Transport riders’ monument destroyed

SABIE - The landmark monument at Mac-Mac on the road between Sabie and Graskop, commemorating the transport riders of days gone by, was found seriously vandalised this past weekend.

A passerby reported this to Mpumalanga Heritage.

The monument was erected in the mid-1980s to commemorate the route and the men who had kept the transport line between Delagoa Bay and the old Eastern Transvaal goldfields open, bringing essential provisions and mining equipment with heavily laden ox wagons into the hinterland.

It is against this background that the world-famous story of Jock of the Bushveld was created, which forms a unique part of the heritage of the Lowveld.

The monument, in the shape of a circular boma, entails a central toposcope indicating the directions of the various routes and places along the way, and also was home to a few lost tombstones of those who died along this often malaria-ridden route.

The upkeep and continuous restoration of the monument is a voluntary project of Mpumalanga Heritage, a member-based civic group dedicated to the maintenance of heritage and history in the province.

The monument at Mac-Mac is an important marker on the Jock Trek 1885 series of waymarkers, indicating the old route between Lydenburg and Maputo.

Mpumalanga Heritage is constantly in the process of maintaining these waymarkers which are often targeted by vandals. Sometimes these are also found dug up, indicating that someone was hoping for some kind of treasure underneath.

“The old Jock route with its 38 waymarkers is an important tourism asset to the province. It is sad to see it so often destroyed for reasons unknown. Sponsors will be found and we will keep on maintaining these assets,” said Duncan Ballantyne, chairperson of Mpumalanga Heritage.

“It is an essential contribution towards the maintenance of civilisation.”