Sabie, Mpumalanga, South Africa

This year 2013 AD, is the 100th Anniversary of St. Peter’s Anglican Church in Sabie, Mpumalanga.

The Church’s Centenary will be formally celebrated on the 30th June 2013.

The luscious and beautifully well maintained lawns with immaculately manicured flower beds of  St.Peter’s church exude a comfortable and welcome old world style and ambience as one passes under the shingled arch which leads on to a wide slate pathway meandering near the foot of some enormous but very gracious jacaranda trees right up to the church doors.

The early history of St. Peter’s church is somewhat obscure, but which might well date back to the the 1886 visit by the Rev. A Roberts, who while on his way from Pilgrim’s Rest to Lydenburg via Spitzkop, called at H. Glynn Snr’s abode, where he spent the night.

Rev. Roberts was one of the few Anglican priests in the Transvaal at the time, and was appointed by Bishop Bousefield to minister to the congregations on the Lydenburg and Pilgrim’s Rest Goldfields.

H.T.Glynn, author of “Game and Gold” mentions having services every three or four months “in the old days” on the verandah at his Sabie home “Huntington”. These services were held for many years. It was at one of these occasions that Bishop Furze and H.T.Glynn discussed ways and means of raising funds to build a church.

The first church records date from 1912 when on April 21^st a meeting was held to form the first Church Council. H.T. Glynn was appointed Vicar’s Warden, a position he held until his death in 1928.

Fund raising had already started; dances, plays, tennis parties and collection boxes were the order of the day. A plot of ground had already been donated by Glynn’s Lydenburg mine, the largest in the district, while H.T. Glynn donated a piece of ground himself for a one roomed rectory. It was decided to erect both buildings at the same time.

When the Rev. Maurice Ponsonby arrived as rector of Pilgrim’s Rest and Sabie in 1912, he approached Sir Herbert Baker for plans for the Church. When these became available, tenders were called for the construction. A Mr. Gemignani quoted 400 Pounds Sterling for the building of the walls (which needed 20 bags of cement). The carpentry work quote was for 145 Pounds Sterling. Both the quotes were accepted and construction work began in 1913. The foundation stone was laid by H.T. Glynn with the Rev. Ponsonby officiating.

The original design of the Church featured a thatched roof, but it was agreed to alter this to wood shingles. The stone used for the building was quarried locally, and was what was left over from the building of a bridge over the Sabie River.

The project proceeded successfully. By June 29^th 1913, the completed project was dedicated by Bishop Furze.

Gifts of furniture, carpets etc, came in from many quarters. The Arcadia Church Council donated the lecturn, while Rev. Ponsonby and friends donated the pews which had been designed by Sir Herbert Baker. Mrs. Glynn and Mrs. Damant donated the Altar.

Rev. Ponsonby left St. Peter’s in August 1914 to be succeeded by Rev. Carlisle. Services were held in Sabie twice monthly. The Rector traveled on horseback and stayed in the small rectory. Eventually the Rector went on active service in 1916, and until his return in 1918 services were held by laymen and visiting priests, with an annual visit by Bishop Furze. Rev. Carlisle resigned from the St. Peter’s parish at the end of 1919. He was followed by a succession of priests up until the present day, all of whom left their mark and influence on the congregation and parish of St. Peter’s.

During the incumbancy of Rev. Lewis Jones a choir was started, a new organ was purchased, the beautifully carved altar (designed by Ms. Batisse and carved by the Toweel carpenters)  presented by Ms. Glynn and family in memery of the late H.T.Glynn, and then the existing altar rails designed and presented by a parishioner. The sanctuary lamp was donated by Mr.& Ms. E.C. Simmons in memory of their infant son Godfrey. The attractive lych-gate was added through the generosity of Ms. Langley, wife of the Rev. W.T.V. Langley. The name in the lych-gate was carved and presented by Edward Flint.

In 1964 the Andrew family donated the 4 candelabra. During the ministry of Rev. Ron Wakeling the stained glass windows, designed by Mr. Theo Theron and donated by the parishners were installed.

St. Peter’s is the 2nd oldest congregation as well as the 2nd oldest church building in the parish. The oldest church is St. Mary’s at Pilgrims Rest – 1884.

St. Peter’s Church, a cameo of history, has become a tourist icon on the Panorama Route being visited by many interested passers-by.

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Another snippet from the past; written about 25 years ago.

Each town has its own identity, its unique atmos­phere and an interesting array of characters who have contributed in their own special way to the history of the town. Sabie is no exception.

Talking to Frank Watkins near his home high in the mountains near Sheba Mine, just outside Sabie, one is struck by the comparison which can be drawn be­tween the lines on his face and the ruins that go to make up his home – each has an indescribable magnetism which one would find difficult to re­sist.

Frank Watkins claims that he was born in 1903 as the son of the Famous Frank Watkins who was married to one of the Glynn daughters.

His first, most vivid re­collection of the town, is that it had a grand total of two shops and the most important of all, one hotel. He does however recall that there was un­fortunately such a thing as a school, where he proudly states that he learned how to count and write his name.

In 1918 he left Sabie to work in Lydenburg at a place with the name of Potloodspruit.

He recalls with sadness how the “groot-griep” struck the town and that he was amongst those fortunate enough to escape death, but who also helped to dig mass graves for the burial of the bodies of those who had succumbed to that dreaded disease.

That he was a very capable worker, is not to be doubted. He recalls with great pride that he was employed by the old Sheba Mine near Sabie, and was responsible for the pumps which extracted the excess water from the mine. In later years he moved across to the Easting Sabie Gold Mine where he claims that he was promoted to “Boss Boy” because “mense het hom baie gelaaik”.

Frank now lives  in the old mine offices and has adapted the ruins to suit his needs and made them liveable. While he lives on the upper level, his cattle are safely herded into and enjoy the comforts of the lower level of the build­ing. The house is situated on (the old) Mondi Forests grounds where the area forms part of an area identified and protected by Fauna and Flora; a privilege very few people enjoy.

Frank is also called upon regularly to serve as an “advisor” as he puts it, to (the old) Mondi, when it comes to such tasks as preparing fire breaks in the area, where he supervises the workers in their task.

For any visitor arriving at Frank’s place, nothing short of a warm welcome is given. If he has known you long enough you will be given a pumpkin out of his garden by his wife. Just as he becomes a grandfather to another of eighteen grand children (as far as he can remember), he secretly puts his hand in your pocket and presents you with a little surprise from the veld, be it a fruit or flower.

To practice medicine without adequate facilities and infrastructure cannot be too convenient or efficient, especially when an epidemic strikes a community; it could be catastrophic!

The 1918 Spanish Influenza epidemic did not spare Sabie, and by November 1918 the only practicing doctor had his hands full, what with visiting ill patients, as well as trying to manage a medical practice.

There was no known cure for the’flu. Circumstances deteriorated to such a degree that the coffin makers couldn’t cope with the demand. As a result mass graves had to be excavated to contain the number of decomposing corpses of people who had succumbed to the disease. Strange myths and superstitions abounded; for example, money had to be desanitized because it was said to spread the disease.

Mrs. Damant, the mine manager’s wife, took up the challenge as a nurse, diagnostician and sometimes the duties of doctor in an effort to help contain the emergency situation. Mrs. Kitty Nelson the only qualified dietician in the district visited as many ill patients in her “spider” as she could reach.

Begun in a private home, the hospital in Sabie consisted of a bandage room which doubled as an operating theater, a drawing room used as a labour or intensive care ward, and a living room as a general ward with six beds. Of course antibiotics such as penicillin, or modern sterilization equipment were unheard of in those days. Dressing materials, bandages and bedding were boiled up in a massive pot on a coal stove, and then sometimes bake dried in an oven. This was where their brown colour originated. The first operations performed were appendectomies. One of the two rondavels in the backyard was used as a mortuary.

A donations and funds drive for the building of a new and adequately equipped hospital was initiated of which the most popular scheme was the “Simmy’s Sweep”started by E.P.Simmons. This horse race was a yearly institution up to 1933.The Glynn family donated a plot of ground. Building operations commenced in 1923 with 1000 Pounds Sterling in the kitty, and the ablest artisans in the district were hired to execute the commission.

On the 12^th June 1924 every conceivable means of automotive power (which consisted of seven vehicles) was assembled at the Sabie Railway Station to await the arrival of the South African Govenor General Lord Athlone. On his arrival the whole entourage proceeded along a track to the hospital in a swirl of dust. The Bishop’s toga took the most punishment.

Lord Athlone officially opened the hospital by unlocking the main doors with a flourish and a “Golden Key”. One inquisitive youngster who managed to slip past the guard of honour to take a closer look at this golden key was most surprised to find out that it was just an ordinary key that had been dipped in gold paint !

The “Glynn’s Lydenburg Goldmine Hospital” was in fact the first hospital in the region that could boast of an X-ray machine and related quarters.

Donations and funds for the hospital’s operating costs were perpetually meagre with the result that the situation weighed heavily on the shoulders of the community. Many patrons contributed voluntarily through authorizing deductions from their salaries at the rate of two shillings and sixpence a month in an effort to assist in bearing the financial burden.

In the meantime the mines, forestry industry and other operations became successful which all helped to make Sabie flourish economically, resulting in a situation where the current hospital could no longer cope with the increasing needs of the community.

The Transvaal Province was approached for assistance. The Glynn family once again offered a plot of ground while the Glynn’s Lydenburg and Nestor Mines donated the first ambulance.

A new hospital was opened on the 19^th February 1941. There was a staff compliment of one medical doctor with five assistants. Today the enlarged Hospital in Sabie has a whole team of doctors and other professionals who are ably complimented by three other doctors in private practice as well as a full team of other personel who handle all the nursing and administration, a dispensary, dental clinic, eye care, welfare, dietary issues, physiotherapy and maternity section, as well as other services. This was called the Sabie War Memorial Hospital. In later years it became known as Sabie Hospital.

There are a few Occupational Therapists (OT) working at the hospital though.  Not a lot of people know what OT does…..we are life coaches teaching skills such as stress management, self-esteem, assertiveness, conflict management and other coping techniques, we form  part of the rehabilitation team that enables patients to be functional at home after injury or disease, thus enabling them to perform the tasks they used to before accident or disease, we  provide adaptive devices and hand therapy as well.

SABIE Hospital hallways rang with the singing of the choir in celebration for a generous donation. The Rotary Club of Sabie (D9250) in conjunction with the Rotary Club of Echternach et Moselle (D1630, Luxembourg), and The Rotary Foundation, had installed a ‘tele-medicine’ facility at the hospital.

This facility enables transmission of high quality images from Sabie to receiving hospitals and allows immediate assistance in analysis of x-rays or digitized photos as well as providing an aid for training. Powerful software can enhance and manipulate images to allow a specialist physician to efficiently diagnose complex problems. The equipment is ideal for rural hospitals such as Sabie, where access to specialist advice is limited.

The project is one of a number that the Luxembourg based club has assisted with in Sabie. The Rotary Foundation has been a well-used source of funds for many projects in District 9250 and Sabie Rotarians have taken advantage of this by partnering with clubs such as Echternach at Moselle.

The Luxembourg based club will now focus on assisting with completion of an HIV/AIDS orphanage in Harmony Hill just outside Sabie This project presently houses 10 children and has become the club’s centennial project.

Matching Grants enable another ‘Tele-Medicine’ installation. When complete, the facility will be home for 25 children and hopefully form the blueprint for other such facilities. The Sabie club is very active in the community and currently has five projects in progress.

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When Capt. J.C. Heyneke first arrived in Sabie IN 1930, there were something like 15 different mines operating. Glynn’s Lydenburg Mine Ltd. was the biggest gold mine at that time in Sabie.

Other names were :
Eastern Star G.M. co Ltd.
Malieveld Ming co. Ltd.
Valley Mine.
M.M.Gold Tribyte.
Rietfontein Tvl. Cons. Land & Exploration Co. Ltd.
Buchanan G.M.Synd. Ltd.
Bulgaric G.M. Co. Ltd.
“B” Sabie Syndicate Ltd.
Hill Syndicate Ltd.
Ifran Mine.
Tvl. Gold Mining Estate Ltd.
Elandsdrift Mine.
Nestor Mine.
“Rex” Mine.
Little Joker.
Mountain Mine.
Jackpot Mine.
Easting Sabie Gold Mine.
Sheba Mine.

LITTLE JOKER.

Was worked up until 1954, when it was closed because the workers did not get paid. The mine entrance was blown closed with all the equipment left inside.
1. Coco-pans,
2. Tools,
3. Rails,
4. Engines,
5. Mills,
6. crusher,
7. Etc…

Before that there were Swann’s Mine and the Jock Rosa Mine.

MOUNTAIN MINE.

There was an alluvial source, as well as the reef which sometimes produced nuggets. It was worked up until 1986. There is apparently still gold available. While it was being worked it was yielding up to 28gms. to the ton of ore mined. Nuggets were also found. 200 tons of ore were initially extracted to start the cyanide process, but the ore was not crushed fine enough, and no significant results were obtained . All the equipment is still standing on site.

THE JACK-POT MINE.

This mine closed in 1975 when an Indian man was caught dealing illegally. It was alluvial gold only. All the equipment, consisting of everything necessary including 3 James tables, is standing ready to go when the switch is turned.

THE BULGARIC MINE

While exploring old addits, some of the plant foundations and an old map were discovered. It seemed to be a washing type set-up. The reason was that mining operations were conducted in gravelly type soil, which meant that the addits could not be supported by props. The entrance to the working-face was half-way up the mountain. This gravelly circumstance contributed to the mine’s eventual demise. During the middle 1950′s the mine manager was holding a corporate social & Christmas party one night, which luckily all the staff were obliged to attend. There was a really heavy Sabie storm that night with torrential rain, which caused a land-slide that buried the hillside entrance. As a result the whole mine virtually disappeared, with most of the workings. Luckily all the staff were attending the party, and there was no-one in the mine at that time. The mine was abandoned because of this disaster, and has almost disappeared.

OLIFANT’S GERAAMTE GOLD MINE.

This mine had only one addit, and no escape route. Some of the bed-rock in the addit was smooth, as if polished. It almost seemed as if the people extracting the ore were small, and could possibly have been Bushmen, using leather bags to collect ore for processing. This mine has one of the most beautiful white quartzite reefs with a thin layer of gold, visible to the naked eye.

SWANN’S MINE

As the gold being sought in the early stages of the “gold rush” was mostly alluvial gold, it was imperative to have a reliable source of water to be able to wash the gold out of the dirt and ore. In the early days every digger had his own water race, made simply by digging a furrow fro the edge of the stream. But when the digger population grew these furrows became co-operarive efforts, and each digger took his turn in the use of water.

The furrows are there to this day as a memorial to these pioneers. Many of them are extremely skilled efforts, carefully contoured and sometimes cut through solid rock on the hillsides. Some of them led water great distances to where the deposits were situated. An adequate flow of water was an essential, because without water the diggers could not operate.

The most famous of these furrows is Swann’s race. It was built but never actualy completed. It was built by an old digger named Swann, who found gold in an inaccessible spot in the hills. He was determined that no one should ever know where his mine was. He could apparently work it within the bounds of his resources and used to appear from time to time to buy supplies with his gold. However to make his fortune he needed water, and he set to work to to carve a furrow which it has been estimated was 20 miles long. He reckoned it would take him 8 years to complete, which would help him to make him richer beyond all the dreams of avarice.

He dug and dug and eventually died. They traced the course of the furrow, but never found Swann’s mine.

THE JOCK ROSA MINE

According to one of the old miners that used to pan and mine in the region, Swann’s Race is actually on the Sabie River just below the lower turn-off to the Frankfort forest station. It leads to what he calls the Jock Rosa mine. There certainly is a furrow or ditch about 2m. wide by 1m. deep running along the side of the Sabie River, and then leading off to the right to where he says the Jock Rosa mine is supposed to be.

The Race is undisturbed in any way, and is at least 100 years old. He maintains that the gold is still there, is alluvial, consists of fine gold and small nuggets, and assays out at between anything from 7gms. to 114gms. per ton of gravel. He invites any geologist to check his figures out. He maintains that nuggets consisting of 99% free gold and can still be taken out of the gravel all over the big bend in the Sabie River.

Some years ago I was fortunate enough to take a tour of the ancient Indo-African ruins near Uitsoek in Mpumalanga, with Dr. Cyril Hromnik. This tour changed my perceptions of the History of Southern Africa, and all History for that matter, and made me aware of the fact that one cannot just accept everything that is dished up as truth, and that history must be linked more closely to obvious evidence.

Dr. Hromnik studied, and specialized in Dravidian Culture, having spent many years in the Indian sub-continent. He came to Africa and discovered the signs of this same Dravidian culture which permeates the Island of Madagascar, as well as the East- African seaboard, and further inland, all the way from the Cape to Kenya and beyond. He also traces sources through language similarities.

Following the historical, onomastic and linguistic evidence collected and studied for many years, historian Cyril A. Hromník with a PhD.from Syracuse University, Syracuse, NY. focused his attention on the stone structures in the veld of MaShonaland, today’s Zimbabwe for many years. These ruins clearly show characteristics and features of extra-African origin. This lead him to write a book called Indo-Africa (Hromník, Cyril.Andrew. 1981. Indo-Africa: Towards a New Understanding of the History of Sub-Saharan Africa. Cape Town: Juta.), in which he shows, among other evidence, that Shona in the name MaShonaland is of Indian origin, where it means GOLD. All stone structures in MaShonaland are connected with the gold-prospecting by ancient Indians.

This discovery induced Dr. Hromník – upon his arrival in South Africa in 1979 – to pay attention to the thousands of stone ruins that litter the veld of this country.

Examination of the ruins and of the connected toponymy led him to the conclusion, that they are the product of the Dravidian prospectors and traders, whose priests conceived the idea of building stone shrines and temples at first only in the vicinity of the gold mines and later throughout the country, wherever their network of trade had taken them to.

Someone who realized that some stone circles he had stumbled across  at Uitsoek, were more than just a coincidence, was sensible enough to let Dr. Hromnik know that he had found a circular ruin, which could perhaps interest him. Dr. Hromnik endorsed the find, as Dravidian Temple ruins, and actually discovered a host of other temples ruins nearby.

Dr. Hromnik maintains that before the time of Christ, Indian traders named Komates, crossed the Indian Ocean in sailing boats with their Indonesian slaves, and were driven along on the high seas by trade winds blowing towards Africa. Their mission was to seek for gold, and return on reverse trade winds to India with their bounty. From the Bible record, one reads that there was gold in Africa, which was being exploited and traded, from ancient times. From his knowledge of Dravidian history, Dr. Hromnik certainly knew that the Komates were seeking gold and trading along the eastern seaboard of Southern Africa.

The Komates settled with their Indonesian slaves in these regions, and then gradually moved further inland from the river mouths, seeking gold, and building their temples which were called litaku. They mixed with the local Kung, spawning the Ottentotu.

One of the interesting features of the region between Natal, South Africa, and Mpumalanga, South Africa, near the Swaziland border with South Africa, is the name Komati. One finds Komati Gorge, Komati River, Lomati River, Komatipoort, Komatiland etc. Where did the name Komati originate? It seems pretty obvious that it comes from the word Komates.

Incidently an American doctor from the Malagasy Republic came into my office some time back and told me that the Malagasy people are of Asian origins, and not Black. It makes one think.

Apart from the fact that Dr. Hromnik is exceptionally well qualified in a number of  disciplines, he actually needs no further introduction, as he is looked upon as an outsider crackpot pseudo researcher, by the South African Academic Archaeological Fraternity, and others, because his findings do not suit current South African political views. This is such a pity, and it is most surprising, that these negative views emanate from amongst supposedly acclaimed, educated, academic leaders in their field, who should respect a fellow member of the academic community, even though they may be obliged to have differing opinions. The academics say that these ruins are nothing more than “beeskrale”. I suppose poor publicity is better than no publicity.

I attended a lecture on this culture given by Dr. Hromnik some time before I actually took the tour with him. This lecture included photographs of some of the sites we were to tour. One of the photographs on display showed a Hindu man kneeling with clasped hands, in prayerful reverence for his god, at one of the temple sites, which was a rather moving sight. In other words, this Hindu man was endorsing the fact that he was in fact at a sacred Hindu site. I should think that practicing Hindus would know what constituted one of their own sacred sites.

On the tour the first thing we were introduced to was a meandering low heaped pathway of small half hand sized stones, that stretched about 75 meters into the bush. We were informed that these stones were prayer stones that had been wrapped in leaves, containing prayers, and then placed on the pathway. Eventually the leaves dried, or rotted away leaving the stone on the pile. The pathway was the first step that people took on the road of life. It led through the bush to the first temple. All in all we toured six temples that day. One of the temples had a perfect Swastika at its center. This is an ancient Zoroastrian symbol. I wonder how it was that these “pastoral people” who built “beeskrale” knew about ancient Zoroastrian Swastikas? Maybe some “alien ancestral spirit” taught them.

Dr. Hromnik says that specifically the Zimbabwe Ruins, as well as Mapungubwe are all part of Indo-African culture, and that the local “pastoral folk” certainly didn’t go in for building structures like Zimbabwe Ruins, and were certainly not into the smelting of iron etc. He wants to know why the gold leaf covered rhino carving found at Mapungubwe had only one horn. African rhinos have two horns. Asian rhinos incidentally, have only one horn.

I attended a meeting of academics, including Dr. Hromnik, at Witbank about three years back. The debate was on these temples, and Indo-African culture.

One of the academics, a celebrated archaeologist, gave his input on “beeskrale”. It was the most elementary lecture I have ever heard, and no more than an insult to the intelligence of the slowest learner in grade 3. Furthermore, the meeting’s chairman didn’t even bother to give Dr. Hromnik an adequate opportunity to answer their views on this culture. Instead, when his “time” was up they systematically lambasted and vilified him in the cruelest fashion. They then threatened him with dire consequences if he persisted with his “nonsense”.

In the meantime, a “Complete History”of  Mpumalanga has been published and launched with all the fanfare and pomp of a celebrated occasion. Indo-African culture is not even mentioned. Some of the other celebrated historians of the region say this work is a gross distortion of the truth.

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