Pass Repairs to Restart Soon
The Bag That Builds
Recycling plastic isn’t nearly as simple as one might think. Not only does plastic that goes to recycling have to be clean, but it must also be separated into one of seven types – not all of which are recyclable. A pilot project currently underway in the valley could help turn conventional wisdom about plastic recycling on its head.
The second phase of repairs to the Franschhoek Pass to restore damage caused during the storms and associated flooding of September 2023 is expected to commence in March 2025.
Since the heavy downpours on the Heritage Day weekend of 2023, the provincial infrastructure department has undertaken initial repairs to the pass. These repairs, according to departmental spokesperson Jandré Bakker, were emergency repairs aimed at restoring access and stabilising damaged areas to avoid further damage. Since the completion of these repairs, several temporary stop-go systems have been in operation on the pass. A 5-tonne weight limit was also instituted.
Bakker confirmed that the engineering design of the permanent repairs has been completed and that the final documentation is nearing completion. The second phase of repairs will be undertaken as part of the greater project to repair and upgrade the R45 from the Theewaterskloof intersection to the Old Paarl Rd intersection. The total value of the project is almost R600 million.
During 2024 work on the R45 (aka Main Road 191 in provincial terminology) focussed on resurfacing the newer sections and a number of intersection upgrades. With that work nearing completion, the focus has now shifted to the reconstruction of the old section of the R45 from the R310 intersection to the intersection with Old Paarl Road. Work along this section includes realigning the road and the construction of a new bridge over the railway line to replace the flood-prone historic railway bridge. The expected completion date for the MR 191 project is October 2026.
On Thursday, 8 December 2022, the first 830 bags of plastic waste collected in the valley were sent to a cutting-
At the heart of the pilot project is a technology developed by the Center for Regenerative Design & Collaboration (CRDC). The technology allows plastic to be converted into an eco-additive – RESIN8 –that is added to concrete in the manufacturing of structural and other concrete products.
Bakker reminded road users who have been frustrated by delays caused by the construction work that the long-term benefits of the work
Replacing up to 20% of natural aggregates with RESIN8 in concrete product manufacture has several advantages: It improves the performance characteristics of concrete products, reduces the amount of quarried material used in the concrete and removes plastic waste from the environment. Best of all, all seven types of plastic can be converted into RESIN8 and it doesn’t have to be clean to be used.
Landslides have undermined the pass road in several places.
take part in the pilot programme.
outweigh the short-term frustrations. He also pointed out that many other areas also suffered flood damage. “We have to balance resources with need throughout the province, which forces us to (undertake) repairs in phases.”
Text & Image: Editorial Desk
YearBeyond Applications Are Open
CRDC SA has a processing plant in Cape Town from where the local leg of a global programme titled ‘The Bag That Builds’ is being rolled out. The programme is named after the distinctive green bags that are used to collect plastics for recycling.
The pilot programme will run for three months from 1 January 2023 as part of a larger cleaning and recycling effort that is coordinated by members of the Franschhoek Heritage and Ratepayers Association (FHRPA). Current initiatives include the privatelyfunded clean-up crew that cleans areas that are outside municipal jurisdiction or that need extra cleaning, the installation (and servicing) of refuse bins where they are lacking and monthly community clean-ups.
The Department of Cultural Affairs and Sport has announced the opening of applications for unemployed youth to be part of the YearBeyond programme – an opportunity to gain valuable working experience while also giving back to their communities.
Individuals and companies are rewarded per bag of plastic they collect, making it a simple way for anyone to earn a small income while improving the environment. A collection drive in the Langrug community has already led to the coining of the phrase ‘pick up your money’ to inspire residents to
Irmela Alberts, co-chair of the FHRPA says “We’re excited by both the environmental and economic opportunities this pilot programme presents for the valley. Our challenge now is to find ways to make it sustainable, so that the pilot programme can become a permanent one. We will keep the Franschhoek Valley cleaner, send significantly less rubbish to the landfill and through the involvement of the local schools contribute to creating a mindset where people litter less”
YearBeyond is a youth in service partnership between Government, the National Youth Development Agency, donors, and NGOs.
Initiated in the Western Cape, it is a national programme that provides unemployed
For more information or if you have any form of plastic that you want to get rid of feel free to contact Jocelyn at 073 587 6132.
youth (18-25 years old) with meaningful work experience and a pathway to further studies or work, while at the same time encouraging a culture of community service.
Text: Editorial Desk | Image: Supplied
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There are various streams within the YearBeyond programme where youth can be placed. In order to qualify, youth must be between the ages of 18 and 25, live within a 5km radius of a YearBeyond site (map available on website) and must be registered on the SAYouth.Mobi platform. Some of the streams have additional qualification criteria like minimum matric marks in languages or maths.
Provincial Minister of Cultural Affairs and Sport, Ricardo Mackenzie, said, “Youth unemployment and disillusionment is still a pressing matter that we must continuously address. Through the YearBeyond programme, young people who are unsure as to what their next steps are can take up an opportunity to gain a year’s practical experience, improve their CV and gain important skills which will help them to access future employment opportunities as employees or employers. We want to offer our youth
this hand up to help them take the next steps towards in becoming successful adults.”
Premier Alan Winde remarked, “I am very proud of YearBeyond and our Yeboneers. When I meet them, I am always astounded by the enthusiasm and dedication of these young people. This gives me hope. While the Western Cape’s youth unemployment is more than 10% lower than other provinces, we must keep working as hard as we can to enable young people to find jobs. This programme is critical in preparing young people for the job market and in helping to guide them to their future careers. I urge all qualifying youths to take advantage of this fantastic initiative.”
For more information and to apply, you can go to www.yearbeyond.org The closing dates for the different streams vary – all information is available online.
Text: Editorial Desk
Muni Plans Clampdown on Short Term Rentals
Stellenbosch Municipality is drafting a complete replacement of the current Zoning Scheme By-law of 2019. In most respects, the effect of the replacement will be very similar. However, there will be a fundamental change that will have a major impact on Franschhoek.
As reported in the October Tatler, a survey by the Franschhoek Heritage & Ratepayers Association (FHRPA) in August 2024, found that 51% of houses and flats in the village are not occupied by permanent residents and 34% (201) are used illegally for Short Term Rental (STR) – e.g. AirBnB. In terms of the current Zoning Scheme, permission is required for STR lettings for more than 30 days in a year.
The FHRPA believes STRs are an important part of the mix of tourist accommodation for our visitors but there must be a balance between the number of houses and flats in the village used for STR and those occupied by permanent residents. The continuing growth in the number used, repurposed and developed for STR is undermining the village’s residential character and having adverse socio-economic impacts.
For many years the FHRPA’s calls for the Municipality to use the powers it has and adopt policies and new powers to control the growth in STRs in the village fell on deaf ears. However, in the draft replacement Zoning Scheme, STR use of a whole house or flat will be restricted to a second or additional dwelling on the same land unit subject to a Consent Use – unless it is already legal.
As there are very few, if any, houses in the village where there is a second or additional dwelling on the same land unit or it is large enough for one to be built, the effect of the restriction will be to exclude all STRs in the village currently operated without permission.
It is unclear whether the Municipality has the capacity to enforce compliance with such a restriction.
The STR letting of one or two rooms in a house or flat where the owner is resident will continue to be permitted.
The FHRPA has proposed a scheme for an “Overlay Zone” that will arrest STR growth, enable currently illegal STRs in the village to legitimise and see a gradual reduction in their number to an acceptable level. The FHRPA’s STR Survey and this proposal are on its website - www.fhrpa.co.za.
The draft replacement Zoning Scheme is expected to be available for public comment in the next few months. The FHRPA will continue to engage with the Municipality with regard to STRs and other issues in the draft replacement Zoning Scheme.
Text: Barry Phillips
Happiness is... a Matric Pass!
pass rate. The Tatler and its readers wishes them well with their future endeavours!
100% Pass Rate for Bridge House Matrics
Bridge House School is celebrating an outstanding achievement as the Class of 2024 secured a 100% pass rate in the IEB Matric examinations, alongside an impressive 97% bachelor’s degree pass rate. These remarkable results, the school says, reflect the dedication, hard work, and exceptional performance of both students and teachers alike.
A standout achievement in this year’s results is Phoebe McIntosh, who earned a place on the prestigious IEB Commendable Achievement List, ranking within the top 5% of all IEB students nationally in five subjects. Her dedication and excellence are truly commendable, and she has set a high standard for future generations of Bridge House students.
Key Highlights from the 2024 Matric Results: 35 individual subject marks above 90% 21 students out of 67 achieved 5 or more distinctions
38% of individual subject results were distinctions (80% or higher)
62% of individual subject results were 70% or higher
84% of individual subject results were 60% or higher
60% of students achieved an average of 70% or higher
This year, Bridge House students placed in the top 1% nationally for their subject results in the following subjects:
Accounting: Bradley Griffin
Afrikaans First Additional Language: Leah Groeneveld & Emma Van der Waal
Business Studies: Kaylin Lange
English Home Language: Phoebe McIntosh
Further Studies Mathematics (Calculus & Algebra): Bradley Griffin
German Second Additional Language: Alina Wegendorf
Life Sciences: Phoebe McIntosh
Mathematics: Bradley Griffin
A number of students have achieved outstanding individual results, with several distinctions across multiple subjects:
Bradley Griffin: 7 distinctions, including Accounting (95%), English Home Language, Information Technology, Life Orientation, Mathematics (99%), Physical Sciences, and Further Studies Mathematics (98%).
Leah Groeneveld: 7 distinctions, including Accounting, Afrikaans First Additional Language (97%), English Home Language, Life Orientation, Life Sciences, Mathematics (92%), and Physical Sciences.
Phoebe McIntosh: 7 distinctions, including Afrikaans First Additional Language, English Home Language (93%), Geography (90%), Life Orientation (90%), Life Sciences (91%),
Mathematics (93%), and Physical Sciences (90%). Emma Van der Waal: 7 distinctions, including Afrikaans First Additional Language (94%), English Home Language, History, Life Orientation (90%), Mathematical Literacy, Music, and Visual Arts (94%).
Other Notable Achievements: Amelia Ansley, Ryan Bate, Chelsea de Villiers, Greta Goedvolk (Business Studies – 90%), Luke Groeneveld (Afrikaans First Additional Language –91%, Economics – 91%), Jana Joergensen (Business Studies – 90%), Borys Michaluk (Economics – 91%, Information Technology – 90%, Mathematics –93%), and Milà Roscherr (Economics – 90%) have also achieved excellent results. All of these students achieved 6 distinctions.
These exceptional performances demonstrate not only individual brilliance but the consistent excellence that Bridge House is known for, year after year.
Bridge House congratulates the Class of 2024 on their remarkable achievements and wishes them continued success as they embark on the next chapter of their academic and personal journeys. www.bridgehouse.org.za | (021) 874-8100 Text: Editorial Desk | Images: Bridge House
Bridge House Top Student Phoebe McIntosh
Bradley Griffin Emma van der Waal
Leah Groenewald
CAC Comments on Skytram
Stellenbosch Municipality’s Conservation Advisory Committee (CAC) at its meeting on 30 September 2024 recommended that the Skytram application for rezoning and various consent uses be refused. In a press statement, Franschhoek Cableway Company (Pty) Ltd (FCC) reacted to the minutes which have been posted on social media.
The CAC, which isn’t a decision-making body, was established by Stellenbosch Municipality in terms of its zoning scheme by-law of 2019 to comment on applications in the Urban and Rural Conservation Overlay Zones.
The CAC meeting’s minutes state: “In principle this Committee is unanimously opposed to the development based on the numerous fatally flawed reports and the seriousness of the proposed development’s negative impact on the land use, cultural and heritage landscape of Franschhoek and immediate surrounds. The cumulative footprint of the upper station will be excessive given the plans for the cable car station, wooden decks, a hang-gliding launching pad, helicopter landing, restaurant, curio shop, heritage centre, adventure centre, fire breaks, walking paths, amongst others.
“Given all submitted inputs, when the merits of the development application would be considered, it should result in a refusal.”
The FCC responds that “the CAC’s concerns are noted and disputed by the relevant specialist consultants tasked with assessing the impacts of the Franschhoek Cableway. The CAC’s comments are also premature as the various statutory processes are still underway.”
Barry Phillips, chairman of the Heritage Committee of the Franschhoek Heritage and Ratepayers Association, said that the CAC’s recommendation “is not a decision but it is expected to carry great weight with the Department of Forestry, Fisheries and the Environment in considering the application for environmental approval as well as with Heritage Western Cape and the Municipality in considering applications for heritage approval, consent uses and rezoning.”
This view is contradicted by the FCC who state, “it must be noted the neither the top or bottom stations of the Franschhoek Cableway are situated within the Municipality’s Urban and Rural Conservation Overlay Zone. As such, the CAC has no legal mandate (to
comment) in terms of the Zoning Scheme By-Law (from which they derive their powers).”
The FCC also commented that: “The design and layout of the top and bottom stations, and the offerings at these stations are conceptual and may still be amended based on comments received as part of the environmental and planning processes, and the project specialists’ recommendations. With the community’s constructive involvement, the project proponents are confident they can design and operate a world-class cableway that will be an asset to Franschhoek.”
Regarding the approval process the FCC says “Ultimately the relevant decision-makers need to arrive at a balanced decision which takes into account all identified impacts, the specialist assessment of those impacts, whether they are capable of adequate mitigation and if, on a balance, the socioeconomic benefits outweigh any identified environmental impacts, together with comments and responses received from interested parties and stakeholders.”
In related developments, the Tatler can report that the relevant heritage resources agency, Heritage Western Cape’s (HWC) Impact Assessment Committee resolved at their meeting on 6 December 2023 as follows: “The Committee supports the proposal in principle and look forward to more detailed information to come. The Committee indicated the preference for option A for the upper station in that it has more appropriate fits with topography.”
The next stage in the public participation process will be publication of a first draft BAR (Basic Assessment Report). Once it is published, the public will have 30 days to comment on it.
FHRPA’s Phillips confirmed that the Skytram Response Team that produced the comments on the pre-application BAR is ready to do so for the first draft BAR.
Text: Editorial Desk | Image: Franschhoek Skytram
Truck Blocks Pass
The Franschhoek Pass was closed from 7-8 January 2025 when a heavy goods vehicle almost overturned at the topmost hairpin bend. The truck – weighing far more than the allowed 5 tonnes – was using the pass in defiance of the 5-ton weight restriction imposed after the September 2023 floods.
The Tatler reached out to Stellenbosch Municipality and the Western Cape Department of Mobility for comment. The Department of Mobility responded via a spokesperson that “Any driver of a truck that disregards the relevant signage prohibiting such a vehicle to proceed … and utilise(s) the Pass will be prosecuted in terms of the National Road Traffic Act 93/1996.”
Local residents, who have expressed frustration at the apparent lack of visible enforcement of the weight restriction, will likely dispute the spokesperson’s statement that “Constant monitoring (takes place) and immediate action is taken against transgressors.”
According to Stellenbosch Municipality’s Traffic Services, the truck driver was fined by the Provincial Traffic Department for disregarding the 5-ton weight restriction, as well as for a defective tyre and an unsafe
La Motte Vin de Joie Rosé 2024
The delicate complexity of La Motte Vin de Joie Rosé with its well-defined notes of nectarine, melon, rose petal and Turkish delight is perfectly paired with the simplicity of leafy salads, delicate salmon and trout or finely sliced charcuterie in summer and comforting fish soup or saffronscented seafood paella in winter. Made to celebrate life’s everyday joys – whether they are social or simple.
Cellar door price: R110
T 021 876 8000
E info@la-motte.co.za
L’Ami Family Brasserie’s
Asparagus, Peas and Parmesan Platter on Lemony Crème Fraiche
Lemony crème fraiche ingredients
150 g crème fraiche
125 g medium fat herb and chives cream cheese
150 ml Greek style yoghurt
Zest of 1 lemon
30 ml lemon juice
Salt and black pepper
Salad ingredients
400 g asparagus, lightly steamed
80 g sugar snap peas, lightly steamed
30 g melted butter
15 ml lemon juice
125 g peas (defrosted baby peas)
2 avocadoes, sliced and seasoned (optional)
2 small Cos lettuces, cut into halves and/or quarters
Lemon wedges for serving 50 g parmesan shavings for serving
Method
Combine all the ingredients for the lemony crème fraiche and season to taste. Smear on a large serving platter. Toss the asparagus, peas and sugar snap peas with the melted butter and lemon juice and place on top of the dressing. Add the avocado (if using) and the Cos lettuce. Garnish with lemon wedges. Sprinkle over the parmesan shavings and finish off with a generous drizzle of olive oil and some black pepper.
Serve with crusty bread and La Motte Vin de Joie Rosé T 021 876 8000 | E lami.restaurant@la-motte.co.za
excitement of harvest, a season that showcases the heart of our wine culture. It’s also when we welcome the Franschhoek Chamber Music Festival, running from 13-16 February. This cherished event brings beautiful music to our doorstep, offering a perfect blend of culture and community spirit.
NEW MEMBER SPOTLIGHT
Huguenot House
Located on the outskirts of the picture-perfect town of Franschhoek, Huguenot House is a luxury guest house offering six elegantly designed rooms with stunning views.
Just a short drive from the bustling high street, this guest house is surrounded by wine estates and the natural beauty of the Winelands. It provides easy access to the area's renowned restaurants, museums, wine tasting experiences, and shops that make Franschhoek a sought-after destination.
With its tasteful decor and serene atmosphere, Huguenot House, a family-run establishment, is the ideal choice for a romantic retreat, offering a peaceful escape from the everyday hustle.
2025 FRANSCHHOEK EVENTS
- 16 February: Franschhoek Chamber Music Festival
- 18 May: Franschhoek Literary Festival
Franschhoek Chamber Music Festival 13 - 16 February 2025
Experience the magic of classical music in the historic Franschhoek Dutch Reformed Church. The concert series will showcase timeless works by Bacerou, Bach, Beethoven, Handel, Haydn, Mozart, and Pachelbel. Indulge in the finest Cap Classique from Le Lude, along with a selection of exquisite local wines and delectable food. Discover more & buy tickets: www.fcmf.co.za
31 May - 1 June: Winter Sculpture Fair at Nirox (taking place in the Cradle of Humankind, Johannesburg)
27 - 29 June: Franschhoek Mystery Weekend
12 - 13 July: Franschhoek Celebrates Bastille
25 - 27 July: Franschhoek Mystery Weekend
29 - 31 August: Franschhoek Mystery Weekend
30 - 31 August: Franschhoek Cap Classique Safari
4 - 5 October: Franschhoek Classic Car Festival
1 - 15 November: Franschhoek Creates
7 - 9 November: Franschhoek Open Gardens
29 - 30 November: Franschhoek Cap Classique & Champagne Festival
Keep an eye out for more event details: www.franschhoek.org.za
Wine Valley Team
Thoughts From My Kitchen
Chantal Lascaris
When Love Goes to Pot: Valentine’s Day Food Fiasco
When I was much younger and still dating my husband, I decided to impress him with a homecooked Valentine’s dinner. The only problem? I wasn’t much of a cook back then — though I did have a deep appreciation for good food. My skills in the kitchen were, let’s say, a work in progress
The evening started off well enough. I had tidied my apartment to perfection, determined to create the perfect setting. When it came time to tackle the food, I made a valiant effort, but by the end of it, the kitchen looked like a war zone, and my pot, which I’d used to make the sauce, was too messy to face. In a moment of “brilliance,” I shoved it into the oven, lid and all, shut the door, and figured I’d deal with it later.
Well, “later” turned into a couple of days. When
my husband-to-be wasn’t around, I survived on two minute noodles and leftovers, completely forgetting about the pot hidden in my secret storage compartment. Then one evening, with Valentine’s Day now behind us, I decided to reheat the oven for a meal.
As the oven warmed up, I noticed a strange smell — not the comforting aroma of fresh bread, but something decidedly… off. At first, I dismissed it, thinking it was just a bit of dust burning off (my oven wasn’t exactly well-used back then). But the smell grew stronger, morphing into an acrid, chemical tang that made me start to worry.
When I opened the oven door, I was greeted by a sight that still makes me cringe.
There was my poor pot, as I had left it—except now it was sporting a Salvador Dalí-inspired makeover. My once-trusty pot was barely recognizable. The lid-turned-puddle had solidified into a modern art
Historic Corkscrew Collection to Be Displayed
Leading local antiques dealer, The Old Corkscrew, will present an extraordinary collection of early corkscrews at the prestigious SAADA Antiques, Art & Design Fair, to be held at the Town Hall from 14 – 16 February 2025.
Jeremy Astfalck, founder of The Old Corkscrew, says that since the inception of the shop in 1994 it has championed the theme of wine collectables, with antique corkscrews becoming a mainstay in the stockholding. Jeremy initiated a meticulous cataloguing system to identify and classify the variations in corkscrew design. Over the past three decades, this system has evolved, enriched by contributions from collectors and academics worldwide.
Among the groundbreaking publications that have shaped this field is Corkscrews of the Eighteenth Century – Artistry in Iron & Steel (1995) by renowned American academic Bertrand Giulian. This seminal work explored the artistry of corkscrews from the 1680s, drawing upon
sculpture, firmly glued to both the pot and the rack. No amount of scraping, pleading, or questioning my life choices could undo the damage.
The smell lingered for days, and my oven now had the faint aroma of “burnt regret.” As for the pot? Let’s just say it was retired from active duty and now lives in the Hall of Household Shame. But that fiasco taught me an important lesson: when hosting a dinner, keep it simple, silly otherwise known as KISS. Cooking doesn’t have to be complicated to be special.
Tips for Stress-Free Valentine’s Dinners (or Any Hosted Meal):
1. Pick Easy Recipes: Don’t use this as an opportunity to experiment. Stick to dishes you’ve made before or ones with a few simple steps. A perfectly cooked pasta or a roast chicken is far less stressful than an elaborate soufflé.
2. Prep Ahead: Chop, marinate, and measure ingredients earlier in the day to save yourself from last-minute panic.
3. Use One-Pot Wonders: A hearty stew, risotto, or tray bake can be as comforting as it is convenient. Fewer dishes to clean = happier host.
collections from esteemed institutions such as the Musée Le Secq des Tournelles in France, the Victoria and Albert Museum in London and international private collections. The upcoming exhibition holds special significance, as it features pieces from Giulian’s personal collection, all meticulously documented in his book. This unique offering presents a rare opportunity for collectors, wine farms, restaurants, or museums to acquire one of the most comprehensively documented collections in the field— enhancing their reputation and securing global recognition.
Text: Editorial Desk | Image: The Old Corkscrew
5. Clean As You Go: Avoid my oven “storage” solution and keep things tidy as you cook — your future self will thank you.
4. Delegate Dessert: Buy a quality dessert from a bakery or serve something no-fail, like ice cream with fresh berries.
So, whether you’re celebrating Valentine’s Day or just hosting friends for lunch, remember: good food and good company are all you need. And for the love of all things culinary, don’t use the oven as a
La Motte Experience
Reimagined
The historic La Motte Wine Estate re-opened in mid-December 2024. The estate’s new guest experiences marks La Motte’s journey toward a refreshed brand identity rooted in both the heart of the land and the soul of its community.
The reimagined farm experience balances La Motte’s heritage and values with accessible, elevated offerings that honour both its French heritage and South African roots. Guests will be able to explore new and thoughtfully curated spaces, from a warm and inviting tasting room celebrating La Motte’s exceptional wine to a familyfriendly brasserie, a refreshed farm shop, and an Ateljee, a creative hub showcasing art as well as the craftsmanship of local artisans.
“Opening our family farm to the public is about sharing what makes La Motte special,” says the La Motte family. “With this refresh of the farm, we’re building on our heritage to create a renewed sense of place – a space that feels rooted, welcoming, and alive with new experiences.”
L’Ami Family Brasserie
L’Ami (“friend” in French), the new family brasserie at La Motte, is a space where moments are savoured, and meals are shared. With its relaxed
indoor ambiance and an inviting wrap-around stoep, it is the perfect setting to gather and enjoy the simple pleasure of a beautifully prepared meal.
L’Ami brings together the rich flavours of France and South Africa, with a menu inspired by seasonal, farm-sourced ingredients and the artistry of open-fire cooking, paired with La Motte’s exceptional wines.
Enjoy an à la carte menu for lunch from Wednesday to Saturday, or join for dinner on Friday and Saturday evenings. On Sundays, guests are invited to share a special meal, prepared with care and connection at heart. A children’s menu is also available.
Wine Experience
In the La Motte Tasting Room, guests are invited to slow down, to appreciate, and to explore seasonal wine experiences that embody the estate’s unwavering dedication to quality and authenticity.
Now extended to a tranquil veranda overlooking a serene pond and the estate’s gardens, it is a setting designed to inspire connection - both with the
wine and the moment.
Farm Shop
Inspired by the natural beauty of La Motte and its passion for artistry craftsmanship, the La Motte Farm Shop is the brainchild of Berdine Swart, owner of The Local Edit and founder of The Apiary Studio.
Working under the creative direction of Marize Albertyn, the shop offers a carefully curated selection of artisan-made treasures. From handwoven linen and bespoke kitchenware to pottery sourced from local kilns, each piece reflects La Motte’s dedication to excellence.
Ateljee
The Ateljee is a creative space to engage with artworks, artists and makers. The first season is themed “sharing that which brings great joy” and exhibits painting, ceramic and textile art and products, with a soon to be introduced programme of workshops and events presented by the artists and makers.
Spens
Stocked with everything required for a delightful picnic or a casual gathering at home, the La Motte Spens offers a charming nod to the old-fashioned farm pantry. This thoughtfully curated space is filled with quality, down-to-earth foods that celebrate the essence of farm life.
La Motte Artisanal Bakery & Garden Café
This charming day-time spot celebrates bread with a wonderful daily variety of freshly-baked options from the on-site wood-fired oven, available to purchase and take home while they also form the basis of the delicious seasonal menu. Enjoy beautiful breakfasts, light lunches and tempting patisserie.
JAN Franschhoek
JAN Franschhoek Season III is currently underway at La Motte. This exceptional food and wine experience is presented at a charming historic cottage, the Veepos, right in the middle of picturesque lavender fields. It combines the nostalgia of a South African family table with Jan Hendrik van der Westhuizen’s Michelin-star culinary innovation.
Hiking & More
The estate’s mountainside hiking trail remains a popular activity for those who enjoy the outdoors, while a programme of art, history and cultureinspired events and intimate experiences will be announced shortly.
www.la-motte.com | 021 876 8000
Text: Editorial Desk | Image: Supplied
The reimagined La Motte Tasting Room
SAADA Cape Fair Back in Town
The South African Antique, Art & Design Association (SAADA) is staging its Cape Fair in the Franschhoek Town Hall from 14-16 February. This boutique-style event brings together nine of South Africa’s top antique and art dealers to showcase their exciting new stock in an intimate setting.
A curated selection of fine art, 20th-century design, antiques, ceramics, silver, jewellery, vintage clothing, coins and more will be on offer. Fair highlights include: an early 19th century magnificent Cape neo-classical yellowwood and stinkwood inlaid jonkmanskas from the Southern Cape (presented by Riaan Bolt Antiques); a pair of circa 1940 Austrian Art Deco brass golfers by Hagenauer (presented by The Old Corkscrew) and a striking 18-carat gold, diamond and carnelian necklace by Margaret Richardson (presented by Bancroft).
To celebrate a weekend of love, SAADA will be hosting a special Valentine’s Day event on Friday
immersing yourself in a world of timeless beauty. Whether you are looking to spoil a loved one or yourself, the Fair is bound to have whatever your heart desires.
SAADA is steeped in history and tradition. Founded in 1963, it is the oldest association of its kind in South Africa. Keeping up with the ever-changing times, SAADA has evolved into the modern association it is today by including modern and contemporary art, design, and jewellery into its portfolio. For them, it is all about quality and authenticity.
This year the Fair will be coinciding with the Franschhoek Chamber Music Festival, making Franschhoek the place to be the weekend of 14-16 February. Visitors will be treated to a weekend-long sensory experience, where fine antiques meet fine music, food and wine, in one of the Cape’s most beautiful towns! www.saada.co.za
Facebook: @SaadaAntiques
Tatler Motoring
MICHELE LUPINI
Mercedes-Benz’ Sublime CLS 300 Really Stands Out
CLE 300 quite a piece of kit for a middle of the range sled
Shaped by desire and inspired by dream cars, the new Mercedes-Benz CLE also goes back to the future to, for want of a better phrase, kill two birds with one stone. About fifteen years ago, Benz dropped what was in essence this car’s predecessor, the CLK. It covered both the C and E-Class’s coupé needs in one car.
But management wanted one coupé (and convertible) each for the C and E, and so it was for a generation or three. Then, lo and behold, two such similarly-sized sleek cars were deemed too many, and here we are. Back to square one. Or is that square CLE?
CLE 300: Your Two-in-One C and E-Class Coupé
Anyway, meet the new Mercedes-Benz CLE
300 4-matic, your two-in-one C-Class Coupé and E-Class Coupé all rolled into one sexy machine to satisfy the needs of everyone in what’s now a subtly broader niche. Stuttgart tells us that the new CLE is an athletic coupé boasting enhanced interior
luxury in integral sporty design with powerful electrified engines and 4Maric all-wheel drive for a dynamic experience. Sensual purity, in a nutshell.
Our ruby-red sampler certainly turned heads. Pictures don’t do it justice. It’s quite different from both the C and E coops it replaces. An emotional design from every angle, it’s a sporty and elegant two-door coupé that aptly defines Mercedes-Benz’ contemporary design language. Of flowing surfaces and seamless transitions. But Merc promises that this one goes its own way.
A progressive shark nose, 3D mouth, LED headlamps, and long, low clamshell hood topped by trademark SL power bubbles set a most elegant pace. A distinctive side profile highlighted by a single, bold character line further accentuates that stance. To leave no further explanation necessary as to what precisely this car is. If that’s impressive, wait till you swing that long door open.
This White Seated Cockpit Screams Sexy
It reveals a creamy and sensuous 64-color indirect ambient-lit cockpit that screams sexy. This one’s white leather pews and finishes are to, well, die for. It’s a driver-centered space. Getting back to those avant-garde sports design front seats, they’re developed exclusively for the CLE with integrated headrests that they promise get the very best of the car’s Burmester 3D surround audio.
There’s also new Easy-Entry rear access; even if getting into the back of a car like this will, by nature, never be easy. And we found the center console to
2025 L’Ormarins King’s Plate
“He’s phenomenal,” said trainer Vaughan Marshall of One Stripe after the threeyear-old caused a sensation when winning the L’Ormarins King’s Plate Grade 1 weightfor age race over 1 600m at Hollywoodbets Kenilworth on January 4. The race was the 164th renewal of South Africa’s oldest continuous horse race, which dates back to 1861. When asked what the Drakenstein Stud-bred One Stripe’s key attributes are, Marshall responded without hesitation, “It’s his speed, and that he’s got gears – jockey Gavin Lerena will confirm that …” As usual, FMM sent vehicles for display, all in the event’s colour theme of blue and white. The cars on view were the 1928 Ford Model A, 1955 Chevrolet Bel Air, and the 1965 Ford Mustang. The iconic 1953 BMW Isetta once again took pride of place in the Style Village, offering the perfect backdrop for the well–
dressed ladies and gentlemen in attendance. architecture. The tip of the fin, nicknamed ‘zap’, is 1 143 mm (45 inches) – the average height of a six-year child! FMM’s example is currently on view in Hall C as part of 20-car American-themed display.
Strong Season Attendance
It’s hard to believe 2025 has begun and that schools are open again. Time flies when you’re having fun! The museum had a busy season with 8 123 visitors passing through our doors between
Visiting Fmm
FMM’s opening time are Monday to Friday 10h00 to 18h00 (last admittance 17h00), Saturday and Sunday 10h00 to 17h00 (last admittance 16h00). Visiting the museum is by appointment only and via online booking. Entry fees: R90 adults, R70 pensioners and motor club members (with membership ID), R50 children (ages 3-12). Only electronic payments are accepted.
the 14 December 2024 and the 14 January 2025. We wish everyone a fantastic 2025 ahead and look forward to seeing many more people visiting us to see our exciting displays.
The famed FMM Pitstop Deli is open throughout the visiting hours, offering refreshments, sandwiches, snacks and light meals. There are also counters offering exciting estate products and souvenirs. A selection of wines produced by Anthonij Rupert Wyne is also available. For booking tickets and any other information as well as signing on for a free monthly newsletter, logon to www.fmm.co.za or phone 021 874 9000 or e-mail fmm@fmm.co.za
A Local Geological Journey with Nick Norman
While you may know something of the geological forms seen in the Franschhoek Valley, it is no simple task to piece together these features into a story of the valley’s geological history. Local geologist and published author, Nick Norman, speaks and writes accessibly about the otherwise remote world of rocks. Born in Kwa-Zulu Natal where he completed his M.Sc in Geology, Nick has explored far and wide in search of the stories embedded in rocks.
After exploring South American and Southern African geological features, Nick settled in Franschhoek in 1981 where he has since continued to write and explore the world of rocks.
Nick tells the fascinating story of how the Franschhoek Valley has taken on its present form after hundreds of millions of years and is still changing. You may know that the Franschhoek Mountains are formed from sandstone, a kind of sedimentary rock, and form part of the Cape Fold Mountains. Nick emphasises that these mountains, despite forming part of the Cape Fold Mountains, do not owe their current form to the process of folding (the convergence of plate tectonics that heaves vast quantities of the Earth’s material upward, forming mountains). Rather, our Franschhoek Mountains and valley were formed from an extremely slow process of erosion, mainly by water.
be a bit iffy. But for the rest, it’s simply brilliant.
CLE gets free-standing 12.3-inch digital dials behind the smart leather sports steering wheel and 11.9-inch portrait central display, all deployed in a light and dynamic feel. Mercedes loves its multifunction and touch controls. Merely being human, we certainly do not.
Give Us Our Knobs Back, Mercedes-Benz!
Give us our knobs back! The newest MBUX system is however packed with all the goodies, from Auto to Car Play, Bluetooth, all the c-USBs, kitchen sink, cableless charging, hey Mercedes voice capability, next-level navigation, and the rest.
This CLE 300 may just be a downsized 190 kW 400 Nm two-litre, but rather judge it by that 300 in its name. Look, it sounds nothing as sexy as an old straight-six 300E, but it’s about as quick as what the first E63s could muster when 63 still meant it was a six-point-three-vee-eight.
In accounting for this, Nick takes us back to almost 600 million years ago. He explains that a sedimentation process was underway at this time, followed by folding. Igneous intrusions were being formed (molten rock which pushes its way up from the Earth’s mantle and into sedimentary rock formations). These would form Paarl Rock and the granite rock formations on Montpellier farm (near Bridge House School), exposed to the surface by erosion. The deposition of the sediments would form an impressive basin extending from Clanwilliam to Port Elizabeth and beyond (now removed by Continental Drift).
Times have changed. This performance-focused CLE 300 gets an electrified turbocharger and Benz’ 17 kW 205 Nm second-generation integrated 48volt starter generator in the 9G-Tronic gearbox to boost low-speed and bottom-end power to a seamless state. The box delivers its expected seamless service and turns lighter and niftier latest generation 4-matic all-wheel drive.
CLE 300 Delivers a Jekyll & Hyde Balance Comfort, Energy
Impressively at its best on the road, this CLE 300 offers a splendid Jekyll & Hyde balance of seamless, comfy cruising and inspired, energetic athleticism.
The folding that would ensue once more, explains Nick, would heave material up to an almost Himalayan scale! This time the erosion of these gigantic mountains would supply sediments extending across the entire Karoo Basin. Millennia of erosive action would give way to a gently undulating plain. At this stage, the supercontinent, Gondwana, would start to break up due to stirrings
As and when you want or need it. Quicker than claimed, we also found it more economical in our travels, if the readout is to be believed.
Sublime popped up continuously in our Mecedes product propaganda on this car. Often one giggles when carmakers wholesale abuse terms like that. The Mercedes-Benz CLE 300 4Matic, however, fully justifies its maker’s sublime claims. It’s one hell of a piece of kit for a middle of the range sled.
Norman with the
Mountains in the background.
Follow Michele Lupini’s motoring adventures on https://theauto.page.
Images & testing: Giordano Lupini
in the Earth’s mantle. This movement would shape the landscape anew - new continents, mountains, oceans, coastlines, and rivers. This landscape dictated how the water would flow inland, capturing previous headwaters, and finding its way toward the oceans. In so doing, these active young rivers would carve out new valleys. And this is how the Franschhoek Valley and surrounding mountains came into being.
FEBRUARY NEWS
Peak View
In the pioneering days of motoring, feats of bravado were often carried out in the interests of progress, performance and publicity. In 1900, William Malesbury Letts, a director of the Locomobile Co. of Great Britain, conceived the idea of taking a car and climbing Snowdon, the highest mountain (1 085m) in Wales, UK. In 1902, Letts joined forces with British racing driver and businessman Charles Jarrott to establish the car import firm of Charles Jarrott & Letts Ltd, agents for Oldsmobile, Napier and De Dietrich, and the idea soon became a reality.
Letts opted to use a 5hp Curved Dash Oldsmobile, and a plan was made for Letts and Jarrott to follow the track of the Snowdonia Mountain Tram Road, which had been opened In 1896 to carry passengers the 7,6km from Llanberis to the summit station. However, the task was made difficult because of the Oldsmobile’s track width and the danger of the differential hitting the tram track’s rack rail.
On 6 June 1904, a small gathering assembled at the Llanberis terminus to tackle the ascent of Snowdon, and just before 07h00 the Oldsmobile set off with Letts driving.
The Olds set off at a smart pace heading towards a viaduct and waterfall and the first gradient was 1-in-8, which was easily overcome. The Olds snaked its way through the numerous sharp bends towards Hebron, situated 2,5km from the start. A brief stop was necessary to lift the 360kg car over the rail track’s points. The journey time so far was 14 minutes.
Next stop was ‘Half Way’, which was reached 15mins later. A 1-in-6 gradient had to be tackled on the approach to Bwlch Penn Llyn, 2,8km from the summit, where a 40min stop was taken for photography. The Olds had performed faultlessly, with not a hint of overheating, and
continued with a number of photo-stops along the way. Occasionally, planks had to be placed over culverts that guided water from the mountain into the valleys below. Gradients were getting steeper – 1-in-5 – and the track even bumpier, Letts and Jarrott having to hold on for fear of falling out as the Olds rode over the endless line of sleepers.
Traces of this history can be identified in the valley. For example, river stones may be observed near Wemmershoek Primary School, which testify to the fact that the Berg River had meandered from one side of the valley to the other, carving out the valley as it went. The geological foundations described have also set the scene for the ecological systems surrounding us. From the sandy nutrient-poor soil, derived from the extremely hard quartzitic sandstone, the world’s most bio-diverse flora has sprung forth: fynbos. Indeed, the harsh conditions have required our indigenous plant life to be resourceful, adaptive, and evolutionarily creative. It follows that the fauna have also had to acclimatise to this harsh terrain. And yet, the valley’s ecology has provided enough organic matter, mixing with the eroded sedimentary rock and granite, to form soil that is fertile enough to produce some of the world’s finest wines and natural produce. And so we find ourselves entwined in the ongoing geological and ecological story of the land in our valley. If this story piqued your interest, Nick’s books can be purchased or ordered from your local book vendor. His publications include Going to Ground, Box of Rocks, Geology Off the Beaten Track, The Extraordinary World of Diamonds, and Geological Journeys. For more information about Nick, you can visit his website: https://www.nicknormanbook.com/.
Text: Leila Shirley | Image: Nick Norman
Eventually, the landlord of the Snowden Summit Hotel and his family and staff could be seen standing on a precipice “shouting a hearty Welsh welcome to the darling motorists” as the completely standard Curved Dash Oldsmobile reached the wind-blown summit. The ascent had taken 90mins, but after deducting stoppages the actual running time was 57mins. The 3,7kW 1560cc single-horizontal-cylinder engine, which peaks at a mere 800r/min, used only three litres of fuel and hardly any water. Letts then took the car from the end of the train line to the very top of Snowdon, the highest point ever reached by a motor car.
FMM’s 1904 Curved Dash Oldsmobile is currently on view in Hall A. It’s amazing to think that such a relatively frail-looking vehicle managed to rock ’n roll its way along a tram track up a mountain 120 years ago without a hitch.
Nick
Wemmershoek
Summertime is harvesting time! A time of celebration and festivity as tractors, bakkies, trucks and some often-un-roadworthy modes of transport are groaning under their loads of grapes, plums and peaches. The energy of the locals defies the heat, something that February is known for.
I’ve often mused in the past on how May is one of the most unpredictable months of the year. Every farmer in the winter rainfall area will tell stories of the years they waited for the rain to sow their crops, with the end of May being the ultimate deadline. In dry years the joke is that farmers plant on the 50th of May. This year things seem different. We were blessed with abundant early rains, and winter quickly pushed a short autumn out of the way. My soil is too waterlogged to work already – a pity because I had big plans to prepare new sections for vegetable planting in spring. I will have to go no-till this season and will experiment with sowing a green manure crop in narrow drills in the soil. Adding some radish and other root crops should loosen the soil enough to make up for the lack of deep cultivation. This green manure sowing must be done before the end of the month to ensure enough biomass to dig into the soil in spring. Finding a decent green manure seed mix in small quantities might be difficult and expensive for the home gardener. I’ve successfully used a mix of my expired vegetable and flower seeds combined with a garden bird seed blend from the pet food section. This gives a good variety of grains and green material. Adding some peas to the mix will trap nitrogen in the soil for the next season.
Dealing with the dry heat of summer has often dominated my past articles and I am sure that by now the readers will know every trick in the book. Mulching, irrigation scheduling and zoning, grouping plants with different requirements together, setting the lawn mower higher, getting rid of the lawn, planting waterwise plants, composting or whatever the books say comes naturally to the gardener in our climate. The heat also doesn’t stop us from getting out and doing what needs to be done.
The garden can bring great joy this time of the year. Your vegetable garden should be filling your pantry with the most amazing array of veggies and fruit. It is fig season – one of the great joys of late summer. Not many fruits come close to a sun warmed ripe fig straight from the tree. Beans should be picked regularly – almost daily. The same goes for cucumbers, courgettes, brinjals and tomatoes. Process them as soon as you have enough for a batch – one of the secrets to good preserves is fresh produce. Pick up spoiled fruit regularly – the last thing you want is to provide a breeding ground for fruit fly and codling moth. I hate spraying against pests, even with organic sprays, but this year we once again have a problem with fruit and pumpkin fly. We use GF120, a “safe” organically certified bait, on a weekly basis, but still find fruit that are stung. Other pests that might be a problem are various beetles eating away at your berries, beans and roses. These are easily removed by hand and drowned in paraffin or squashed underfoot. If you find aphids you have done something wrong – probably adding too much nitrogen to the soil. Those that garden for the vase will find bollworm a menace in late summer. We spray a product containing a predatory bacterium as soon as we spot the moths around. Watering is obviously important this time of year. Unfortunately there is no blanket recipe for optimal irrigation. I have always advocated irregular deep
You will have to utilize the sunny days between the cold fronts to their best, because May is a busy gardening month, with the rewards only coming much later in the season. Your autumn pruning should be well on its way by now, with only the late flowering shrubs such as Solanum, Tecomaria, Leonotis, Lavender, Plumbago and Hibiscus that still needs to be pruned. Tree surgery to deciduous trees also needs to be done sooner rather than later. Pay attention to overgrown evergreen trees and shrubs by cutting away some of the lower branches and opening the canopy to let in more sunlight. Perennials such as Canna’s, Michaelmas daisies, Japanese anenomes, Salvia and Gaura should all be cut back hard this month. Fertilise and mulch afterwards. Lift Dahlia bulbs if you have clay soil; in well-drained soil most bulbs and tubers can be left in the ground over winter. Fertilise all winter flowering shrubs with a balanced fertilizer.
watering, but have found that it is often not the most effective way. Whilst we have mostly clay soil here on the farm the top few centimetres dries out within hours. This often leaves the plants wilted and stressed in the late afternoon. A finger test still shows moisture deeper down, but this is not where most root hairs are situated. Even with a thick layer of mulch the plants still stress. It is as if the dry mulch on top sucks moisture out of the plants. To combat this, I have now started to cut my deep watering (10 – 15mm) down to once or twice per week – this stimulates deep root growth. I then water for short cycles daily to keep the root zone cool and moist.
Your lawnmower can be set slightly lower. This will allow more sunlight to the lower swards of grass and help against diseases. Lawns should be fed with a high potash feed to ensure good root growth through winter. Applying agricultural lime at a rate of 50g per square meter helps keep winter weeds at bay and will help ensure a lush spring lawn.
The nurseries are stocked with all sorts of winter colour – sweet peas, delphinium, dianthus, foxgloves, Iceland poppies, larkspur, pansies, viola, primula, stocks and lobelia. Patient gardeners can still sow seeds of all of these. The last of the winter and early spring flowering bulbs such as Lachenalia and Watsonia must be planted before the middle of the month. May is probably the best month to establish new Fynbos gardens. Trees planted now will have a chance to establish a decent root system before the summer heat arrives.
February is not a big planting month, but it is a good time to prepare the seedbeds for winter seedlings like cabbage and broccoli. It is now that I appreciate my net house – the light shade saves water, cools the atmosphere and allows an extended season of more delicate varieties. Covering your vegetable garden with a shade structure can be a very rewarding weekend project that will bring you joy for years to come.
In the vegetable garden beetroot, broad beans, cabbage, carrots, celery, Swiss chard, onions, peas and turnips can all be sown now. Winter is also the most successful time of the year to grow salad crops in the Cape; summer is often simply too hot. Sow cover crop on unused beds, even letting weeds grow is better that leaving the soil exposed.
One of the great joys of gardening is preserving your own produce. It is fruit season and no kitchen is getting too hot for the gardening cook at this time of the year. Figs, grapes, plums, peaches and soon pears and apples are in abundance and waiting to be turned in jams, preserves, pickles and chutneys. The vegetable garden keeps the dinner table full while the chef is searching for new ways to cook and preserve beans, brinjals and squashes. Enjoy this exciting season. Happy gardening.
In our house cold and rainy autumn days are spent in the kitchen. Soups, broths, stews, and slow roasts are the order of the day. While these are slowly bubbling away on the stove, we will have an abundance of guavas to process into preserves and chutney. I will also be dreaming about next season, and the abundance that I hope for by this time next year. Last year’s lack of planning and timeous
Ansche’s People
Reliving the Journey of a Lifetime
“It’s good to talk about the past; that is how we relive fond memories and remember what we’ve been through to bring us where we are today.” These wise words come from Ena Lötter, a remarkable woman who has lived a life filled with adventure and resilience.
Born in Kroonstad on 7 July 1928, Ena recalls fond memories of her childhood in the Free State. After completing school, she pursued her studies in education and spent two years as a teacher. When an encounter with an air hostess sparked her imagination, Ena decided to apply for a position with South African Airways (SAA). Despite initial doubts about meeting the high standards for air hostesses, she took a leap of faith. A newspaper advertisement, a series of interviews and a final triumphant call marked the beginning of Ena’s exciting career with SAA.
“Those were wonderful years,” Ena reminisces. Starting with national flights on smaller aeroplanes, her dedication and experience soon led her to international routes, including Nairobi, Cairo and Rome. She fondly recalls the first-class service to London, which allowed the crew to stay over in the city. A camel saddle purchased in Cairo remains a treasured keepsake of her travels.
Working for SAA, with limited contact with her family during long stretches away from home, taught Ena independence and adaptability. However, her frequent visits to Franschhoek, where her grandparents lived and her mother grew up, kept her connected to her roots.
It was during one such visit that she met Johan, a farmer and a friend of her cousin. After a few visits, the two decided to get married and settled on the farm. Marriage meant the end of Ena’s career with SAA, but it marked the start of a new chapter. Ena embraced farm life wholeheartedly, drying fruit and selling it locally. “On a farm, you can’t wait for opportunities to come; you have to create them,” she says.
Johan farmed proteas, grapes and stone fruit and, together, they raised three children: Frances, Cobus, and Jan. When Johan passed away suddenly, Ena
took on the formidable task of managing the farm alone for three years. Her determination ensured the farm’s continuity until Jan completed his studies and returned to take over.
Ena filled her newfound free time with activities she had long put aside—joining book clubs and community groups and perfecting her culinary skills. Her fudge recipe remains a family favourite, cherished by her children and grandchildren alike.
Reflecting on her early days in Franschhoek, Ena recalls dirt roads and a barter system for fresh produce. She laughs as she recounts how her children once hid in a closet to avoid the local policeman, “Agman Sterk,” a towering figure who struck fear into their young hearts. “He was upset that we raised them to be afraid of a policeman,” she laughs.
The Dutch Reformed Church held a special place in Ena’s heart, with its reverent services under Ds. Van Wyk. Life revolved around the farm, school and community. When her children began exploring the farm dam, Ena and Johan decided to build the neighbourhood’s first swimming pool, ensuring their safety while keeping them within view.
Holidays were a cherished tradition, spent exclusively in Postberg on the West Coast. It was a family ritual. To this day, Postberg holds a special place in the hearts of many local families.
At 96, Ena’s life is a testament to courage, adaptability, and the joy of embracing change. Looking back Ena has had a life well-lived, filled with love, community and an enduring sense of adventure.
Back to School
The start of a new calendar year also means the start of a new school year is imminent. For many parents this significantly contributes to the notion that January is really Janu-worry. Many have spent Christmas bonuses – if there were any – over the long summer holiday and are now faced with another set of costs as the children have to go back to school.
The ward 1 Ward Committee decided to make the lives of the neediest in their ward a little easier by handing back to school packs to those with youngsters returning to school.
Ward Councillor Reginald Pheiffer said about the initiative: “The ward committee recognises the financial difficulties many families face particularly at this time of year. We therefore try to what we can with our limited resources to bring a little respite and make the back-to-school experience a little easier for the neediest in our community.”
Text: Editorial Desk | Image: Supplied
FRANCO Focus
BRUCE ACKERMAN
‘A River Runs Through It’
No, this does not refer to the Robert Redforddirected film, but the Stiebeuel River running through Groendal. It is a seasonally running river, the banks of which are unfortunately used as an unsightly and very unhygienic dumping ground for rubbish by many local residents. So, for the second time in seven years, FRANCO has organized the cleaning of the full length of the river up to the R45 road, for the benefit of all Groendal residents. The effort was led by Jocelyn van der Ross and took place from mid-November to the end of last year. The river is now in a much-improved state as seen
Hospice News
Colleen Douglas
Community Update
We would like to inform the community that the patients who were previously cared for by Drakenstein Hospice have now been transferred back into the care of Franschhoek Hospice. We are pleased to welcome Sr. Rens, who joined our team in January in a temporary position to ensure the continued care of our patients. Additionally, Sr. Budricks will be joining us on 3 February.
We are excited to continue providing high-quality care to our community, staying true to the values and service that we take great pride in.
We would also like to extend our sincere gratitude to Drakenstein Hospice for their dedication and commitment to our patients during the restructuring process. Their support has been invaluable, and we deeply appreciate the care they provided.
Thank you for your trust and continued support.
Welcome Sister!
Franschhoek Hospice recently welcomed Sr Mari Budricks to their staff. “We’re extremely excited to have her as part of an amazing team,” says CEO Colleen Douglas.
Sr Mari says she’s always had “a deep passion for caring for others.” She started her career at the George Provincial Hospital where she built a strong foundation in patient care. After moving to Franschhoek, she took on the role of nursing
from the before and after photos.
Green Spot Recycling, in coordination with the local municipality – which removed the rubbish, arranged the recycling of about 10% of the rubbish removed from the river. Approximately 8 tons of waste was removed and bagged by 15 previously unemployed local workers. The low percentage recycled was due to its unsuitability after so many years out in the open.
The Groendal community and FRANCO are indebted to Jocelyn and her team for their success in what was not a pleasant process. The challenge will be to maintain this, and discourage continued refuse dumping through ongoing community education about waste management, the benefits of recycling, and occasional river patrols. FRANCO’s Groendal office has reopened after the festive season break and our manager, Tzilka Watson, can be contacted at 060 374 0353 by anyone wishing to donate to FRANCO or to assist us in any way with our many community projects.
manager at Fleur de Lis Home for the Aged. It was at Fleur de Lis that she found her true passion for working with the elderly, especially in palliative care. “I found it incredibly rewarding to support patients and their families through some of the most difficult moments of their lives,” she says. Transitioning into hospice care, Mari says, “She is excited to learn more about end-of-life care and how I can further enhance the quality of life of my patients.”
Mari is a positive, spontaneous person who brings warmth and positivity to her work. “I’m deeply committed to making a difference in the lives of those I care for and look forward to continuing to grow in my nursing career, especially in hospice care,” she concludes.
Two of the grateful recipients of the back to school packs (identities obscured).
The Stiebeuel River before and after the cleanup
Sr Mari Budrick
Dear Editor,
There seems to be a desire among our older friends in Franschhoek to have something to do once and month and meet some friends.
I am taking it upon myself to see if we will get any reaction at all. It will be an informal club for Franschhoek Residents, no need for a committee.
We are looking at making use of the Franschhoek Cellar. It sounds as if the First Monday in every month will be most suited, as the Franschhoek Cellar is not so busy on a Monday.
The gathering will be in “The Platform” and
Why Not a Matoppie Skytram?
Why not indeed!
It ticks so many of the boxes, where Skytram gets a big red cross. Although the peak is lower than Middagkrans, the 360-degree views from a Matoppie top station will be as spectacular and far more extensive than the180-degree views from a Middagkrans top station.
The base station for a Matoppie Skytram could be near the intersection of the R45 and Robertsvlei Road. Bio-diversity? Matoppie isn’t part of the UNESCO Heritage Site or a protected nature reserve.
Wildlife? In years of cycling round Matoppie I have only seen an occasional dassie - like those on Table Mountain. I have never seen or heard any baboons there.
Traffic? Not a problem!
Visual impact? It won’t be visible from the village. Heritage impact? It is unlikely that any heritage resources will be affected.
Electricity? No need to dig up Huguenot Street and Lambrecht Street to lay a cable to Haute Cabrière.
Waste disposal? The base station will be next to the sewage line to the Wemmershoek treatment plant.
Fire risk? Much less. Wildfires on Matoppie are less frequent than those in the Mont Rochelle Nature Reserve.
Emergency evacuation? Subject to upgrading, there could be two jeep tracks from the top station to the contour trail and at least two routes down from the contour trail.
As well as avoiding all the flashing red lights that should stop a Middagkrans Skytram, why will a Matoppie Skytram be so much better?
SkyTram Symmetry – of Sorts! Chaos hypothesis postulates that a seemingly inconsequential flap of an Amazonian rain forest butterfly’s wing can initiate a disturbance in the global atmospheric circulation that eventually causes a devastating drought in Namibia, or a monster flood in Madagascar. In Franschhoek, Cats se Pad, built in 1819, was like a local flap of a butterfly wing. This hand-built pass, hardly suitable for ox wagons, was the impetus to transforming, more than two centuries later, a secluded cul de sac valley of exquisite natural beauty into an urbanised region bisected by a highway that carries monster trucks threatening pedestrians along the crowded small town main street. But more is in the offing: if SkyTram goes ahead it may well be the ultimate butterfly wing flap that initiats a death blow to Franschhoek’s remaining
there will be no organised speaker. Anyone with something they would like to share can feel free to do so, before, during or after the meal. It will operate via a WhatsApp Group. It will not be regulated, but it would help the Cellar if we could let them know a day to two before the time approximately how many people there will be, which I will do. There will be one reminder per month shortly before the luncheon. We will be ordering a la Carte and each paying our own bill. Because of the service involved when paying separately, the service fee of 12% will automatically be added to your bill so that no extra tipping will be necessary.
Anyone who is interested must please WhatsApp me so that we can start a group and see what becomes of it.
Alta Malherbe 082 338 5873
The socio-economic benefits – jobs and economic opportunities – will be at least as good and may be better;
It will bring economic activity to an economically inactive part of our valley and be of particular benefit for the people of Bosbou La Motte; It can operate with less interruption without the wind and the beautiful cloudfall that so often covers Middagkrans that will so often stop a Middagkrans Skytram operating;
Paragliders can take off whatever the wind direction thus increasing this usage and associated jobs and economic opportunities;
Subject to upgrading, the many established hiking and mountain biking trails will attract many more users which means more economic activity, more jobs and economic opportunities;
Enhanced recreational opportunities can be integrated with those to be developed on and around the Berg River Dam to create a synergy that will establish Matoppie as the adventure activity centre for the Western Cape with all the local socioeconomic benefits that will flow from that;
And more…
If Skytram’s proponents are genuinely “invested in the best long term interests of the entire Franschhoek community” as David Venter claims in his letter in the January Tatler, they will abandon Middagkrans and focus on a Matoppie Skytram. This article with a link to YouTube videos of the views from Matoppie will be posted on the FHRPA News WhatsApp group.
BarryPhillips
Editor’s Letter
Siegfried Schäfer
Dear Readers, I receive newsletters from “The Atlantic”. I don’t always agree with their politics, but you can bet that whatever they publish will be very well-written. Something, I might add, that is increasingly rare these days – and is not helped by AI such as ChatGPT!
A recent newsletter, teasing a cover story, starts with Atlantic staff writer Derek Thompson making this attention-grabbing statement: “Americans are alone. Historically, unprecedentedly alone.” Much of what he writes about I also see happening here.
Thompson writes: “Going back decades in official government data, I could find no period in U.S. history when the typical teenager or adult has ever spent less time with other people than they do today. This surge in solitude isn’t just altering the way we spend our time. It’s reshaping the economy, changing our personalities, and darkening our politics.” He concludes that the phenomenon is so profound that he labels the 21st century “the anti-social century”.
A self-confessed introvert, Thompson makes a clear distinction between what he terms “a moment’s quiet” and his finding of a “decadeover-decade plunge in socialization.” (“A moment’s quiet” reminded me of the muchrepeated line by Greta Garbo: “I want to be alone.” She later clarified this by saying that she was misquoted and actually said, “I want to be let alone. Therein lays all the difference.”)
In the newsletter, Thompson reveals three of
the startling findings in his story. Firstly, “Men who watch TV now spend seven hours in front of the tube for every hour they spend with somebody outside their home.” Secondly, “The typical female pet owner spends more time caring for her pet than she spends in face-toface contact with friends of her own species.” And, thirdly, “Today’s teenagers have fewer friends than previous generations, and they spend one out of every three minutes of waking life staring at a screen.”
(I’m pretty sure that in some people’s view, I also spend too much time with my dog. There are good reasons for that though! To mention just two: She forces me to get off my backside and go for a walk which is good for me both mentally and physically. She is also better company than an individual with a screen stuck to their hand –at least she makes eye contact when I talk to her!) Thompson considers “the way that excessive alone time might be a major force behind the rise in anxiety, our deep political divisions, and our unhappiness.” In case you’re not familiar with it there is loads of research showing that an increase in screen time is linked to decreases in happiness. Thompson also reports on “AI companions” – which apparently already have tens of millions of users. Really? How stupid can we be? The solution to loneliness clearly isn’t going further down the road that led us to loneliness in the first place!
Fortunately, the cure for solitude is “known, effective, and affordable” in Thompson’s words. What is it? Simply hanging out with somebody. Somebody real, that is.
With Valentine’s Day creeping up on us, do try extra hard to spend it with somebody real. It’ll make you happier than any screen can! Until next month!
DEADLINES - MARCH 2025 ISSUE
Bookings - 14 February 2025 | Artwork - 17 February 2025 | Editorial
to the top of Middagkrans, and the corruption of the God-given 360º pristine skyline both residents and visitors have enjoyed for generations that it would mean.
8
Top
Geographer
scenic charm. Why? The SkyTram upper cable station, together with its adjoined pavilion, will be suspended off the front cliff face of Middagkrans, all in plain view, a major environmental disfigurement, visible from the very entry into the valley, night and day. But, in fairness, superb symmetry may well be gained. The cliff face SkyTram station will be a conspicuously symmetrical and complementary counterpoint to the longstanding, dismal and equally visible shanty town on the slopes above Groendal. Birds of a feather, so to speak. Yin and yang, maybe. By the way, Franschhoek valley urban planning, or perhaps absence of, should feature as a star chapter in the international annals of urban and regional worst case planning scenarios and blunders. Does SkyTram really want to be part of it?
I will not comment on the main part of your letter, restricting myself to your last –concluding – paragraph. I have no doubt that if the developers are indeed ‘invested in the long-term interests of the entire Franschhoek community’ (as you state in your letter) that is a secondary ‘investment’. As well established and successful commercial operators, their primary ‘investment’ is in the profitability of the development: any benefit that may or may not accrue to the community is incidental.
Having secured the financial profitability of the operation, the main developer, the Graaff family, as non-resident in Franschhoek village, is immune to any downside associated with it, whether during its building or operation. That will be a ‘cost’, in many respects, to the community of all Franschhoek residents and particularly to the natural environment. For the developers to portray the venture as being ‘in the long-term interests of the entire Franschhoek community’ is nothing more or less than transparent window dressing for yet another lucrative commercial investment to be added to their portfolio.
Nick Norman
Franschhoek Leeskring
HESTER STRŰMPFER
Destin Bürgin, a Bridge House School Grade 12 learner, achieved first place in the 2022 South African National Geography Olympiad. He will be one of four SA learners to represent South Africa in the International Geography Olympiad (iGeo) later this month.
Ostrea
The 18th International Geography Olympiad will be held online and hosted by France from 12 to 18 July, under the auspices of the International Geographical Union Olympiad Task Force.
Response to Professor Venter 1
Dear David
At the risk of boring Tatler readers, I have to respond to your letter in the January Tatler as it contains misrepresentations of fact and surprising misunderstandings of what I said in my letter in the December Tatler.
iGeo is an annual competition for the best 16 to 19 year-old Geography students from all over the world. Students chosen to represent their countries are the very best, chosen from thousands of students who participate enthusiastically in their own National Geography Olympiads.
The aims of the Olympiad are to:
Firstly, I did not say in my December letter, “the Franschhoek Cable Way Project [as you now like to call Skytram] has only recently recognised the necessity of prioritising environmental protection” as you wrongly claim in your January letter. What I said in my December letter was, “. . after six years of planning the Franschhoek Cable Way Project Team (aka Skytram) has now got around to [quoting from your advertorial in the November Tatler] “exploring effective and sustainable methods of ensuring that [Skytram] is aligned with the interests of all sectors of the Franschhoek community and that [its] benefits will accrue to the local economy”.
• stimulate active interest in geographical and environmental studies among young people;
• contribute positively to debate about the importance of geography as a senior secondary school subject by drawing attention to the quality of geographical knowledge, skills and interests among young people;
• facilitate social contacts between young people from different countries and in doing so, contribute to the understanding between nations.
completely wrong in claiming that “Wilfred Moses, Richard Friedman and Leonard Seelig remained engaged members until TCTA disbanded the EMC.” Wilfred Moses and Leonard Seelig have both confirmed that they resigned alongside the other Franschhoek representatives except Willem Steenkamp. In his email confirming this, Leonard Seelig wrote, “I remember very well that we all resigned en masse at the time exactly for the reason that we were ignored and none of us wanted to be part of some “rubber stamp” situation.”
Franschhoek Leeskring
SUSAN MÖLLER
Ons nooi u hartlik uit na die bespreking van “Blou Bloed” deur Daniël Lötter. Dr. Elbie Lans sal die gesprek met Daniël lei. Dit vind plaas in die NGK- saal, op 6 Februarie om 14h30 “Blou Bloed” is ’n omvattende en behoorlik nagevorste boek wat wyd byval behoort te vind. Die skrywer het self erken dat hy langer aan die navorsing as aan die skryf van die boek gewerk het. Hy moes
By die volgende byeenkoms van die Franschhoek Leeskring, wat op 7 Julie plaasvind, bespreek Danie du Toit Francois Smith se “Die getuienis”. Die byeenkoms word gehou in die NG Kerksaal. Lede en besoekers geniet vooraf n koffie koffie/tee met verrigtinge wat om 15h00 begin.
Navrae: 0729325393
Francois Smith se derde roman, “Die getuienis”, slaan ’n interessante nuwe rigting in, weg van sy twee vorige romans “Kamphoer” en “Die kleinste ramp denkbaar” waarmee hy reeds vir hom ’n beduidende plek in die Afrikaanse lettere oopgeskryf het.
Hospice News
COLLEEN DOUGLAS
uitmergelende administratiewe rompslomp aanpak om soms net ’n aanlyn onderhoud met koninklikes te kry.
“Die getuienis” vertel die verhaal van Retha en Gerbrand wat saam met hulle twee seuns by ’n Christelike bedieningsentrum êrens tussen Naboomspruit en Bela-Bela woon en werk. Retha behartig die sentrum se administrasie, spyseniering en kommunikasie op sosiale media; Gerhard bedien die Woord en lei seminare. Hulle beland per toeval daar nadat hulle lewe in Pretoria ineengestort het en hulle al hulle aardse besittings verloor het. Die woord “toeval” pas egter nie in hulle manier van dink en praat nie; wat hulle betref, is alles voorbeskik en deel van God (na wie hulle deurentyd verwys as “Vader”) se plan met hulle lewens.
Lötter slaag weer eens daarin om met sy gemaklike verteltrant die talle gegewens en feite so weer te gee dat sy liefde vir geskiedenis, en veral koninklike geskiedenis, lekker en toeganklik lees. Hy boei en vermaak. Skakel Hester Strümpfer met enige navrae. 084 900 9060
Thirdly, I did not say in my December letter the Berg River Dam EMC “had no teeth”. Referring to your proposal for a Skytram EMC to “act as “the eyes and ears” of the community”, I said, “A Skytram EMC may act as “the eyes and ears” of the community, but it [a Skytram EMC] will have no teeth!” Please re-read my December letter.
Text: Editorial Desk | Image: Bridge House School
‘Good Life’ in Franschhoek
Often it’s the sense of community that makes Franschhoek what it is.
In your January letter, you avoided comment on the fact that in the six years of Skytram planning, its proponents never engaged with the local community to explain how it might affect them.
Secondly, I agree Willem Steenkamp did not resign from the Berg River Dam EMC with the other Franschhoek representatives but you are
Response to Professor Venter 2
Dear David,
On Saturday evening, 11 June, community members gathered to celebrate a small but significant achievement for the South African cinematic arts and a large achievement for one Franschhoek resident. The celebration encompassed the resident’s birthday, love of animals and love of her community.
Fourthly, your explanation that “the unrealised promise to develop ecotourism and recreational opportunities in dam-adjacent areas can largely be attributed to TCTA’s abrupt departure from the valley to attend to other responsibilities” will, for many, be indicative of the value of corporate promises and how easily priorities can be reordered and key commitments tossed aside.
filming. As the credits say, no children or animals were harmed in the making of the film.
BarryPhiilips
As a long-time resident of Franschhoek who has followed the Skytram debate with interest, I am writing to add my support to Barry Phillips’ reply to your advertorial. I would, furthermore, like
Alex Steyl rented out the Franschhoek Theatre to celebrate the new movie “Good Life” in which she plays the role of one of the spitting-mad Greek women who make the life of a South African Greek a misery. Olive, aged 35, (played by Erica Wessels) goes
to comment on your reply to Barry’s letter, which appeared in the January Tatler. Like most Franschhoekers I’m emotionally invested in the extraordinary sense of place we enjoy in the village and its environs. I am strongly opposed to the proposed installation of a cable-car
Duke Coulbanis, a close Greek neighbour of Alex’s, with a calling to the Greek Orthodox Church, quips how he had to teach Alex to swear in Greek so she could appear authentically Greek. “Alex honoured me by asking me to help her with the Greek language. Not that they speak Greek in the movie, but Alex’s character needed to ‘swear under her breath’ at various
Celebrating Bastille? Franschhoek Hospice will be selling the following items on the 16 July at the village market and main road: Berets, Red, Royal and Navy – R 50 each, Pancakes – R10 each and freshly-baked Croissants filled with smoke salmon/trout and cream cheese – R50 – available on the veranda of the town hall.
Please diarise the following dates:
27 August – Nik Rabinowitz presents – “Unmuted” at Leopard’s Leap – R400 per person, incudes a delicious light supper. Tickets available from the hospice office. Limited seating, 120 seats only.
15 September – Reuben Riffel Golf Day in aid of Franschhoek Hospice at Pearl Valley Golf Estate. For details call hospice office.
7 October – Uncorked – at Leopard’s Leap. An evening of fun and dancing at our fabulous Hospice Hop. R 500 pp includes a delicious meal. Limited seating, 120 seats only. Franschhoek Hospice patients need the following please: Roll-on deodorant for males and females, soaps, dark face cloths, tooth paste and toothbrushes.
Please drop off at either Hospice House or the Hospice shop. There will be a box at both places waiting to
receive your generous donations. Thank you We are halfway through 2022 and we would like to thank our wonderful volunteers who have been making sandwiches and soup for our patients so far. You have been amazing. There are still 6 months to go until the end of the year and many more sandwiches and soup to be made! Why not lend a hand?
Thank you to the community and businesses for your continued support.
Stay safe, warm, and healthy.
SA’s top young geographer, Destin Bürgin.
Franschhoek Theatre supports Franschhoek High School
Where Small-Town Charm Meets Big-City Culture’
Safeguard Your Business Operations Against Cybercrime
South Africa is a growing cybercrime hotspot on the African continent, with attacks on businesses becoming more common as well as increasingly sophisticated. Karen Rimmer, Head of Distribution at PSG Insure, highlights that the consequences of cybercrime can be devastating, leading to severe financial loss, reputational damage, operational disruption, and potential legal liabilities – for businesses of any size. “As digital reliance grows, so does the urgency for businesses to protect their systems and data against these evolving threats,” explains Rimmer.
In a recent survey by the Council for Scientific and Industrial Research, 88% of South African organisations admitted to suffering at least one security breach in the past year, with 47% reportedly experiencing up to five cybersecurity incidents. “Business email compromise is becoming one of the biggest threats, with cybercriminals intercepting emails to redirect payments to fraudulent accounts. This growing trend highlights the need for improved cyber vigilance, but also - the right type and level of insurance to safeguard businesses from financial losses.” says Rimmer. “Having the correct cyber cover in place can help mitigate the damage, ensuring businesses can recover swiftly and minimise long-term impact.”
Why is cyber insurance so specialised?
Furthermore, Rimmer emphasises that despite becoming increasingly common, cyber insurance remains highly specialised, with policies tailored to the digital risks of each business. This means an insurer will require an in-depth understanding of the business’ digital setup to address unique vulnerabilities and safeguard against any potential risks.
However, Rimmer adds that claims can still be repudiated if policies aren’t carefully reviewed and maintained. Common reasons for rejected claims include:
• Inadequate security protocols;
• Failure to update the policy with evolving business operations, or
• Non-compliance with policy requirements.
• “Working alongside an insurance adviser will ensure that businesses not only secure the right cover but also fully understand the requirements and limitations of their policies.” Rimmer emphasises.
• Key types of cyber cover available
• Rimmer goes on to outline the comprehensive cyber insurance can cover various types of incidents, such as:
• Data breaches: Protecting sensitive information from exposure or theft and covering costs related to notifying affected parties and managing reputational impact.
• Ransomware attacks: Covering the costs associated with restoring data and systems, and in some cases, assisting with ransom payments.
• Business interruption: Compensating for lost income and increased cost of working.
“Given the complexities, insurance advisers play an important role in helping businesses choose the right policy features. They can also assist in determining the level of cover required, which will ensure businesses don’t end up overpaying in premiums without compromising on cover.” she adds.
Five strategies to mitigate cyber risk
Rimmer stresses that, “while insurance is essential, proactive cyber risk management is
equally critical”. She adds that the following five strategies can help to help prevent incidents of cybercrime:
• Implement robust authentication systems: Multi-factor authentication (MFA) combined with complex passwords creates an initial line of defence against unauthorised access, making it significantly harder for cybercriminals to breach company systems.
• Stay vigilant with updates and patches: Businesses should consistently apply software patches and updates to address security vulnerabilities in programmes and products. Regular patching reduces potential access points for cybercriminals to exploit.
• Utilise advanced anti-virus solutions: Antivirus software has become more accessible, and many offerings now include artificial intelligence and behavioural detection capabilities. These tools can help to detect and neutralise threats quickly.
• Employee training: Human error remains one of the top causes of cyber incidents. Regular training on phishing recognition, secure data handling, and email security can greatly reduce risk.
• Secure data backups: Regular, encrypted backups of company data minimise disruption and data loss in case of ransomware or other cyber incidents.
“As cyber threats continue to evolve with the advent of new technologies, a multi-layered defence is required. Combining comprehensive cyber insurance with proactive cybersecurity can help businesses to reduce the risk of significant financial and reputational damage.” Rimmer concludes.
Let the Lawyer Handle It
GRAEME FALCK
Buying Property in South Africa As A Foreigner?
Are you a visitor or a local being asked by overseas friends and relatives: “This country’s magic, how can I buy myself a property here?” Here are some answers… Foreigner or local, there are very few restrictions on buying SA property – and many reasons to do so.
Whether you’re looking for a holiday home, an emigration or retirement option, or just an investment, there are a host of advantages to purchasing property in South Africa:
• Affordability: The stronger your home currency, the more affordable even very high-end South African properties will be for you.
• Blue skies ahead for property: For a variety of economic and political reasons, property in the Western Cape should grow substantially in value over the next decade. Property has great potential for capital appreciation.
• South Africa offers a wide range of properties investment opportunities, including coastal homes, secure complexes, luxury suburban houses, vibey city apartments, residential houses, and retirement communities. You’re sure to find something to meet both your preferences and your investment goals.
• Our legal system, with an effective land registration process at its core, provides robust property rights and protection for both foreign investors and locals.
• Our strong tourism sector and consistent demand for rental properties, combined with the affordability and capital growth, provides attractive opportunities to generate rental income.
Foreign buyers can obtain mortgage bonds from South African banks, typically financing 50% - 75% of the property’s purchase price, with the balance funded through foreign currency brought into the country.
To simplify the process of repatriating funds when selling the property, ensure that your title deed is endorsed “Non-Resident” and keep proof of the original inflow of funds.
Make it clear in the sale agreement that you will be importing funds from overseas – and be sure that the deadlines set for you to pay the deposit, to get bond approval, and to pay the balance of
the purchase price, are all realistic. It goes without saying that you should get a local lawyer to check every aspect of the agreement carefully. The process begins with you making an offer, which – if accepted by the seller – becomes a deed of sale or sale agreement. This is followed by the transfer of ownership of the property to you in the local Deeds Office in a process managed by a conveyancing attorney, which should take about three months if there are no unexpected delays. Foreign buyers are subject to local taxes, including transfer duty and other costs of transfer.
If you sell your property, Capital Gains Tax may apply to the profit you make from the sale. Ask us for the details. We’ll help you to understand all the legal and financial requirements, and to navigate the processes involved.
(This article first appeared in LawDotNews and is reproduced with permission from the copyright holder LawDotNews and from Falck IncorporatedAttorneys.)
Artists in Their Studios: Carey Carter
Carey Carter’s exquisite sculpture studio and gallery in Uitkyk Street lies nestled among the vineyards in a tranquil garden shaded by ancient oak trees. The rambling farmhouse and garden are now home to her elegant, ethereal sculptures that epitomise serene and feminine beauty. Her work is described as an ‘alchemy of nature’ and embodies her impassioned plea for all to respect, protect and experience the wonder of the natural world. Upon entering the gallery, the statement ‘What you see in your mind, you hold in your hand’ reminds visitors that their thoughts create their reality. The calm, meditative space reveals the captivating and haunting human forms.
As a child, Carey spent her holidays along the Durban south coast playing and building with sand. Natural materials, such as sand, would one day become her primary way of expressing her ideas and creating her art.
In her own poetic words, she reminds us that “Where technology often takes precedence, we find ourselves slowly forgetting the voice of the Earth –the quiet murmur of wisdom that lies beneath our
Poetic Licence
If you are a regular reader of this column, I’m pretty sure that what I say here will come as no surprise. I’ll be (what’s the appropriate cliché?) singing to the choir or preaching to the converted. But I’ll say it anyway.
What exactly is poetry? Frankly, I doubt that there can be any exact definition because poetry is at heart a consummate shapeshifter, ranging from rhymed and regular metre to the most abstract of styles, with many variations.
To my mind, words on a page (or spoken orally) only become poems when they resonate in sound and sense with the reader or listener. At such times they are more likely to exercise the heart than the head, although frequently they do both. They move us in ways that are sometimes strange, unanticipated, unpredictable, whether using ‘traditional’ metrical forms and archaic language or free verse in a modern idiom. And sometimes you have to live with them for a while before they sing. As E.E. Cummings wrote: “since feeling is first/ who pays any attention/ to the syntax of things/ will
Book Review
Orbital
By Samantha Harvey
Publ. Penguin Random House. 136 pages
Inevitably one finds the book that has won the Booker Prize of the year an odd choice. (Not to mention the occasional Nobel Prize winner where the only criterion seems to be the idiosyncratic.)
True to form, this year’s winner “Orbital” by Samantha Harvey is a controversial choice. Firstly, it is only 136 pages long (although “An Island” by Karen Jennings, longlisted in 2021, was only marginally longer) and, secondly, the narrative hardly conforms to the traditional form of the novel in terms of character, plot and setting.
Instead, this brief insight into the lives of four European astronauts and two Russian cosmonauts, caught in a 400 cubic metre space station that is orbiting the earth eight times a day, allows the author to replace the usual forms of the traditional novel with short passages of description and evocation that are always fascinating and often quite hypnotic. It is more like an epic poem in which images
feet and flows from the air. Each of us is a part of a vast tapestry woven from sand, water, the sun and light from the moon. Nature, in her unspoken beauty and rhythm, holds the essence of what it means and feels like to be whole and at peace. In her hands, we can rediscover ourselves and the origins of our existence.”
For the past few years, Carey has lovingly created sculptures by combining sand and composites of different pigments to create the desired colour and patina. Combined with fly ash, magnesium oxide and time, the sculptures are cured in water before they are wrapped in cloth and baked in the sun. They reflect all the colours of earth, stone and rock and sometimes show glints of dazzling blue, green and copper.
The ancient technique employed makes them extremely weather-resistant. They are tributes, expressions of gratitude for the beauty and abundance Nature offers to us unconditionally. Each sculpture reflects her soul, a tangible reminder of our connection, a piece of her spirit captured in form. “Nature teaches us without words, through her seasons, her cycles of birth, growth, decay and renewal she offers lessons of resilience, adaptability and balance.”
The connection to this wisdom is not something we learn; it is something we must remember as an intrinsic part of who we are. “Perhaps we have forgotten,” Carey muses.
Carey’s sculptures are symbols of reconnection and carry within them the wisdom and energy of
never wholly kiss you”.
Still, though, we hear the anguished cry, “But what does it mean?” American poet Billy Collins offers a tongue-in-cheek answer:
Introduction to Poetry
I ask them to take a poem and hold it up to the light like a color slide or press an ear against its hive. I say drop a mouse into a poem and watch him probe his way out, or walk inside the poem’s room and feel the walls for a light switch. I want them to waterski across the surface of a poem waving at the author’s name on the shore. But all they want to do is tie the poem to a chair with rope and torture a confession out of it. They begin beating it with a hose to find out what it really means.
Billy Collins from ‘The Apple that Astonished Paris’ (University of Arkansas Press, 1996)
‘Making sense’ and ‘meaning’ aren’t necessarily the same thing. Much good poetry doesn’t explain itself, doesn’t offer answers, but invites the reader
occur and re-occur to create an impression of a celestial world being observed by a Creator, a sort of “Paradise Lost” for the space age.
The six human beings are little more than cogs in a machine that is beyond their control.
To keep it going, an intricate and complex web of computers and humans on the ground at Cape Canaveral manages and manipulates them. Putting their matter-of-fact existence in perspective, a space capsule zips past on the way to a more prestigious moon landing.
So, one has to look at what caught the attention of the Booker jury. One of the novel’s attractions is the selfless cooperation between the six individuals whose behaviour transcends differences of nationality, sex and age - a good example to set the deeply divided world. Then there is the oblique reference to the dangers of climate change as the astronauts observe the implacable advance of a monster typhoon nearing the Philippines. They are helpless, of course, despite all the space technology at their disposal and all they can do is to convey to the ground team their distant impression of a weather disaster.
But there is much that is good and engaging in the story. Page after page evokes the everchanging colour and texture of the stratosphere. Much has been made lately of the concept of “awe” and how important it is to cultivate a sense of awe in the natural world. The author certainly succeeds in showing us how huge and
the Earth. They remind us that “We are part of the whole and not separate. Everything and everyone is part of one universal, global consciousness. They are tokens of the love, strength, resilience and consideration that nature embodies.”
Carey subscribes to the philosophical worldview of ‘Deep Ecology’ that encourages us to question our values and transform society into coexisting
to participate in the process of finding sense through imagination and feeling. In other words, it asks questions of us but provides plenty of clues, a little like the mystical experience of wandering through a second-hand bookshop, as Irish poet Frank Ormsby describes:
The Second-hand Bookshop (for Mary Denvir)
Once more I step into the after-life of second-hand books, the tunnels where new dust accrues and different shelves absorb the lighting. Mild foxing. Perfect binding. I relish the wear and tear, from the window display angled away from the sun to the untidy back room like a fingerprint museum. They pass through our hands as a kind of seasoning, ripen into the autumn and winter of books.
Frank Ormsby from ‘Goat’s Milk’ (Bloodaxe Books, 2015)
Or finally, what does South Arican poet Andrew Martin ‘mean’ when he juxtaposes images of a beached whale, a destitute widow and a sick child in the following poem? I honestly don’t know, but
strange the cosmos is and how beautiful and vulnerable our small Earth is. Her descriptions of continents appearing over the horizon, with recognisable geographical features: canals, jungles, and seas during the day. At night clusters of lights outline the Pacific Coast or illuminate the centres of great cities (including our own Cape Town.) This constant passing of Earth days and nights contrasting with the capsule’s strict 24-hour clock is hypnotic. It orbits the earth 8 times daily, so chronological time has no human meaning.
with the natural world with all living things as equal. Her fervour in promoting these values is the passion and creativity behind the beautiful collection of sculptures she currently displays. She invites us to ponder and contemplate our relationship with nature.
www.careycartersculpture.com
it certainly ‘makes sense’ to me as a powerful piece of writing.
Outcast if we were to look we would see them bodies forced outstream memorials to an unseen scourge –a whale on a beach a destitute widow a small, sickly child a man without pride left searching for the end away from that place where hope is just a word you too were forced outstream because you saw them Andrew Martin from ‘For Rhino in a Shrinking World’ (Poets Printery, 2013)
Put another way, in the words of poet Charles Simic, “poems are other people’s snapshots in which we recognize ourselves”.
The 6 characters remain vague outlines except for one woman who is told of the death of her mother, which makes her reflect on her vulnerability and lack of maternal connectivity. Yet this lack of personal dynamics and interactions does not really harm the narrative.
At first reading, I found it disappointing. Twothirds of the way the novel seemed to lose
impetus. However, a second reading (the joy of a short book!) allows one to absorb the poetry. The main character is the Earth’s glorious surface and the author has written a love poem to it.
“Hazy pale green shimmering sea, lazy tangerine land. This is Africa chiming with light. You can almost hear it, this light, inside the craft.’
For that alone, it is a highly commendable read.
CHARLOTTE VAN ZYL
HARRY OWEN
Smalls
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SERVICES OFFERED: I’m Theo de Koker (formerly of Cathmar). I offer the following services: 1. DSTV installation, 2. Surround sound installation, 3. Electric Fence service, 4. CCTV installation, 5. Laptop repairs, 7. Programming of remotes. Contact me at: 082 822 7349
GARDENER: My name is Lisungu Siska and I am a 26-year-old Malawian man looking for a job as a gardener. I have 4 years experience, and pride myself in being a reliable and sober-minded hard worker who can work with minimal supervision. Please call me on 067 052 7292 or WhatsApp on 071 793 3901. For references, please call 082 920 5298 or 078 908 5462. Need a PET/HOUSE-SITTER with good references? Contact Ronelle @ 073 646 1687
RE-THINKING YOUR GARDEN? For Garden Consulting call Susan at 072 932 5393
PET / HOUSE SITTING: Tina Stanley. Trusted pet & house sitter in Franschoek, WC. Reliable care for your pets & home, ensuring peace of mind while you’re away. Contact 083 448 4951 for bookings & references.
RE-FIBRE GLASS YOUR POOL in any colour you like. Call RiaPools for a quote: 072 347 5355
CHANGING TO A SALT WATER SYSTEM? Let us advise & quote for you! Call RiaPools: 072 347 5355 POOL PUMP PROBLEMS? Noise? We quote and help you out! Call RiaPools: 072 347 5355
STUFF WANTED: All manner of clothing and household items needed for our ‘First Friday of The Month’ jumble sales. Please help us to help the animals of the valley. Please drop off at the SPCA clinic in La Provence Street, Groendal, or phone for us to collect. 021 876 4808 FRESH, ORGANIC FARM PRODUCE: Delivered weekly to Franschhoek, including vegetables and fruit in season, chicken, eggs, cheese, honey, etc. Lists of available produce received on Monday, orders placed on Tuesday for Wednesday delivery. A number of Franschhoekers are already receiving weekly deliveries. To be added to the list contact Sue Norman on 083 321 3442 or suenorman50@outlook.com.
DO YOU STILL HAVE THAT POOL LEAK? Losing water all the time? Let us quote and take care of the problem! Call RiaPools: 072 347 5355
PROFESSIONAL POOL SERVICE REQUIRED? Keep it local! Get a quote. Call RiaPools: 072 347 5355
HOUSE/PET SITTER: I have worked with animals for over 20 years. I need to bring my 16-year-old dog with me. He sleeps all day and is not a barker. Fees are reasonable and references are available. Internet access essential. For further details call Rentia 072 324 3882.
Community Events
SPORT
FRANSCHHOEK TENNIS CLUB: Social tennis is played at the club on Fridays, Sundays and Public Holidays from 08h30. For more information contact Nicky. 082 455 6411
PARKRUN: Saturdays at Rickety Bridge Wine Estate. Time: 08h00. Cost: Free. Register at www.parkrun.co.za
CHURCH SERVICES
METHODIST CHURCH: Sunday service 10h00. Rev Russell Norman. 021 872 3580 or 082 662 4509.
NG KERK: Sondagdienste 09h30. Geen aanddiens. Ds Peet Bester. 021 876 2431. Besoekers welkom.New Apostolic Church: Le Roux Street, Groendal. Sundays 09h00, Wednesdays 19h30. Rector: Charles Leibrandt.
ST GEORGE’S ANGLICAN CHURCH: Groot Drakenstein. Sunday Services: Holy Communion and Sunday School 10h00. Revd Wilfred Meyer 084 407 1280. Office - 021 874 4008. willowdale@cybersmart.co.za
SHOFAR CHRISTIAN CHURCH: Services - 09h00 & 18h00 English services at 7 Lambrechts Street. Pastor Richard Wade. 083 225 8529. All welcome!
UNITING REFORMED CHURCH: Sunday service 09h30. Dr Shaun Burrows. 021 876 2632. Visitors welcome.
GENERAL
Alcoholics Anonymous: WED evenings 19:00, Groendal Community Centre, Contact David +27 83 305 5159
Useful Numbers
ACCOUNTANTS
Tax Shop 021 876 2676
ATTORNEYS
Susan Charlesworth 021 876 2592/072 402 9469
AUDIOLOGISTS
Heidi Allan 021 876 4622
BURGLAR ALARMS
Pepler Alarms 021 876 3308
CLUBS & ASSOCIATIONS
Boland Bridge Club 021 876 3031
Franschhoek Tennis Club 078 278 4843
FHK Heritage & Ratepayers Ass. 083 441 8280
Groot Drakenstein Games Club 021 874 1906
- Craig Mc Naught: Captain 080 845 1014
- Lejean Pieterse, Hiring 082 490 0405
Lions 021 876 3775
Stb Masonic Lodge (Chris) 072 211 9991
Franschhoek Rotary Club 082 891 4613
Franschhoek Probus Club 021 876 3179
ELECTRICAL
Franschhoek Electric 074 313 7829/021 876 3640
Rensburg Electrical 021 876 2120/083 309 2923
HEALTH & BEAUTY
Franschhoek Pharmacy 021 876 2261
Franschhoek Health Club 021 876 3310
Karen Protheroe (Dietician) 082 925 0931
HOUSE & GARDEN
Clock Repairs 028 840 1716
Lighting & Accessories 021 876 3640
Ria Pools (Franschhoek) 021 876 2612/072 347 5355
Sue’s Gardens 083 321 3442
Valley Garden Service 071 591 0342
OPTOMETRIST
Marelise Bester 021 872 3530
PHYSIOTHERAPY Fhk Physiotherapy Associates 021 876 4234 (office)
074 325 5555 (Bronwen) 076 842 6052 (Maans)
PLUMBERS
Franschhoek Plumbing 021 876 3759
PSYCHOLOGIST
Danielle Smith 082 812 1476
PUBLIC SERVICES
Hospice 021 876 3085
Library 021 808 8406
Post Office 021 876 2342
Welfare (ACVV) 021 876 2670
SPCA 083 745 5344
SHARF 076 327 4939
SCHOOLS
Bridge House School 021 874 8100
Franschhoek High School 021 876 2079
Groendal Primary School 021 876 2448
Groendal Secondary School 021 876 2211
Wes-Eind Primary School 021 876 2360
Dalubuhle Primary School 021 876 3957
STORAGE
Franschhoek Storage 021 876 2174
TOURIST INFORMATION & SERVICES
Info Office 066 224 6360 / 073 688 9894
Huguenot Memorial Museum 021 876 2532
VETERINARY
Fhk Animal Clinic (plus surgery) 021 876 2504
Emergencies / Weekends 021 863 3187 / 082 8089
100
EMERGENCY NUMBERS
Stb Fire Dept. (Buildings) 021 808 8888
District Municipality(Bush & veld) 021 887 4446 021 886 9244
Police 10111/021 876 8061
Eskom 086 003 7566
Omnipage Farm Watch 021 852 3318
Plaaswag 021 876 2346
N1, N2 & R300 Emergency number: 021 946 1646
DENTISTS
Dr Schalk du Plessis 021 876 3070
DOCTORS
Dr Karin Eksteen 021 876 4622
Dr Alexander Heywood 021 876 2474
Dr Hannes Van der Merwe 066 100 6429
Dr Nicolas Els 021 876 2561
Dr Bernard Fisher 021 876 4622
AUDIOLOGIST
Audiologist Tracy-Ann Morris 084 264 0000
EMERGENCY MEDICAL RESPONSE
Medicare EMR 074 363 7744/021 876 4316
MUNICIPALITY
(Ward 1) Clr Pfeiffer (DA) 079 597 2765
(Ward 2) Clr Petersen (DA) 082 404 5055
(Ward 3) Clr Manuel (DA) 074 686 2364
(Ward 4) Clr Adams (DA) 073 446 5411
Municipality (Office Hours) 021 808 8700
Municipality (After Hours) 021 808 8890
Municipality 24hr Service 021 808 8700
Master Plumbers & Renovators (Pty) Ltd
and Kitchen Renovations
Hot Water Installations | Geysers COC Certificates | All Plumbing Needs
C: 082 476 5278 E: richard.norththeplumber@gmail.com 24 Hour Emergency Service Are you suffering from diabetes, cerebrovascular,
T B, drug addiction or quit smoking? Call Shermika +27 63 895 0230
WE MANAGE ALL RELATED HOMEOWNER SERVICES WITHIN FRANSCHHOEK, BOLAND, WINELANDS AND SURROUNDS
DAVEY 065 959 7004 daveysias486@gmail.com
Year-end sterilisation drive
sterilisation in honour of Astrid Meth, a huge supporter in organising
sterilisation we've done over the years. Her memorial held in Germany, with friends and family, funded the year's final two-day event!
Klein Champagne kindly hosted our base and the people from the Bohoek farms signed up their dogs and cats. In total, Dr Lesleigh and her team from the 'Cape Companions' veterinary practice sterilised a total of 63 cats and dogs.
Team SHARF - now well versed in all procedures - collected every animal and returned them home. Every animal received the usual tick & flea and dewormer treatment. In addition, every dog went home with an 8kg bag of nutritious food and every cat went home with a 2kg bag of nutritious food.
Thank you to our amazing and loyal volunteers who start very early and leave late, who assist with the back-breaking work of lifting crates, moving dogs from peaceful recovery areas back into crates and tending to their every need…
We sincerely thank
Ÿ R e n e & S a s k i a M e l l e m a f r
Champagne for the use of one of our most stunning venues ever!
Ÿ Suzette Kannemeyer for overseeing that all w e n t s m o o t h l y w i t h i n t h e v e n u e T h
contributed to a peaceful atmosphere for both patients and the team.
Ÿ Lesleigh Rous Reffo and her skilled team –Louise Schoeman, Sara de Roche and Dr N a d i n e A p t e k e r – w h o s u c c e s
n e u t e r e d
animals.
Ÿ Every person who donated towards the finances of this sterilisation drive.
Ÿ Jill Dale (Dale Automation) for every Blue Drum. These ensured that all our doggie patients had an indoor warm and dry place
to go back to after their operation.
always being there to support
Ÿ Tea m S H
Fre d dy, Sassie, Desmond and Abigail who drove many miles and who started the day at 05h00 and finished with the last cat or dog to be delivered home in the evening.
Ÿ SHARF and our loyal volunteers on the floor: Juani, Bettina, Justin, Aiden, Mayuri Reddy, Sashi Behari. The lifted and weighed and made sure every soul was keep warm, clean and calm with blankets and hugs. Also for
according to schedule.
Ÿ Rowan Smith for once again sponsoring all the dewormer which is essential.
Ÿ Louise Schoeman for organising the huge amounts of dog food.
Ÿ Checkers Franschhoek for drinks, fruit and snacks for us humans.
Ÿ Melisa-Ann Tupper (Pet World) for providing bags of nutrition for our patients A big thank also to Vanessa le Roux and Theo Maduray for delivering these blessings
Ÿ F
choosing to do the right thing in stopping further breeding. You are our heroes for choosing not to be a part of the vicious cycle of unwanted pregnancies for your cats and dogs The pain and suffering, the neglect and cruelty stops here!
Please suppor t our effor ts
To enable Safe Hands Animal Rescue to continue, as costs rise astronomically, we reach out to companies and individuals, to ask kindly for sponsorship and/or monthly and annual contributions to keep the proverbial wolves from our door!
FACT: SHARF uses 200-250kg dog food monthly.
FACT: SHARF uses 100kg cat food monthly.
FACT: SHARF spends thousands everyr month on dewormer/tick & flea treatments. Please do not hesitate to contact us to discuss any ways of support Abigail: (0044) 7770 930100 on WhatsApp | Juani: 076 327 4939
Banking Details: FNB. Acc. No. 62836203076 Branch: 200110 NPO: 235-331 PBO: 930076522
6 Key Property Trends in South Africa in 2025
The market has undergone significant changes in recent years, shaped by amongst others the pandemic, economic shifts and evolving buyer preferences.
Lew Geffen Sotheby’s International Realty identifies several trends are set to define the landscape in 2025, offering opportunities and challenges for investors, developers and homeowners.
Semigration
Semigration will certainly continue in 2025 and beyond. With work-from-home on the rise, people can choose where they want to live rather than having to live close to their workplace so we will continue to see strong demand for homes in scenic areas. Other factors, of course, include crime and safety and local council governance, with the best perceived governance being in the Western Cape.
The Growth of Secondary Cities and Small Towns
Semigration is underpinning another trend that will continue – the rise of smaller towns. This “Zoom town” trend will continue to influence the market, with ongoing growth being seen in smaller towns and coastal areas.
Driven by the rise of remote work and a desire for a simpler, more sustainable and balanced life, both coastal and inland towns are experiencing a surge in demand for primary residences.
Increased Focus on Lifestyle Estates
Secure lifestyle estates have shown the strongest growth in recent years and will continue to dominate South Africa’s property market, offering security, convenience and on-site modern amenities.
In 2025, lifestyle estates are expected to expand beyond traditional luxury offerings, incorporating more affordable options to meet middle-income demand.
The Rise of Affordable and Mixed-Use
Developments
As affordability becomes a central concern for many South Africans, developers are increasingly focusing on affordable housing projects and mixed-use developments, especially in urban areas where there is a massive demand for compact, efficient living spaces near amenities, commercial
hubs and institutions of learning.
Spike in First-time Buyers
First-time buyers have emerged as a key demographic.
However, higher interest rates in 2023 tempered affordability, leading to a more cautious approach among these buyers. Sellers, in turn, faced longer listing periods and pressure to price properties competitively.
Having now turned the interest rate corner, with interest rates slowly coming down again, we expect to see more market activity, especially at the lower end of the market. Many of these buyers are young professionals and families seeking to enter the market.
Women, who already count for more than 50% of these buyers will continue to be the strongest firsttime buyer market.
The Rise of Collective Ownership
Collective ownership or co-buying is becoming an increasingly attractive option for individuals seeking to gain a foothold in the competitive market and, with the cost of living on a steady upward trajectory this trend is likely to gain traction in the coming years.
This arrangement involves two or more individuals jointly purchasing a property, often friends, family members, or business partners. Co-ownership allows buyers to pool resources, share financial responsibilities, and enter the property market sooner than they might individually. It is particularly appealing to first-time buyers and young professionals seeking to invest in desirable areas.
Text: LGSIR | Image: Pixabay
BUT PLEASE...
WE KNOW YOU CARE, WE KNOW YOU WANT TO HELP TO CHILDREN WHO BEG ON FRANSCHHOEK STREETS DO NOT GIVE MONEY
OR DIRECT SUPPORT
No matter how well-meaning, direct support keeps our children on the street: Giving money or support of any kind directly to children on the street might seem harmless, or helpful, to members of the public, tourists, and businesses. The truth is that it means keeping them out of school, on the streets, and locked in the hands of those exploiting them.
Unfortunately, once a child settles onto the street and allows the street to become their survival paradigm, they become locked into street life and resistant to change
The money they get from begging: No program, organization, centre, or school can compete for the child's attention when they can earn over R50 a day in our smaller provincial towns, never mind the odd foreign currency equivalent of R200. This money is not used for food or schooling needs but goes directly into substance abuse, or is handed over to support their guardians' substance abuse.
Food from restaurants and locals: Many restaurants, small businesses, and individuals feel sorry for the children, so give them food and even small jobs for money. This helps sustain the children on the street, validating their impression that life on the streets is better and
keeping them out of school and out of the programs set up to look after them.
Public support: Many well-meaning members of the public give the children shoes, clothes, and food items. Most of this is sold or traded and is used not only to sustain them on the street, and pay for drugs but also to encourage them to remain on the street.
Many people want to help but often don’t know how to give responsibly. By donating to the FRANCO StreetKids Centre, you can make a significant impact on our children’s future. We offer daily hot meals, tutoring, mentoring, hygiene facilities, trauma counseling, sports, karate, yoga, and skills programs. Most importantly, we provide LOVE and RESPECT for their innocence.
021
FRANSCHHOEK’S SPECIALIST PAINT SHOP
We stock a full range of Midas, environmentally friendly paints (water and oil based) and Earthcote specialised, textured trowel-on and brushon products for wall and floor surfaces (300 colours to choose from) and a full range of paint brushes, rollers and accessories
We also stock waterproofing products, Weatherprufe and Eco Rubber, Rolls of torch-on (3mm & 4mm) and various sizes of waterproofing membrane. Plascon water and oil-based paints.
We also stock a full range of Woodoc 'food for wood' in various colours and a full range of Duram products, including Duram Roof paints in various colours and Duram Showfloor Polyurethane floor paint, also in assorted colours. We can also supply twin pack epoxy paints for specialised applications.
All textures and colours are on show in our showroom. Pop in and have a coffee with us, whilst leisurely selecting your paints and colours.
For FREE technical advice, paint specifications and quotations contact Paul 082 567 6162
The best view in Franschhoek for the ultimate lifestyle
A superb opportunity to acquire an exceptional property spanning 7 hectares on the slopes of the Franschhoek pass. This splendid property offers the most wonderful, far-reaching views over the valley, all the way to Simonsberg and beyond.
3 Beds | 2 Baths | 2 Receptions | 4 Garages | 3 Cottages 5 Beds | 5.5 Baths | 2 Receptions | 2 Garages | Furnished
Sensational estate home on La Ferme Chantelle
La Ferme Chantelle is a very popular estate, situated close to Franschhoek Village. The estate offers a low density community with only 28 houses with each plot having its own unique view of mountains, vineyards and olive trees. This is a wonderful opportunity for the discerning buyer.
The estate is very highly regarded and offers excellent security and superb communal facilities to include a stunning Clubhouse, floodlit tennis courts and a wonderful communal pool that is situated within a very easy walk to the house.
Well presented three bedroom home on secure and popular estate A much-loved estate with beautiful views, stunning landscaping, vines and a clubhouse, communal pool and tennis courts. Offering a wonderful lifestyle with excellent security and is within close proximity to the fantastic amenities and world-renowned restaurants of Franschhoek.
Web Ref RL23739 JOINT
Web Ref RL23623
Web Ref RL22932
SOLE MANDATE
SOLE MANDATE
VILLAGE HOME ON 2,000m2
EXCLUSIVE MANDATE: This historic gem, circa 1863, has been sensitively updated to present charming original features with a fresh, contemporary twist. The front facade is a recognisable landmark on Dirkie Uys Street and its large corner position conceals many hidden treasures beyond its walls, coupled with the most magnificent garden. A unique home and a very rare find even by Franschhoek standards.
The entrance opens into a generous openplan lounge with high ceilings and shuttered sash windows and follows through to the dining room with fireplace and quaint country kitchen with all the mod cons. This original part of the main house incorporates two bedrooms en-suite: a master with walk-through dressing room and doors out to the pool terrace; and a second smaller bedroom en-suite.
The poolside annex provides further accommodation in two generous bedroom suites with charming en-suite bathrooms. The swimming pool area with outdoor lounge/dining terrace offers an ideal space for entertaining with gorgeous mountain views and charming garden outlook.
The extensive garden (with private borehole) is filled with large mature trees and offers a private sanctuary in the heart of the village.
Also includes full solar power system, single garage, a large laundry/store room with staff toilet and a separate wine cellar.
Tom Clode 079 955 3114
Terry-Lee George 082 650 9194 R15 995 000
SIX BEDROOM VILLAGE HOME
This stunning property blends Cape Vernacular architecture with high-end contemporary finishes and landscaped gardens.
The main house features a double-volume lounge and dining room with arched sash windows, a separate T.V. lounge, and a central kitchen with state-of-theart appliances leading to a covered patio and pool. The main bedroom includes a dressing room and en-suite bathroom, while the second bedroom has its own en-suite and the third, with a separate entrance, is perfect for guests. A home office with ample workspace is also included.
The south wing boasts two spacious bedrooms, each opening to private courtyard gardens, and a luxurious 103 sqm self-
contained flat with a large en-suite bedroom, lounge, dining area, and separate kitchen, all with private access—ideal for guests. A 50 sqm loft serves as an office, staff quarters, or seventh bedroom.
The lush garden, enriched by nutrient-rich soil and a borehole-fed irrigation system, features mature trees and vibrant plants.
Additional features include a laundry, store, drying yard, and 7 parking bays. Early viewing recommended!
Tom Clode 079 955 3114
Terry-Lee George 082 650 9194 R23 950 000
EXCLUSIVE
