Text and photography: Leilani Basson. Article from the March 2012 issue of Leisure Wheels Magazine.
For many people, the town of Bela-Bela (formerly Warmbaths) conjures up images of family fun at the hot springs, hours spent in the health hydro (David Brink Hall), sliding down the super tube, or playing putt-putt. For others, it means bushveld holidays and game farms like Mabula and Mabalingwe. But there is much more to Bela-Bela, as you’ll find out if you explore a little.
Bela-Bela is rich in history-cultural, religious, architectural and ethnological. The name itself tells a story. It means “boiling, boiling” or “the pot that boils”.
It is recorded that from as early as 1837, Voortrekkers lived in the Waterberg region.
They were attracted to the area by its beautiful mountains, lush vegetation, abundant springs and good rainfall. It was believed that the hot water springs had healing properties.
They were known as “die badoorde van die noorde” and people flocked there to rest their weary souls or in the hope of healing for the sick.
Folklore has it that the springs were discovered by JA Grobler and Carl van Heerden, who were part of the famous Andries Pretorius expedition against Silkaats in 1837.
One morning the two men noticed a huge cloud that looked like steam. On closer investigation, they found a boiling marshland in a valley, covered in bulrushes. They cleared the area and found the eye of the spring.
In 1848, Pretorius brought his wife, Christinah, to the springs hoping they would cure her influenza. Sadly, she died the same year and was buried in Warmbaths. Her grave can be seen in the municipal grounds.
Another intriguing character was the legendary and controversial Conraad de Buys – a freebooter and fugitive from the British colonies. In 1820, he fled to the mountains in the vicinity where he took many Tswana wives and had many children.
This upset the local men and they wanted him out. They chased him up a koppie (known today as Buyskop) and surrounded it, believing they would force his surrender by thirst.
Eight days later, De Buys apparently flung a skin of water at the tribesmen, assuring them that he had enough water in the mountains because of his mystical powers. Overcome by fear, they fled and never bothered him again.
Some old-stagers in town are convinced that any light-skinned, blue-eyed township dwellers are the offspring of De Buys and his wives.
Interestingly, Buyskop has another claim to fame. The koppie is rich in light sandstone, and the stone for the Union Buildings in Pretoria was quarried here. Sir Herbert Baker was commissioned as architect in 1908. Building began in 1909 and was completed in 1913. Almost 100 years later, scores of unused, damaged and unfinished sandstone blocks are still lying at the site.
When you look up at the carved-out rock face, with the loose boulders scattered about, it is mind boggling that all this was done without heavy machinery, and that the stone had to be carried down the koppie and transported to Pretoria by oxwagon.
It took 1265 artisans, workmen and labourers almost three years to construct the Union Buildings. Apart from the sandstone, 14 million bricks were used for the interior walls. During recent restoration work at the Union Buildings, the current owners of the koppie site were asked to supply a few blocks to match the original sandstone.
Mara Koekemoer, owner of Bosveld Gallery on the R101 that passes Buyskop, has the original costing paper of the Union Buildings in her possession.
“My mother – a long time resident of the area – has kept it all these years and gave it to me for safe keeping,” says Mara. Also in her possession is a typed account of the story of Conraad de Buys, including his signature when he sold a piece of his land. (Have a look at www.leisurewheels.co.za for the fantastic story of Conraad de Buys).
Mara and husband Tobie’s Bosveld Gallery is a charming business where artists and crafters from the area can display and sell their work. Everything about the gallery is special – the sidewalk display, the modified tin cups and plates in which they serve their muffins and lunches, the menus made from wood to resemble books, and even the loo!
One of the best known artists whose work is on display is Claude David Boswell. He was only 17 when he hosted his first exhibition at the Republic Festival of Art in Pretoria.
Claude moved to Bela-Bela from Johannesburg 25 years ago. “I started off as a sign writer and graphic artist,” he says. “Then computers came along, and put paid to that career. That was when I began painting full time.”
Unfortunately, with the recession of 2008/2009, most of the agents who promoted Claude’s work closed down and he is struggling. Yet his wildlife paintings are outstanding, with his distinctive sunset hues filtering through the bushveld scenes.
“Any help to get my work out there would mean the world to us,” says Claude, looking down at the cute mutt in his lap.
Many artists are lured to Bela-Bela by its pristine bushveld beauty, the smell of kameeldoring trees, the small town feel and the genuine friendliness of the people. Mandie Meyer is one of them. A hunter by profession, she turned to pottery for a few years and decided in 2005 to be a full-time artist and picture framer.
Mandie subsequently bought a hauntingly beautiful church in Bela-Bela’s residential area and turned it into an eccentric gallery where she spends her days creating one fascinating landscape after the other. “I also sell other local artists’ work in my gallery and frame any and everything.”
Mandie has quickly earned recognition. “I regularly do work for Cyril Ramaphosa,” she beams. “I was so lucky that he asked me to do the artwork on the entrance wall of his farm here in Bela-Bela. It was a huge honour! ”
There are many success stories like Mandie’s in this neck of the woods. Eugene Diener is a modern day marvel and boer eccentric. He started the first newspaper, Die Pos, in Warmbaths in 1981 with a pencil and a camera.
“Pencil, because it was the cheapest,” he laughs. “Back in those days it was still a cut and paste job to produce a newspaper. I did everything myself and drove, begged, wrote and prayed, day in and day out.”
Although Eugene sold Die Pos many moons ago, the print run today is 37 000, and the paper is a force to be reckoned with in the Waterberg.
“After selling the newspaper, I started a theatre restaurant, The Dry Dock,” says Eugene, “I make wonderful food – always have. When I entertained my wife and a few of her friends on our porch one day, I decided to turn our house into a seafood restaurant – the first in Warmbaths.”
Seafood in the bushveld? Eugene laughs. “Seafood is easy to prepare. I’m a lazy guy, and if it hadn’t been quick and easy, I would never have done it.
“I brought a lot of art and culture to town with the Dry Dock. There were theatre productions and live performances all the time.
“I’m still a hippie at heart. Back in those days I had a butterfly on my butt, a fringe in my face and flowery shirts to match.”
After selling the restaurant, Eugene bought a BMW R100 T and rode through Africa until his money ran out. He clocked 57 000km on the Beamer and another 17 000 on an Aprilia Pegaso.
On his return, he turned artist for a while and then opened another seafood restaurant, De Zee Meeuw Huis – a must on anyone’s list.
Eugene, however, got bitten by the travel bug again, bought himself a 1995 BMW R100 GS PD Classic, left the restaurant to his son Martin, and hit the road for another 25 403km through Namibia and other far-off places.
Eugene is currently building a backpackers’ lodge on his farm. “It’s going to be really arty and nice and will be ready by April,” he says. Considering his touch at De Zee Meeuw Huis, there is absolutely no doubt about that!
Luckily for Martin Diener, he has always wanted a restaurant of his own, so when his father opted out, he was over the moon. His fiancee, Yolande Grobler, fell in with the plan.
Being artistic herself, Yolande opened The Railway Trading Company adjacent to De Zee Meeuw and runs an imaginative antique-and-all-things-sought-after shop from there. Folks from the city will be amazed at the unusual decor, accessories and items from yesteryear that Yolande manages to find. Even if you don’t plan to buy anything, pop in and be inspired!
Many people come to Bela-Bela on holiday, and end up living there. One story that touches the heart is that of Silke von Eynern. She came on holiday from Germany with her husband. Her late father-in-law had owned land in Bela-Bela, and left it to her husband. Sadly, he died during that holiday, and Silke decided to sell everything back home in Germany and settle in Bela- Bela.
Her love of animals and especially monkeys and primates led to her starting Bambelela, a self-funded, nonprofit wildlife sanctuary and guest farm, where she and her team of volunteers and field guides hand-raise orphaned Vervet monkeys and baboons for rehabilitation back into the wild.
“At times we each have two or three babies to feed,” says Silke. “People bring them to us after the mothers have been shot, killed by electrical fences, caught in snares or run over by vehicles. We have monkeys here from all over SA.”
Silke and her team create troops over three or four years and then release them onto game farms where the owners support her conservation venture.
Bambelela, which means “to hold on to”, attracts volunteers both locally and abroad for working holidays. There is also a volunteer programme and field guide course through which students can gain practical experience towards their qualifications.
“Vervet monkeys are old world monkeys,” says Silke. “They have been around for more than 65 million years. Through education and creating awareness, we want to ensure a peaceful co-existence between humans and the primates, and we’re proving it can be done.”
Bambelela’s guided wild life tours are part of the plan. “We have four luxury chalets for people who want to experience the magic of Bambelela. This is a bird watcher’s paradise, and home to just about all the antelope species in SA. We even have a tame kudu on the premises. It used to be someone’s pet, until it became a nuisance to them.”
There are also pet warthogs, exotic monkeys and mongooses, apart from the Vervets.
Other places of interest in Bela-Bela are the Hebrew Communal Hall, testimony to Warmbaths once being a Jewish holiday destination, the distinctive mosque that resembles a lighthouse, a well preserved Anglo Boer War blockhouse, the Roman Catholic religious grotto and President Paul Kruger’s house on Tweefontein farm.
For more information on Bela-Bela and its tourist attractions, contact
Bela-Bela tourism on 014 736-3694 or email, website.
More info
Bambelela Wildlife and Guest Farm:
Mandie Meyer:
082 496 4469, email.
Claude Boswell: 072 7481445
Bosveld Gallery: 072 115 9806
The Railway Trading Co: 082 822 5675
De Zee Meeuw Huis and backpackers: 082 058 7394
More info on the area of Waterberg | More info on the Limpopo area |