From 1990 to 1997, Maeder Osler, founder of the TOVERVIEW website, published a community newsletter titled TOVERBERG INDABA. Largely funded by the Independent Media Diversity Trust, it was aimed at providing an independent perspective on events in and around Colesberg as well as the Northern Cape.
TOVERBERG INDABA started off in the Karoo Law Clinic offices in Church street, Colesberg, and then moved to a small office of its own. Most of the material was written by trainees and volunteers. The design and layout was undertaken by the late Peter Westoby and his wife, Annetta. It was printed in Philippolis and later in Kroonstad, and distributed in Colesberg and surrounding towns. The first edition appeared in July 1990, followed by about ten editions a year until the publication’s closure in 1997, when funding for independent publications dwindled.
TOVERBERG INDABA provides a valuable account of social and political life in the Northern Karoo town of Colesberg in that defining period. PDFs of all editions appear in the archive below.
1990
Edition 2, September/October 1990
Edition 3, November/December 1990
1991
1992
1993
Special Edition, September 1993
1994