Lose your heart to Haenertsburg
In the foothills of the Wolkberg in Limpopo you’ll find a small town with a big heart. Welcome to Haenertsburg, where even the cemetery is a fun place to hang out.
T he Land of the Silver Mist is how author Lord John Buchan, who later served as Governor General of Canada, described the Haenertsburg area. After the Anglo-Boer War, Buchan worked in Pietersburg (now Polokwane) and often came to Magoebaskloof to fish. The N1 between Joburg and Polokwane is quite dull, but as soon as you turn onto the R71 towards the kloof, you enter a green landscape of mountains, hills and fields. It’s easy to miss Haenertsburg, especially when the mist rolls in. The town centre is one main road long, with a café, a filling station, a Tank Foodzone, some restaurants and shops. “As soon as the first Pep or Ellerines opens here, I’ll put my stuff on my bakkie and leave,” says Linda Wilkinson who runs The Pennefather complex. There are no chain stores or industrial areas in Haenertsburg and the residents aim to keep it that way. Beyond the main drag, the rest of Haenertsburg crawls up the side of a hill for a few blocks. The gardens are big and beautiful. Iron Crown Peak (2 126 m) – the highest point in Limpopo – watches over the roughly 500 residents. My visit coincides with the Magoebaskloof and Haenertsburg Spring Festival near the end of September. The azaleas and the wildflowers in the surrounding hills are in full bloom. Over the last five years, Haenertsburg itself has also started to bloom, thanks to the passion and initiative of this small community. The town has four annual festivals, mountain-biking and hiking trails, trout dams and other adventure activities to draw the Gauteng crowds during school holidays and over long weekends. You often see young families in the streets. “This town is always on the go,” says Mara Hermann, editor of Mountain Getaways, a quarterly tourism magazine. “We do it under our own steam and market Haenertsburg for what it is: a place with lots of soul.” In 2012, when the town turned 125, it seceded from South Africa for a day. “The Republic of Haenertsburg was born,” says Mara. “Everyone dressed up as miners of old and we walked through the misty streets while a member of the Transvaal Pipers played bagpipes.” The town unveiled its own flag and a certificate of citizenship and there was an Independence Ball in the Village Hall. During the flag ceremony they sang the Haenertsburg anthem, to the tune of “Danny Boy”. The last verse is an ode to the town:
Our lives are short but you will live forever, And you’ll keep watch o’er those who wake or sleep. You will remain a place of love and safety, And may we all throw off our pains and fears; May peace reign over all who live and work here Oh Haenertsburg! Stay safe and small for years.