There’s (still) strength in unity
With accommodation for the night booked in Williston, we left Bloemfontein around lunchtime on 23 June. We were keen to try a different route for a change, and the GPS presented us with three options. Naturally, we did not choose the longest route via Kimberley. The sensible choice, seeing as we had 650 km to cover before dark, was the fastest route: the R48 to Luckhoff and Koffiefontein, with a turn-off onto the R705 to Jacobsdal, then joining the N12 to Hopetown.
This turned out to be one of the most nerve-racking “road” trips we’ve ever experienced. The oncoming traffic, mostly trucks, seemed like deadly missiles aimed straight at us as they drove in our lane up until the last possible moment before impact before swerving into their lane… to make the most of the remaining patches of tar.
Shortly after our return home,
Mia Louw’s article about Vanderkloof (page 24) landed in our inbox. Mia quotes Liza Bredenkamp, the owner of Sandgat, a caravan park and resort on the banks of the Orange River, saying that the roads leading to Vanderkloof are their biggest challenge. “The potholes in the road from Bloemfontein to Koffiefontein and Luckhoff put moon craters to shame. Guests often prefer to drive the extra 157 km via Kimberley, Hopetown and Orania.
“But,” she adds, “the peace and quiet make the detour worthwhile.”
The newspapers are filled with accounts of the disgraceful state of affairs on a daily basis, yet we also read of ordinary citizens rolling up their sleeves to fix and maintain what they can.
A month later, this message was reiterated when Dr Braam Hanekom, director of the Centre for Public Witness, visited the community hall in Koringberg to talk about its project #100DorpeDialoog, and the need to repair social cohesion and heal our broken society first, because so many of the problems we see around us are symptoms of the disconnect among us.
Take a look at nearly every South African town that still consists of “two towns”. Have we forgotten all about “Unity is strength”?