Highway heritage society

JULY 2013 NEWSLETTER

HIGHWAY HERITAGE SOCIETY

P.O. Box 50541

MUSGRAVE ROAD

4062

Tel/Fax [phone]

[e-mail]



CHAIRMAN’S CHATTER
It’s nice to see the sun again, after several overcast and chilly days! The little bit of rain has, however, been welcome as the ground had become hard and was very dry. The shortest day has come and gone as have the first six months of 2013.

Hazel has been working hard trying to fill our programme for the rest of the year. Robert King, one of our members, will be giving, what should be, an interesting talk about some of his ancestors, who lived in Natal, and I trust that you will join us on 20 July to listen to his story.

Regrettably we will have to increase the charge for our talks in the near future as the cost of using the facilities at Pomona Gardens has risen to R120 per meeting and we have had to be realistic in the amount we give our speakers so that it covers the ever-increasing cost of fuel to get to our venue. We are not trying to make a profit but we do need to receive sufficient income to break-even on our outings and talks. Please remember that the subs which we have tried to keep low are used to pay the day-to-day running expenses of your Society and there is not sufficient to subsidise the cost of the talks. You will be notified in due course once the Committee has made a decision.

My thanks to Robin Lamplough for his contribution to this newsletter, and the second article was written by me as a supplement to the story which I wrote about a hike by a party of 12, which was led by Chris Dobson, and included Marge Blake and me to Sehlaba Thebe Lodge in Lesotho in May 2005, which I trust you will find interesting.

TALK ON 20 JULY 2013
Subject: "History of a Burne settler Family- The King-Ellis family".

Speaker: Robert King

Date & time: Saturday 20 July 2013 at 14h00 (2 p.m.) Please ensure that you arrive at least 10 minutes before this time to allow for the collection of meeting fees. The gate will be manned until 2p.m., so please do not be late, as residents do not appreciate being asked to open the gate to strangers!

Venue: Pomona Gardens, McMillan Road, Hillcrest.

Meeting Fees: Members R10; Visitors R15; which, as usual, includes refreshments and eats.

If you know of any friends who may be interested in joining us, please invite them to come along, as visitors/potential new members are always welcome.

R.S.V.P. to Marie Gurr after hours on 031-7053122 by 20h00 on Thursday 18 July 2013 to facilitate catering. If you do not book there may be no room for you and you will then be turned away! If you do book and are unable to attend please let us know in good time as otherwise you may be requested to pay the meeting fee, to cover the cost of catering.

FOOTNOTE TO DONALD DAVIES’S TALK ON MINING
A Pinetown wagon builder, Tom Andrews, is credited with being one of the founders of Barberton. He seems to have represented a syndicate of Pinetown businessmen when he trekked, in 1884, with twelve wagons, to the eastern Transvaal. In anticipation of what he would do there, he bought a stamp battery from the Umgeni Ironworks in Durban (so by that time local manufacturers were turning them out). Andrews quickly became involved in the search for gold and pegged a block of claims which he called ‘the Pinetown’. It was later worked as the Worcester Gold Mine. Andrews went on to become a leading businessman in Barberton

The source of this information is a booklet entitled Golden Memories of Barberton, by W.D. Curror, published by the Barberton Publicity Association in 1972.

Kindly submitted by Robin Lamplough
LESOTHO (formerly BASUTOLAND)

Researched & written by ADRIAN M ROWE, June 2005

Before the arrival of European colonists the whole of southern Africa was one large land mass which was inhabited by, initially, roving groups of San (who were known as Bushmen by the settlers) and later by black tribes, but not throughout the whole area.
The San were hunter gatherers who lived off the land and carried with them all their worldly possessions. A striking feature of their language is the extensive use of click sounds. They lived in caves formed by overhanging rock and there are still many examples of their rock-art visible in caves in the Drakensberg. Once black and white settlers began to arrive, they were driven further and further into the mountains, from the plains where they used to hunt. By the mid 1800s they had disappeared from the Drakensberg and those who had survived had moved into areas such as the Kalahari Desert.
Up to the early 1800s the area of southern Africa from the eastern seaboard across what was to become Natal as far as the Kalahari Desert in the west was settled by many tribes, who, apart from minor inter-tribal altercations, lived in harmony with each other. This relative peace was soon to be shattered because of an event which occurred in about 1783. It was the birth of a baby son to the wife of the chief of a small tribe living on the banks of the Umfolozi river. The baby was named Tshaka. On reaching young adulthood, owing to the jealousy of his father, he left home and became a soldier serving under the Zulu chief Dingiswayo. Because of his physique and fighting prowess, he rose rapidly in rank until he became a general, and on the death of Dingiswayo in 1816 he was made the supreme commander of the Zulus. He very quickly earned the reputation of being a cruel and ruthless leader, who not only conquered neighbouring tribes but exterminated them. Tribe after tribe disappeared under the Zulu spear.
South and west of what is now known as Kwa-Zulu (previously Zululand) the population was in motion, slaughtering and being slaughtered. Tshaka’s regiments laid waste to vast tracts of land so that there would be no place for his enemies to hide or travel through without his spies being aware of their presence.
One of Tshaka’s captains, Moselekatse (later known as Mzilikazi), was in command of a division of the Zulus and after an expedition against a neighbouring tribe, he failed to send all the booty back to Tshaka. This infuriated Tshaka, who sent an army with orders that Moselekatse and his followers be put to death. Moselekatse therefore fled with his soldiers over the Kahlamba (Drakensberg) mountains and on the way they attacked the Bapedi tribe and any others who hindered their progress and those who could not escape were exterminated.
The country over which they marched was cleared of all the local population, for his objective was to place a desert between Tshaka and himself. Mzilikazi and his followers became known as the Matabele.
An important event in the future formation of the country to be known as Basutoland, was the birth of another baby in about 1788, whose father was a minor chief in the Kwena tribe and lived near the source of the Caledon river. The baby’s name was Moshoeshoe but he was to become better known as Moshesh.
As Moshesh began to grow up, (in normal circumstances while his father was still alive he would have no prospect of improving himself) he showed that he possessed excellent abilities as an organiser. He also proved himself to be a clever military strategist and, as well as becoming a ruler of men, he showed himself to be very diplomatic. In about 1820 Moshesh began to form the Basuto nation from the remnants of various tribes, which had been decimated by the Zulus and by other tribes fleeing from the Zulus. His headquarters was built on top of a flat-topped mountain called Thaba Bosiu (mountain of the night), which was about 20 miles (32 kilometres) east of the present Maseru and was almost impregnable owing to the precipitous sides. He, shrewdly, prevented attacks from the Zulus by pretending to be their most humble supporter and sent gifts to Tshaka, and later Dingaan, of furs and feathers.
Everyone, regardless of their tribe, who submitted to Moshesh was treated alike.
In 1828 Tshaka was murdered and the roll of paramount chief of the Zulus went to Dingaan, who proved to be as blood-thirsty as his predecessor.
In about 1831 Mzilikazi sent a plundering party of the Matabele against the Basuto and in frustration laid siege to Moshesh’s headquarters at Thaba Bosiu because they could not take the stronghold. Eventually, owing to lack of food, the attackers started to leave. When Moshesh saw this, he sent food to them and wished them a good trip home, which was an indication of the type of man he was. The Matabele never returned!
In 1832 Dingaan, who had between 25,000 and 30,000 highly trained soldiers at his disposal, sent a force to attack the Matabele, but they were defeated. Mzilikazi, however, thought it prudent to move further away to the west and they settled near the Marico River.
In 1833 Moshesh received three members of the Paris Evangelical Missionary Society, who became advisors to him and who influenced the future Christian status of the country.
A new problem was about to present itself. In 1836 the Dutch farmers or Boers, being dissatisfied with the British Government, began to leave the Cape and headed north. The Great Trek had begun. On arriving in an area which was suitable for their settlement and away from British control, the Boers would set up home, and this presented a problem to Moshesh when he started to see his country being settled by them. He realized that the solution was to seek protection from the British. After numerous setbacks this was achieved in 1868 when Basutoland was declared a British territory. The Boers protested vehemently but were forced to give up most of what they had occupied. The Basutos therefore owe their existence as a nation to the wily Moshoeshoe. Sadly for them he died two years later in 1870.
Sources: Encyclopædia Britannica, 1971 Vol. 13, p.988 to 988D USA

The Story of the Nations – South Africa, 1895 G M Theal, T. Fisher Unwin, London

Look forward to seeing you on 20 July 2013. PLEASE remember, to book!