-Cola truck drawn by a force we newcomers knew nothing about and before the man played the opening chord on his acoustic (with pick-up) guitar feet were already beginning to kick up dust as a prelude to the full-blown Nama Riel Tannie Grietjie had just played her gig and was in a car behind the stage about to leave for the coast. But when she heard the opening notes she realised who was performing, so she eased her way out of the vehicle and began to boogie with the crowd. She went from 83 to 38 in 10 seconds flat.advertisementDon't want to see this? Remove ads His songs are catchy tunes in the Nama folk music genre but his words are all carefully crafted messages an old Willistonian said to us: “That’s the biggest hit of the Hantam this year.” When we returned to Calvinia in 2011 to see the spring daisies of the dry country the dogs of Auntie Katriena’s were still running around biting everyone Calvinia is one of our favourite little towns in part because there seems to be a certain ease between the various groups living in it We are headed for an address in Calvinia West says Akkedissie has gone to church and we’re welcome to wait for him over here “I was his principal in Middelpos Primary,” says Mr de Wee Akkedissie pitches up like a dust-devil in a pink shirt We can see this is not going to be a sit-down-and-chat kind of interview He leads us in his VW hatchback (with personalised plates) to a little house at the edge of Calvinia West He was horrified to find the skink’s detached tail twitching in his hand the tail just comes off naturally and it grows another one So I put out more sunning rocks for the lizard caught flies for it to eat and set aside a little plate of water in case its throat was ever dry.” But let’s roll back the past to when little Jan Isaacs was a farm worker’s son growing up in the Hard Man’s Karoo where working the land is sometimes classed as an act of insanity “I was born in the Sutherland area and grew up with seven brothers and sisters My father sold his labour on a lot of farms This child became a cheerful veteran of the local farm school system and He had his eye on the perfect soundbox though. It was a tin full of Lennon’s Wonderkroon Essence – a popular digestive medication. Little Jan emptied the contents into a large jug and drilled holes in the tin so his dad couldn’t refill it again – then took his hiding like a man.advertisementDon't want to see this? Remove ads fishing gut and some hairs plucked from a horse’s tail He stands in the street outside the family home and scratches out a tune on his childhood fiddle, which he’s kept intact all these years.advertisementDon't want to see this? Remove ads Boeta Gammie playing a special song on author Julienne du Toit’s birthday entered his name in a draw for the first RDP house in town – and won he was the most cheerful refuse removal man Calvinia had ever seen Then he became a blockman in a local butchery before becoming a traffic cop but it was the fat lizard with the detachable tail that launched his music career It was probably the last time he was popularly known as Jan Isaacs Moonlighting as a DJ on the local Radio Kaboesna late one night he liked to feature a song by the late Tolla van der Merwe called Boeta Gammie Now we’re back down the dirt road lanes, heading to the house of Johanna Jooste, whom most folks in Calvinia know as the Queen of the Nama Riel.advertisementDon't want to see this? Remove ads the local speed cop is crouched in the road playing his guitar while a jubilant Tannie Johanna is dancing the Nama Riel on a speed bump in the road outside her house Gammie and one of his favourite Riel dancers Johanna Jooste of the Calvinia Sitstappers This marvellous dance is deeply entrenched in Nama culture in which the man entices the girl towards him with his moves and mock-fights with rivals Somewhere along the way a feathered hat is thrown to the ground she picks it up and places it on her paramour’s head But throughout this dance “jy moet die stof voor jou inloop” – the dust must rise before you Then we meet Gammie’s lovely wife Audrey and their little boy It turns out that in addition to being a radio DJ Gammie also takes tourists on flower excursions through Namaqualand and drives a funeral hearse on weekends when he’s in town So when he shows us the award he received back in 2011 a Department of Social Services initiative called Community Builder of the Year It seems the only thing this human dynamo is incapable of doing is sitting still in one spot for longer than five seconds We glimpse Gammie again at the Williston Winterfees of 2018 the ultimate showman and the focus of every eye with his unmistakable hat adorned with a jaunty plume There is hardly standing space left around the arena hats thrown to the floor among the driving rhythm Gammie has taken on another self-appointed job “It’s terrible that snakes are being wiped out After seeing a harmless serpent stoned to death Gammie cut the head off one of his golf sticks curved the end into a hook and acquired some transparent plastic boxes He chatted to the local nature conservation officials read up about snakes and put word out he could be contacted when any reptiles needed to be caught “Two weeks ago I caught a snake on a guy’s farm That geelslang (cobra) had swallowed seven turkey chicks I found that if a snake is somewhere near water So I went to have a look at our nature reserve I found a particular place where people don’t go and I have released several species there already: skaapstekers “Every snake that I release seems to be grateful Gammie does not ask for payment but people often give him gifts One tannie was so terribly scared of a skaapsteker It’s not even poisonous so I just picked it up and put it in my pocket Then she gave me nine packets of biscuits.” We are invited to Gammie and Audrey’s house that afternoon for a special performance from their beloved son AJ Lee 2021 at their colourful home in Calvinia West from the doorway of this compact little house flows a nearly perfect rendition of I Will Always Love You Dolly Parton and the late Whitney Houston would surely approve This is an extract from Karoo Roads III – The Journeys Continue, by Chris Marais and Julienne du Toit. For an insider’s view on life in the Dry Country, get the three-book special of Karoo Roads I, Karoo Roads II and Karoo Roads III for only R800, including courier costs in South Africa. For more details, contact Julie at [email protected] In case you missed it, also read Calvinia — A special, all-year long destination Calvinia — A special, all-year long destination Ran der Merwe’s documentary returns the director to the Northern Cape where he grew up Situated in the Northern Cape province of South Africa Calvinia is a rural town blessed with a magnificently scenic landscape where towering mountain ranges give way to far-reaching plains It is also the birthplace of film-maker Rudivan der Merwe with its triptych structure guided by childhood memories is both a pilgrimage and farewell to his home town Van der Merwe first fixes his camera on his parents In contrast to the supposed quaintness of farm life the presence of violence is also emphasised; one scene There are other forces of violence at play as well Conversations with a lesbian couple reveal the homophobia that runs deep in the town when Van der Merwe switches focus from his white family to the Black ex-employees of his father’s farm the section does grapple with issues faced by Black South Africans such as financial precariousness and addiction these struggles are framed as a personal saga rather than an example of systematic inequality Van der Merwe seems unable to fully reckon with the power imbalance between his parents and the former staff which mostly features the director’s musings on his own sexual awakening similarly betrays a lack of critical introspection Van der Merwe speaks of a boyhood incident where he was coerced by his schoolmates into performing a sexual act on his best friend He added that nothing happened as he was unable to achieve an erection but it is still unsettling that the film-maker would swiftly move on from this anecdote instead of fully considering the abuse such an event involved Such missteps reduce Calvinia to a picturesque but ultimately lightweight trip down memory lane 2017 — On a warm autumn morning some years back we’re following Jan Swart and Wilhelm de Lange as they wind through the ramshackle streets of Calvinia West in their Bakes Bakery van on the day’s first bread run through the township They’re dropping off boxes of sliced fresh loaves at dozens of little spaza shops all over the place, run by an astoundingly kaleidoscopic mix of God’s children. Want to see the changing face of the South African platteland? Ride along with the Bakes Bakers for some enlightenment in that regard.advertisementDon't want to see this? Remove ads Delivering bread out here is a bit of an art You’ve got to know who owes you money from last week and who has a clean slate today There are friendly reminders to be issued and it’s an amiable exchange of bread and conversation Life is just too tough out here to be making a fist out of everything yet the kids are out on the streets already playing a rather complicated stick game of kennetjie and sprinting alongside the van obviously drawn by the magical scent of warm bread We leave Jan Swart and Wilhelm de Lange to their deliveries and follow directions to a cinder block house in the middle of Calvinia West. Living in a caravan in the back yard is the dignified and dreadlocked Steven Charles, who specialises in paintings of the World’s Biggest Postbox, which stands in the main street of Calvinia.advertisementDon't want to see this? Remove ads Jan Swart dropping off loaves on the Bakes Bakery morning run in Calvinia West Steven tells us his Rastafarian community is about 50-strong and that when they need to worship they “go up to the mountains” I turned from the gangs and the drugs and chose the Rasta way,” he says He’s a self-confessed schizophrenic on a disability grant “All the Rastas make sure I take my medication They inspire me to be more creative and less confused.” In addition to this rather artisanal but very effective form of art therapy Steven Charles is teaching a little squad of township boys how to play soccer and golf In no time he gathers them together and the street becomes an instant driving range as the youngsters grab their second-hand donated clubs take up their stances on a nearby speed hump and swing lustily away for the camera The last time we photographed Calvinia people in the street was when we interviewed the Elvis of Namaqualand, the No 1 Speed Cop in town, Boeta Gammie. He was strumming his guitar and Johanna Jooste, the one-time Riel Queen of the Hantam, was dancing in full spate on a sleeping policeman.advertisementDon't want to see this? Remove ads Steven Charles runs a golf clinic for the children of Calvinia West township We see a man in the crowd of onlookers wearing a beautiful Rasta jacket of many colours. That’s Jonathan Orlam, the Rasta Tailor of Calvinia.advertisementDon't want to see this? Remove ads This is followed by a few moments of startled silence where he rents a bedroom that doubles as his sewing room in front of a table where a sewing machine and overlocker stand Jonathan shakes loose his dreads and begins to work at a jacket Nearby lives Glen Klaasen the Rasta Painter, who works from a studio-garage. Glen is a very handy man. He built his own house, he sculpts, he paints. He also fashions wire karretjies for the kids in the neighbourhood.advertisementDon't want to see this? Remove ads “I like the youngsters,” he says. “They’re quite witty.”advertisementDon't want to see this? Remove ads Glen once painted a portrait of Emperor Haile Selassie of Ethiopia It looms large in his garage and he is proud to pose for photographs in front of it Martin de Wee and Kane Ockhuys are planting upside-down water bottles along the borders of Aleta Matthys’s garden “So that when we are once more blessed with rain we will remember the goodness of the people who kept us supplied with water when we had nothing,” says Aleta Calvinia has been a dry town for months because of the drought This is a drought that would stretch way past the biblical seven years and cause immense pain to farmers and townsfolk alike in the Northern Cape A local church pastor has led his tiny congregation of 30 out to the parched town’s Karee Dam to pray for rain a typical Karoo thunderstorm belted down over Calvinia but the deluge was short-lived and the cracks in the dam just widened Glen Klaasen in his garage-studio with his portrait of Emperor Haile Selassie Glen Klaasen in his other role as a deejay with the local Radio Kaboesna “I try to make my show inspiring,” he says Small steps – just so people know there is a way.” It’s clear to see why the camp is called Blikkiesdorp: more than 200 families live in a hopscotch jumble of tin shanties that provide little shelter from the scorching summers and the bone-chill winters of the Hard Man’s Karoo Sampie and a group of friends have taken it upon themselves to protect the local women who visit the string of outdoor toilets at night He says thugs and predators have taken to hanging about the facilities and preying on the women who go there founder of Blikkiesdorp and Head of the Hantam House of Judah The Blikkiesdorp Crew that keeps the local ablution area safe at night As one of the Blikkiesdorp founders and chairman of the Hantam House of Judah one of his pet projects is to get a recycling centre to clean up the place and generate jobs “We don’t like people to stand with their hands out they all think that this is where crime starts,” he adds He recites the Five Points of the Rasta Creed: “Feed the hungry protect the aged and care for the infants.” At dusk on a Saturday night in Calvinia West We’ve heard about the dusty yet romantic lovers’ promenade down Eerste Laan but first we stop off at the home of Ruben Minnies another ex-con who is now a confirmed Rastafarian Ruben currently has fencing piecework in Piketberg but he and his wife Noka run a little video games room for the local children behind a shop games with tame names like Snow Balls and Magic Plus he tells us: “I grew up here in Calvinia and became Rasta during a very difficult time All the young people in the township seem to have dolled themselves up and are parading up and down the road We see them through a light film of dust as the evening wind comes off the Hantam Mountain nearby Low-slung cars with mag wheels and top-volume sound systems come thumping by Music blares out from countless homes along the way Ruben Minnies on a Saturday evening stroll with his children Having fun on a Saturday night down Eerste Laan Saturday night in Calvinia West is a time for celebration and romance The whole township seems to have turned up doing a slow sashay down Eerste Laan with their best friends in tow One young woman walks past wearing a T-shirt that reads: Justin is my ex blushing as she strides off in a glorious swirl of flirting in the direction of the parked old caravan selling fish and chips out of an open window In the midst of all of this we see Sampie and his committee of men returning from the shops It suddenly feels like we know everyone on Eerste Laan This is a chapter from Karoo Roads – Tales from South Africa’s Heartland, available in both print and e-book formats. For sales and deliveries of Karoo Roads and Karoo Roads II, contact Julienne at [email protected] for details 2023) — Animal lovers around the world set their sights on the Northern Cape’s Calvinia where hundreds of animals facing terrible struggles like hunger and neglect so it was only apt that stars in human form worked behind the scenes to improve life for four-legged residents of the town Through the Network for Animals‘ ‘Gloria’s Little Acts of Kindness Program’ $2700 was donated towards a big spray and neuter programme (nearly R52000) that saw 108 dogs sterilized This amount was solely raised by donations all over the world Calvinia has been on the Network for Animals’ radar since 2021 they lend multiple paws all around the world The non-governmental network unites animal lovers with projects that speak volumes to those with paw-shaped spaces in their hearts Some of their recent projects have been in Macassar (Cape Town) for the Help a Paw Project which funded a mobile clinic for all-important vaccinations Greece’s Corinith which helped Frida the dog get the surgery she needed and Kenya’s Naivasha which helped rescued donkeys get the food and vet care they needed They have also teamed up with KZN Valley Dogs to help the strays who roam The Valley of a Thousand Hills (an ongoing effort) and have helped TEARS Animal Rescue who are currently looking for volunteers to join their emergency volunteers programme Ashleigh Nefdt is a writer for Good Things Guy Ashleigh's favourite stories have always seen the hidden hero (without the cape) come to the rescue her labour of love is finding those everyday heroes and spotlighting their spark - especially those empowering women sustainability shakers and creatives with hearts of gold she's dedicated to her canvas or appreciating Mother Nature Comment * document.getElementById("comment").setAttribute( "id" "a9580a336b925b391d2ca3cebca32b4f" );document.getElementById("d2d9e305b5").setAttribute( "id" and website in this browser for the next time I comment Would you like to receive truly phenomenal inspirational and good thing stories right to your inbox Then subscribe to our weekly GoodThingsGuy newsletter today I accept GTG’s Privacy Policy GoodThingsGuy is the home of everything good and those are the things that really matter We believe that there is good news all around us and over 1 million readers a month agree with us GoodThingsGuy was officially launched on the 1 August 2015 in order to only promote good news inspirational stories and promote only positive multi-platform media company that distills unique content across multiple media platforms We consider individual and corporate contributions through the website or mail us directly here. Your GPS did not respond. Be sure you have your GPS enabled and try again. after he allegedly ran over his 22-year-old employee with his bakkie over a wage dispute in Calvinia Calvinia farmer Albertus SteenkampPolice spokesperson sergeant Timothy Sam confirmed that the 40-year-old suspect Albertus Steenkamp was arrested on Monday and charged for attempted murder It is alleged the incident followed after the farmworker confronted Steenkamp regarding his unpaid salary Sam said Steenkamp then allegedly aggressively asked the worker to leave “The next day the victim went back to the suspect but he was allegedly threatened with a pole by the suspect The victim ultimately decided to collect his clothes and leave the farm out of fear for his life The suspect then followed the victim with his vehicle and allegedly ran him over “The 40- year-old suspect was arrested on Monday March 27 He will appear in the Calvinia Magistrates’ Court for a formal bail hearing soon The police investigations are continuing,” he said Director of the Rural and Farmworkers Development Organisation Billy Claassen said Steenkamp was known for his “rudeness and aggressive behaviour” towards his workers “We welcome the arrest of a farmer in the rural town of Calvinia in the Northern Cape There are also allegations that this farmer is known for assaulting workers and nothing has ever happened to him “He is known for his rudeness and aggressive behaviour towards his workers,“ he said Land Reform and Rural Development spokesperson Reggie Ngcobo said they condemn the incident “We also call on farm workers and farmers to always find amicable ways of resolving whatever disputes that arise at the workplace Farmers and farm workers need each other at all times,” Ngcobo said President of the Black Association of the Agriculture Sector (Bawsi) Nosey Pieterse said he was not surprised by the incident I must commend the police of Calvinia for holding him in the cells because that does not happen in the Western Cape,” said Pieterse It isn’t only the famous chefs who turn out some of the best food The best thing in a food writer’s life is that rare moment when you randomly pop into a restaurant for a bite and it dawns on you that what’s on your plate is the best of its kind that you can remember eating When what you’re eating is a lamb chop, and lamb is your thing, and you’ve been cooking and eating lamb chops all your life, it’s more than a surprise, or even a shock. It’s astounding.advertisementDon't want to see this? Remove ads Most lamb chops are just another lamb chop Even most of the delicious lamb chops you encounter are But moments of surprise are possible in any part of life where am I but in Calvinia in the Northern Cape this town is pretty much the heartbeat of the country’s meat industry I’m at a veteran restaurant called Die Blou Nartjie the naming of which is a story worth telling Because this lamb loin chop is the king of all lamb loin chops and here’s one in the eye for the thousands of braaiers who love to douse their lamb in everything from Worcestershire sauce or rosemary and garlic to lemon and coriander or who is most likely the greatest lamb chop chef in the land with few exceptions most people cook them on only those two sides At this point I admit to being a three-sides-lamb-chop sort of man “I always cook the fatty side first,” I say it definitely needs the cook’s attention.” Because there is meat on the other side of that bone and even as he tells me this now very obvious fact his advice for cooking a lamb chop is this: “Mess with it as little as possible and braai it on all five sides is that it has to be cut thick enough to stand on its bone side by itself.” A door worth entering: The entrance to Die Blou Nartjie in Calvinia But there’s other excellent fare on the menu. Skaapstertjies are a staple, and he had made a batch just before I arrived this week. You get a portion of them, cooked twice (boiled, left to cool and dry, then grilled), served with salt and lemon, a perfect Karoo starter. Brilliant. (I also cook them, like this.) In flower season “we sell 15kg to 20kg of skaapstertjies a week.” The Blou Nartjie also serves one of the best lamb pies I’ve eaten with no herbs and spices to interfere with the meat’s intrinsic karoobossie flavour Just meat with a little bit of dough on top To make his fynvleis, he orders in what is known as a “skaap pak”, a whole carcass that’s been “put through the saw. I put it in a big pot and cook it down.”advertisementDon't want to see this? Remove ads I’ve also eaten Herman’s biltong and mushroom soup was sold out by the time I walked in on Monday evening but I saw one hefty sirloin being sent to a table and it looked very desirable which is usually a sign that a chef is paying attention the young man who decided that marketing wasn’t for him has been cooking some of the Karoo’s simplest but finest food ever since with a family happy to have the charms of small-town life Locals say his steaks are just as good as his lamb chops so that’s what I’ll be ordering for my birthday this weekend Read more in Daily Maverick: What’s cooking today: Salt and pepper leg of Karoo lamb Tip for doing all-sides of chops : if you put five on a sosatie stick with their flat sides on each other pull out the sosatie stick and cook on the flat sides Soak the sosatie sticks before putting on the grill I’m sure that we would all have an opinion on it but cook for how long on each side and how hot We accidentally discovered the Blou Naartjie in 2021 and still talking about it It absolutely justifies a roadtrip to Calvinia I always cook all sides of a piece of steak slightly over the edge of the flat skillet Try Woolies Rack of Lamb …pretty damn perfect in the air fryer But I am sure the real secret is that it is KAROO LAMB Champ Herman – 5-side grill for the lamb chop we don’t hesitate – even if means travelling 400 km to assist the community of Calvinia in the Northern Cape Following an approach from the community of Calvinia CEO Moyo Ndukwana and a team of Inspectors and Education Officers from the Cape of Good Hope SPCA spent three days in the town Their mission was to improve the lives of animals in the area Lucille Boonzaier and Junior Ngculu were welcomed into the two local primary schools Over 550 children watched the Ani-Pals show which teaches children to love all living creatures love and happiness just as we do – and the importance of ensuring their basic needs of food where many kids will grow up to be involved in caring for livestock instilling empathy and respect for animals from a young age has a huge impact on future animal welfare Senior Inspector Alwyn Marais and CEO Moyo Ndukwana ran knowledge sharing sessions with the local SAPS K9 Unit Crime Prevention Unit and Provincial Traffic The training was designed to ensure that all police officers are up to date with the latest animal cruelty legislation and to help them identify and deal with cases of animal abuse Assessment of local pet and farm animal Population Inspectors Carina Bodenstein and Elani Steenkamp conducted a community-wise check to assess the welfare needs of pets in the area 128 animals were dipped and signed up for an upcoming sterilisation drive Farmers were provided with practical advice on how to improve living conditions of their livestock and taught the importance of providing adequate shelter It was encouraging to be invited into a community that is committed to improving the welfare of its animals; we hope that Calvinia will become a shining example of a community that treats all living creatures with compassion and respect During International Animal Week (4-12 October) our team returned to Calvinia to embark on a massive pet sterilisation campaign No fewer than 130 pets were sterilised in just one weekend – preventing thousands of unwanted puppies and kittens that would otherwise have been born as a result of uncontrolled breeding Special thanks to all who donated towards this campaign to Marian van der Merwe who alerted us to the need and to Dr Annalize Roos of EnviroVet CVC whose skill and efficiency enabled us to make the biggest possible impact during our short visit Despite Calvinia falling outside our area of operation we remain committed to the welfare of animals in the area and will return as often as we can to provide much needed services the Cape of Good Hope SPCA has protected and cared for all animals Make a donation today to fight animal cruelty and give animals a chance in life that they deserve The SPCA is the only organisation that offers a 24-hour Inspectorate service Contact our Inspectorate by calling us on(021) 700-4158/9or083 326 1604 (after hours) 100 pets—58 dogs and 42 cats—have been sterilised in a mass effort led by 3 organisations Building on the success of the first Lavender Hill sterilisation and give an animal a lucky second chance at a happy life Thank you for everything you do to help make this a better world for all animals Sign up to our newsletter and get behaviour advice happy homings and our impact straight to your inbox Phone: +27 21 700 4140After Hours: 083 326 1604Email: info@capespca.co.zaSearch for your nearest SPCA 1st Ave & First RoadGrassy Park
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 Autumn, 2021 – The streets of Calvinia shine with remnants of overnight rain Locals thank us for bringing yesterday’s thunderstorm But this time we are on a mission to track down a very shaggy sheep called The Poggenpoel At 8am, Calvinia Museum curator Memci van Wyk and her assistant, Adonis de Wee, are opening the doors to the erstwhile Jewish synagogue. advertisementDon't want to see this? Remove ads The world’s tallest postbox is to be found in Calvinia This museum isn’t perhaps as expansive as “The Macgregor” in Kimberley but it is so eccentric it can leave you smiling for days the section dedicated to the Lombard Quads of Loeriesfontein Jan and De Villiers all turned 70 sometime this year The Philadelphia Enquirer caught up with the six-year-olds in 1957; the American newspaper reported that the Lombard Quads used to sing and rock each other to sleep at night Now that’s a show one could sell tickets to The quads were identical, so much so that when they were babies, the hospital pinned name tags to them. Hannie stayed in hospital from February to April. In fact, she only saw them 11 days after the birth. Her two other daughters, eight and four, were delighted, and heard to exclaim: advertisementDon't want to see this? Remove ads Apart from a collection of family photographs in the Lombard Room four child-sized dolls dressed in bow ties waistcoats and cricketing whites (each holding a little shepherd’s crook) four baby’s bonnets and what looks to be four toddler-leashes are on display The kiddy accessories – and little diorama dolls – of the famous Calvinia Quads with an ageing diorama of a settler couple completely engrossed (as they have been for many many years) in preparing supper in their outdoor asbos skerm (lye bush shelter) Not long after the Trekboers came to live here permanently the Jewish smouse (travelling traders) arrived opening various enterprises that ranged from general goods stores to was eventually donated to the municipality for use as a museum in 1970 The 120-odd Jewish families who lived here once are commemorated as a community in a special section of the museum A special section of the museum celebrates the Jewish community that once thrived in Calvinia A relatively small but very significant glassed-in box has found its way to the Jewish section. Inside is a four-legged ostrich chick, its little beak gently resting on a stick.advertisementDon't want to see this? Remove adsadvertisementDon't want to see this? Remove ads glued two artificial legs to the stuffed chick more than a century ago back when snake-oil salesmen were just as thick on the ground as they are today and charged the farm children a penny each to see it It finally became the possession of a prominent local people continue to pay to see this wondrous apparition See the four-legged ostrich chick in the Calvinia Museum Outside stands a Victorian-era version of a camper van a smous wagon that served as both the trader’s sleeping quarters and stock room It is simply a container-sized wooden box on metal wheels drawn Right next to it is the classic 1952 Ford V8 bakkie Holding court near the entrance of the museum building stands the Makadas Class 24 steam loco that used to haul Calvinia’s wool to Williston then to Hutchinson and finally onto the main line to the markets of old Port Elizabeth (now Gqeberha) The English version is that a bored fireman told his driver to “Make a dash!” The Afrikaans version is that Makadas is the rhythmic sound made by the slowly turning wheels of the locomotive as it gathered speed If you were successful during the Wool Boom chances are you bought a 1952 Ford V8 bakkie has been the curator of this museum for a decade “Everything has a story,” she says. “And it is such a joy when you find that story.”advertisementDon't want to see this? Remove ads Like the possible background to an unsigned painting donated by one Amina Adams Rare image of what is believed to be Baster Trekboers on the move who have been preparing dinner here for many years This particular group in the painting are possibly Basters trekking northwards from the Colonial Cape to the wilder spaces along the Orange River it emerges that trekboer parties consisted of just about any nationality or hue imaginable picking up some essential skills like wire fencing He ensures the gardens are looking as beautiful as a drought cycle will allow they keep this classic Karoo Imaginarium ship-shape “But where’s the fluffy sheep?” we ask Adonis is the scruffiest Merino you ever saw: The Poggenpoel The morning light through the window casts an amber glow on The Poggenpoel’s shag dainty little feet and matching set of curled horns This fellow once belonged to Danie Poggenpoel from Bonekraal Farm up in the Roggeveld Mountains It went AWOL from its flock for a few years and skipped many shearing seasons It was so remarkably tatty that the farmer kept it like that and had it stuffed and donated to the Calvinia Museum behind glass and under the watchful eye of the Calvinia Museum curator and her able assistant This is an extract from Karoo Roads III – The Adventures Continue For an insider’s view on life in the Dry Country, get the three-book special of Karoo Roads I, Karoo Roads II and Karoo Roads III for only R800, including courier costs in South Africa. For more details, contact Julie at [email protected] Chris and Julienne capture the magic of the Karoo so brilliantly – a wonderful contribution to our special country An official website of the United States government The NOAA-20 satellite spotted tropical cyclone Calvinia in the southern Indian Ocean near the small island of Mauritius on Dec which lies roughly 700 miles east of Madagascar whose center was about 75 miles east of the small island nation at 9:00 a.m is packing strong winds and torrential rainfall as it slowly moves south-southeastward Currently, the storm’s maximum sustained winds are about 60 mph, with gusts up to 80 mph; this makes it equivalent to a tropical storm in the northern hemisphere. However, according to Keraunos the French Observatory for Tornadoes and Severe Thunderstorms the strongest gusts are expected to spare the island but heavy rain may affect the surrounding areas On Monday, Dec. 30, 2019, Mauritius closed its only airport as well as its stock exchange after the Mauritius Meteorological Services issued a Class III cyclone warning The agency also advised the public not to venture along shorelines and other watercourses due to potential flooding it is expected to head toward the open water of the southwestern Indian Ocean This image was captured by the NOAA-20 satellite's VIIRS instrument which scans the entire Earth twice per day at a 750-meter resolution Multiple visible and infrared channels allow it to detect atmospheric aerosols smoke and haze associated with industrial pollution and fires The polar-orbiting satellite circles the globe 14 times daily and captures a complete daytime view of our planet once every 24 hours The route eventually took us south through Kenhardt and Brandvlei in the heart of the Northern Cape Was there some militarily strategic reasoning behind it Close-up of a Climax wind pump silhouetted against blue sky helicopter squadron and a ground attack jet squadron were located in Brandvlei from 1974 until 2005 but the reference link is broken so this cannot be verified Was there perhaps just a particularly well-connected mayor in Kenhardt Political considerations are known to affect road planning decisions: A former Department of Transport engineer told me that PW Botha once poked his finger at Upington and Askham (a village near the Botswana border, population 278 in 2001) on a map, saying “Daar moet a pad hier kom.”) advertisementDon't want to see this? Remove ads Department of Transport Map of South Africa Even major routes are susceptible to political interference: The same engineer told me that the N1 almost terminated in George rather than Cape Town because an influential member of the National Road Board in the 1930s was a lawyer from George Perhaps there is a similar story behind the construction of the R27 Or perhaps it was built just because the gaping void in the road network between Calvinia and Upington just looked so odd on a road map and the place is no longer the Karoo written wistfully of in the 1950s by South African journalist and author traversed at “the pace of the ox,” under “the great hush that reigned before the coming of petrol engines” And yet the line of development that went from ox carts to petrol engines and from dirt tracks to tarred roads has not continued thanks precisely to the quality of the road and the soundproofing of modern cars that great hush can perhaps be approached more closely today than when Green was writing R27 road heading towards the Vanrhyns pass on the way to Nieuwoudtville Looking back down the empty road towards Vanrhynsdorp surrounded by Karoo-like vegetation View from the Vanrhyns Pass winding its way to Nieuwoudtville on the R27 road on the border between Northern and Western Cape Image: Gallo Images/ MARYANN RIVERS-MOORE Between Kenhardt and Brandvlei, bends in the road can be counted on the fingers of one hand, the angles of these bends measured in single digits and their fractions. advertisementDon't want to see this? 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Remove ads This minimalism is manifestly borrowed from the landscape itself an ancient ocean floor punctured only occasionally by great frozen eruptions of dolerite kokerboom and rounded boulders of the same dolerite oxidised to a deep and distinctive rusted aubergine black The landscape forms a stage for meteorological dramas on a grand seen first some way off in the distance to the west a mass of cloud dragging along with it a dense column of rain as it migrates eastward looking like a herd of giant avian jellyfish We intercept the storm about 50km outside Brandvlei the Permian Karoo Sea is restored and the car is a submarine The anonymous author of the Wikipedia entry on Kenhardt writes that “if you travel south from Kenhardt towards Brandvlei you will pass through a huge landscape of nothingness for the next 200km and more” View from the Vanrhyns Pass winding its way to Nieuwoudtville on the R27 road on the border between northern and western Cape Karoo-like vegetation surrounding the Pass Redundantly, the entry on Brandvlei, evidently penned by the same scribe, records that if you travel north from Brandvlei towards Kenhardt, too, you will pass through a huge landscape of nothingness for the next 200km and more. advertisementDon't want to see this? Remove ads Nothingness is the same no matter which way you go through it, it would seem. advertisementDon't want to see this? Remove ads “uniquely suited for optical and radio astronomy” The Act established an astronomy reserve inside which the South African portion of the Square Kilometre Array telescope is being constructed The Square Kilometre Array (SKA) is so named because, when complete, the collecting area of its 197 base stations will add up to one square kilometre. The project is an international collaboration between 14 countries, with about 100 different organisations contributing to its design and development. advertisementDon't want to see this? Remove ads Already, a torrent of astronomical data from the 64 base stations of the MeerKAT precursor project is being sent to scientists around the world the dividend of the international co-operation on which an instrument of such scale depends The data from the SKA will be used to test the theory of relativity refine our understanding of the formation of stars and galaxies and even investigate the possibility of extraterrestrial life not just before the coming of petrol engines but before even the creatures that lived in the ancient Karoo sea had died and become the fossils that would be transformed The R27 passes right through the astronomy reserve and just to the west of the 50km radius “buffer zone” of the Core Astronomy Advantage Area where most of the base stations will be located and where the regulation of human electromagnetic activity will be most severe Even a barbed-wire fence vibrating in the wind might interfere with the telescope’s sensitive antennae The base stations will radiate out from the core in three great curves The base station at the tip of the westernmost arm will come within just five kilometres of the R27 it is likely that many more of them will be visible from the road when the Array is complete With luck, in the decades to come, travellers on the R27 may see not only the base stations of the SKA, but also the descendants of Khi Solar One, the 50MW concentrated solar power plant outside Upington hovering near the horizon like a setting sun as we followed the Orange River between Upington and Keimoes where the N14 becomes the R27 and begins its traversal of the |xam heartland Responsible for the glow but not visible from the road is a heart-shaped 2.3km-diameter field of heliostats – articulated mirrors that track the arc of the sun and reflect its light back to the top of a 200m tower to create the tiny new sun that we saw from the road Tony Jackman wrote earlier this year about a trip through the Karoo on the N1 Decrying the recklessness of drivers willing to risk their own lives and those of other road users for the most marginal of gains he resolved never again to drive to Cape Town during the Christmas holidays His dissatisfaction with the journey went beyond the danger though: “The true depths and nuances of the Karoo are rendered meaningless in the sweltering chariot race,” he observed “its arid beauty devolved into a giant obstacle to get through and survive.” The Karoo has changed and it will go on changing it will always be an obstacle to get through – whether it is a huge landscape of anonymous nothingness or is scattered across with the ancient and modern outputs of human creativity will not make much difference every new trace of a human hand will be just one more step in the direction of ruin and the eventual disappearance of these traces a moment to be hungrily anticipated But we are not condemned to a choice between indifference and eager fatalism because it is possible to imagine a near science-future of the Karoo in which it plays host to technologies that observe its depths and nuances by design even amid the serene and respectful presence of our best science the R27 will remain the preferred route for the type of journey that is not constrained completely by a narrow calculation of only its most obvious costs and benefits In case you missed it, also read ‘Eavesdropping on the sky: The backstory of MeerKAT and SKA’ Eavesdropping on the sky: The backstory of MeerKAT and SKA the vast nothingness that is a joy to experience I worked extensively around the Northern Cape from 1983 to 1989 We were driving on the road between Kimberley and Upington when on the left hand side of the car I saw a jet travelling very fast about 50 meters above the ground It was seriously out of place in the dry dusty Northern Cape There’s a secret library somewhere in the middle of a small Karoo hotel no sign of any living being having been present in a long while or are there stories to tell beyond the trapdoor up there The dusty blue 1940s automobile in the yard of a bizarre bazaar in Williston guards its mysterious past in clammy steel and you wonder who once drove it and what went wrong while on the gravel road between Fraserburg and Williston if you turn the wrong way at the tattered windsock you will never find the corbelled house you were looking for and may be lost in the wilderness forever adrift like a waif in the hot Karoo breeze The eye-catching beauty that makes Murraysburg one of the lovelier Karoo towns soon dissipates into arid Karoo as you begin to approach the N1 where you stop at a four-way intersection and cross towards Victoria West after skirting Hutchinson an odd little hamlet that seems unchanged in many decades Crawling through Vic West brings all sorts of memories one of the greatest of Karoo writers and long an inspiration to me when I came here for a film festival in the art deco Apollo Cinema where Karoo flappers and lounge lizards of the Twenties once watched noir silent movies and inhaled hits of snuff before disappearing into their Victorian cottages for a cigar and a Dubonnet before bed Loxton passes to the left and Carnarvon soon finds me Picasso is thirsty by now so I give the old boy a top-up It looked as though it had been painted yesterday meneer.” Is the sign like The Eyes of Dr TJ Eckleburg in The Great Gatsby alluding to a past denied; and am I to find myself in the Valley of Ashes as I drive out of town “You can go to the Lord Carnarvon down there,” the man snaps me out of my reverie Like new restaurants in Cape Town that disappear within a season A fierce lion guards the fireplace in the mysterious Green Room library inside the Lord Carnarvon Small Hotel On the road between Williston and Calvinia a winter-dead tree lends melancholic character to the enchanting desolation that gentles the solitary driver Picasso parked outside Die Ark and Williston Mall where we spent the night where Picasso looks uncomfortably out of place outside Die Ark and Williston Mall My fellow Cradockers and Karoo scribes Chris Marais and Julienne du Toit often talk about the Williston Mall Pieter and Elmarie Naudé have collected so many bits and pieces of everything anyone has ever found in the Karoo that there can’t be much left It offers so many photo opportunities that your camera may risk imploding The “mall” is tongue-in-cheek; there is a shop as such by that name but the junk You wonder what happens in the Junkyard Theatre nod to the taciturn concrete man on the red scooter and wonder for a moment whether you’d taken a wrong turn at the windsock and ended up at the Owl House You’re saddened by a pair of antique hospital wheelchairs that hold only memories of their past patients ends; the Karoo Eclectic of Die Ark and Williston Mall make a point of chatting to Pieter about where he found all sorts of things because And talk to Elmarie about her famous Karoo Fat Ladies paintings Elmarie Naudé’s famous Karoo Fat Ladies in the making where the calamari is good and the skaapstertjies succulent but coated in steakhouse sauce They don’t seem to notice me thumping my head on the table After a hurried breakfast next morning I’m eager to get on the road because at the other end of only an hour’s journey it’s Family Time and a rare visit to Calvinia one of my favourite Karoo towns and home to Alta and Erwin Coetzee’s Hantam Huis But before finding my family at the Boekehuis, where my wife and daughter have spent a week writing, I stop at Calvinia Vleis, home of the town’s famous meat (they have an annual meat festival) to buy some lamb saddle chops. I inadvertently also buy a “tjoppie stand” and a ribs stand to use for my lamb flank recipe I need the tools of my braai trade if I’m to come up with great recipes for you Is there something about the groom’s countenance we should worry about and traipsing through its rooms is like revisiting an old friend If by old friends you mean worryingly likelike mannequins such as the wedding couple who may have escaped from a Tim Burton movie (the groom brings 10 Rillington Place serial killer John Christie to mind) the dame with a past reclining on the bed and her friend in the bath Creepier still is the little girl holding a posy and the bevy of little dolls behind her But the legend framed in glass on a wall of the Hantam Huis elicits a pang of regret but that it represents values which are no longer held in the esteem they once were: The Cape Times Centenary medal for outstanding achievements in the field of preservation of Cape buildings historic precincts and the natural environment is awarded to Erwin and Alta Coetzee And their achievements stand as proud today despite the passing of almost three decades We’re told we’re in Rupert Huis for the night It’s next door to the Boekehuis and was once owned by Rona Rupert It’s no longer Rupert-owned but Alta Coetzee who had run the Boekehuis next door as a library of books by “writers of and on the Karoo” now owns it and has furnished it to suit the style of all her other guest houses Writers write in the Boekehuis which has inspired thousands of fine South African words Rupert Huis turns out to be among the best Karoo houses I’ve been inside of brimful of Hantam character and with richly-coloured walls and friezes a ghostly staircase that disappears into a mysterious trapdoor but slumbering in its rooms you will feel a disquiet and take a while to find your dreams The “tjoppie stand” gets used at the braai at the back of Rupert Huis that evening You slot the chops into it fat side-down so that they get the brunt of the coals and crisp up while the meat cooks less violently It’s perfect for the saddle chops that are a local favourite the moments that become more important than ever now that we live far apart; especially now that there’s the GrandBoy The slumber in strange beds is sound despite the intense Karoo darkness and silence and the imagined noises you hear from somewhere in the house; and is that creak coming from the wooden staircase in the room next door But the road beckons again the next morning you determine to avoid the route via the duplicitous windsock Tony Jackman is the winner of a regional Vodacom Journalist of the Year (Lifestyle) award for 2022 for his features Battissian Reverie: A Fookian feast in Somerset East, and Eye in the Sky: Paint your celestial palette in Vincent’s hues Follow Tony on Instagram @tony_jackman_cooks We were planning a sojourn through the Karoo and had no idea where to go but it’s clear now: VanRhynsdorp though to the R63 until we reach Graaf Reniet Northern Cape – The community of Calvinia saw a need to educate the people about animal welfare and care they reached out to the Cape of Good Hope SPCA and asked them to visit and assist with an outreach programme “We were humbled to have been approached by the community of Calvinia in the Northern Cape which recognized the value the CoGH SPCA could bring to animal welfare needs in their area Our team heeded the call and on Monday the 3rd of June CoGH CEO Moyo Ndukwana and colleagues set off on a three day outreach program to share valuable insights with the community.” The team visited primary schools and saw a positive response from the 550 learners they engaged with They performed a puppet show which was engaging and filled with helpful information for the children to understand “We were welcomed into the local primary schools and immediately saw the positive effects our Ani-Pals Education show had on the learners Education Officers Lucille Boonzaier and Junior Ngculu provided over 550 children at Hantam Primary and Calvinia Primary with a comprehensive understanding of how to correctly care for and love all living creatures.” Senior Inspector Alwyn Marais and CEO Moyo Ndukwana conducted knowledge sharing sessions with the Calvinia SAPS compromising of their K9 unit; Stock Theft Unit; Vispol; Crime Prevention Unit and Provincial Traffic The training was designed to equip the Calvinia SAPS with information regarding the latest developments in animal cruelty legislation as well as a deeper understanding of how to identify and approach potential cases of animal abuse in their community Inspectors Carina Bodenstein and Elani Steenkamp conducted a community-wide check to assess the welfare needs of local pets One hundred twenty-eight animals were dipped and subsequently signed up for an upcoming sterilisation drive which will help control the local animal population and assist with creating a healthier community for both pets and their owners Local farmers were provided with practical advice on how to better the lives of their animals and taught why it is of critical importance to provide adequate shelter fresh water and basic veterinary care to their animals “It was a truly inspiring experience to be invited to a community that is committed to improving the welfare of its animals We thank all those involved for inviting the CoGH SPCA to be a part of this project and are hopeful that Calvinia will do its utmost to uplift the lives of its animals and be a shining example of a community that treats all living creatures with compassion and kindness.” Tyler Leigh Vivier is a writer for Good Things Guy Her passion is to spread good news across South Africa with a big focus on environmental issues "a671ad6b42d751f0d7d9cffafdeac7d7" );document.getElementById("d2d9e305b5").setAttribute( "id" Be sure you have your GPS enabled and try again Home | South Africa The family of an elderly Calvinia woman is preparing to sue the Northern Cape Health Department This after she died shortly after arriving at the Abraham Esau hospital in the town The family says the woman waited for hours for an ambulance – and they eventually had to make their own way there The Northern Cape Health department is facing medical legal claims of more than R320-million Ulrich Hendriks filed this report and it’s voiced by Reginald Witbooi Amanda Whites called the ambulance…Her aunt But just as they reached the Abraham Esau hospital “I’m not happy about that thing because I think they are not looking after the old people here in Calvinia and every time we phone the ambulance then the ambulance didn’t come so I’m very disappointed in that,” says Whites “We have a child who has a brain tumor The last time we called them we wait more than five hours and then the police come afterwards We must go with the police to the hospital with that child,” says Calvinia resident The Northern Cape health department says it receives up to 10 000 calls for ambulances per month and it reaches around 85% of those in need “Our condolences to the bereaved family It’s quite unfortunate to lose a family member waiting for an ambulance We are hoping that we won’t repeat that That’s why last week during SOPA we launched out of the 49 ambulances we are waiting we launched 19,” says Northern Cape Health MEC The department says it is also on a drive to recruit more ambulance drivers and Emergency Medical Technicians But it says an overhaul is also needed for a quicker turn-around when buying or repairing ambulances Video: Northern Cape residents unhappy with the poor emergency response of ambulances Road works: Somewhere along the road between Calvinia and Sutherland In November 2018, this town had two Community Service doctors only. It now has three Community Service doctors, a Congolese-qualified doctor and two private GPs doing sessional work in the hospital. One of the Community Service doctors now travels to Sutherland once every two weeks for a few hours, with no supervision.advertisementDon't want to see this? Remove ads Sutherland has no doctors after the last state doctor left at the end of November who recently retired after 29 years in the service said it has been extremely challenging to deliver a 24-hour service at the 24-bed Community Health Centre which includes an eight-bed maternity unit What does she do when she has a serious case and there is no ambulance or doctor “You do what you can and you hope for the best.” The Community Health Centre relies heavily on the nearby Southern African Large Telescope (SALT) operation to sponsor crucial basic medical supplies such as bandages Health workers often have to travel the 100km plus dirt road between Sutherland and Fraserburg About 110km on a corrugated dirt road east of Sutherland Fraserburg also has no doctor and there have been reports of several nursing staff simply not pitching for work on some days A nurse told Spotlight that referring patients to hospitals was a massive challenge with ambulances often forced to transport up to eight patients to Calvinia or Upington She recalls instances where Calvinia could not take on any surgical cases as they had no gauze The nurse also said there have been times when the depot in Kimberley had no insulin and no drugs for epilepsy Both the outside and inside of The De Aar hospital building looks like a shiny pamphlet The hedges that line the driveways are trimmed the signs on the hospital are gleaming in the afternoon light there isn’t any litter in sight — just paved walkways and seemingly unused red benches the old De Aar hospital was suddenly closed and almost overnight the entire hospital was moved a few kilometres down the road to the new facility guarded day and night by two security guards thieves have looted old the hospital of what furniture was left Pieces of the ceiling have been ripped out corrugated iron roofing and other equipment ripped from the building Everything that is possibly worth anything has been removed The corridors are littered with patients’ files Some say that the old hospital was supposed to be turned into a nurse’s home but that the delay meant the thieves could take what they wanted Now De Aar, famous for being home to one of the country’s most important railway junctions, is home to what appears to be two mostly empty facilities, and a story that just doesn’t add up.advertisementDon't want to see this? Remove ads Keimoes hospital: Not much of a health facility Spotlight visited an ambulance base in Keimoes which is basically a rundown little office with a collapsing ceiling and electrical extensions running across the floor A manager who spoke to Spotlight admitted that “the ambulances are more broken-down than running” Alternative view: The outside of Augrabies Clinic near Kakamas so delicate that if one looks a little bit harder Staff tell us there are no IV drips and very few drugs and other medical supplies that friends are appointed to senior positions with no qualifications hospital staff and NGO workers spoke openly about the dysfunctional state of the hospital “There is corruption everywhere,” says NGO worker Caroline Booysen “The only people that get help here are relatives or friends,” she said While Spotlight is published by SECTION27 and the Treatment Action Campaign, its editors have full editorial independence – independence that the editors guard jealously. Spotlight is a member of the South African Press Council. Gauteng residents recently experienced a taste of severe water shortages when reservoirs temporarily ran dry in some suburbs‚ but this is a scenario faced daily by townsfolk in the Northern Cape Cavlinia‚ in the province's Hantam Municipality‚ has been surviving on borehole water after the town's Karee Dam dried up in November In the Department of Water and Sanitation's weekly dam report the Karee Dam is one of seven empty dams in the country Acting municipal manager Riaan van Wyk says the situation is critical No gardens may be watered‚ no swimming pools may be filled and no hosepipes may be used.” Calvinia received 100 to 130 kilolitres of water an hour when the dam had water but supply has been throttled to 55 kilolitres an hour from seven boreholes “Sometimes during the day‚ if too much water is consumed‚ there is no water [in the taps]‚” said Van Wyk Water supply from the boreholes is restricted to avoid excessive extraction‚ which would cause them to also run dry While the Hantam Municipality keeps water running in Calvinia‚ its task doesn't end there Other towns in the area‚ including Loeriesfontein and Nieuwoudtville‚ are in critical need of water “Loeriesfontein is receiving water for only four hours per day‚ from 4pm to 8pm We have been trucking 90 000 litres there daily from Nieuwoudtville since November 2015‚” Van Wyk said The cost of this supply runs into millions of rands An emergency pipeline about 30km from the town‚ financed by the Department of Water and Sanitation‚ is also providing Nieuwoudtville with water The Hantam Municipality spends R 400 000 monthly trucking water to Loeriesfontein‚ which relied on boreholes before they too dried up Van Wyk said new boreholes will be sunk this month Back in Calvinia‚ businesses in the town are struggling Michael Koopman owns a car wash business and has been in discussions with the municipality over its survival To keep his doors open he has adjusted his business plan: “We have a new product we run in the business without water The waterless detergent is applied and wiped off the car once it has done its job For Van Wyk and Koopman the situation is unlikely to improve before Calvinia receives its expected seasonal rain from April The Department of Water and Sanitation‚ which will be contributing to the cost of Loeriesfontein's additional boreholes‚ has warned that recent rains in some provinces have not broken the national drought “At the moment‚ on a national basis‚ [water reservoirs] are just over 50% [full] compared with December 2015‚ when were over 60%‚” said department spokesperson Sputnik Ratau Water levels in Gauteng's Vaal Dam have risen to about 44.5% in recent weeks‚ he said In June TMG Digital reported on the water crisis in the North West town of Swartruggens‚ after its dam had run dry Swartruggens farmer Wilhelm Rocher confirmed that summer rains have filled the dam little sun and santa shoebox project have teamed up to bring solar light to students in rural south africa with the help of people — who shared light by symbolically purchasing little suns online — a total of 1395 little sun solar lamps were raised and have now been distributed by santa shoebox project to children living in some of south africa’s most remote areas such as hoedspruit these children live in communities where few homes are connected to the electrical grid face social problems and the high risk of shack fires.  all images © tim feherty (unless noted) the distribution of the little suns was facilitated through santa shoebox and 15 of their beneficiary organizations like eco-kids in hoedspruit or laerskool elandsvlei the principal of the laerskool elandsvlei school in calvinia— nicolette van der merwe — was happy to see the little suns being used by her pupils as it is getting dark quite early these days the lamps help them to walk home safely after school and aid them in completing their homework it is now getting dark quite early at night it was so nice to see children and parents attending the meeting – walking to school and walking back home using little sun lights we have also noticed a huge improvement in children’s homework the lamps are playing an important role in the region as they are in a community where there is 100& no electricity.’ – nicolette van der merwe founded by artist olafur eliasson and engineer frederik ottesen little sun is a social business and a global project that aims to bring clean and affordable energy to the 1.1 billion people in the world living in off-grid areas without electricity by purchasing little suns in areas of the world with electricity the buyer is making the lamps available in off-grid areas at reduced providing a clean alternative to toxic and expensive fuel-based lighting and a steadfast alternative to replying on the electrical grid little sun addresses the need for energy in a sustainable way that benefits off-grid communities by working with local entrepreneurs AXOR presents three bathroom concepts that are not merely places of function but destinations in themselves — sanctuaries of style The Western Cape and other parts of South Africa are being gripped by a crippling drought stepped in to help a Karoo town called Calvinia through their water crisis by donating 30,000 litres of their fresh spring water Facebook user Vilma Maritz told us about the amazing act of kindness that organiser Theana Kotze and Cedarberg Aqua did for Calvinia via our facebook page “This week people from Citrusdal helped people in Calvinia At Citrusdal there is a company bottling spring water They heard that Calvinia had a need for water so they decided to donate 30,000 litres of spring water They needed transport and posted this on fb Shortly after that they were offered the use of a flatbed truck which transported the bottled water and a tanker which was filled with 20,000 litres The town of Calvinia is located in the Karoo about 252km drive from Citrusdal A video was shared on Facebook of the flatback truck starting the trip to Calvinia The truck is filled with various containers holding the much needed water supplies There was also a tanker filled with 20,000 litres which was dropped off at the reservoir This isn’t the first time that the town of Citrusdal has made a contribution to the struggling town Previously they donated a truck load of hay bales to farmers “Water going to Calvinia from Cedarberg Aqua Thank you to all sponsors who made it possible.” It’s amazing to see one town helping out another in such tough times Seeing a whole community coming together to help out their fellow man is exactly what the country needs right now "a061442a2a57113ff55c6e1b1f44386d" );document.getElementById("d2d9e305b5").setAttribute( "id" Categories Tropical Weather We have discussed about a new Tropical Storm #Calvinia near Mauritius yesterday which is now very near the island and resulting in damage already Rough weather is associated with the slowly approaching tropical storm these conditions will worsen as the storm moves closer during the next 12-24 hours Calvinia’s current intensity is equivalent to a North Hemisphere tropical storm strength Soon as Calvinia moves away from Mauritius it will turn sharp south and gradually accelerate towards the open waters of the SW Indian Ocean NEW UPDATE: Severe Tropical Storm #Calvinia is continuing to strengthen but is finally moving away from #Mauritius Severe Tropical Storm #Calvinia is continuing to strengthen but is finally moving away from #Mauritius Some pretty impressive satellite presentation is found today revealing spectacular upper-level outflow patterns and a quite intense explosive convection around the center of the cyclone Its center was lately just shy east-southeast of Mauritius — meteophile (@meteophile) December 30, 2019 First reports of severe winds and torrential rainfall damage in Mauritius: Des photos des dégâts fait par #Calvinia #Mauritius #Cyclones pic.twitter.com/PaDi1V2bNh — l'EnversduDécor© ⭐⭐ (@sainedecrime) December 30, 2019 The ocean this morning as we’re being hit by cyclone #Calvinia. And we were swimming in the sea only yesterday afternoon…Stay safe, Mauritius! pic.twitter.com/LTZyvcx7ej — Priya Hein (@PriyaHein) December 30, 2019 The Ocean Heat Content (OHC) map indicates Calvinia is currently in a rather good fuel for storms and should remain is similar conditions for another 36 hours meaning it will maintain its current intensity or even slightly intensify with time Calvinia ejects out of the best ocean sea surface conditions and accelerate towards south-southeast The future track will bring Calvinia center close to landfall in Mauritius probably will be traveling just south of the island over the next 24 hours Calvinia turns sharp south and accelerates into the open waters of the SW Indian Ocean coming into cooler waters and stronger shear The GFS model guidance is quite interesting regarding Calvinia’s future intensity as it indicates the cyclone will deepen over the next few days despite coming in more shear and cooler waters it will already be away from any land areas at this time and moving over the open waters only Close-up view of ECMWF model guidance over the Mauritius and La Reunion tonight (local time) Tropical activity of the SW Indian Ocean returns – Tropical Storm #Calvinia is born near Mauritius We are proud to present and promote the best weather photographers in Europe – see details: Weather Calendar 2021 Two upper lows / frontal systems will deliver lots of snow and enhance flooding threat across south Turkey this week Huge temperature contrast across Europe today – extremely warm morning over northern parts RSS Feed Any time.” © Severe Weather Europe 2023 Three weeks after a very intense tropical cyclone #Ambali and a Tropical cyclone #Belna a new tropical storm Calvinia is born east of Madagascar It is resulting in dangerous excessive rainfall and flooding threat over the island gradually organizing and moving south-southeast Calvinia will be ejecting south tomorrow and move over the open waters of SW Indian Ocean NEW UPDATE: Tropical Storm #CALVINIA is nearing #Mauritius, pounding the island with severe damaging winds and torrential rainfall Tropical Storm #CALVINIA is nearing #Mauritius, pounding the island with severe damaging winds and torrential rainfall We can see a large area of deep convection around the virtual center on the latest satellites gradually organizing into a big complex of storms The northern parts of this complex are reaching Mauritius as well Based on the Advanced Dvorak Technique (ADT) analysis the maximum sustained winds are around 40 knots / 45 mph Calvinia is traveling with its center very near the island Mauritius pounding it will torrential rainfall and significantly enhanced flooding threat Lots of rain is also likely over La Reunion island Tropical Storm Calvinia will be moving due south through the next 36 hours while gradually gaining strength to around 50 knots it is unlikely Calvinia will be any stronger and should not be upgraded to a Tropical Cyclone (threshold above 64 knots) strength Here is a close-up view of Calvinia moving south of Mauritius through the next days — Keraunos (@KeraunosObs) December 29, 2019 A very impressive rapid intensification currently underway with Tropical Cyclone #Ambali in the South Indian Ocean – now an intense Category 3 cyclone! Another cyclone is strengthening north of Madagascar today, expected to make landfall on the island on Sunday Category 2 Tropical Cyclone #Sarai continues to drift eastward just south of #Fiji archipelago expected to pass very near #Tonga for the New Year