Auction in Aberdeen

A delightful property in Grey Street, Aberdeen came under the auctioneer’s hammer recently.
The house belonged to Mrs Joe Coetzee, who at the grand old age of 93 has decided that it is time to move into Aalwynhof Old Age Home.
A spritely Mrs Coetzee was at the house to welcome many interested potential buyers, who were unanimously impressed by this neat and obviously well-loved home. Mrs Coetzee had moved here from Villeria on the death of her husband and was obviously sad to leave, whilst looking forward to a new chapter of her life at Aalwynhof.

The auctioneer, Duncan McLaggan of Port Elizabeth, read out the conditions of sale before opening the floor to bidding. After a slow start, the competition started in earnest with the house eventually being sold to a local man for R210 000.00.

Article By: Peter Shaw

Cemetery Walkabout

A chilly morning did not deter the enthusiastic members of Aberdeen Publicity and Tourism on their monthly walkabout last week. Eleven ladies braved the cold and were most interested to explore the Aberdeen Cemetery, both the Christian and Jewish sections. The majority of the graves have been well maintained, with some very impressive headstones.
The grave of Jan Vorster, the original owner of the farm Brakfontein on which Aberdeen was founded, was the first stopping point for the group. This grave has been lovingly restored by the late Jan van Heerden, and is of great interest to many visitors to the town.

A large tree had been uprooted in the March storm, but fortunately the trunk fell between two graves, and no damage was caused to the headstones. A few centimetres either side could have destroyed an irreplaceable monument. The wording on this unusual memorial is a touching tribute erected by E. Steinhobel and children to C.M. Steinhobel, who died at age 52 in 1916.
“A darling wife, a dear mother
To know her was to love her
To remember her revives sweet memories”
Interestingly, Steinhobel was the architect who designed many of the grand houses in Aberdeen, including De Denne, now Karoo Moons guest house.
One of the members sparked a treasure hunt of sorts, having seen on a previous visit a headstone commemorating a man who had been born in Aberdeen, Scotland, and died in Aberdeen South Africa. Unfortunately no one was able to find the grave, but the interest of many was piqued, with promises to return to find the headstone concerned!
The walkabout concluded with a very welcome pit stop at the Kamdeboo Padstal, where a beautifully set table awaited the group.

Article By: Peter Shaw

Support Our Neighbouring Town & Support Tourism In Our Area!

Graaff-Reinet – Town of the Year Winner – Eastern Cape

A letter from the organizing committee:

We have, through the efforts of many, been voted the best small town in the Eastern Cape and now we are entering the final stage of this competition and we are in for some tough opposition from the other eight finalists.
This competition is more than just Tourism; it gives Graaff-Reinet an enormous amount of media exposure. Rapport and Kwela have a budget of R1 mil to spend to promote the winning town.
We need only to look back at events such as the Under 13 Craven week, the Harley Weekend, the Dolphin Rally and many more to see just what an impact visitors make to the economic well being of our town, imagine what winning this competition will do to place us firmly on the calendar as – the one place that must be visited!
The “Dorp van die Jaar” / “Town of the Year” committee has come up with some innovative ways to encourage all our town folk to participate in making us the winning town.
Some of the items being arranged is a street parade with drum majorettes, collection cans for donations towards the cost of sms’s, free coffee at some of the coffee shops and all we ask is that the person enjoying the coffee send 4 SMS’s (at only R1.50 per SMS), a telethon day at the Tourism Office, the old folk at Huis de Graaf will receive air time and participate in the Seniors SMS day and much more.
This is why we need your help and participation. The competition limits the number of sms’s per cell phone to 100, which means we need large numbers of cell phones to orchestrate the campaign. To do this, we need funds so that we can buy air time which we can then supply free of charge to any person who is willing and able to help by spending time sending 100 SMS’s.
So we ask you to please help by making a donation to buy air time. How much do we need? Well 100 SMS’s cost R150.00, so if you can see your way clear then multiples of R150.00 would be greatly appreciated.
If you wish you can encourage your staff to send the sms’s and your contribution will then be to donate the time to them.
Please help us – and if you have made any form of contribution please let us know, because we are placing a barometer if sms’s sent in The Advertiser so that all who have participated can see just how the campaign has and is going.
Voting will run from Sunday, 18 July 2010 and closes on Sunday, 31 July 2010, so please try and vote as much as you can over the next two weeks. The number to SMS is 33157 and each SMS costs R1,50.

The contact details are as follows:
Organiser : Chantelle Marais
info@camdeboocottages.co.za - Mobile: 071 670 4747
Bank Details:
Dorp van die Jaar
ABSA Bank
Acc No: 9244827019
Branch Code: 334216

Farewell, Vuyani Jacobs

One of South Africa’s heroes in the great struggle for HIV treatment: a stalwart of the Treatment Action Campaign, presenter for Siyayinqoba Beat It! – and a truly lovely man.

Ulale ngoxolo Vuyani Jacobs
It is with great sadness that I learnt this morning that Vuyani Jacobs passed away last night after a long struggle with meningitis. Vuyani was a colleague, friend and comrade. From the early days at MSF and in Siyayinqoba Beat It and on many platforms he fought bravely for the rights of PLWHAs and for human rights broadly for many years. His political understanding and sense of the moment was invaluable in the struggle for PWA rights and access to treatment. There is so much one can say and I will write at greater length later. – Jack Lewis (director)
Vuyani tested positive for HIV early in the 1990s. Believing he didn’t have long to live, he quit his job and spent his days at home watching television. Channel hopping he came across a TV programme in which a beautiful African woman was speaking openly and without fear about her HIV positive status. That show was Beat It! and it changed Vuyani’s life. He got off the couch and went in search of information around HIV/AIDS. He became a member of the Treatment Action Campaign, started taking ARVs and eventually ended up co-presenting the 2002 season of Beat It! with Nombeko Mpongo and featuring as a regular member of the Siyayinqoba Beat It! support group until 2006.

(From the Beat It! website)

I would like to thank all the people who send out condolences messages or called us during our time of mourning. And to all those who prayed for us I say thank you very much and Vuyani would have been happy with the sending off he received from his dearest friends and colleagues.

Article By: Luvo Jacobs

Let Aberdeen Celebrate Mr Vuyani Jacobs' Life

Let uJama kasi Jadu go but forget him not...

When I, Vuyani Jacobs, come to the end of the road

and the sun has set for me,
I want no rites in a gloom-filled room.
Aberdeen..... Why cry for a soul set free?
I Zizi liyaphumla nto zakuthi!

Ndiyekeni ndiphumle mzi ka Phalo.
Miss me a little - but not too long
And not with your head bowed low.

Miss unyana ka Thamsanqa but let u Dlamini u Jama kasi Jadu go.
For this is a journey that we all must take!!

Please don't ask how he die, but how did u Dlamini live?
Don't weep at my grave for I am not there 'cause I have

a date with a butterfly to dance in the air.
I will be singing in the sunshine, wild and free playing tag

with the wind while I am waiting for thee.

Aberdeen, my dorpie, do not stand at my grave and weep

for I, Vuyani Jacobs, am not there, I do not sleep.
U Jama kasi Jadu is a diamond that glints on snow.

Yes I thought the life would last forever, I was wrong.

U Vuyani akafanga kuba ulele yena.

Akafanga u Vuyani kuba akakwazi ukufa.
U Jama kasi Jadu akanakufa ngokuba akafi.

Yes Dlamini, Jama, Zizi elihle we shall find peace. We shall hear angels, we shall see the sky sparkling with diamonds. Lala ngoxolo nyana wothuthu nyana womgquba. Rest in peace, Son of the Soil.

Article By: Lulamile Klassen