The Kgosi Mampuru Correctional Facility previously known as the Pretoria Maximum Prison Gallows in Pretoria, Gauteng was built in 1902. It is the only prison in South Africa where executions took place. Between 1902 and 1989, more than 3 500 prisoners were executed at the prison, of which 132 were political prisoners. The gallows were dismantled in 1996, but it was decided to restore it as a memorial museum.  The prison was declared a national heritage site and future plans include opening it to the public. Due to the prison still being operational as a C-max prison, makes it difficult to open the museum to the public. 

The journey of the prisoners, at the gallows, began when they were called into the “feedback room” where an inmate was told he was going to be executed. Most prisoners were told that they had seven days left to live before they would be hung. The executions were usually on a Friday, at 6:00 in the morning. But before reaching their final destination, the inmates would climb 52 steps. As part of the memorial, the stairs are now numbered and the walls have pictures of the prisoners walking up them. The prisoners wore a hoodie and dark prison clothes before entering the gallows. Once inside, a gantry hangs from the ceiling with nooses attached to it. The inmates would then take their place on the trapdoor which would open once the hangmen would secure the nooses around their necks. The room now contains information concerning the men that were hung in honour of them. The bodies would hang over the “blood catchment pit” which is a big square shallow pool with a drain in the middle. In the corner of the room, you cannot miss a coffin with flowers on top but then you see the cold metal autopsy table in the next room. After the autopsy, the bodies were placed in plain brown wooden coffins and by 9:00 in the morning would be sent down in a lift to the chapel where their families could pay their last respects. The bodies would then be buried as paupers without the families’ knowledge of their whereabouts. 

Early in the nineteenth Century, Hermanus Pieters, used to walk ‘over the mountain’ from Caledon, year after year, to camp at the coast and enjoy the abundant fish and shellfish he found there. A shell was discovered on Hoy’s Koppie, and it tell us that 50 000 Years earlier, other people had also found Hermanuspietersfontein a good place to live. From the nineteenth Century into the twentieth Century, the Village grew apace. Eventually some far-sighted residents recognized the botanical richness of the area in which they lived and realised the need for preserving what they could for posterity. Three special men were responsible for the establishment of a Mountain Reserve above a then small seaside, Town. Otto J Prillewitz, Mayor of Hermanus, pushed it through administrative channels. His love for the environment had brought him into touch, Dr Ion Williams, botanist and former acting Mayor. Eric Jones was the third player in this environmental drama, nurseryman and founder/chairman of the Hermanus Botanical Society, in l960. In the same year, Doc and Eric dreamed up the idea for a cliff path along the coast and began plans for a botanical centre in the newly-established reserve. Fernkloof did not resemble the nearly 2000-hectare sweep of mountain and coastal fynbos encompassing some of the Kleinrivier range and most of the completed cliff path which forms its boundaries today. Then it was a mere 100 hectares in size, starting at a gravel pit used for making bricks and not much more. A Fernkloof Advisory Board was formed on which Prillewitz, Jones and Williams served. While Eric wrestled with the administration, Doc, a qualified civil engineer, took on the task of laying out paths. Harry Wood who had been appointed as the Curator of Fernkloof had been told to establish a garden using plants from the Caledon division.

A small nursery was started to supply his needs and water came from the Rockfill Dam and from a well behind the present Botanical Centre. But when in l971, the size of the reserve increased dramatically to 1440 hectares, all efforts were concentrated on the paths and removal of alien vegetation. The gardens were allowed to fall into jungle status until they were lovingly restored again from 2003 onward. In the 70's Botanical Society efforts succeeded in erecting a Centre which included an 'her-barium' (which is a collection of dried plant specimens mounted on sheets of paper), lecture hall, office and kitchen. A visitors’ Centre was built further up the road from which trails radiated and a weekly display of wildflowers became a feature – and still is. Today the Reserve has more than 60 km of graded paths and the 'her-barium', having been awarded international status and houses 3500 pressed specimens. A small hut was built on Galpinkop for the overnight use of members and visitors. The indigenous plant nursery does a thriving business. The cliff path, started in 1960, meanders 11 km along the coast from the New Harbour to Piet-se-Bos – most of it forming part of the reserve. It has wheelchair paths and bridges, thanks to the efforts of the Cliff Path Management Group, working under the auspices of the Botanical Society. They have come a long way from 1923. William Paterson, took local wildflowers to England and won a cup. He was secretary of the Horticultural Society founded the following year and is credited with finding the elusive Marsh Rose – and losing it to fire. Flower shows were held sporadically over the following Years – in Halls and Hotels. The first, held in Allen’s Bio-scope Hall, raised 73 pounds 18 shillings and ten pence. Last year more than R 100 000 was raised towards conservation and Eco-education at the Hermanus Flower Festival in Fernkloof. Jose Burman, in his book on Hermanus, quotes Ion Williams as saying in those early days: “We thought we were going to turn Fernkloof into a lovely garden – we knew nothing about conservation.” A sundial in front of the botanical centre in memory of Otto Prillewitz bears testimony to his love of Fernkloof.

Lying about two Hours' drive from Cape Town, Redelinghuys is known as the 'potato Capital', of the Sandveld. It lies on the R366 between Picketberg and Velorenvlei, North of Aurora and on route to Elands Bay, (if you like detours).

The Village itself is quaint and charming with beautiful scenery and, as with most Villages in South Africa, dominated by a magnificent Church on its main street, with plenty of Victorian Architecture (to satisfy your craving for sumptuous, historical surrounds!)

The Village started its life, as part of the Farm; 'Wittedrift'. Today, it is used mainly by those in search of time out, a sojourn in the Country and those who want to spend time at Velorenvlei Estuary, one of the largest natural Wetlands and a RAMSAR protected site.

From July through to October this part of the World is a floral tapestry to which Hikers and Nature Lovers, are drawn. Visit Redelinghuys, to see: the Dutch Reformed Church and Bell; the old Church; the Old Pastorate, which is now a guesthouse. 

It is a Village which lies among the Citrus, Vines, Vegetables and Potato Fields, (that provides an escape that City dwellers are after!)

 "Just about the only thing from which the Village seems to suffer is its ambiguity – not many people know about it – and there are many, who after discovering the little Village, are only too pleased that it remain this way!"-International Women’s Day is a time to reflect on progress made, to call for change and to celebrate acts of courage and determination by ordinary women, who have played an extraordinary role in the history of their countries and communities!

Named after the little Town of Van Reenen, which seems to stand guard at the top of this majestic Pass which winds its way through the Drakensberg Mountains between Ladysmith and Harrismith along the N3 between Durban and Johannesburg. Unfortunately, the only record that the pass can lay claim to is that of the most dangerous Pass in Africa! Despite this, the long pass provides beautiful scenery as it descends towards Ladysmith in the KZN Midlands from the Free State.

Durban - Most people just cruise over the Drakensberg Mountain passes on trips between Durban and Johannesburg but many are unaware of the History of these access Ways.

Durban-born and bred septuagenarian, Gillis van Schalkwyk, has spent much of his life exploring them and their History, and wrapped his knowledge into a self-published book, Drakensberg Passes, that came out this year, his research funded by the 'N3TC' toll company. Van Schalkwyk challenges some versions of History in his books, such as that “General” Frans van Reenen after whom the Pass was named. He was a miserable fellow, that he was to steal his son’s fiancée – was neither a general nor did he introduce the apartheid-era law which prohibited Indians from staying overnight in the Orange Free State. “His great grandson Dirk van Reenen claims Frans introduced the notorious law… Further investigation showed this was incorrect. That proclamation was drawn up and implemented in 1888,” writes Van Schalkwyk. “This law was infamous for Indians in general, but more problematic for the local Indians of Van Reenen, where portions of the village were in KwaZulu-Natal Province and portions in the Free State Province.

That meant they had to close up business at 6 pm, when the proclamation took effect each night, and retreat back to Natal just a few metres away.” The Town of Van Reenen has a History steeped in the Anglo-Boer War, and a lookout point, called ' Windy Corner', about 3 kilometres out of Town with views over the Mountains and lower lying Regions - virtually all that there is to the Town’s credit, apart from the Llandaff Oratory - a small chapel with only eight seats built by a father in memory of his son, and ostensibly the smallest Roman Catholic Church in the World.