This is “old news” for those of us who have lived here for some decades but so many new people have moved into the area in the past few years that a brief summary of its history was suggested. Not all are even aware of the fact that they live in a registered conservancy.
The conservancy covers the following areas: Doornrandjes, Hennops, Hills and Dales, Kalkheuvel, Rhenosterspruit, Riverside Estates, Roodekrans, Schurveberg, Vlakfontein. When people ask where the conservancy lies, I say between the R512 and the R511, roughly south of the Schurveberg, and straddling three rivers – Jukskei, Crocodile and the Hennops. The closest landmark is Lanseria Airport. (A map of the area can be viewed on the website: www.rnr.za.net)
The origins of Rhenosterspruit go back nearly 20 years to the formation of the Kareebosrand Conservancy in1987, covering Hills & Dales and Roodekrans.
Kareebosrand was created after a plan of the old Transvaal Provincial Administration to build tens of thousands of houses in Hills and Dales and Laezonia was withdrawn.
To introduce the area to people who appreciated nature, we started guided hikes over weekends, which meant we walked over every square hectare of the region! It also meant we got to know our neighbours and the larger community.
A further threat arrived in the shape of two major mining companies that wanted to explore for gold – they started buying up mineral rights and were planning to sink test holes (the heavy equipment was standing ready at a site near Lanseria). As individuals we were powerless to stop them, but the fact that we were part of an operational conservancy (and with the help of 50/50 and the many valuable allies we’d made during our weekend hikes) gave Kareebosrand the clout to stop them.
In the early ‘90s the conservation efforts shifted to the west of the Crocodile River and the Rhenosterspruit Nature Reserve (RNR) was created with the aim of applying for protected status, fencing the whole area and bringing in game. A large portion was actually fenced, including Riverside Estates, Rhenosterspruit, parts of Vlakfontein, Roodekrans and Kalkheuvel.
The next crisis struck in 1997, when a businessman bought seven properties in Hills and Dales and announced that he was putting up 24 000 low-cost houses. He offered to buy all of us out, presuming we wouldn’t want to stay. We used the crisis as a catalyst to motivate Hills and Dales, Roodekrans, Doornrandje, Hennops River and Schurveberg to throw their weight in with the RNR and within two months the size of the RNR was doubled - creating a united greenbelt of grassland, river, bushveld and mountain ecosystems in a 10 000 ha conservancy.
Lady Luck was with us – the businessman was caught smuggling illegal immigrants into South Africa but managed to skip the country. The property sale fell through.
At this point a detailed proposal, requesting formal proclamation and indicating all the RNR landowners involved, was given to the Department of Agriculture, Conservation Environment and Land Affairs (DACEL). This was turned down, citing lack of black residents’ involvement. We appointed a black consultant to interview residents and 400 black signatures in favour of a nature reserve were obtained. DACEL stuck to its decision, denying Rhenosterspruit nature reserve status.
Rhenosterspruit then decided to change direction and to create smaller, more manageable game reserve nodes. Two subsequently got off the ground – Roodekrans Game Reserve and the Oori Private Game Farm – within the larger RNR. Both were fenced and stocked with game.
In 2002 DACEL registered Rhenosterspruit as a conservancy, backdated, and this registration was again updated in November 2004 by the new registering body, the Gauteng Conservancy Association (GCA). Rhenosterspruit is a founder member of the GCA which represents 40+ Gauteng conservancies.
When the Rhenosterspruit Environmental Management Plan (EMP) was presented to Tshwane officials in July, they expressed their surprise and appreciation for the sheer depth of information contained in the EMP. They wanted to see this marvellous area which falls in their jurisdiction, they said, and the outcome was an invitation to the Departments of Planning and of the Environment to visit Rhenosterspruit.
With Terry O’Donoghue (a previous chairman of Rhenosterspruit) and Vincent Carruthers acting as guides, seven Tshwane officials and the RNC committee started off in Schurveberg, on the Hausleitners’ beautiful property. First stop was the Red Cross Cave or Hospitaalgrot on the Hennops River, where the wounded of the Anglo-Boer War hid and recuperated.
After precariously crossing the river over a hanging bridge, we climbed down a steep cliff to the cave via a rather innovative tyre-ladder and stretched a few unused muscles. (I wonder how they got the wounded into the cave during the war.) From Red Cross Cave we went to a limestone cave in Hennops, wearing special protective masks to have a look at the vast bat colony in the cave. There must have been thousands of bats. Needless to say, we did not venture in very far! And no, they DON’T aim for your hair.
Sacred spring, threatened grasslands and rock thieves
Next stop was Jean Ronca’s place on Lazy River in Hennops, where a natural spring bubbles from the rocks. Everyone got a bottle of spring water, attractively labelled with the RNC logo. According to local people this spring is sacred and has healing powers. It also improves fertility, so some of us drank lots and others declined to have a sip.
We then stopped in Doornrandje, looking south over Hills and Dales, with the city expanding relentlessly and steadily in this direction. These grasslands are known as Egoli Granite Grassland, an endemic biome. It is found nowhere else outside of Gauteng and is under severe threat. Koppie-alleen came next – this strange little bump in the veld – visible from both the R512 and the R511. The local black people call it Thaba Ngwenya – and children were taught not to be disrespectful and point at it (otherwise an essential piece of your body could fall off!). At best you could point with your elbow.
Local residents are forever finding people stealing rocks and plants around the koppie. They are usually told to unload their car boots or bakkies, which they don’t appreciate. Even during the World Summit overseas delegates were found loading rocks. Where on earth did they hear about Koppie-Alleen? This seems to be a common belief among city dwellers - that "open" land is there for everybody to drive over, plunder
Silver bullets, gold plaque and lunch in the bush
Next we explored the Silver Mine in Roodekrans. The story goes that during the war the Boers mined lead in this mine for their bullets. A young British soldier, John Hepke, was wounded in the nearby battle at Kalkheuvel, but the bullet could not be removed at the time. After his return to England he was diagnosed with lead poisoning and when the bullet was finally removed it was found to have a very high silver content. Hepke returned to South Africa in search of the origin of the silver. His enquiries eventually led him to the Silver Mine and he bought the property. His descendants lived in the area until recently.
After a stop-over at the plaque where the first gold in the province was found – on the Gaylards’ place in Vlakfontein – we were taken to the dam on the actual Rhenosterspruit which runs into the Crocodile, between Frank Pritchard and Norman Jeffery’s properties. We traipsed single-file through the bush, to find to our delight and surprise - a five-star lunch set up by Cynthia Barnes among the trees on the bank of the dam. The water is a clear blue-green – most unusual in Gauteng where one seldom finds clear water.
Boere, Britte en 'n dop om die dag af te sluit
The next attraction was the koppie where the Battle of Kalkheuvel took place. We all scaled the hill and Vincent gave us a superb description of the battle – die boere hierdiekant en die Kakies daaikant, kannonne en perde en geweervuur en chaos! And a hundred years later cars in their thousands whiz by on the R512 in the same kloof, on their way to Hartbeespoort Dam, oblivious of the drama that unfolded more than a century ago.
The final stop was at SOS Children’s Village in the Oori Game Reserve, for snacks and drinks and a view of the extraordinary stromatolites on the Crocodile’s banks – precious fossils of millions of years old. The setting sun gave a golden glow to the rocks, reflecting their mirror image in the river.
I have lived here for almost 30 years, I’ve hiked over most of the area, I know the place better than most but even I had no idea of the gems sitting right here under our noses! (See the October/November Karee Chronicle for photos of the trip.)
Offering similar tours to locals and to the public is one proposal for earning income for Rhenosterspruit, plus ploughing money back into the area via B&Bs, catering, site visits, etc. Let us know what you have to offer.
Helen Duigan
Chairperson, RNC
(011) 701-3176
For more info, RNC website: www.rnc.za.net
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