Thoughts on a man called JP
Pakamisa Mayaba writes about Janco Piek, the inimitable, multitalented techno wizard behind the Toverview and eParkeni websites. Read more >>
Dear Breyten ... by Antony Osler
Antony Osler pays tribute to Breyten Breytenbach, who explained Zen Buddhism to him in Paris many years ago, and stayed in touch with him thereafter. Read more >>
Disaster is about caring' - a tale from the Tankwa Karoo
The leading British newspaper The Guardian has published a long interview with Isabella Visagie, a farmer in the Tankwa Karoo, in which she talks about the persistent drought in the region and its far-reaching consequences. Read more >>
The voice that will ring beyond the grave
Phakamisa Mayaba writes about Breyten Breytenbach – the Afrikaner artist and poet who refused to accept the unjust status quote in the country of his birth, or that artists and writers were somehow exempt from trying to change it. Read more >>
The hidden life beneath our feet
Wild bee researcher Karin Sternberg turns a seemingly barren patch of ground in the Wolwekraal Nature Reserve into a riveting story. Read more >>
Of Boerbokke and the Boerbok Rally
Destine Nde witnesses a motorbike rally named after an Eastern Cape livestock product that – unbeknownst to most South Africans, and even many people in its region of origin — has achieved global stardom. Read more >>
For Madiba, it was human rights first
Following the International Criminal Court’s decision to issue warrants of arrest in respect of the Israel-Gaza war, Phakamisa Mayaba asks what Madiba would have said today about this catastrophic conflict. Read more >>
Comrade Solly and his race problem
R.W. Johnson dissects a speech by SACP Secretary General Solly Mapaila in which, according to the writer, he gets into even more of a muddle about race and class. Read more >>
Sweet, sour and savory: reading the veld in the southern Free State
Harking back to the pioneering work of John Acocks and Allan Savory, Dennis McDonald illustrates some of the key principles of veld management with a fascinating series of images from the Tussen-Die-Riviere Game Reserve in the southern Free State. Read more >>
Thoughts on a man called Mr Oz
Phakamisa Mayaba writes about Maeder Osler, Toverview founder and funder, and his enduring imprint on the Colesberg community. Read more >>
Malthus, the chiefs, and productive land reform
R.W. Johnson argues that the stranglehold of traditional chiefs over potentially productive agricultural land needs to be broken, or more and more people will go hungry. Read more >>
A history of impossible promises
Surveying the threatening growth of populism, R.W. Johnson argues that a long history of ‘impossible promises’ is at last catching up with the ANC. Read more >>
The Donald, the Last Hope and the Buffalo
Phakamisa Mayaba reflects on Donald Trump’s stunning election victory, and concludes that — as in our elections of 29 May — voters sometimes abandon lofty principles and traditional loyalties and simply vote for those whom they believe will advance their material interests. Read more >>
On cultural migration: Halloween in the Klein Karoo
Weird at this may seem, Halloween has found a distant home in the Klein Karoo town of Willowmore, where Destine Nde attends an exuberant celebration. Read more >>
Thoughts on a man called Jaz
Phakamiza Mayaba writes about the inimitable Jasper Cook, former stoker, train aficionado, Excel expert, jazz artist, writer and raconteur. Read more >>
Within living memory
R.W. Johnson recalls meeting Mrs Nokukhanya Luthuli in Groutville, KwaZulu Natal, two years before her death in 1996. Read more >>
It's not the foreigners, it's the government
Following the deaths of children from contaminated food, foreign-owned spaza shops are back in the firing line. However, writes Phakamisa Mayaba, calls to expel their owners are unrealistic, and the real challenge is for the government to regulate them effectively. Read more >>
A special day in Willowmore
Destine Nde writes about Number Day, a remarkable annual ceremony at Willowmore Secondary School. Read more >>
What climate change means for South Africa
Maeder Osler reports on a major study on climate change by UCT researchers. It finds that its impacts are already evident, and that it threatens the lives and livelihoods of South Africans through its effects on agriculture, nature and nature tourism. Read more >>
SAN ETCHINGS: ZEN TRACES
Antony Osler writes about discovering San rock engravings on Poplar Grove Farm, which confront him with some troubling questions about his South African ancestry. Read here >>
Eita! Are you a true SAffer when you don’t know what that means?
Phakamisa Mayaba explores the wild and wonderful world of South African slang – and concludes that, despite its disparate roots, this might be the most accessible of our 12 languages. Read more >>
Key themes from landmark study of the Karoo
Maeder Osler outlines five key themes in a major study of the Karoo which provides a frame of reference for all role players concerned with its social and environmental sustainability. Read more >>
Man about Colesberg: Part 2
Phakamisa Mayaba continues his ramble through Colesberg’s varied tourism attractions. Read more >>
Man about Colesberg: Part 1
In the first of a two part-series, Phakamisa Mayaba begins to survey the varied attractions Colesberg offers to people who are prepared to take a sho’t left. Read more >>
J.P. LANDMAN
J.P. Landman is one of the most astute and accessible public commentators on current South African political and economic issues. For more info, and links to his newsletters and podcast, read here >>
R.W. JOHNSON
Columns by the renowned commentator R.W. (Bill) Johnson appear on Toverview. For his latest views on South African and global affairs, click here.
TOVER BOOKS
Phakamisa Mayaba writes about a book that has given him a fresh perspective on his history and heritage. Read more >>
JAZZTRAINS
JAZZTRAINS is a new YouTube channel featuring conversations with Jasper Cook about working as a fireman on steam engines, his international travels with the African Jazz Pioneers, ‘and everything in between’. It is rapidly gaining viewers and subscribers. For the first two episodes, click on the links above.
TOVER OPERA
Maeder and Les Osler listen to a sensational young South African soprano on Diemersfontein Farm. Read more >>
TOVER JAZZ
Tap your feet to this … The famous song ‘Pata Pata’ performed by the African Jazz Pioneers. Link provided by Jasper Cook. Read more about it here >>
TOVER ART
Maeder Osler writes about a charming watercolour by Dilys Kneebone of an imaginary farmhouse in the Eastern Cape. Read more >>
HIGHWAYS & BYWAYS
Welcome to a new series aimed at exploring maps of the fascinating (and elusive) region known as the Karoo. We start with a colourful map on the KNK website. Read more >>
FROM A ROOM WITH A VIEW
Riffs by Maeder Osler from the Old Waenhuis on Hanglip Farm.
Hello Friday … why tomorrow (Friday the 14th) is going to be special. Read more >>
Maeder Osler is sifting his way through a varied archive spanning generations of life on Hanglip Farm. From his ‘room with a view’ in the old Waenhuis, he reflects on the value of (re)discovering and re-evaluating our pasts, as a means of working towards a more inclusive future. Read more >>
TOVER BOOKS
Jasper Cook reviews Playing the Changes: Jazz at an African University and on the Road, by Darius and Catherine Brubeck (UKZN Press, 2023). Read here >>
Whose Colesberg?: an inclusive history in the making
Like those of many other South African regions and towns, current histories of Colesberg are biased and incomplete. However, reports Maeder Osler, a significant attempt is under way to rectify this imbalance. Read more >>
TOVER PORTALS
TOVERVIEW acts as a portal for the websites of two enterprising Colesberg people, namely the journalist and writer Phakamisa Mayaba, and the entrepreneur and developmental activist Mbulelo Kafi. Read more about them below, and click through to their websites.
Phakamisa Mayaba
Phakamisa Mayaba is a freelance journalist and creative writer who is building impressive content on his own website, eParkeni. To connect with this exciting site, click here.
Mbulelo Kafi
MBULELO KAFI is a former town councillor, a development enthusiast, and an entrepreneur. He has a deep understanding of the issues facing his community, and is committed to finding solutions that benefit all members, whether through Sakhisizwe Travel and Tours, a company he founded to promote tourism and economic growth in the region, or his role as an inspirational speaker. He is seen here with the minister of tourism, Patricia de Lille. To connect with Sakhisizwe Travel and Tours, click here.
GUEST WRITERS / GASSKRYWERS
ANTONY OSLER is a former folksinger, school teacher, Zen monk, human rights advocate and arbitrator. He is also the author of three books on Zen in South Africa. At present he lives on Poplar Grove farm in the Great Karoo with his wife, Margie, where they raise wool sheep and lead Zen retreats.
JANNIE (ROCKY) GAGIANO is ‘n politieke wetenskaplike, politikus, akteur en satiris. Hy was lank ‘n lektor in Politieke Wetenskap aan Stellenbosch Universiteit, en ‘n verkose lid van die Stellenbosse Stadsraad. Hy het in vroeër jare vir die Libertas Teaterklub opgetree, en ná sy aftrede vir die teatergroep Vleis, Rys en Aartappels. Hy is deesdae ook bekend vir sy vlymskerp satiriese pen.
Toverview is proud to welcome R.W. (BILL) JOHNSON as guest writer. A distinguished historian, political scientist and journalist, he is one of South Africa’s most prominent and most perceptive political analysts. In recent years, Bill and his wife, the Russian-born historian Irina Filatova, have become friends of Maeder and Les Osler, and have visited them on Hanglip Farm. Bill’s articles normally appear behind paywalls, but he has kindly agreed to make them available to Toverview. We particularly intend to publish his articles on the politics surrounding South Africa’s date with political destiny in the form of Elections 2024, thereby adding to the series launched by our local writer, Phakamisa Mayaba. To go to Bill’s posts, click here.
JASPER COOK: jazz musician, composer, Karoo-lover, raconteur and friend. He currently lives in Johannesburg, but has spent a lot of time on Hanglip Farm, and is dreaming of returning to the platteland. Read more about him here >>. Jasper has started his own website, AndThisIsJaz. Wonderful content, and technologically unique. (In his Other Life, he was a computer wizard.) It also contains his Hanglip Farm blog, again with important material about the farm, its ecology and sustainable future, and current efforts to revitalise cultivation, based on traditional farming methods in Zimbabwe.
USEFUL LINKS
Hantam Community Education Trust
Karoo Space: At the heart of South Africa
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