PEOPLE DRIVEN BY
PASSION
This week’s blog will
share the insights of a recent visitor to Kedar Heritage Hotel, Conference
Centre & Spa (Kedar). Roger Webster is a well-known voice to South African
Audiences - he has been broadcasting his “Fireside Chats” on SAFM for the last
10 years. Roger’s historical and anecdotal tales based on the true history of
South Africa, and not what we were taught in school, have made him a
controversial and sought after speaker on the South African circuit.
Below is Roger’s account
of his first visit to Kedar and the inaugural Anglo Boer War Weekend;
As a writer and story
teller, preserving the tales of yesteryear has been my bent for many many years,
coming across people with like-minded passions is a rare and most delightful moment.
Let me elaborate.
Some weeks ago I
received a phone call telling me about a Boer War weekend that was taking place just North of
Rustenburg., this then was followed up an official invitation. It took place
this weekend and I went on Friday afternoon.
Nothing could have
prepared me for what I was about to experience, which I shall go into later,
but first a bit of background
Robert Forsyth and his
wife spent over 30 years buying up the local farms from the Kruger Family, and
consolidating it into one big unit which they turned into a game farm. They
established Kedar Lodge. Robert has an absolute passion for South African
History and the Boer War in particular, and when the Government phoned and told
him they could no longer maintain Paul Kruger’s original farm house on
Boekenhoutfontein, he jumped at the opportunity, bought the property, and now,
under Kedar’s care it will be properly maintained and not go to rack and ruin
like so many others. Another piece of our crumbling history saved.
That’s the background.
As I said earlier,
nothing could prepare you for the experience. You drive through the gated
entrance, go round a corner, and there, facing you is a life size bronze statue
of General Jan Smuts mounted on his favourite horse, a few meters down, a life
sized bronze statue of Mahatma Gandhi, who was a stretcher bearer during that
war. The next one needs a little bit of time, it is four statues representing
the men involved 1 Indian, 1 Boer, 1 Brit and 1 Black. When you arrive at the
reception Portcusre, a life size bronze of an old Spider with a matched pair is
opposite the entrance.
Inside Reception there
are glass encased, larger than life army figures, all dressed, in original assorted
uniforms. This is when the penny drops; you are dealing with someone with a
deep passion. Walk out of the back of reception, into the botanical like
gardens, the first thing you notice, no foreign evasives, they, including the
Boers most wanted and loved eucalypts trees, have all been removed, the result,
all the old springs have now returned to the farm, just like it used to be
those many years ago with lovely areas of wetlands, just the thing for birders.
Walk down the pathways
lined with Bushveld trees and local vegetation, and the fist garden statue you
come across is Kosi Magathla, how befitting too, as Maghatla was around before
the war, he backed the Boers, and was given his land by Kruger’s Government,
whilst the Po people, on the other side of Rustenburg backed the Brits and lost
their land, but that’s another story. Magadha’s neck, on the Zeerust road is
named after him, and the place down the road Fokeng, of course belongs to the
BA- Fokeng people, the “people of the mist” the richest tribe in the whole
world.
I could go on and on
forever, but suffice to say that there are 5 stand alone statues, including
Cecil John Rhodes, which led to quite a debate on Friday night, and 5 memorial
statues dotted around the gardens and lawns of the Lodge.
There’s a swimming
pool, a spa, and those not interested in the War have many options to follow,
but this talk is not about Hotels, it’s about the preservation of culture and
history.
There are many what I
would describe as “Halls”. Each one serving a different purpose, but let me try
and paint you a mind picture of what I mean. An Ancient thick, high walled large
hall with its double volume effect, and thatched, the high pitched roof:
picture the flags , all draped at an angle, all lining the side walls as you
enter, the Family Crests, the Armorials, granted by none other than the King
Himself. Each one belonging to a family whom would give their very life for
their Sovereign Liege. Such is the feeling that overcomes one; looking down a
high walled, thatched hall, the Boer war rifles, inclined at an angle slightly
downwards, lining the walls like flags, each one belonging to a man that fought
to protect the freedom of his family, his country and himself. It's as if each
and every one of them has its own personal story to tell, and collectively
speak, of eventual defeat against a mightier Foe. The feeling is electric.
The walls of all the
various halls are decorated with memorabilia to vast to comprehend, here a wall
with over 100 English Officers swords, with scabbards, all glass encased an annotated, there a passage, its
wall adorned with an individual painting
of every single man who won a VC during that war. Another room, dedicated to
the English POW camps scatted all over the world, their letter home, their art
work, There heartbreak. The one thing I learnt there was that, it was the
prisoner of war that were taught to play cricket and rugby against the warders
during that period, and those games were brought back, and that’s how we became
a cricket and rugby playing nation!
Upon another wall,
encased in glass, is a pictorial of every aristocrat from Britain, Europe, and
surrounding places, which took place in the war. It just goes on and on hall
after hall, conference room after meeting room.
It is without a doubt,
the biggest single collection of Boer war memorabilia in the world, and if it
could come to pass that it could be amalgamated with the biggest collection of
cannons, which is owned by a friend of mine, it would be mind blowing!
Why do I go on and on
about it? Let me tell you. Natal displays their battlefields to the fullest,
Thlana, Spionkop Ihlandwana et al, The magaliesburg has over 50 battlefields
and squirmishes that took place in and around the area, and it was the late
great David Rattray that one said to me “I have one battle field to talk about,
Islandwana, it’s not on the way to anywhere, it’s isolated, and yet people
come”. “You guys have over 50 yet y you
do nothing with them”
Well that’s about to
change , because yesterday, whilst this Boer war day was on, the government’s
department of the North West was meeting (Yes, on a Saturday) with all the
stakeholders in the area to find a way forward for the promotion of local, and
foreign tourism.
And I feel that with passionate
people like Robert Forsyth, John Penne father, Vincent and His Prof of history
wife, Jane, the late Lionel Wolfson’s
work and all the others, the time has really come.
The shell is 11” high,
is capped with a brass fuse and bound with a copper “driving ring” on the
bottom. When a shell is fired it is not
dangerous. It is basically just a hunk of metal which – after it is “fired” -
is being spun round by the brass drive ring engaging the grooves in the barrel
sending the shell spinning out the barrel.
