The launch of the Forgotten Highway, the longest heritage route in South Africa, is currently underway.
This route follows the tracks of ancient travellers and was used by the !Xam, KhoeKhoe, Tswana, missionaries and explorers to travel as far as Central Africa.
The Forgotten Highway is regarded as the approximately 1 000 km from Tulbagh and Ceres in the south to Kuruman in the north – with several “cultural off-shoots”.
Aiming to reach Griquatown in the Northern Cape by Friday, 4 November, a convoy consisting of several horse-pulled carts and riders on horseback left Sutherland on Saturday, 22 October, for an inaugural expedition of 600 km.
The leader of the expedition is Piet Coetzer from Senekal, with a wagon pulled by six horses.
Last year, Coetzer and his team explored a part of the Forgotten Highway on own initiative. They travelled from Hopetown to Ceres as far as possible on the same route that had been used by the Gibson Brothers of the Red Star Lines who operated a coach service between Tulbagh and Kimberley during the diamond rush in the 1870s.
This expedition of Coetzer was followed by enthusiastic travellers and horse lovers who followed the journey on Facebook and a WhatsApp group.
For the launch of the route Coetzer is using the same wagon and, as last year, six black horses of the Vreugde Vlaamperd stud. They are Minister, Kimon, Tom, Karnet, Kristal and Klara.
‘Concept is gaining momentum’
The launch is supported by the Karoo Development Foundation (KDF). Prof. Doreen Atkinson, KDF trustee, says the focus of the route is to add attractions, activities, and experiences.
“The towns through which the route traverses, already have accommodation facilities. Local people can add many other themes to the route, such as the Anglo-Boer War, arts, crafts and ecotourism.”
Atkinson, who is presenting seminars along the way and in surrounding towns, says the interest in the Forgotten Highway is incredible.
She just came back from Williston and was on her way to join the expedition in Loxton.
The seminars are presented to those in the tourism industry, relevant persons at municipalities and any interested individual.
“Along the way we get more evidence and gain more information on the Forgotten Highway. We get bits and pieces, photos, and ruins.”
She is pleased that the concept is gaining momentum.
Those involved in the expedition have already attended the launch of two non-fiction books on the Karoo in Sutherland; experienced the Sutherland on Foot walk; enjoyed local roosterkoek and pancakes; saw a local dance group, Die Stoftrappers, in action; and took part in a Karoo fossil tour in Fraserburg.
For the duration of the launch any member of the public is welcome to join the convoy, even if it is just for a part of the route.
It must, however, be done at own cost and with own transport. People on horseback or with horse or donkey pulled carts, and even cyclers, are welcome to join.
‘Most exciting project since Karoo Lamb’
This launch expedition is described as one of the most exciting projects the KDF has launched since it achieved the registration of Karoo Lamb as a geographic indicator in 2015.
According to this indicator, only lamb from the Karoo can be marketed and sold as Karoo Lamb, and the animal must have been raised and fed in certain Karoo circumstances.
The Forgotten Highway route traverses several regions including the Ceres-Karoo, Roggeveld, Nuweveld, Bo-Karoo, Griqualand West, onto the Ghaap, and into the Kalahari.
According to a press release of the KDF, the Moffat Mission in Kuruman, since 1823 was the last stop from the Cape into the deeper African interior. It was also Africa’s link to the Cape. The Moffat Mission is one of two heritage beneficiaries of the launch expedition. The other is the sandstone Senekal Dutch Reformed Church (1896), nominated by Coetzer.
Parts of the route were based on pathways well-trodden by the !Xam and other hunter-gatherer groups, later by KhoeKhoe herders with their sheep and cattle, Tswana farmers at the northern end, and Xhosa groups who entered the Karoo, taking up residence there and along the Gariep from the late eighteenth century.
From the late 1700s, a trickle of white and frontiersmen of mixed blood, hunters and fugitives, traders, explorers and missionaries were followed by a steadier spread of trekboer farmers.
The route reflects the rich social tapestry that created South Africa, the KDF stated.
The San, Korana, Xhosa (at Prieska and Carnarvon), the Griqua at Griquatown, and the Thlaping near Kuruman, met the incomers in widely varying types of encounters – trade, statebuilding, military power, conflict, and religious competition.
The main theme of the route is “Encounters” – of people often out of their comfort zones and meeting others of different cultural background.
Very often, the KDF stated, the result was an intercultural mosaic of mutual influences.
The route
The Forgotten Highway route stretches through, amongst others: Tulbagh, Ceres, Sutherland, Fraserburg, Williston, Loxton, Carnarvon, Vanwyksvlei, Prieska, Niekerkshoop, Griekwastad, Daniëlskuil, Postmasburg, Campbell and Kuruman.
“Cultural off-shoots” of the route include the southern Free State (such as Philippolis, also a Griqua state); the Witsand Nature Reserve in the Langeberg; and Olifantshoek, Kathu and Deben in the Kalahari.
According to Atkinson the purpose is to awaken the historical awareness of local people along the route, helping them realise how special their environment is.
Also, other South Africans will explore the environments through which their ancestors travelled, and foreign visitors will help celebrate the historical significance of remarkable events.
The route involves at least eight local municipalities: Witzenberg (Tulbagh and Ceres), Karoo-Hoogland (Williston, Fraserburg and Sutherland), Kareeberg (Carnarvon), Siyathemba (Prieska), Siyancuma (Griquatown), Tsantsabane (Postmasburg), Kgatelopele (Daniëlskuil) and Ga-Segonyana (Kuruman).
Four district municipalities are found along the route, that of the Cape Winelands, Central Karoo, Pixley ka Seme, JT Gaetsewe, and ZF Mgcawu.
Until the route is fully established, it will be managed by the KDF, an NGO working for the benefit of the Karoo (www.karoofoundation.co.za).
The schedule
The expedition left Sutherland on Saturday, 22 October, has passed Fraserburg and is currently in the Loxton area. The overnight stops for the rest of the route are:
- Thursday, 27 October: Pampoenpoort, east of Carnarvon
- Friday, 28 October: Carnarvon
- Saturday, 29 October: On a farm along the route
- Sunday, 30 October: Rest day on the farm
- Monday, 31 October: On a farm along the route
- Tuesday, 1 November: On a farm along the route
- Wednesday, 2 November: Prieska
- Thursday, 3 November: On a farm close to Niekerkshoop
- Friday, 4 November: Griquatown
- Saturday, 5 November: Return home
- For more information on the route, contact Atkinson, KDF trustee, at doreen@karoofoundation.co.za, or WhatsApp on 071-401-2583, who has also compiled a Forgotten Highway Guidebook.
- For more information on the expedition, contact Coetzer on pietcoetzer1@gmail.com, or WhatsApp on 073-852-7420.
- Follow the expedition on the Facebook page Ons Karoo en Kontrei.
