Deckle Edge Media_Maluti_Issue 1 Winter 2017

Crossroads
After the signing of peace, many of the British Imperial Forces of
Occupation were stationed at Harrismith on Kings Hill and Queens
Hill and introduced to the town its greatest period of prosperity.
With their numbers varying from 5000 to 15 000 men with a
spending power of 25 000 to 30 000 pounds per month, the town
enjoyed a period of unrivalled prosperity with the military playing
a very prominent part in its domestic and social life. The two dams
in the former wildflower gardens are part of a series of aqueducts,
flowing from the Gibson Dam on the mountain summit, that were
built as a water supply to support the town and the British troops.
It was with apprehension then that the troops heard in 1912 that
they will be evacuated back to Britain. This resulted in 95% of the
town’s population signing petitions in which the Government was
requested to reverse its decision. The request was unfortunately
denied and the troops returned home to England in 1913. All the
cantonments were broken down and sold. Within a few years the
loss was so severe that Harrismith slipped from being the second
largest town in the Free State down to fourth. To make things
worse, the Government treated Harrismith as the Cinderella of the
Free State.
The circumstances started to change when a Woollens Factory
opened its doors in the middle 1920s. This factory brought new
life to Harrismith, which was the centre of five wool producing
districts in Southern Africa. Another event that proved Harrismith
was on the road to recovery was a Royal visit of the Queen and
King of England with the two princesses, Margaret and Elizabeth,
during their leisurely three-month journey from February to April
1947. This trip included South Africa itself, Southern Rhodesia,
Swaziland, Basutoland and the Bechuanaland Protectorate. The
trip involved 10 000 miles of travel, including 4 920 miles by rail
(though the family flew to Rhodesia). The journey to South Africa
was by battle cruiser.
When the mayor of Harrismith got the news of the royal visit, he
realised there was a massive problem for the ninety minute stopover
for tea. This was finding a carpet big enough to use in the
town hall, because the red runner carpet they had was damaged,
dirty and moth eaten, and it was impossible to obtain a new one.
The local Woollen Mill had at the time just completed an order of
blankets in scarlet and royal purple for Basutoland, then a British
Colony. Mr. Longbottom in an instance arranged these blankets and
made them into long lengths to be used as a carpet, on condition
that they were not damaged in anyway. After use as a carpet the
blankets were returned to the Mill to be washed, cut and bound
as blankets again. It was also particularly fitting that the popular
mayoress, Mrs. Philip D. Wright, who was the great-granddaughter
of Harry Smith, acted as hostess to the Royal visitors.
The increased infrastructure and traffic in the region made fording
of the Wilge river impractical. After heavy rains the swollen river
prevented communication, interrupted transport and claimed
lives. Around the 1890s in November, after a particularly hot and
dry month, when the heat rose from the parched ground as though
there was a furnace below, a heavy downpour of rain for about
a week flooded most of the normal trading routes. Three men
decided to float their timber down the river as far as Vereeniging.
They sent a wire to Hunt, Leuchars and Hepburn in Durban in which
they lay out the proposition with a map of the river as it wounds its
way through the Free State and joins the Vaal River near Villiers.
Anything that went by road and now seemingly water had to be
given a permit by the authorities as rinderpest, a disease which
attacked livestock, was easily carried from one part of the country
to another. Having secured the permit to Vereeniging, they built
five enormous rafts of four tonnes each. An excited crowd gathered
on the banks of the Wilge in Harrismith the day they were to leave.
The whole town turned out to watch the embarkation of the rafts.
Theo, James, Albert and fifteen natives made up the crew. From the
main raft flew the Union Jack and Mr. Warden, the magistrate, was
a passenger for the first hundred yards of the journey. Seventeen
miles down from Harrismith they stopped for the night. At dawn,
they started to hit unexpected currents and they continuously
Maluti Berg & Dal • Winter 2017 • 6
had to push themselves off the muddy banks with poles. By that
afternoon they reached the crossing of the wagon road that came
from Bethlehem and as there was no bridge at this point, there was
a punt in operation. The heavy rafts were too heavy to manipulate
at a moment’s notice, so the inevitable happened. Suddenly one
of the natives shouted, “Baas, baas, Joseph is gone! We cannot find
him!” With one casualty, a waterfall, two-day delay at Frankfort
on the banks, a flash wave, and three months later they finally
arrived in Johannesburg. When the station master asked whether,
by spending a little money, it would be possible to use the rivers
in future Theo laughed and answered, “No, a 1000 times no!”
Certainly, he would never attempt that again!
Presently, Harrismith is well known as an overnight or refreshment
stop along the N3 route, but it has much more to offer. Beyond
the highway is a tidy town with many elegant late nineteenth
century buildings made of hewn sandstone. The beautiful tourist
attractions include the Harrismith Town Hall, built in 1907; the
former Drakensberg Botanical Garden (founded as a national
botanical garden in 1967 but unfortunately now defunct);
numerous trails and the Donkey Pass road to the Platberg summit
and Platberg Reserve. Sterkfontein Dam, the third largest dam in
South Africa, is located just outside of the town. Built before the
Lesotho Highlands Water Project was developed, this was a vital
source of water for Gauteng. It is ideal for water sport enthusiasts
and anglers. The scenic 18-hole Harrismith Golf Course, which
is arguably the third oldest in South Africa (after the Royal Cape
and George Golf Clubs), was founded in 1887. Kerkenberg is
the historical place where the Voortrekkers camped while their
leader, Piet Retief, descended into KwaZulu-Natal to negotiate for
land with the Zulu chief Dingane. Retief’s daughter painted her
father’s name and recorded the date, which was also his birthday,
on the rock where they held a church service. Beautiful Bushmen
Rock Art can be found at Tandjiesberg, only five kilometres out
of town. Harrismith is the best access point to the northernmost
Drakensberg, including the Tugela Falls and Mont-Aux Sources
“Today we are proud to have companies
like Nouwens Carpets that opened its doors
during the early fifties, Nestlé, Nampak and
Highway Junction ...”
Photos on this spread: Opposite page top left to right: H.M. The King, H.M. The Queen, Royal Princesses, Mrs Wright, daugther of Sir Harry Smith,
Newspaper climping about the “Royal” Blanket, (bottom left) image of the “Royal” Blanket. Above: Platberg - by JMK (Wikimedia.org) / Harrismith
Town Hall (Souvenir Programme – Royal visit to Harrismith).
Maluti Berg & Dal • Winter 2017 • 7
south of Harrismith on the R57, the Drakensberg World Heritage
Site (66 kilometre southeast via Oliviershoek Pass beyond
Sterkfontein Dam) and the spectacular Golden Gate Highlands
National Park (50 kilometres south of the town on the R712).
Today we are proud to have companies like Nouwens Carpets
that opened its doors during the early fifties, Nestlé, Nampak and
Highway Junction – which is home to the largest truck stop in the
Southern Hemisphere. Harrismith also boasts its own local airstrip.
During our annual Berg Bohaai Festival (literally translated from
Afrikaans it means “mountain mania”) we have two very popular
races: the Dirty Harry and the Platberg Mountain Race. The latter
is a 15 kilometre foot race, described as the “toughest marathon
in the world” by Wally Hayward. It originated in 1922 when a
British soldier, Major A. E. Belcher, returned to Harrismith from
where he had been stationed near 42nd Hill during the Second
Anglo Boer War. He referred to Platberg as “that small hill of
yours” when he would talk to the locals, and one of the locals
immediately bet him that he could not reach the top in less than
60 minutes. Belcher accepted the challenge and covered the
distance with eight minutes to spare. Afterwards Major Belcher
presented a floating trophy to be awarded as a prize for the first
athlete to reach the top of the mountain. The record time today is
22 minutes and 9 seconds.
Three other places in the world bear the same name: Harrismith
Beach and Harrismith House near Bottom Bay in Barbados, and
Harrismith in the Wheat belt region of Western Australia.
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Sources
And not to yield – Penelope Matthews
Souvenir Programme – Royal visit to Harrismith
Harrismith News – March 15th 1947, Issue No. 2246
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Harrismith