Prince Albert Friend: January 2008
Gedurende Desember het ons dorp ‘n groot ikoon verloor toe Elizabeth Lekay – by almal bemind en be-kend as Baba – onverwags oorlede is. Sy was ‘n voorvrou in die gemeenskap, iemand wat gelowig en diensbaar gelewe het. Die hele dorp sal haar onthou as brugbouer tussen die gemeenskappe en as energieke werker betrokke by talle organisasies en projekte. Tydens haar begrafnis was die VGK kerk gevul met blomme en kerse, sang en huldeblyke; dit was eerder ‘n viering van haar vol, vervulde en gedenkwaardige lewe as ‘n roudiens.
Elizabeth Lekay, née Lodewyk, is gebore op 4 Oktober 1936 in Rooikamp, Prince Albert, as een van vyf kinders. Toe haar moeder haar op 12-jarige ouderdom ontval, is sy deur haar ouma Sarie grootgemaak. Sy het standerd 6 aan die N G Sendingskool voltooi en wou graag ‘n verpleegster word, maar finansiële druk laat haar as huishulp by verskeie blanke huishoudings inval. By ds De Bruin, een van die Sending-predikante, het sy dit geniet om te help om die drie De Bruin-kinders groot te maak.
Haar jeugjare was gelukkig – daar was ouma Sarie en die familie se oorvloedige liefde, genoeg kos, ‘n lekker gerieflike huis en goeie vriende. Die kerk en Christengemeente was deel van haar alledaagse bestaan – en so het dit gebly tot die dag van haar dood.
Uit haar huwelik met Hendrik Lekay is 10 kinders gebore – agt dogters en twee seuns. Haar verpligtinge teenoor haar gesin het altyd eerste gekom, en ondanks baie tekortkominge, was daar altyd vir elkeen ‘n verjaarsdag- of Kerspresent...
Haar kinders is baie trots om te kan sê dat hul ma styl gehad het: as sy in die openbaar verskyn het, was sy altyd onberispelik netjies en stylvol geklee. Mense het selfs na haar verwys as die Margaret Thatcher van Prince Albert!
Sy was nie net betrokke by die kerk, die hospitaal, Badisa, die Erfeniskomitee, Kansa, Grondeise en die Fransie Pienaar Museum nie, sy het ook ywerig gewerk om haarself en die ouer garde fiks te hou met die “Golden Games”.
Boonop was sy vir meer as vyftig jaar lid van die VGK koor, en ‘n week voor haar dood het sy nog saam met 300 lede van die Ring van Zoar (VGK) ‘n CD in Oudtshoorn opgeneem.
As belangrike nalatenskap het Baba toeriste op haar Rooikamp-stap geneem en haar lewensverhaal vertel. Hierdie verhaal is opgeteken in die boek Prince Albert – Kweekvallei, uitgegee deur die Prince Albert Skrywersgilde. Haar verhaal het ook skilder Christine Thomas geïnspireer om ‘n hele reeks Rooikamp-skilderye te maak wat die lewe in Rooi-kamp en Noord-End uitbeeld. Hoewel Baba en haar familie slagoffers van apartheid was, het sy nooit enige haatgedagtes teenoor blankes gekoester nie. Sy het net altyd gesê dat apartheid baie sleg was omdat dit soveel goeie vriendskappe en goeie verhoudings verwoes het.
Baba laat agter haar man, ses dogters, twee seuns, 28 kleinkinders en twaalf agterkleinkinders.
▪ Dawid Rossouw, voormalige burgemeester en voorsitter van BADISA: “Dis met groot respek, waardering en liefde wat ek aan ‘n besondere mens, Elizabeth (Baba) Lekay dink. Die Here seën gemeenskappe met rolspelers wat ‘n verskil kan maak. Sy was so iemand, ‘n kind van die Here, wat haar roeping verstaan het en dienbaar was vir haar geliefde gemeenskap.
Onvermoeid het sy gedien en leiding gegee, altyd met die hoop en geloof dat sy die tydelike wêreld as ‘n beter plek kan nalaat.
Haar liefde vir haar medemens, haar man, huisgesin, vriende en familie was altyd bo verdenking. Haar positiewe ingesteldheid, selfs in die donkerste omstandighede, was vir almal ‘n inspirasie.
Min mense sal daarop kan aanspraak maak dat hulle deur die totale gemeenskap, alle kulture, taalgroepe, oud en jonk, bemin en gerespekteer word.
Sy was in daardie opsig suksesvol omdat sy haarself beskikbaar gestel het, om haar kennis en insig met ander te deel.”
▪ Jannie de Bruin, seun van die sendingpredikant: “Haar naam is Elizabeth en julle noem haar Baba. Ek en my broers het haar geken as Liesbet - en dit is soos ons haar sal onthou....
Die naam Liesbet roep herinneringe terug van iemand wat vir ons lief was en by wie ons sekuriteit gevind het. Want Liesbet was vir ons as kleuters ‘n tweede ma wat ons help versorg het, wat soms ons doeke omgeruil en gebad het, wat ons babakos gevoer het en wat met ons gespeel het. Sy was die een by wie ons troos gevind het as ons hartseer was.
Ons was hartseer toe sy van ons weggegaan het en daar was nooit iemand wat weer haar plek in ons kinderhartjies ingeneem het nie. Ek onthou die Kerskaartjies wat vir baie jare gereeld met die pos gekom het: Van Liesbet”.
▪ Die dorp se biblioteekpersoneel: “Vyftien jaar lank was Baba daar tussen die boeke, personeel en vriende van die biblioteek.
Ons staan eerbiedig en met respek, want “Onse Baba” Lekay was ook ‘n lopende storie. Gaan kyk maar daar in die Fransie Pienaar Museum na die Rooikamp-uitstalling. Sy kon ook dié verhaal vertel.”
▪ Lydia Barrella: “Baba het vir baie jare gedien op die Erfenis-Advieskomitee as die enigste verteenwoordiger van die Noord-End gemeenskap.
Met haar agtergrond en insigte in die gemeenskap het sy waardevolle insette gelewer by vergaderings en sy sal gemis word daaroor.
Sy het vrylik haar eie tyd gebruik om op hierdie komitee te dien, want lede van die komitee ontvang geen vergoeding nie.”
Labels: Baba LeKay, Elizabeth Lekay
We as members of local churches ought to go often to the Book of Acts and take whatever steps are necessary to make our fellowship a living illustration of what community life in Christ should be.
In every little village, town and city we Christians must ask ourselves, are we reflecting to the world around us the fact that we are citizens of the Kingdom of God? If we fail to do this, then it may well be that not far into the 21st century the church could be a conscious minority surrounded by a militant paganism.
Let’s dedicate ourselves afresh to God, and make sure this prediction does not come true.
Reaksie op brief in Oktober 2007 se Vriend - Vierwielmotorfietse
Prins Albert is 'n landbou-dorp wat ook toevallig toeriste en stadsmense trek a.g.v. die dorp se skoonheid, veiligheid, ens. Daarom is die jaarlikse Landbouskou 'n baie belangrike gebeurtenis op die dorp se landbou-kalender.
Oor die jare het die skou al hoe minder plaaslike inwoners gelok a.g.v die veranderende inwoners-profiel. Dis 'n jammerte, aangesien die skou een van die dorp se groot gebeurtenisse is.
Die Skou-Kommittee is gedwing om na maniere te kyk om meer mense na die skou te lok, en vir die afgelope twee jaar het die vierwielmotorfiets– ryers grootliks bygedra tot die belangstelling, energie en pret van die skou.
Dit het meegebring dat honderde oornag-besoekers duisende rande in Prins Albert spandeer het, waaruit plaaslike besighede voordeel getrek het.
Die opmerking i.v.m. die wetlike aspekte wat betref vierwielmotorfietse is reg, maar meeste munisipaliteite en verkeerspolisie landswyd laat dit toe mits ryers verantwoordelik optree.
Kom, laat ons plaaslike inwoners liewer almal probeer saamwerk om 'n sukses van die skou te maak, en die landbou-gemeenskap se pogings ondersteun.
Voorsitter: Landbou Skou
Aan Kersvader en sy Elfies
Kersdag – oggend 2007 was vol verrasings vir my. Vroeg die oggend hou die Polisie voertuig voor my deur stil. Ek skrik groot, want dit voorspel mos niks goeds nie. Maar tot my verbasing, lewer die geregsdienaar ewe nonchalant ‘n pakkie af en ja, raai wat was in die pakkie..? My eie dierbare wonder mooi babapop, my vreugde ken geen perke nie. Sy is myne na byna 80 jaar se wag. (Sien Prince Albert Vriend, November/Desember 2007 uitgawe.) Hoe sê mens dankie vir soveel liefde en geluk. Sy kan nou wel nie “mamma” sê nie, maar ek is seker sy sal na ‘n jaar wel mamma kan sê. Ek sal haar mooi leer en sy lyk sommer na ‘n baie intelligente baba.
Baie dankie aan Kersvader en al die Elfies wat so mooi saamgewerk het. En ‘n groot dankie aan die geregsdienaar wat haar veilig afgelewer het. Na dese twyfel ek nooit weer aan Kersvader nie. Nou moet al die liewe vriende help soek na ‘n gepaste naam vir hierdie wonderkind. Die naam moet mooi pas by die dierbare ou dingetjie en sag op die tong val.
It was 11.50 on New Year’s Eve; about sixteen of us had decided to go out just beyond Skapieseinde to bring in the New Year. We had set up tables and hurricane lamps and had all brought something to eat and drink.
It was a balmy, relaxing evening with a refreshing breeze. I had brought Clarice, my little Jack Russell with me. As usual, she was begging a bite from all of us, unaware of what was lurking at our feet.
Without warning, I heard a piercing scream from Clarice; I had never before heard a cry of such pain from her. Then somebody yelled, “Scorpion!” I rushed over to Clarice and on impulse lifted her off the ground. With that, she swung around and bit me on the face. I had never seen my friend in such terrible agony and it hurt deeply.
Everyone immediately clambered to help and before you could say ‘Jack Russell’, Brett the Vet’s cell phone number was found. Miraculously he was with friends at the Swartberg Hotel. It must have taken less than ten minutes to reach him from the time the incident happened. Brett was waiting outside the hotel when Romy Mathews and I arrived. After a brief consultation with Dr Reinders, Brett wasted no time in administering the right medication to Clarice.
I would like to thank Romy for standing by me throughout the ordeal and getting bitten a few times, Brett, for being there and knowing what to do and lastly, everyone who was at the party and all who were not there, for caring and calling. Clarice made her mark in the town that night. The scorpion bite left her paralysed for a few days and a lot of anxiety ensued, but she has now fully recovered and I don’t think she can even remember what transpired.
Tim and I would like to take this opportunity to wish the whole town a very happy New Year and to thank you for all being so supportive and welcoming in 2007.
(Mnr Niehaus se brief is oorspronklik aan die Prince Albert Munisipale Raad gestuur.)
Dit is met groot misnoë dat ek die brief aan julle rig. Ek en my gesin moes al verskeie kere Oudtshoorn toe gaan via die Swartbergpas en nog elke keer wat ek die pas gery het, was daar mense wat gebraai het by Eerstewater. Dit is skokkend om te sien dat die mense geen respek het vir die dorp se drinkwater nie. Die kinders swem, was en urineer in die water terwyl die ouers toekyk. Ek kan nie help om te wonder waar hulle ontlas nie? My kinders is deur die week in die koshuis en moet dus gebruik maak van die vuilwater. Ek is seker dat dit dieselfde water is wat in u huiskraan uitkom en ek sal nie graag die water wil gebruik vir huishoudelike doeleindes nie.
Ek versoek dus die Raad om die saak in 'n ernstige lig te aanskou en so spoedig moontlik stappe sal neem om die probleem op te los. Ek stel voor dat daar kennisgewingsborde opgerig moet word om die publiek te verbied om daar te braai en te baai.
My versoek is dat 'n boete opgelê sal word aan diegene wat hulle skuldig maak en dat in samewerking met die SAPD die gebied gepatroleer MOET word, met die verstandhouding dat die Raad hulle goedkeuring verleen aan SAPD lede om sulke oortreders onmiddelik 'n boete op te lê.
Dit sal interressant wees om te hoor wat die res van Prince Albert se inwoners hier oor te sê het.
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On one of the very warm days during December, Zelia Mullins & Chantelle Freysen, Prince Albert’s Tourism Officers, assisted by the Prince Albert Police and local school children from Hoërskool Zwartberg, hosted a “welcome campaign”.
A road-block was set-up next to Albert’s Mill, alongside the gurgling “leiwater sloot” and under the trees that provided much-needed shade.
It wasn’t long before the first motorist arrived! Then it was time for action – the motorists were pulled off the road by our friendly police officers and then the welcome began.
Zelia and Chantelle handed out Prince Albert promotional material, the December issue of the Prince Albert Friend, a “goodies” bag filled with sponsored local products, fresh fruit and ice cold cool drinks.
The facial expressions of the various motorists and passengers were priceless – first the shock, disbelief and disappointment of being pulled off the road by the police. This was soon followed by utter surprise, relief and then once again, disbelief and even wariness (especially from overseas visitors) that instead of being handed a traffic fine they were given free cool drinks, a “goodies” bag and a big welcoming SMILE!
A few locals decided to disguise themselves as visitors, but to no avail. All they got was the big SMILE!
The campaign was well received by visitors and one German tourist even remarked that he was going to suggest to his local police office back home that they should try something like this.
We handed out a total of 80 “goodie” bags during the course of the day, which means that 80 vehicles were stopped and at least 160 visitors were welcomed to our town. The response and appreciation has been totally overwhelming. A big thank you to all our sponsors who made this campaign possible, hopefully we can do it again this year.
Labels: Prince Albert, Tourism, Tourism news
CapeNature working around the clock to reopen Swartberg trails
CapeNature is hoping that by the middle of February it will have a clearer picture of when it can reopen the hiking and the 4X4 trails in the Swartberg Nature Reserve to the general public.
The trails, popular among locals and visitors to Prince Albert, have been closed for long-overdue maintenance work since October last year, which according to a CapeNature spokesperson, Erica Swanepoel, was delayed by flooding during November.
CapeNature told the Friend that the poor state of the routes had been worsened by fires on the Swartberg in April 2007. While acknowledging that the trails were a draw card for tourists to the area, Ms Swanepoel said that CapeNature could not allow people to risk hiking or driving the routes in their current condition.
She underlined that even when the routes are well-maintained, hikers should preferably walk in groups of three or more.
According to Ms Swanepoel, the maintenance contractors have been working almost 24 hours a day since 7 January to improve the trails and overnight huts.
Once the trails reopen, hiking permits will again be available at the Prince Albert Tourism Office, which can be contacted for further information on (023) 541-1366.
Posted by Prince Albert Friend at 7:57 PM 0 comments
Labels: Cape Nature, trails, walking
Early in December I had an unexpected opportunity to visit Zimbabwe for 10 days; my husband John has been busy for some time with an ongoing geological project there.
Having been to the country many times over the past 37 years I have been in a position to notice the changes that have happened during this time. However, not having been there since the mid-1990s I was not quite prepared for the reality of the collapse of so many values, institutions and services that I witnessed this time.
It was a moving and deeply horrifying experience, not because at any stage I felt physically threatened or unsafe, but because of what I saw there and because of the recurring spectral idea that the same thing could happen here, given the same circumstances of mismanagement.
Everywhere you look, you see “scars” – the unsightly scar tissue at the sites of unsuccessful attempts to graft another culture, another way of life and other sets of values – call it “Western Civilisation” if you will – onto the African continent. The graft has withered and the basis rootstock has reasserted itself. This, and the collapse of institutions and services which in South Africa we take so for granted, and which have become inextricably crucial to our lifestyles. To see these – the banking system, clean water supply, electricity supply, the agricultural sector and food supply, or terminally ailing business sector and shops, and many other facets of everyday life – crumbled away is a sobering and unnerving experience.
Visually perhaps most prominent are the effects of lack of maintenance – telephone lines lying almost on the ground, some roads so pot-holed that it is better to drive alongside the road on the cleared verges than to attempt the impossible by avoiding them, buildings with paint peeling (there is no paint to be had these days) and public spaces rank and unkempt. I always used to enjoy walking across Cecil Square, as it used to be called in central Harare, beneath the tall flamboyant trees, well-clipped lawns and the fountains playing to soothe the tropical heat. This time, the lawns were uncut and mangy, nobody had bothered to replace the dead and dying plants in the corners, and the fountain was empty save for litter, crumpled plastic bottles and fruit peels.
Economically, hyper-inflation of some 20 000% has caused shops to empty. One of my regular stopovers is the excellent bookshop “Kingston’s” just opposite the square. This time I was shocked to see its shelves totally empty except for a small number of locally printed school textbooks (all African socialist history books, with local recent history renegotiated), well spaced out on the middle row of a floor-to-ceiling set of shelves. The rest were totally empty. There were eight Christmas cards, all the same – a handful of African Business and New African magazines, a dozen balls of string and the only paper were small, individually packaged bundles of blank newsprint. There was a small pile of off-the-shelf Wills and Power of Attorney documents.
An individual pencil costs ZIM $500 000. To sell and manage this pitiful stock are four or five assistants, as well as a security guard, to stamp your purchases slip at the door.
A street “parallel market” money changer was happy to give ZIM $70 million for R100 and last week John got $100 million for R100 on an informal exchange. Another example of galloping inflation is that a simple meal of “sadza” (stywe pap), indigenous spinach relish, and chicken stew from a street take-away cost ZIM $8,2 million for one person in the first week of December. In the second week of January, the same plate of food cost ZIM $17,2 million.
A teacher we spoke to said that her salary was ZIM $25 million when she left school at the end of last year. Too little to teach in school more than one day a week, given that transport cost her ZIM $1 million each way, each day. There is a system going that one teacher comes on Monday, and teaches geography, say, and the next day the history teacher comes, and so on.
We had opportunities to speak to local businessmen, both black and white, a teacher, the vice-head of a private school, a Spar shop franchise-holder (if you think the Prince Albert Spar has supply problems you should try the one in Kwe Kwe – it is totally empty), an elderly traditional Spirit Medium and several farmers whose properties had been plundered and confiscated, a chauffeur and a Chinese business woman whose Mandarin-speaking son is learning Shona and English, had interesting things to tell us.
All these people added their comments to our growing picture of what it is like for ordinary people to live in Zimbabwe. It is a daily struggle, a daily challenge to find creative ways for getting around seemingly insurmountable obstacles.
One or two were positive in their praise of Mugabe – “things have got to get worse before they can get better”, they say. Others were openly disparaging and critical but not hopeful about the outcome of the forthcoming elections. They cannot imagine how anyone can pull the country out of the mess.
One is aware of an all-pervasive mood of struggle – everything is difficult: standing in two-block long bread queues and equally long queues to draw the maximum amount of $5-million from the bank daily (not enough for a single plate of food in December when we were there), petrol queues of over 2 kilometres and shortages of basic foodstuffs.
The dairy industry has collapsed, so there is no fresh milk and butter, no cooking oil and no flour. Our hotel had to bake its own bread.
Lack of chlorine for water purification has resulted in all public swimming pools being closed and the drinking water supply appears to be contaminated – the shower water actually had an unpleasant smell and I got an almost immediate dose of ‘gyppo guts’ from drinking powdered milk made up with tap water in my tea.
Yet the people are on the surface cheerful and courageous and resourceful. There are so many splendid people still living in the country. However, its life blood – the well trained, successful young people – has all seeped away, leaving behind an ailing struggling economy, apparently the world’s worst, for a country that is not in a war zone.
There are many millions of Zimbabweans who are not going to be there to vote in March, and no postal votes are allowed. I am left wondering what Mbeki can do to remedy the situation. And I am left wondering what we can all do to avoid a similar free-fall situation from developing here.
Posted by Prince Albert Friend at 7:56 PM 0 comments
It had not been a good week. A farmworker’s mother had died, and several complicated arrangements had been made for the funeral. The gravediggers, who had been given time off from Thursday afternoon, had prematurely drowned their sorrows and by Saturday morning, three hours before the funeral was scheduled to take place, the grave – purportedly in an undiggable ‘klipbank’ - was scarcely deep enough for the coffin. Some of the designated pall bearers were also prematurely inebriated and replacements had to be drummed up at the last minute. A fiasco threatened. Much of this had been telephonically relayed to me at the farm, some 10 kms out of town, in serial format, as one drama followed upon the heels of the next. I was home alone, except for one worker – all the rest were involved in the funeral proceedings.
By lunch time, when the funeral ought to have been well and truly under way, I was more than ready for the Stress Relief Radox and a cool bath (it was terribly hot that day). I had just stripped to climb in and chill out when there was a frantic knocking at the door. It was my last remaining employee: “Mevrou! Die plaas is aan die brand! Die veld brand langs die skuur!
Radox forgotten. I hurried into my clothes and Crocs, loaded the worker’s bicycle onto the bakkie and raced to the scene. We had just harvested and baled our entire oats crop, and that all 630 bales were now stored in the said skuur – already claimed and paid for by Ann Kerr…
When we got there, there were about 10 small fires here and there amongst the fallen dried straw. One bundle was smouldering right at the threshold of the straw-packed barn. We scraped it away with a spade, and frantically tried to move other smouldering straw heaps away from the doors of the building. It was immediately apparent that there was no way that we could extinguish the blaze on our own. It had already spread almost into the Scholtzkloof riverine thicket, and if that went, we would have no hope because there is no vehicle access. I left Arrie, my foreman, on site and hurried back to the house to phone for the new Prince Albert Fire Brigade. The telephone number is not in the directory, which I hurried through with trembling fingers and pounding chest. Luckily, the police had the number and miraculously, the fire engine arrived, siren wailing, within 11 minutes. Well done Prince Albert Fire Brigade, manned by Mr. Michael Griebelaar and Mr Henry Lekay! The neigh-bours were strung out in a line in their wake…..thank you neighbours, for coming to see if I was OK! Our grateful thanks are due to Arrie for his surveillance and help in controlling the fire which went well beyond the call of duty
The firemen knew exactly what to do and in no time had emptied their smallish tank, but irrigation water was available not too far away and in about three hours of vigorous fire fighting, it was well under control.
As to the cause of the fire, it was an absolute fluke. Some birds had nested in the ESKOM transformer near the skuur, where at one time there was three-phase electricity and another transformer. An acacia tree had grown within boomslang striking distance of the nests. An enterprising snake had climbed up the tree, reached out for the nests and in the attempt shorted out the power lines. This caused a momentary power cut at the house which I had in fact noticed but thought nothing of. There must have been a huge flash and incinerated boomslang and burning nest must have come falling down onto the tinder dry undergrowth.
The blaze had been going for some hours before it was noticed, because it was right at the far end of the property. Thank heavens it had been a perfectly still day. Eskom has recently agreed to come and clear away the rank undergrowth beneath the powerlines. We are extremely grateful for the efficient service which we received, and that on a Saturday afternoon.
- De Wet Luttig, Pretoria -
Tydens my onlangse besoek aan Prince Albert, het ek met groot nostalgie teruggedink aan die 160 km wat ek en Nelis Vermeulen op ons bergfietse aangepak het in November 2005.
Ons het halfvyf die oggend vertrek vanaf Klein-Helmuth (ons “damhuisie” agter die dorp se tennisbane) en is trap-trap deur Die Gang (deesdae Prince Albert Valley), oor Kredouwpas, deur Klaarstroom, Meiringspoort , De Rust , Oudemuragie, Schoemanspoort, oor Swartbergpas en terug na Prince Albert.
Ons motiviering? Ons het al verskeie kere vanaf Prince Albert tot bo-op die berg en terug getrap (het selfs eenkeer in Gamkaskloof oornag) maar van die suidekant het ons Swartberg nooit bemeester nie.
Oor die jare het dit ‘n droom geword. Miskien het voorvader Jan Luttig – wat instrumenteel was by die bou van Swartbergpas - iets hiermee te doen gehad!
Op ons tog is ons met vele hoogtepunte beloon: Daar was n klipspringer reg langs die pad en later ‘n reuse bergskilpad wat heen en weer beur teen ‘n lyndraad. Ons kon die natuur waardeer, vars Karoolug inasem en opnuut besef dat God in beheer is .
My dogters, Jana en Margi, het in Meiringspoort hul eerste verskyning in die “ back-up vehicle” gemaak met ‘n oorvloed verversings.
Dit was wonderlike motivering want die Oudemuragie-grondpad was baie meer vermoeiend as wat ons verwag het. Ook Schoemanspoort se lang opdraandes was baie langer as wat ons ooit verwag het. Gelukkig bied die waterstroompie in die Boegoekloof ‘n ideale lafenis. Daar het ek vir die tweede keer in my lewe afgeklouter om kaalbas in die bergwaterpoel af te koel.
Bo-op die berg het ons “back-up” span en ‘n paar belangstellende toeriste ons handeklappend ingewag. Die laaste twintig kilometer bergaf Prince Albert toe was ‘n “breeze”- by Scholtzkloof se afdraai was dit vir ons lekker om drie skilpaaie uit die watersloot te red .
Daardie aand het ons ons uitstappie van nege uur en veertig minute, ‘n trotse gemiddeld van 16,5 kpu, behoorlik afgesluit met skaaptjops, volstruisfillet en Pinotage saam met ou vriende .
Ten slotte: Hoewel ons al langer as veertig jaar nie meer op Prince Albert woon nie, bly hierdie Karoodorp en sy mense “tops”. Elke besoek bly ‘n groot gebeurtenis.
Posted by Prince Albert Friend at 7:55 PM 0 comments
Prince Albert’s airfield has been in existence since 1958. It has been inactive for some years, but there are now interesting plans to attract small plane activity and tourist flights to the town.
Anders Paulsson, a regular visitor to Prince Albert from Sweden, who is a commercial flight commander, and Sally Arnold, a local resident, spoke to the Friend recently for help in getting the opinions, suggestions and support for their ideas from all interested town’s people.
Sally told the Friend: “We share a vision of a working airfield as an asset to the town, contributing to the tourism industry, providing business and educational opportunities and creating jobs.
Our proposals include tourist flights, flight introduction for would-be pilots, possibly an international flying school and charter services.”
According to Sally, they will also lobby for the airfield to be included on the President’s Trophy Air Race itinerary.
Anders believes that the Municipality, which owns the airfield, can only benefit from a functioning infrastructure, that is also a source of future income.
He foresees that commuting business owners and professionals outside Prince Albert would bring tax revenue to the town. At the time of going to print, the Municipal Council had not yet made a final decision on the proposals put to them by Sally and Anders.
Both Sally, whose father Pat Arnold flew her to school in Bloemfontein in a Piper 6 from their farm near Colesberg, and Anders, who flies his own 2-seater Piper Cub SE-IDA from his farm in south Sweden, see the reactivation of the airstrip as a fulfilment of a dream and their contribution to the business and leisure activities of Prince Albert.
Labels: Airfield, Prince Albert
- Danie Swanepoel -
By ‘n glansgeleentheid in Pretoria op 23 November 2007 is Helena Swanepoel se harde werk beloon en het sy die graad BVSc Veterinary Science ontvang.
Sy het as Gr.1 (SubA) leerling in 1989 haar skoolopleiding by Hoërskool Zwartberg begin en was gedurende haar skooljare ‘n inwoner van Kroonhof Koshuis. Gedurende haar Gr.12 skooljaar was sy ook hoofleier by die koshuis.
Sy studeer in 2002 by Stellenbosh Universiteit BSc Natuurwetenskappe en word gekeur vir die Veeartseny Kursus by Onderstepoort.
Sy is tans werksaam by ‘n praktyk in Pretoria. Baie geluk, Dr. Helena Swanepoel.
- Brett Bard -
Compelling restoration of the old cinema building at 55 Church Street will culminate in The Kevin Hough Gallery opening on the 1st February 2008.
Contributing to the development of a distinctive vision for the town, entrepreneur John Southern recently purchased the property with the intention of recreating the original dimensions, making it a multipurpose, spacious hall.
This gesture will enhance the attraction of Prince Albert as a cultural and historic Karoo landmark. Local artist Kevin Hough has been invited to open a gallery to display and sell his metal sculptures. The hall will also be made available for other activities including film screenings, meetings, and events.
Kevin Hough is a part of the creative identity of Prince Albert. Everyone will be aware of his witty interpretation of old farm implements into bicycles. This has been his way of preserving a heritage.
Kevin’s multifarious artistic talents will now be brought to a wider public with the gallery inauguration.
Volgens die waarnemende munisipale bestuurder Edwin September ontvang die Munisipaliteit van Prince Albert voortdurend klagtes van inwoners wat verontrief en benadeel word deur persone wat industrieële werk doen op residensiële erwe. Daar word met erns druk geplaas op die munisipaliteit om sy bywette toe te pas.
Gevolglik het die Raad besluit om tien ekstra industriële erwe beskikbaar te stel in die dorp se industriële gebied . Die landmeterpenne is in, die pad is gemaak, en die prioriteit is nou die water- en elektrisiteitsvoorsiening. Sodra die infrastruktuur afgehandel is, sal daar ‘n prysbepaling gemaak kan word.
Die erwe wissel in grootte tussen 500 en 1000 m² en die mikpunt is om die erwe so bekostigbaar moontlik te maak.
Die beskikbaarstelling van alternatiewe werkplek vir almal wat tans en in die toekoms industrie in die dorp wil bedryf, sal deur almal verwelkom word. Sodra die pryse en voorwaardes finaal bepaal is, sal die erwe aan die publiek te koop aangebied word.
Labels: Munisipaliteit, Prince Albert
Hoërskool Zwartberg se skoolhoof Kobus Snyman en onderhoof Danie Rossouw was jare lank die enigste dorings tussen meer as tien rose. Verlede jaar was Anton Nortier die derde doring, en vanjaar is daar nog drie manne.
Chris Gouws is ‘n bekende gesig in Prince Albert en is nou weer terug in die onderwys ná baie jare. Hy was in Bloemfontein adjunkhoof van ‘n skool vir serebraal gestremde kinders.
Hier by Zwartberg sal hy Engels, Natuurwetenskappe, Sosiale Wetenskap en Ekonomiese Bestuurwetenskap vir kinders in die intermediêre fase leer. Chris se dogter, Chrisna Smit, is die skool se Engelse onderwyseres.
Marcus Izaks is uit die Noord-Kaap in Prince Albert om Afrikaans aan te bied. Hy het veertien jaar onderwyservaring en sy laaste pos was by die Katho Hoërskool. Marcus is ook ’n pastoor van die AGS en gaan betrokke wees by die plaaslike gemeente. Ons verwelkom hom en sy vrou Gail in die dorp.
Die derde nuwe gesig is Shaun van der Walt, wat verlede jaar sy prakties hier voltooi het. Shaun is ’n gegradueerde van Noord-Wes Universiteit op Potchefstroom, asook van UNISA waar hy nog Rekeningkunde studeer.
Ons sien uit na ‘n besige en lonende jaar saam met dié vyf dorings tussen die rose in die Zwartberg personeelkamer.
Labels: School, skool, Zwartberg
- Willicia Reed, gr 7 -
2008 is ‘n jaar van goeie ontwikkeling en vordering vir Prince Albert Primêr.
Die skool het twee nuwe leerkragte vir 2008 bygekry. Die een, me E Coetzee, is ‘n graad 1 leerkrag en me D Coetzee is ons nuwe remediërende leerkrag.
Me Elfreda Coetzee is afkomstig van Velddrif in die Weskus. Sy het vier jaar te Wellington by die CPUT Onderwys-universiteit studeer waar sy ‘n B.Ed graad ontvang het. Sy het al voorheen in Prince Albert by vriende kom kuier. Sy het aansoek gedoen vir die pos. Sy moes vir ‘n onderhoud kom en sy vind Prince Albert amper net soos Velddrif. Die mense vind sy baie vriendelik en haar gr 1 klas is beheerbaar; sy is baie lief vir kinders.
Me Dalene Coetzee is afkomstig van Bloemfontein. Sy het ook in Bloemfontein by die onderwyskollege vir vier jaar studeer. Sy het senior primêr en pre-primêr gedoen. Sy het voorheen in Prince Albert by haar ouers wat hier geboer het kom kuier. Haar pos was by die OBOS geadverteer en sy het daarvoor aansoek gedoen. Me Coetzee doen remediërende onderrig by Prince Albert Primêr en by Hoërskool Zwartberg.
Me E Coetzee en me D Coetzee, Prince Albert heet u welkom.
Labels: PA Primêr, skool
Chris Jooste jnr het op die ouderdom van vyf jaar begin fietsry. Op sewe jaar het hy vir die eerste keer deelgeneem aan ‘n liga-wedren in die Suid Kaap en daardie selfde jaar word hy die Suid Kaap Kampioen in sy ouderdomsgroep.
In 2007 was hy ook vir die derde keer die Junior Sportman van die Oudtshoorn-klub – ‘n toekenning wat hy gekry het vir sy prestasies op Nasionale vlak, soos die Suid-Afrikaanse Kampioenskappe en die Interprovinsiale Kampioenskappe.
Tans neem hy deel aan die Pedal Power byeenkomste in die Westelike Provinsie - in die ope afdeling – en hy vaar uitstekend.
Sy fietsryprestasies kom nie vanself nie; hy glo aan die spreukwoord: ”Sonder moeite, geen vreugde.” Hy weet ook: “Hy wat wil blomme plant, moet baie water aandra.”
Labels: fiets, fietsry