Skip to main content

Brenton-On-Sea, Garden Route

One of the most wonderful beaches on the Garden Route, Brenton on Sea lies just on the other side of the Knysna Western Heads. A long curved bay, the beach is ideal for walks all the way to Buffels Bay where you can enjoy lunch or just an icecream, and stroll back.
Geolocation
23° 1' 26.4", -34° 4' 12"
References
https://www.portfoliocollection.com/activity/brenton-on-sea-beach
Further Reading
https://www.afristay.com/a/brenton-on-sea/ https://www.tripadvisor.co.za/SmartDeals-g312664-Knysna_Western_Cape-Hotel-Deals.html

Hopefield, Heritage Site in the Western Cape

Hopefield is a town in the Western Cape province, South Africa, north of Cape Town. The town was laid out in 1852 and was named for the two Cape Colony government officials who were responsible, named Hope and Field. Municipal status was granted in 1914. Hopefield is situated in a semiarid agricultural region; wheat is the principal product, but sheep raising and honey production are also important. The town is connected with Cape Town by rail. The archaeological site of Elandsfontein is located 13 km southwest of Hopefield, about 16 km inland from an estuary of Saldanha Bay and 100 m above sea level. In the early 1950s a large collection of fossilized bones and Paleolithic artifacts was discovered in chalky concretions exposed between high dunes by the prevailing winds. Under the direction of Ronald Singer of the University of Cape Town, more than 20 000 faunal remains and 5 000 artifacts were removed from the site. About 50 mammalian species, approximately half of them extinct, are represented among the fossil bones. The extinct species include an ancestral springbok, a sabre-toothed tiger, and very large wild pigs, lion, baboon, and buffalo; the horns of the buffalo have a span of 3 to 3.6 m. In 1953 Keith Jolly, an archaeologist working with Singer, discovered fragments of a hominin skull known as Saldanha man (formerly Hopefield man). The skull, which dates from the same period as the fauna, is very similar to those found in 1921 at Broken Hill, Northern Rhodesia (now Kabwe, Zambia), and called Rhodesian man. The site appears to have been occupied between 150,000 and 60,000 years ago. Hopefield has a thriving business community and provides a wide range of goods and services to its residents as well as surrounding communities. The beautiful Hopefield Dutch Reformed Church built in 1879. (its antique organ organ still plays on Sundays). Examples of the Hartbeeshuisie or reed houses, traditional homes of the area, are all something to see. The two historic Cape Dutch homesteads, Coenradenburg and Langrietvlei, have been declared provincial heritage sites. (Langrietvlei is open to the public, but a viewing must to be booked in advance.)
Geolocation
18° 16' 26.4", -33° 2' 9.6"
References
https://www.westcoastway.co.za/hopefield/ https://www.west-coast-info.co.za/region/town/248 https://www.britannica.com/place/Hopefield
Further Reading
https://www.sa-venues.com/things-to-do/westerncape/hopefield-museum/ hopefield@sbto.co.za

Elands Bay Cave

Elands Bay Cave is located near the Mouth of the Verlorenvlei Estuary on the Atlantic coast of South Africa Western Cape Province. Hidden in the caves are the most beautiful cave paintings. These were done by the Bushmen who lived in this area thousands of years ago. The University of Cape Town also has an Archeological Site not far from this spot. Since the climate has continuously become drier from the time of habitation of hunter-gatherers in the Later Pleistocene, (The Pleistocene is the geological epoch that lasted from about 2,580,000 to 11,700 years ago, spanning the World's most recent period of repeated Glaciations). The archaeological remains recovered from previous excavations at Elands Bay Cave have been studied to help answer questions regarding the relationship of people and their landscape, the role of climate change that could have determined or influenced subsistence changes, and the impact of pastoralism, (Pastoralism is a form of animal husbandry, historically by nomadic people who moved with their herds). The species involved include various herding livestock, including cattle, camels, goats, yaks, llamas, reindeer, horses and sheep of agriculture on hunter-gatherer communities. History of Research by renowned archaeologist, John Parkington. Who excavated Elands Bay Cave in the 1970'' providing vast information of the cave's inhabitants. Parkington frequently used methods of comparing various characteristics in his findings in order to highlight phases of transformations at Elands Bay Cave. Other archaeologists and specialists have analyzed the findings from Parkington. Parkington, Cartwright, Cowling, Baxter, and Meadows (2000), analyzed wood charcoal and pollen data from Elands Bay Cave to explain the environmental change. Klein, in 2001 studied fossil remains and fauna data to indicate hunter-gatherer behavioral and cultural adaptations. In 1999, Cowling, Cartwright, Parkington, & Allsopp researched wood charcoal in order to explain environmental changes. Woodborne, Hart, & Parkington (1995) researched seal bones to construct the timing and the duration of hunter-gatherer coastal journeys. Orton (2006) examined raw materials to produce a lithic sequence for the Later Stone Age in Elands Bay Cave. Lastly, Matthews (1999) used taphonomy, (Taphonomy is the study of how organisms decay and become fossilized. The term taphonomy was introduced to paleontology in 1949 by Soviet scientist Ivan Efremov to describe the study of the transition of remains, parts, or products of organisms from the biosphere to the lithosphere).
Geolocation
17° 44' 20.4", -32° 19' 1.2"
References
https://web.facebook.com/pages/Elands-Bay-Cave/1649304291988948?_rdc=1&_rdr https://www.safarinow.com/destinations/elands-bay/popularattractions/elands-bay-rock-art-cave.aspx
Further Reading
https://www.safarinow.com/destinations/elands-bay/popularattractions/elands-bay-rock-art-cave.aspx

Sifundile Matalazi

Mr Sifundile Matalazi,aged 27 died on 20 December 1980 in Umtata in the Transkei after being held for 112 days.The Act under which he was held was undisclosed. During the inquest into Mr Matalazi's death it was alleged that he committed suicide.Police evidence was that Mr Malazi had joined his pairs of socks and had tied one end around his neck,the other to the window.He then allegedly lay down on the floor,covered himself with a blanket using the left arm to exert pressure,and thus died of strangulation.

Mzukisi Nobhadula

Mr Mzukisi Nobhadula died in detention on 20 December 1977 at the North End Prison in Port Elizabeth.Mr Nobhadula was an awaiting-trial prisoner on a charge of perjury and had been held for 6 days at the time of his death.The perjury charge arose from evidence he gave in a public violence trial which resulted from the frequent violent clashes between police and students in PE during 1977.