What it means to knyp

In go! #148, Magda Rossouw pondered the origin of the name “Knyp” near Groblershoop in the Kalahari. Well, I have the answer… Shortly after WWII, three men bought all the land along the Orange River on the Winstead, Tsebe, Oranjezicht, Kheis and Rooisand farms, then divided it into plots of about 20 ha each. The men developed all the farms except Rooisand. In 1963, my father Alexander Floris and other farmers bought the property. It was overgrown with wag-’n-bietjie and thorn trees, which they had to clear by hand. My father used all his savings to buy the farm and he had to borrow money from the bank to make something of it. He always told us we would have to knyp to make ends meet. ( Loose translation: “pinch” or “scrounge” – Ed.) Later, we started calling the farm Knyp and soon the whole area was known as such. I’m the only surviving member of the original Knypers. Pictured are my dad and mom, Grieta. JP “KOPPE” JORDAAN (74), Groblershoop