The First Karoo Parliament
11 October 2013
Record of proceedings
For further information, contact
Prof Doreen Atkinson
CONTENTS
The Karoo Parliament
Gawie van Wyk: Mentorship of emerging farmers
Thinus Jonker: Feral goats in the Tankwa Karoo
Bruce Rubidge: Sustainable Palaeotourism
Wilhelm Theron and Gwen Pekeur: Laingsburg public-private partnerships in action
Carmel Rickard: The Smithfield “Platteland Preview”
Priscilla Booyse: The Rupert Education Foundation
Katie du Toit: The Karoo Eisteddfod
John Donaldson: Boekbedonnerd Festival, Richmond
Judy Maguire: Winter school in Prince Albert
Brian Wilmot:Schreiner House in Cradock
Zahn Spies: Flock ladies of the Karoo, Petrusville
Hanlie Snyman: Foetal Alcohol Syndrome in the Karoo
Sonnett Olls: Middelburg Art Festival
Deon Beneke: Cleaning your CBD, Philippolis
Bonnie Schumann: Rabbit Conservation in the Karoo
Ludwig Everson, Orania: Earthships
Sindisile Madyo: An energy hub in Pixley ka Seme
Pieter Snyman: SKA in Carnarvon
Mr Paarwater: A development plan for Petrusville
The Karoo Parliament
The Karoo Development Conference, which was held in Beaufort West from 15-17 October 2012, led to several important resolutions.
The most urgent is the creation of a Karoo Tourism Association, which can act as the co-ordinating body for provincial, district and local tourism initiatives. Such an Association will build on the work already being done by government agencies, municipalities and private businesses.
Many tourism products cross provincial boundaries. Ms Lisa Antrobus-Ker of the Cradock Tuishuise gave a keynote speech at the Karoo Tourism Power-marketing session. She referred to two new Karoo tourism products, which need to be organized on a regional basis. The first is the Olive Schreiner Route, which can include Cradock, Middelburg, Hanover, De Aar, Colesberg and Matjiesfontein. The second is Karoo Cuisine, linking restaurants, guest farms, farm stalls, and delicatessens throughout the Karoo. Other tourism opportunities include ecotourism, Khoisan heritage sites, biking, 4x4 routes, and Anglo-Boer war sites. More information on Karoo tourism can be found at
The conference also discussed the importance of mutton farmers joining the Karoo Lamb project. They can obtain a certification mark for genuine Karoo Lamb, by registering on Black and coloured farmers using municipal commonages are also encouraged to register. They can then get a better price for their products.
The conference offered several papers on shale gas mining, or "fracking". There was a vibrant discussion at the Great Fracking Debate. Most speakers were negative about shale gas mining, because of its potential impacts on the environment. However, Mr Rob Jeffrey of Econometrix and Prof Maarten de Wit of NMMU highlighted the importance of shale gas exploration, so that we know how much shale gas actually exists in the Karoo.
The guest speaker of the conference, Prof Jonathan Jansen of the University of the Free State, urged the Karoo to improve the quality of their schools, to create the human resources to take development forward in the region.
Further information on the Karoo Development Conference (2012) can be found on
The Conference found that many exciting developments are taking place in Karoo towns, but that they are poorly co-ordinated. Consequently, a "Karoo Parliament" will be held on an annual basis, where Karoo towns can share their experiences and lessons. The "Parliament" will be an opportunity for Karoo stakeholders to reflect on new development strategies. The word "parliament" is derived from the French word "parler", meaning "to talk", and that is what the Karoo needs to do!
The KDF decided that the first Karoo Parliament would take place in Philipstown, Northern Cape, on Friday 11 October 2013. Each Karoo town was requested to send at least three delegates: One from the private sector or community organizations, one from the municipality, and one from the farming community. All four Karoo provinces were invited: Northern Cape, Western Cape, Eastern Cape and southern Free State.
The theme of the Karoo Parliament was: “Sharing our Successes”. Such best practice experience could include: Tourism initiatives, agriculture and food security, farm worker development; arts and crafts; choirs; sports development projects; health projects; crèches; primary or high school development programmes; waste recycling; small businesses with innovative products or reaching new markets; infrastructure development; beautification of urban areas; care for the elderly; and animal welfare projects, etc.
The KDF structured this event is a wonderful opportunity to celebrate the unsung heroes of the Karoo.
In hosting its Parliament, the KDF relied extensively on the resources of the University of the Free State (Prof Doreen Atkinson and Ms Anita Harmse) and the University of Pretoria (Prof Johann Kirsten).
Mentorship of emerging farmers
Gawie van Wyk, Karoo farmer, Carnarvon
Mr van Wyk reflected on commonage development near Carnarvon. Government had purchased a farm next to his own farm in Carnarvon. He is on good term with the farmers on the commonage. Together with the Northern Cape Department of Agriculture, a plan was compiled to assist the commonage farmers.
The Department donated ewes, provided training, and the project even won a prize for financial management. Two bakkies were donated for the two commonage farms, each with a project logo.
Mr van Wyk reflected that the emergent farmer’s perceptions about farming are very different. They are used to very small numbers of livestock. Suddenly they had to manage a 10000 ha farm and 800 ewes. The new farmers tended to spend their cash resources too freely, although they later became more prudent, and they have managed to save 10% of their income, for difficult times.
The new farmers, assisted by the Department, compiled a Code of Conduct, which specified that anyone who undermines the co-op, would be prosecuted.
Farmers are now exposed to decision-making in their own right, and they have to manage the consequences themselves. People are learning pride in their work, and this reduces the dependency syndrome. In fact, the mentors and the local farmers don’t want to describe the new farmers as “emergent” any more, as they are already functioning as commercial farmers.
Every year they participate in slaughtering competitions, and in recent contests, they got the highest score in the country. This success story has been written in various media, e.g. Landbouweekblad and Farmers Weekly. This is seen as a flagship project.
Mr van Wyk highlighted the need for a very good relationship between farmers, mentors, and the Department of Agriculture. He argued that commercial farmers need to become much more involved with the new farmers.
It is always a challenge to identify good potential farmers. Some of them have other jobs as well, and don’t only depend on agriculture. Many farmers need additional income streams in order to survive in agriculture. Farm workers often have the most effective background in agriculture. In some cases, the projects kept the farm workers who were on the farm already, to function as managers on the new commonage farms.
Environmental management remains a challenge, because there is not a system of rotational grazing yet.
The relationship with the municipality remains distant (even though the municipality is the owner of the land). But in fact, this is not a bad thing, as it prevents undue political interference.
Feral goats in the Tankwa Karoo
Thinus Jonker, Department of Agriculture, Northern Cape
Current genetic diversity amongst livestock populations of the world is the combined effort of thousands of years of natural selection, controlled breeding and animal husbandry. In fact, many breeds have become extinct over the past six years. Most of the world’s growing demand for livestock product is met by a few species through intensive production. This is a threat to agro-biodiversity.
In various parts of the world, feral populations of livestock include cattle, pigs, sheep, goats, horses and donkeys. These may be a potential source of genetic variation that might not be present in modern livestock breeds.
There are various conservation options for such feral livestock:
- Keep them in situ (i.e. in the place where they currently live) as a free-living population, to retain genetic diversity
- Maintain them in situ in a restricted area
- Move them to less sensitive land, but allow them to be free-ranging.
- Maintain a captive population; this is the least advantageous option, according to Mr Jonker.
The Northern Cape Department of Nature Conservation has issued a tender for the management of the Tankwa Reserve. Nomadic farmers already farmed with sheep in this region, as far back as 2000 years ago. The first trekboers arrived in the 18th century. The goats have already been wild for 80 years. Mr Jonker estimates that there are between 130 and 200 feral goats. They have a great colour variation.
These goats are very shy, and tend to hide in the rocky outcrops. One can often visit the area without seeing any of these goats. Capturing them will be very difficult. A few traps were built in the area. Some goats were captured and taken to Carnarvon.
SANPARKS wants to remove the entire goat population. SANPARKS requires this area as a bio-hotspot. SANPARKS argues that even though the goats only inhabit 2% of the park, they could have an impact on the rest of the park.
The Northern Cape Department of Agriculture prefers to have a sustainable goat population in the Reserve. It has reserved a 1000 ha site, where it is working with 100 adult goats. This is now a viable population of these goats. The breed has been registered, and the DoA collects phenotype data from blood samples and DNA. This is important, because these feral goats represent genetic biodiversity.
There are various questions about the way forward. Are the goats a threat to the plant biodiversity that SANPARKS wants to conserve? Is there sufficient public participation regarding the removal of the goats form the Park? Can’t they be preserved there on site?
Mr Jonker argued that feral goats are a unique and genetically distinct population, which should be preserved for the people of the Karoo. The Department does not have the funding to purchase more land to house these goats.
Clearly, much more discussion with SANPARKS is required. SANPARKS has agreed to farmers using the land, so it is not clear SANPARKS is so concerned to have the goats removed.
Sustainable Palaeotourism and the Kitching Fossil museum
Prof Bruce Rubidge, University of the Witwatersrand
The earliest evidence of life came from South Africa, where there are early signs of the origins of fishes and life on land. Furthermore, dinosaurs and mammals also evolved in South Africa. This makes South Africa – and in particular, the Karoo – a key fossil area in the world. The fossil heritage of the Karoo dates from around 300 million to 180 million years ago. There are signs of the development of all four-legged animals in South Africa. We also have the most distant ancestors of tortoises in this country. Our most distant ancestors came from the Karoo.
About 300 million years ago, Dwyka rocks were laid down in South Africa, and in particular, the Karoo. This period lasted until about 180 million years ago, and so it records 120 million years of continuous history. This was era called “Pangea”, when the world consisted of one linked continent. This is the only place in the whole world has the whole story of all these eras.
Fish and amphibians were the only animals were backbones. Then reptiles diversified into tortoises, mammals and lizards, snakes, birds and dinosaurs. The crucial distinguishing mark of these species is the number of holes behind the eyes.
With dinosaur fossils, it is now evident that dinosaur mothers looked after the nest of tiny dinosaurs – this the oldest evidence of mothering in the animal kingdom.
In the Karoo, James Kitching built up a biomap of different species through time. With our dating methods, we can use them to correlate with other sequences in the world. Fossils have been found in numerous Karoo towns: In Laingsburg and New Bethesda, for example, there are animals with different kinds of palate bones. Near Colesberg, new fossils were found within an erdvarkgat.
In the last 500 million years, there have been five major extinction events. The fossil record of the dinosaur extinction event is clearly visible in the Lootsberg pass.
The Owl House in Nieu Bethesda currently receives about 15000 visitors per year. From its success, the idea of the Kitching Fossil Centre in the same town was born. Some donor funds were sourced from government and industry, and local guides have been trained. These guides take people around the river bed and explain the significance of natural features. If we can set up similar ventures in other towns, we can have a fossil tourism route throughout the Karoo.
Karoo fossil tourism will require training first, to prevent fossils being destroyed. In Nieu Bethesda, the Owl House offered a valuable platform. The Department of Arts and Culture, and the Department of Science and Technology, both supported the initiative. The new Centre of Excellence in Palaeontology at Wits has a mandate to establish such centres. Problem is that the farmers feel that the archaeologists take the fossils away. Generally, the regulations specify that all fossils have to be kept in museums, but the farmers want them on the farm in order to show tourists. But then there must be regulations to ensure that these items are looked after properly.
Can this research not be made available to children of the Karoo at school? One possibility is that, with the new Centre of Excellence, there will be an outreach officer who can link with towns and schools. It would help greatly if municipalities can fund salaries for local people to help to protect the local fossil resources. New university in the Northern Cape will have a strong heritage division.
We need to design a a broader paleo working group, designing a collective programme in partnership with provincial and municipal governments, as well as farmers and communities.
Laingsburg public-private partnerships in action
Wilhelm Theron (Mayor) and Gwen Pekeur (IDP Manager)
Municipalities do not have the capacity to manage businesses successfully, especially if they have to compete in the market and they have to make a profit. Laingsburg LM therefore has a partnership with the private sector, where the LM provides budgetary resources, and the private sector manages various initiatives.
PPPs take place when government can see a need, and collaborates with the private sector. An agreement is signed, and the private sector takes the bulk of the risk, and government benefits from the relationships. In this way, Laingsburg established the Laingsburg Tourism Association as a Special Purpose Vehicle (SPV) to build and operate the Laingsburg Tourism Centre.
Laingsburg is a small municipality, but it motivates local people to improve the town, invest and attract tourists. Laingsburg mainly known for its devastating flood, and its flood memorial, but it offers much morel
Laingsburg initiated a Participatory Apparisal of Competitive Advantage (PACA), which promotes LED as a collective approach to bring about change. “LED is not a thing we do, but the way we do things.” The PACA process identified tourism as one of one of the most important sectors in the economy. PPPs were identified as a tool to grow our economy. The LM will only facilitate, while the private sector must drive development. The PPP clarified various roles, projects, champions, funders and methods.
PACA identified various local advantages in Laingsburg, such as (a) Karoo Lamb, (b) the N1 highway, (c) alternative energy, (d) a safe and peaceful environment, (e) starlit skies, (f) geology, and (g) nearby Matjiesfontein and Floriskraaldam.
Through the PPP, Laingsburg is being marketed as an N1 stop. The town offers free wifi. It offers a geology information centre, fracking and energy information centre, skills development programme, cleanest, the slogan of being the “greenest and coolest Karoo town”.
The tourism centre was built in 2007, and a Tourism Association was established in 2008. An MOU was signed between the LM and tourism Association, which clarified their respective roles. There tasks were to manage the centre, promote SMMEs, market the town, develop tourism, promote community-based tourism, develop niche projects, and encourage the production and sale of arts and crafts.