The forgotten village
Tesselaarsdal’s residents are hoping the elections will bring change. By Liz Clarke
Getting to the tiny Western Cape village of Tesselaarsdal is bloody difficult. It is said that those sent to enforce the laws of separate development during apartheid gave up because the roads were so bad. You can imagine big men in khaki clonking along in their Chevrolet Apache bakkies dodging potholes, driving over stones as big as cannonballs and getting stuck, saying, “Nee man, genoeg is genoeg.” (No man, enough is enough.)
In a way, it was a blessing. It made Tesselaarsdal one of the most politically correct settlements in the country, way ahead of its time, with people of mixed race owning and working their land, coexisting happily with white settlers in the area. But the forgotten sentiment runs deep.
The roads are still atrocious, the signage not much better. Some might like it that way. Others say they’ve been overlooked and hope that after the election things will improve.
To find the village, you need to turn left at the weathered Oude Kraal sign on the road to Caledon – one of three routes that are equally challenging. Small cars simply can’t make it.
When you eventually get to the centre of the village, where the old 1900 post office turned country eatery cheerfully welcomes visitors, you notice that there are no road names in Tesselaarsdal, just plot numbers.
If change were possible, a good place to start, residents say, would be to find another spot for the ugly municipal refuse tip at the entrance to the village, which they say is a hangout for the unemployed and drug addicts looking for copper or other sellable items.
Margie Donde (68), a long-time resident of Tessies (as it’s known to locals), agrees with that idea, believing it’s totally the wrong welcome sign for visitors. She also has other things on her wish list, including the planting of fruit trees to beautify the town and edible plants to help the community, more support for the Future Seed Permaculture Training Project, repairing the old hotel and using it as a learning centre, and definitely more road maintenance.
Maria Julies says a satellite police station in the village is a must to control criminal activity. Others say that while there is a well run library, as well as an efficient health clinic sister, a seven-day clinic would avoid people having to resort to using ambulances to get treatment elsewhere.
There are not many signs to suggest that a pivotal general election is going on, except that Gayton Mckenzie has been spreading his Patriotic Alliance election gospel among those living in the scattering of dwellings.
And you can see why. Like the mythical village of Brigadoon, the settlement – circa the 1700s, with its one shop, bottle store, church and landmark post office – remains virtually invisible to the outside world. You
even get the feeling that the next time you visit it will have disappeared.
In a way, that isolation has kept the village a quaint, faraway place that only people with strong legs and sturdy hiking boots can visit on foot. There’s no public transport, no police station and no health facility. The only bakery burnt down some years ago.
It’s a settlement rooted in the folds and shadows of an intricate history that began in 1780, when Johannes Jacobus Tesselaar, a former East India settler turned farmer, was rewarded for his services in the cavalry and given land in the Overberg.
He died in 1810 and his land was bequeathed to his coloured slaves. Although full legal title to the land was not to come until the early 1990s, the way of life in Tesselaarsdal has remained largely unchanged, with the descendants of Tesselaar’s freed slaves and inheritors quietly getting on with life as history passes them by.
But with an election looming, and like any community that has been overlooked by history, or anything else, there is a welling up of old discontent, with perhaps a bit of sadness and restlessness thrown in.
“We love our quiet way of life, don’t get us wrong, say Brendan and Sonia Daly, who
own De Postkantoor Café. “But the coalition municipality that runs the Theewaterskloof precinct doesn’t seem to care much about us. There is an old and poorly planned municipal water distribution network of pipes that runs through people’s gardens or along the road that has never been properly maintained. As a community we do a lot ourselves, but there are things that the municipality needs to seriously address. So we are hoping … that the elections will kick-start a new chapter for us.”
That new chapter begins, Brendan believes, with a better road – “not just a pothole fix every now and then”. It hasn’t been properly upgraded in 200 years.
“We could be a tourism diamond,” says Brendan. “It’s one of the oldest settlements in the country, with a hugely colourful history and legacy that would enthral visitors from near and far. There are vistas and hiking trails that will take your breath away.”
It’s easy to see the attraction of Tesselaarsdal, with its grand theatre of fields of bright yellow canola, and chickens, ducks and the odd cow and goat that wander in the sandy streets. The gently sloping hills are dotted with ancient farmhouses and outbuildings. Most have been around since Tesselaar’s time, making the village a veritable living museum. Plans were afoot to restore the original Cape Dutch architecture, but until there is a better road these plans remain on hold.
There is a unique oneness in this valley. Everyone hopes for the same thing – a new political alignment that will wipe away Tessies’ forgotten status, forever.
A wish list from one resident of Tesselaarsdal, 49-year-old landowner Ilse Munday
The completion of the community hall, which has been “under renovation” by the municipality for two years;
The replacement of the roof of a crèche destroyed in a storm last year;
Dustbins at the shops and education in the community about littering and recycling; A recycle depot;
Speed bumps to stop pedestrians and animals from being knocked over;
A sports ground for the junior school; A rehab facility for alcohol and drug abuse; A youth centre that feeds youngsters and helps with homework; and
A community bus that offers lifts to and from Caledon.
Interesting info about Tesselaarsdal
In the ’50s the village was called Peertjies Dorp, named after the rows of pear trees at the old entrance to the village. There is hope that the original pear trees can be revitalised.
Points of interest include the old post office, old dwellings and the river teeming with birdlife.
In the last few years Tesselaarsdal has become a retreat for artists, potters, crafters and people simply wanting to get away from big cities.