Wednesday, 25 February 1987: Friendly Encounters with Afrikaners

May 1987, Computer room, Environmental Science Department, University of Botswana

My friend Helize, the Afrikaans professor, had suggested I contact her brother David if I got to Bergville.  I decided to stay at a hotel there on the night of the 24^th as the town is near the entrance to Royal Natal National Park.  David said he could see me on the morning of the 25^th. 

David’s house/office is an attractive Cape Dutch-style structure with thatch roof, located on the north edge of town.  He is a self-employed agricultural economist keeping books for white farmers in northwestern Natal.  He is around 30 and a friendly, good-looking, blonde Afrikaner.

We had a pleasant chat for a half hour or so.  David told me that, unlike coastal Natal, the rains here are not always reliable.  Farmers have suffered as a result of recent droughts.  Farmers have to rely heavily on irrigation for their crops.

I found David’s politics slightly verlig (enlightened) but he seemed to support the National Party government.  In other words, limited political reforms are needed but the rest of the world doesn’t understand their problems with blacks.  He wanted me to know that blacks are easy-going and unambitious workers requiring constant supervision.  They are nowhere near ready to govern South Africa.  He cited examples to back up his claims, and I listened without giving him much agreement. 

David encouraged me to come back for a couple days’ visit when I have more time.  I thanked him for his offer and headed off for a hike in Royal Natal National Park. 

 

Tugela River Trail, Royal Natal National Park.  View is toward Mont-Aux-Sources (3,282 meters or 10,768 feet elevation) which is draped in clouds.

The park entrance fee was only R1.00 plus another R1.50 for a detailed park map.  RNNP occupies 8000 impressive hectares (about 20,000 acres) at the edge of the Drakensberg escarpment bordering Lesotho, an independent black nation surrounded by South Africa.  The park’s main attraction is a sweeping amphitheater, 1000 meters or so high and capped by the 3285 meter Mont-Aux-Sources.  I drove to the end of the park road and hiked about three kilometers up a trail toward the amphitheater.  The top of the escarpment was blanketed by clouds, but I got some nice photos before light rain showers turned me back.

My drive for the day took me west from Bergville to Royal Natal National Park, then back through Bergville, and on to Ladysmith and Dundee.

 

From the park, I drove 100 km east to Ladysmith, then toward Dundee, where I planned to spend the night.  When I was about 25 km from Dundee, my rental car ran out of gas.  The damned petrol gauge said there was still half a tank left although it was beginning to seem like I’d driven quite a distance without a refill.  Cars never fail to let me down.

 

I felt a bit guilty after I took this little girl’s photo while she was walking along the highway near Bergville minding her own business.

 

There was nothing to do but hitch.  This was a lightly-travelled stretch of road but I was in luck as the first car to come along stopped to give me a lift.  The driver was a local travelling prosecutor on his way back to Ladysmith from a trial out in some bundu town.  Since there were no petrol stations along the way, he dropped me off at a South African Police post about 10 km up the road.  One of the Afrikaner cops siphoned four liters of petrol out of his car and into two plastic detergent containers.  On the way back to my car, I told him that I could now tell my friends back in America that I finally got a ride in a South African police van.  He got a good chuckle out of my attempt at humor.  The cop was more than happy to help out and seemed to be satisfied with the R4.00 I gave him for the petrol. 

My little room in Dundee was comfortable and clean, costing only R20.00 plus GST.  A good dinner and breakfast were included in the price.

Impressive thunderheads and rural landscape between Ladysmith and Dundee.