Kayster aimed for the stars
Head of the Graaff-Reinet Museum and well-known figure in the community, Anziske Kayster, recently obtained a PhD in History from Stellenbosch University.
Kayster's dissertation focused on heritage in Graaff-Reinet and how it changes over time due to social, political and economic influences. Her research not only explored the trajectory of heritage and the theoretical question of what 'heritage' is, but it also analysed the contested nature of heritage.
Kayster's five-year-long PhD journey was not an easy one. It began in 2019 when she was awarded a bursary by the Department of Sport, Recreation, Arts, and Culture for further studies. Unfortunately, she was informed at the time that there was no one at the university who could supervise her studies.
However, despite having retired from the Department of History the previous year, renowned academic and expert in the field of history and heritage Professor Albert Grundlingh agreed to be her supervisor because he also supervised her masters dissertation. Kayster jokingly suggests that it could also have been because Grundlingh had a personal connection to Graaff-Reinet as his wife, Annamari, is a former head girl of Laer and Hoër Volkskool and the daughter of Dr Human who practised in Graaff-Reinet.
The outbreak of the Covid-19 pandemic severely hampered Kayster's research as she was not allowed to have face-to-face interviews with her research participants due to the ethical restrictions placed on interviewing by the University's Ethics Committee. Instead, she and her then nine-year-old son walked the length and breadth of the town in search of examples of heritage that could feature in her study.
This eventually included the AME Church, established in 1902 in Umasizakhe, and the 1954 housing scheme development in
Chriszanne Janse van Vuuren
Kroonvale after the implementation of the Group Areas Act of 1950. The 'selfbou' housing scheme in Kroonvale was the first of its kind in the country and would later be used as a template for similar housing schemes in the rest of the country.
Kayster found inspiration in the scholarship of authors such as Cosmo Henning, Kenneth Wyndham Smith, and Anthony de V Minnaar, whose extensive research about Graaff-Reinet cannot be ignored. She emphasises however, that her research is not a historical account like that of these authors, but an investigation of the heritage of the ordinary people and the meaning that communities within Graaff-Reinet attach to the past.
This provided her with an opportunity to produce a representative account of GraaffReinet's past but also one that is of personal significance to all the people of town.
She is especially grateful to the 52 participants who agreed to be part of her research, as without their input, her investigation into the heritage of Graaff-Reinet would be "dull and meaningless". Her husband, Kelvin, and sons, William and Philip, understood that she needed to complete her degree, and giving up was never an option.
She remains indebted to her family, colleagues, and circle of friends who offered their love and support during her studies.
Her research is an investigation of the heritage of the ordinary people and the meaning that communities within GraaffReinet attach to the past.