THEY LOVE THEIR LAND

THEY LOVE THEIR LAND - by Hennie de Jager

I phoned back an old friend, Jan Venter, yesterday. We met at the first union meeting after I started working. There we clicked immediately. We moved away from the others so that we could concentrate better on each other, listening intently to what was said.

We came from the same milieu, the wide open spaces of the Northern Cape under a cobalt sky, where the people are down to earth, welcoming the companionship of anyone that passes by.

Most of the time it is very dry with high temperatures. The farms are huge, some more than 12,000 hectares for 1500 sheep, with low grazing capacity, annual rainfall less than 200mm.

But the people who grew up here love their land. There is a togetherness - they need this to withstand the harsh environment. For miles there are nothing around.

Fierce droughts can last for several years. Then farmers feed their sheep with fodder supplied free by farmers elsewhere. When abundant rain does fall, this dry earth burst out with flowers and the seemingly dead karoo bush comes to life again.

These conditions build character. People share what they have, and help wherever they can. There is no falseness or pretence.