HY KAN STROFES uit gedigte moeiteloos voordra, sy musiekkennis is verstommend en sy kennis van Afrikaans merkwaardig. Bowenal is hy ’n gemoedelike man wat maklik lag; een van daardie mense wat jy dankbaar is jy ken.

Die 55-jarige Danie Marais, kenbaar aan sy kleurryke hemde, sybaard en donkerraambril, het al baie uit die lewe getap. Die laaste jaar of wat was sy werk as digter veral op die voorgrond met sy vierde bundel, Ek en jy bestaan nie, wat onder meer die Breyten Breytenbach-prys gewen het en die topverkoperdigbundel by verlede jaar se Toyota Stellenbosch Woordfees was.

Dan is daar Ek is nie Danie, die verhoogproduksie wat ’n feestreffer was – en steeds is – en die een toekenning na die ander ingeryg het. Die produksie, met Albert Pretorius en Schalk Joubert op die verhoog en Nico Scheepers in die regisseurstoel, is ’n samestelling van gedigte uit Danie se vier bundels. Ná die stuk se debuut by die Woordfees, is dit by ander feeste opgevoer en in Oktober is dit weer by die Woordfees te sien.

“Wat daar gebeur het, grens aan ’n wonderwerk,” sê Danie. “Toe Niel van Deventer, die vervaardiger van die stuk, my genader het, het ek gehoop ’n paar mense kom kyk. Toe Saartjie (Botha, feesbestuurder van die Woordfees) verlede jaar sê hulle gaan dit vir vyf vertonings skeduleer, was ek bang die venue gaan leeg wees. My lewensmotto is: moenie worry nie, dinge gaan tog in elk geval skeefloop. Ek kan dus nie sê dit het my verwagtinge oortref nie, want ek het nie verwagtinge gehad nie. Ek het wel baie vertroue in Albert en Schalk gehad. Soos wat Jimi Hendrix “All Along the Watchtower” van Bob Dylan die stratosfeer ingeblaas het, het Albert en Schalk my werk na ’n ander dimensie geneem. Dit laat jou dankbaar besef dit was nie verniet nie.”

Vir Danie was dit ’n openbaring om mense se reaksie op die stuk te sien. “Dalk was dit die magtelose woede wat Albert uit die gedigte gekry het, of hoe mense op ’n diep persoonlike manier met die werk connect het. Dit het my ook weer aan die woorde van Leonard Cohen laat dink: ‘You either raise your fist, or you say hallelujah. I try to do both’. Ek raak melankolies as ek daaraan dink. Dit is inderdaad ’n wonderwerk.”

Danie is in Kimberley gebore. Sy pa, Callie, en sy ma, Cecile, was skoolliefdes, in hul matriekjaar hoofseun en hoofdogter by Hoërskool J.G. Meiring in Goodwood. Callie word ’n ingenieur en Cecile ’n Afrikaansonderwyseres en later bibliotekaresse by die RGN in Pretoria. Die Jakarandastad is ook waar Danie matriek geskryf het.

Ná ’n BCom met regsvakke op Maties, volg hy sy hart na Duitsland waar hy aan die Carl von Ossietzky-universiteit in Oldenburg studeer en hom as onderwyser bekwaam.

In 2002 keer hy terug na Suid-Afrika. Tussen toe en nou gebeur die lewe, met die geboorte van sy lieflingdogter, Lea, ’n hoogtepunt. Liefde laat hom ook terugkeer na Stellenbosch waar hy en Carine Terreblanche, ’n senior lektor in juweliersontwerp aan die Universiteit Stellenbosch, ’n huis met Lea en Sam, Carine se seun, deel.

Danie is openlik oor sy ambivalente verhouding met Stellenbosch. Oor hoe die ooglopende kloof tussen rykdom en armoede die dorp verdeel. “Maar dit is die plek van soveel mense vir wie ek lief is en wat ’n groot invloed op my gehad het. Willem Anker, Ingrid Winterbach, Marthinus Basson. Anargiste soos die Springbok Nude Girls en Valiant Swart. Daar is die sonsondergange en natuurskoon. Stellenbosch is ’n toets vir baie mense. Sien jy net die mooi raak of erken jy ook die ongelykhede? Ons kan nooit gemaklik raak met die situasie soos dit nou is nie.”

Danie se liefde vir die digkuns het van sy ma gekom. “Die Junior Verseboek, ’n geskenk van haar, was my gateway drug,” sê hy. “Dit is sy wat gesorg het ons gaan teater toe, wat gesê het ek moet na Johannes Kerkorrel gaan luister toe ek nog op skool was. Sy wat my pa laat sê het: ‘Cecile, nou het jy wragtig te ver gegaan’ toe ons Sarafina in die Markteater in Johannesburg gaan kyk en die gehoor ná die vertoning ‘Amandla!’ geskreeu het.” Hy bestempel sy pa se persoonlikheid as sonnig; sy ma s’n as intens en geneig tot depressie. “Ek is die yin en yang van my pa en ma,” sê hy.

Danie by die Fiësta- toekennings waar Ek is nie Danie ses Fiëstas gewen het.

Noem hy homself eerstens digter? “Ek dink nie mens moet nie,” sê hy en lag. “Dis ’n klein persentasie van my lewe en, soos die skrywer Raymond Carver, gebruik ek digkuns soos ’n helikopter om moeilike dinge te verken.”

In sy lewe weg van die digkuns werk hy as teksversorger, vertaler, rubriekskrywer en inhoudsregisseur van dokumentêre TV-reekse. Die uitstekende Die stories van Afrikaans oor die taal se geskiedenis, is een van dié op sy kerfstok. Ook op pad is ’n dokumentêr oor David Kramer en ’n TV-reeks, waarvan hy die aanbieder is, oor Afrikaanse boeke en skrywers.

Hoe lyk sy ideale dag? “Daar is musiek, iets om te lees en flieks of reekse om te kyk. Hoe kan dit dan nou beter?” 

Die bundel Ek is nie Danie, saamgestel uit Danie se vier bundels, is vroeër vanjaar deur Flyleaf Publishing uitgegee.

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Rich morning light crowns Stellenbosch’s mountains and gilds the ancient oaks and historic vineyards of one of South Africa’s oldest towns. From the steps of Hoërskool Stellenbosch, this picture-perfect scene forms the backdrop to something brand new.

Here, a distinctly modern meeting of heritage and high-tech is opening doors for young athletes, many from some of the Western Cape’s most under-resourced communities. In just three years, this ground-breaking programme has changed the future in ways few could ever have imagined.

OPENING DOORS TO THE FUTURE

The bell rings for class and there’s a swell of children’s chatter as Theo Pellissier, Hoërskool Stellenbosch’s headmaster, welcomes me into his office overlooking the Simonsberg. But it’s not the scenery that inspires Theo. “Every child, no matter where they’re from, should feel that their future is possible.”

That vision is shared by former Olympic athlete Elana van Zyl Meyer, who co-founded Endurocad to nurture sporting talent in young South Africans. “Athletics opened doors for me – I wanted to do the same for others,” she says.

When the Athletics Cycling Education (ACE) Trust decided to replicate the University of Pretoria’s high-performance sports school in the Western Cape, Endurocad was the natural partner. The goal was to find athletically talented children from rural or impoverished backgrounds and provide academic and athletic support so they could reach their full potential. Scouting road trips take the team to far- flung corners of the province to discover these hidden talents.

As an Afrikaans-medium co-ed school with an ethos of academic and sporting excellence and collaboration, Hoërskool Stellenbosch was perfect. “It was an enormous privilege … that came with immense responsibility: to provide the environment these children deserve,” states Theo.

ROOM TO GROW

The programme was launched in 2022 with 16 talented athletes. Soon there will be 100. Thanks to the ACE Trust’s anonymous funder, within three years a bigger hostel, fully equipped gym, upgraded school hall, state-of-the-art academic hub and a futuristic running track were in place. The trust also covers the approximately one million rand per child that it takes to get them from Grade 8 to matric.

“The school was a building site for 18 months, but it was worth it – and the whole school benefits,” says the proud principal.

But Theo knew that it’s not just about buildings or athletics tracks. Children must be able to cope academically and integrate socially. “The last thing I wanted was potentially to set them up to fail,” he emphasises. “That’s why the academic hub and bridging programmes are vital.”

At the hub, amid gleaming computers, I meet the bridging team members, Lizanne Nel and Courtney du Plessis. Their task is to close the gaps, from basic schoolwork to computer literacy.

“What we do is not about pointing out failings,” explains Lizanne. “It’s about building confidence and academic strength so the children start believing in themselves.”

There are no one-size-fits-all plans here.

Some children may never have used a computer before; others struggle with maths or vocabulary. Most take 12–15 months to fully integrate, become comfortable with computers, and speak confidently in front of the class, eager to tackle tasks independently.

Courtney adds that overcoming these challenges is a crucial learning curve. “Time management, structure, perseverance, independence – these skills carry them through life.”

HARD WORK, BIG REWARDS

Theo agrees that it’s a demanding programme. Aside from normal school hours and stringent hostel rules, there are daily athletics training, homework and tutoring, weekend sports meetings, off- season training, and studying to achieve strong exam results.

“If they don’t adhere to the programme, learners risk losing their bursary,” he says. Although you’d think this might deter them, it’s boosted motivation and satisfaction.

During our tour, the hostel hums with life. Children catch up on homework at communal tables or relax with friends. Cheerful rooms, flooded with sunlight and decorated with photos, awards and medals, have turned dorms into homes.

MENTORSHIP MATTERS

As welcoming as it is, it must still be pretty daunting to arrive here. Leaving your home and finding yourself in a new town with new faces, new routines …

“That’s why mentorship is a cornerstone,” says Theo. “It’s about making a difference in the life of a child, not just letting them run or pushing books at them and then sending them on their way.”

The mentorship department, staffed by expert counsellors, provides emotional support and reinforces life skills.

But there’s someone else reaching out a helping hand: other bursary learners. One such learner is 2024 matriculant Wiaan Maartin. Once a nervous Grade 8 athlete, Wiaan went on to win the SA Schools 400m championship and earn a bursary scholarship in the USA. He recently returned to encourage current learners – to loud applause.

“These special role models show everyone what’s possible,” says Theo proudly.

BEYOND THE TRACK

If there’s a symbol of the programme, it’s the royal-blue tartan track, the only fully WaveLight-equipped track in Africa. Visual pacer LEDs allow runners to check their times, stay focused and race better, even when alone on the track. The athletes took to it like springboks to jumping.

“It spurs them on to run faster. They do better at meets and look forward to training. And as other children see the changes, they too work harder than ever before,” notes Theo. “A strong sense of pride and interest in sports has permeated the whole school.”

And it’s not just the school that wins. “Our town historically has a huge love for athletics. But over the past decade the stadium- filling events slowly dwindled. Now that interest has been rekindled, starting with the track’s packed opening meet and continuing with subsequent events.”

As I walk through the school, something else stands out: courteous greetings, neat uniforms – and an atmosphere of school pride. There’s clearly much more than athletics at play here.

TOWN PRIDE

I meet Danville Willemse, a polite matric student who sports a school blazer and several achievement badges.

He remembers how overwhelmed he felt on arriving. “Nobody knew me, I missed home and I struggled with the strict routine. I didn’t have high expectations of myself. But I decided that I have two options: carry on with my old way of thinking or create a new ‘identity’. I had nothing to lose, so I grabbed the opportunity and worked hard.”

And Danville’s transformation is impressive. He’s won bronze at Durban’s SA Championships, been named best senior cross- country athlete and assumed leadership roles, from class leader and matric council member to head boy of the boarding house.

“I never thought I’d achieve something like this,” he beams. “Now I know what I can do.”

As one of the first athletes to test the new track, Danville is excited. “I thought, this is a huge opportunity! And a real privilege. It’s proof that we’re busy with something great – something that makes a difference for Stellenbosch and South African athletics.”

And Danville has grown to love Stellenbosch. Rising before the hadedas, he runs through the peaceful streets. “There’s always someone out cycling, walking, exercising. It’s active and safe, and people are encouraging – I wasn’t used to that,” he says.

He dreams of becoming a teacher. “I want to give back to my community and to other children who might be in the same circumstances I was in.”

And, given the determination he’s shown, I can’t imagine anything holding him back.

A CHAMPION’S MISSION

I end my visit at Elana’s office next to the busy gym, where photos of smiling athletes, past and present, grace the walls.

Although the ACE Trust has grown exponentially, the goal remains the same: holistic development. “Athletics is the easy part!” she says with a smile. “It’s actually about education in all senses of the word: academic, wellness, life. Developing individuals into well-rounded South African citizens with strong roots. And each one can pass this on to the next generation. That’s how you break the cycle of poverty and create future leaders.”

Glowing with enthusiasm, she adds, “This couldn’t have happened just anywhere. There’s a heart that beats on every level – the community, the teachers and, of course, the children.”

I ponder that word that came up throughout my visit: heart. The open heart of a local school welcoming opportunity and change. The active heart of Stellenbosch finding joy in athletics. And the hearts of children growing towards a bright future.

It turns out that this isn’t a story about athletics or tracks or homework at all. Because here among the mountains, they’re not just running on strength; they’re running on heart. 

BIG HEART, BIGGER RACE

The name Elana van Zyl Meyer is synonymous with South African athletics excellence. Yet for this extraordinary world champion, the sport is about far more than Olympic glory and medals, impressive as her own achievements are. It is about the belief that athletics can shape future lives, and about the passion to help make that happen.

That conviction has been central to the Sanlam Cape Town Marathon’s rise to acclaim. As both ambassador and champion of the event, Elana has promoted it enthusiastically in South Africa and around the world for 12 years, guided by the vision of seeing Africa take its place on the marathon map.

The marathon in May 2026 attracted approximately 27 000 runners from more than 145 countries. And among them was Elana herself, along with several family members and friends. “Running with loved ones was incredible, a true celebration of the journey to become one of the biggest marathons in the world – the dream we started back in 2014,” she reflects.

One month later, Cape Town’s marathon was confirmed as the eighth race in the Abbott World Marathon Major series, making it one of the most prestigious marathons globally. For Elana, this milestone has special meaning. “Now Cape Town sits alongside seven of the most iconic marathons – Berlin, Boston, Chicago, London, New York, Sydney and Tokyo. But more than that, it’s the first on the African continent, the home of some of the best marathon runners worldwide,” she says. For athletes across the continent, this opens greater opportunities to gain access to elite-level competition – access that is often hampered by logistical and financial barriers. The status also boosts Cape Town’s profile and attracts tourism and economic activity across the Western Cape.

Elana emphasises that this victory was not achieved alone. “It was both a very personal and a collective dream. Everybody bought into it – the City of Cape Town, Sanlam and other sponsors, the runners, charities,” she says.

This belief in shared purpose has a clear connection to the values and work of the two projects closest to Elana’s heart: Endurocad and the ACE Academy’s programme at Hoërskool Stellenbosch. “It’s the same philosophy,” she points out. “Dream big, get the right people and stakeholders on board, work hard, have the right heart for it, be patient, stand up when you fall – and celebrate every win.”

Through the athletics project, the next generation is learning the same: success isn’t attained in isolation or through talent alone. It takes structure, support and courage to keep going when the road seems long. And, like any marathon, big dreams are achieved step by step.

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At Te Water House in the centre of Graaff-Reinet, the smell of freshly baked bread lingers as locals sit on the stoep over coffee and road-trippers stop by as they pass through town.

Jen Rubidge dips in and out of conversations, Roo, her Goldendoodle, close on her heels. It is a place where people come together easily and stay longer than planned.

Once the antique shop of Jen’s grandmother, the historical house off Church Street has been restored and reopened as a gathering place where a bakery and second-hand shop, along with a small creative tribe, bring new energy to its old rooms.

Its yellowwood beams and thick walls have seen generations come and go. Built in 1818 by Lord Charles Somerset for magistrate Andries Stockenström, the home later passed to the Te Water Naudé family, whose name it still carries. Over time, other Karoo families left their mark here, before Eira Maasdorp acquired the property some 40 years ago and ran her antique shop from its rooms.

The sprawling old house started whispering to Jen while she was sorting through her grandmother’s antiques for an auction.

“As we were moving through it, dusting her off, the old dame started chatting to me. We were opening doors I had never seen before, discovering rooms I didn’t even know were there.”

It was in that process that the idea took hold. “I started imagining what we could fill her with,” Jen says. “She was just too beautiful and held such a calming energy.”

When the auction was over, Jen shared her ideas with her family. “They said I had to give it a try.”

Eight months of restoration followed. The work was careful rather than dramatic, guided by the structure itself. Yellowwood floors, beams and ceilings were revealed, rooms cleared and the building was allowed to breathe again.

A year on, the house has settled into a new rhythm – light-filled and in use.

What has taken shape is a space defined by people as much as by the building itself. The bakery draws locals and visitors in from the street. Your Local Pantry’s shelves nearby are stocked with grass-fed beef, Karoo lamb from the Camdeboo, organic vegetables and goat’s milk cheese, while the Little Victory thrift store continues the circulation of objects.

Lot 44, Jen’s own mid-century furniture store, sits alongside an eclectic mix produced by local designers: textiles and clothing made of mohair and wool, each adding to a growing sense of exchange within the house.

The space is also used for workshops, cultural events and exhibitions.

For Jen, it is a place to connect. Somewhere locals and visitors meet, where ideas can be explored and where local artisans and creatives can find a foothold in the town.

“I wanted to establish a platform for small creative businesses to grow and where ideas can be tested,” she says. “It sounds simple, but in Graaff-Reinet it fills a gap.”

There is, too, a continuity that runs beneath it all. Jen grew up on Wellwood farm, surrounded by many generations of family history and the fossil collection assembled by her great-grandfather, Sidney Rubidge. At the time, she says, it felt ordinary. Only later did she understand the weight of it.

That sense of inheritance now sits quietly in the house. Not as something preserved behind glass, but as something lived.

Te Water House has become what it perhaps always was at heart: a place where people meet, linger and return.

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Between the walls of the Wellwood sheep kraal stands a small gabled building that has had more than one life. First it was the farm dairy. Later it was transformed into a home for the remarkable Rubidge Fossil Collection. And now, Anika Lötter is at work here.

For decades, the old Dexter dairy held Sidney Rubidge’s fossil collection. Its glass cabinets were filled with hundreds of skulls that drew scientists and visitors from around the world.

After almost a century of being curated by four generations of Rubidge farmers, the fossils have now been moved from Wellwood to Karoo Origins – The Fossil Centre in Graaff-Reinet. There they continue to tell the story of how a farmer’s discoveries changed our view of prehistoric life.

The purpose-built display cabinets, lined with red felt, remain on Wellwood. But what they hold now is different.

At her bench, Anika works with a small blowtorch, heating and shaping brass, turning it carefully with a pair of tongs. She wears a leather apron, bent over her work. Files and pliers lie within reach, alongside a chisel and saw.

Around her are her materials: a lock of mohair, a twist of wool, pieces of rock and wood, seeds, scrap metal. Behind her, her work rests in the old glass cabinets. A playlist runs quietly; through the window, a flock of merinos moves towards the kraal.

In 1956, Sidney Rubidge, farmer turned fossil-hunter, wrote, “Possibly the first impression a visitor would obtain of my little ‘museum’ is the sheer incongruity of its very existence on a Karoo farm, where normal activities concern themselves with the breeding of merino sheep.”

For Anika, the little museum belongs here.

The young jewellery and textile designer married into the Rubidge family a year ago. Her husband Richard – great-grandson of Sidney – is the sixth generation to farm Wellwood.

Her own story goes back to a mohair and wool farm near Pearson in the eastern Karoo, where the Lötters have been farming for seven generations. “It sounds like a long time,” she says, “but here it isn’t. Not if you consider that the fossils in this area date back 250 million years.

“When I was a little girl, my dad would take me out for drives in the veld. He’d show me the plants the animals like, the sweet ones. Riding on horseback, I would help bring in the sheep for shearing. I’d hear that we need rain. My sister and I would play in the river and make vases from clay for our boma, decorating them with grasses.”

It feels natural that a child of the Karoo would go on to create from it. After finishing school in Bloemfontein, she studied visual arts at Stellenbosch University, where her interest in Karoo materials began to take shape. “While I was studying, I started working with natural elements from the Karoo and became interested in the fossil history of the area,” she says. “The more I learnt, the more my idea of time and place began to shift.”

She completed her master’s degree in 2024 and returned to the Karoo, settling into the old fossil museum on Wellwood. The connection was immediate. “It felt like a full-circle moment.”

Her work follows what is available. Wood, shale, wool, plant material – things gathered from the farm and the surrounding veld. The pieces are shaped by the material itself, its texture and structure.

“It matters what we choose to make things from,” she says. “It changes how we relate to what we wear and how we think about where it comes from.

“I love the way natural materials hold memory and tell stories. The grain in wood records how it has grown, the crimp of wool is a diary of the animal’s health.”

What she creates shifts with the landscape. Scorching summers leave the veld dry and stripped back. Rain brings colour. Wind carries seeds and cat’s tail grass that catch in the wool of the sheep.

“There is a deep sense of time here,” she continues. “You realise the landscape has been here long before you. I like that feeling.”

Anika believes we can choose which materials we work with, what we wear. “In today’s industrialised world,” she says, “there is something very special about creating things out of slow material in an ancient place like the Karoo.”

She is currently working on a new collection, more colourful, more wearable, with a strong emphasis on weaving and craft. It is a new body of work for a little museum that once held the story of the ancient Karoo, and now continues the story in a different way. 

The post Art from an Ancient Past appeared first on Stellenbosch Visio.

From a mudstone koppie just north of Graaff-Reinet, the Karoo opens out in vast flatlands beneath the Sneeuberg. Here, on the farm Wellwood, anker-karoobossies cling to the soil, their dust-grey leaves blending with the earth. Underfoot, slabs of weathered stone lie scattered across the veld.

At first glance the landscape feels sparse, almost empty.

Yet 250 million years ago the plains teemed with life. Rivers meandered through forests of Glossopteris and spread across wide floodplains. Herds of tusked dicynodonts crowded muddy waterholes, heads down, beaks working steadily through ferns.

Something moved in the reeds. A gorgonopsian, sabre-toothed and deadly, slipped through the shallows. Claws churned the mud. A rush – and it was over.

Then the floodwaters came, laying down sheets of silt across the plain. Mud closed over bone. Time passed. And the Karoo fell quiet again.

Prof. Bruce Rubidge grew up on this farm. The Rubidge family has been farming at Wellwood since 1838, building one of the country’s oldest merino studs.

“I was one of those lucky okes who was born into palaeontology,” he smiles. “Fossils were always in my blood.”

The story began here on Wellwood long before he was born.

In April 1934 his grandfather, Sidney Rubidge, was at home on the farm when his 10-year-old daughter Peggy returned from boarding school in Graaff-Reinet with a question: “Daddy, what are fossils and where do you find them?” Sidney admitted he didn’t really know.

Bruce continues: “Grandpa said, ‘It’s something to do with bone embedded in rock. Let’s go for a picnic and see if we can find one.’” Out on a mudstone koppie Peggy noticed something unusual in the rock. “Grandpa started knocking away with a hammer and chisel and eventually a thing that looked like the skull of a horse started appearing.”

Unsure what he had uncovered, Sidney wrote to Dr Robert Broom at the Transvaal Museum. When the renowned palaeontologist rushed to the farm to examine the fossil, the scale of the discovery became clear.

“Broom told him it was 250 million years old. That blew my grandfather’s mind.”

The fossil turned out to be the complete skull of a gorgonopsian, a large, flesh-eating, mammal-like reptile that roamed the Karoo in the Permian period.

It lived long before the first dinosaurs appeared, at the time when Graaff-Reinet was at the centre of the vast supercontinent Pangaea. And, most significantly, it belonged to the therapsid family, which were distant ancestors of mammals.

Broom named the new species Dinogorgon rubidgei, honouring the man who had first chipped it from the rock.

Having a species named after him did not impress the farmer. What did impress him was its age.
“Broom asked him to present it to the Transvaal Museum, but Grandpa said, “No, if it’s been on this farm for over 200 million years, I’m sure it doesn’t want to leave now.”

The discovery marked the beginning of what would become the Rubidge Collection, one of the most significant fossil collections in the world. It would ignite a wave of scientific interest and help place South Africa at the forefront of Permian fossil research.

Encouraged by Broom, who had a keen interest in the origin of mammals, Sidney Rubidge began searching the surrounding Karoo for more fossils. What had started as curiosity turned into a serious pursuit.

Over the next decade he collected specimens from farms and koppies across a wide swathe of the central Karoo, often working with local fossil hunters who knew the landscape intimately. Among them was a Nieu-Bethesda road engineer, Croonie Kitching, and his son James, who later became one of the Karoo’s most accomplished palaeontologists.

“As my grandfather was a pioneer in the field of Karoo palaeontology, many of the fossils he was finding turned out to be new species,” Bruce says.

By the mid-20th century, the purpose-built glass cupboards on Wellwood held hundreds of fossils. Each one was meticulously recorded and labelled by Bruce’s parents, Richard and Pam Rubidge, and neatly laid out on red felt.

“I grew up on the farm with my grandfather’s fossils thinking that every family had a collection like ours,” Bruce chuckles.

As a little boy of three, he once picked up a piece of concrete and proudly cycled with it to his grandfather’s house, convinced he had discovered a fossil.

“Grandpa said, ‘That’s a very nice fossil, thank you,’” Bruce recalls. A few days later Sidney handed the ‘fossil’ back to him. He had quietly carved eyes, nostrils and teeth into the lump of concrete. That sparked Bruce’s curiosity, and two years later the five-year-old found his first real fossil on the farm: a gorgonopsian, just like his grandpa’s.

In time, that childhood fascination would lead Bruce into palaeontology. He spent three decades at the University of the Witwatersrand, where he headed the Evolutionary Studies Institute. He became a Distinguished Professor and an internationally recognised authority on the ancient animals preserved in the rocks of the Karoo Basin.

In 2020, Bruce and his wife Marina returned to Graaff-Reinet to realise a life-long dream: to bring the Rubidge fossils out of the cupboards on Wellwood and into a space where their story could be shared and interpreted.

Through generous sponsorship, a historic building was bought in the heart of Graaff-Reinet, renovated and custom-fitted to house the collection. Last year, after 91 years of curation by four successive generations of Rubidge farmers, the entire fossil collection was moved to town.

Today the collection forms the heart of Karoo Origins – The Fossil Centre, a dynamic space that is part museum and education centre and part research hub. Academically linked to Wits, the centre also serves as a field station for local and international palaeontologists working in the Karoo.
“I could have given the collection to a museum or a university,” Bruce says. “But there it would have been swallowed up by much larger collections. Here, people can experience the fossils where they were actually found and that has greater significance.”

The story begins the moment you walk through the door.

On a pedestal near the entrance is the skull that started it all: Sidney Rubidge’s gorgonopsian, the fossil Peggy spotted on a picnic in 1934. Around it the story unfolds in fragments. There are photographs of Wellwood, copies of Sidney’s letters, and correspondence from the great palaeontologist Robert Broom, whose excitement about the discovery placed the Karoo on the scientific map.

From the family story, the view expands.

Glass cases line the walls, each carefully lit, as if in a portrait gallery. Inside them are rows of therapsid skulls, more than 850 in total – the strange faces of animals that once dominated the Karoo.

Seen together, evolution unfolds. Some skulls are heavy and reptilian; others show the subtle progression in bone, teeth and jaw that would eventually lead toward mammals.

Among them are 107 holotypes, the original fossils used by scientists to define new species.

“Museums usually lock holotypes away,” Bruce says. “But I wanted people to see the whole Rubidge collection, to understand just how many animals once lived here.

“In the rocks of the Karoo there are 247 different species of animals,” he explains. “My grandfather was responsible for finding 107 of these.”

Around the corner, the skulls are brought vividly back to life.

A six-minute looping animation settles on a Permian waterhole. Life-sized therapsids, anatomically exact, enter, hesitate, drink. A gorgonopsian moves into view, its scale precise, its movements convincing. Visitors watch in silence as the animals come and go.
In the next room, the world begins to unravel.

A section titled ‘The Great Dying’ traces the greatest mass extinction in the history of the earth, 252 million years ago. Massive volcanic eruptions in what is now Siberia drove greenhouse gases into the atmosphere. Temperatures rose, oceans warmed and ecosystems collapsed. The catastrophe wiped out 90% of species. A small lineage of therapsids survived and would eventually give rise to mammals.

“The Karoo fossils show how life changed before and after this event,” says Bruce. “Lootsberg Pass, just north of Graaff-Reinet, preserves one of the most complete records in the world of this extinction. Scientists from all over the world come here to study it. We’re still learning more about the extinction and the characteristics of those that survived.”

The exhibition then turns to the present. Modern humans appear as a late arrival in the sequence of life. The focus shifts to the consequences of our actions – a new wave of extinction, now unfolding across the planet and driven by human activity.

“What happened at the end of the Permian was driven by massive environmental change,” Bruce says. “The difference now is that there are no volcanic eruptions. It is us. We are changing the system.”

The story told here is not only about fossils. It is about our place in the long history of life on earth.
Outside, the Karoo lies quiet. Beneath the surface, the record continues to be laid down, slowly, over time. V

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Tussen die bome in die tuin van die Hoër Meisieskool Bloemhof op Stellenbosch, net mooi daar waar almal elke dag verbystap, staan ’n beeld van ’n jong meisie, haar arms spontaan na bo gestrek, haar oë toe, asof sy in ’n oomblik van dankbaarheid en vreugde vasgevang is.

Op die klipvoetstuk van die beeld is in handskrif die woord “Dankbaarheidsvreugde” aangebring.

Die verhaal van die beeld gaan terug na ’n Ouma-en-Oupa-Lentetee in 2024 by Bloemhof. Die verhaal van die skepper van die beeld, Pierre Volschenk, gaan nóg verder terug, reeds amper ’n volle eeu.

Op die dag van die Lentetee neem Pierre sy kleindogter Linki-Mari Volschenk, vanjaar ’n matrikulant, aan die hand. Kom, wys my jou skool. Hy verwonder hom aan Bloemhof se versameling kunswerke in die skool se gange, die voorportaal en personeelkamer. Hy raak aan die gesels met die leerkragte en iemand skraap genoeg moed bymekaar om te vra: “Sien oom Pierre nog kans vir ’n beeld, ’n beeld vir Bloemhof se 150ste bestaansjaar?”

Sonder om te huiwer en met emosie in sy stem sê hy, ja, dit sal vir hom ’n voorreg wees.

En op 17 Oktober 2025, op die 2025-matrieks se uitstapdag, is die Bloemhofferbeeld onthul.

Daarby bly dit nie. Pierre skenk ook ’n olieverfskildery wat hy gemaak het van sy vriendin Maggie Laubser tussen sonneblomme uit sy persoonlike versameling aan Bloemhof.

INSIG

Bo teen die hange van die Hottentots-Hollandberge in Gordonsbaai, in die drieverdiepinghuis wat hy self gebou het, gesels ek met Pierre. Met die skilderagtige Valsbaai aan ons voete, vertel hy my van die mense wat sy lewensfilosofie help vorm het.

Ek kan net stil sit en luister na hierdie energieke 99-jarige kunstenaar. Sy woorde en stories het trefkrag en sy argief is vol.

Sy humorsin borrel kort-kort uit. Hy lag as hy terugdink aan baie staaltjies uit sy kleurryke lewe. Dit is asof sy diep insig in die kunsbeginsels deel is van sy daaglikse lewe waarin kosmaak en die versorging van sy ranktamaties en vrugtebome vir hom net so belangrik is soos die skep van kunswerke.

Een van die insigte wat by hom bly vassteek, is die woorde van ’n ander groot kunstenaar, Jean Welz. In 1970 skilder Pierre ’n portret van Jean toe dié met hierdie wyse woorde vorendag kom: “Jy sien nie wat jy sien nie, jy sien wat jy weet. Hoe meer jy weet, hoe meer sien jy.”

Luister jy na Pierre, besef jy hy sien en weet met wysheid en kennis en dat hy dit op sy hele lewe toepas.

Tydens sy sorgelose kinderjare op Leliedal, later Olyfberg, naby Houtbosdorp, nou deel van die ZZ2-boerdery in Limpopo, het Pierre reeds sy gawe vir skeppende werk ontdek. Hy het gekyk hoe die grootmense kleipotte en die kinders kleiosse maak en mettertyd al die kleigate op die plaas leer ken. Modellering van osse is steeds een van sy geliefde temas.

So ook buffels. Daarvan getuig die lewensgroot buffel op Lourensford wat hy onlangs vir Christo Wiese gemaak het.

Pierre se liefde vir die natuur kom ook uit sy kindertyd. Toe hy ná sy plaasskooldae aan die Laerskool Paardedrift vir sy hoërskooljare Polokwane (Pietersburg) toe moes gaan, was skoene dra die ergste straf, maar hy het hom ten volle uitgeleef en aan alles deelgeneem: Voortrekkers, volkspele, die debatsvereniging (waarvan hy voorsitter was), asook atletiek, rugby, tennis, en skyfskiet.

In 1944 studeer hy met ’n lening aan die Normaalkollege in Pretoria en verwerf ’n Onderwysdiploma, gevolg deur ’n BA-graad aan die Universiteit van Pretoria.

Jare van heeltydse en daarna deeltydse studie volg. Hy gee klas in kuns aan hoërskole en kolleges en vorder tot senior kunsinspekteur in die Departement van Kleurlingonderwys. Tydens hierdie vrugbare jare ontdek hy Conrad Theys en help hom groei tot een van ons land se voorste kunstenaars.

Pierre ontwikkel tot ’n veelsydige kunstenaar en opvoeder. In 1972 word hy die eerste Suid-Afrikaner wat ’n doktorsgraad (DPhil) in beeldende kunste aan die Universiteit van Pretoria verwerf met die proefskrif “Kleur as skilderkunstige element in die werk van Gregoire Boonzaier”. Tussen 1974 en 1986 is hy professor en hoof van die Departement Beeldende Kunste aan die Universiteit van Durban-Westville.

Ná sy aftrede in 1986 verhuis hy en sy vrou, Marie, Gordonsbaai toe, waar die 60-jarige Pierre self hul huis bou – ’n pragtige woning, met ’n eie ateljee en genoeg ruimte vir tweelingdogters Marlene en René, laatlam Pierre, hul sewe kleinkinders, en nege agterkleinkinders.

’N KLEIN BEGIN

Pierre se kunsloopbaan het klein begin. In sy jonger dae verkoop hy tydens vakansies by Tshipise sy waterverfwerke van Bosveldtonele met kremetartbome – “effens in die styl van Pierneef” – vir ’n appel en ’n ei. Die eerste werk wat hy van die hand sit, besorg hom ’n volle vyf pond.

Hy raak mettertyd veral bekend vir sy portretstudies, landskap- en straattonele, en Bosveldtemas. Sy liefde vir kleiwerk (en dus beeldhouwerk) kom uit sy kinderjare se speel op die plaas.

Dit is veral Pierre se beeldhouwerk – dink aan die een van Dok Craven – wat hom ná aan die harte van Stellenbossers gebring het. In 1995 is sy bronsbeeld van die legendariese dr. Danie Craven, met sy hond, Bliksem, by Coetzenburg onthul. In ’n Kwela-onderhoud het hy met ’n ondeunde glimlag vertel hoe ’n hond wat saam met sy eienaar by die beeld verbygestap het, gaan vassteek en vir Bliksem geblaf het. Tóé, sê hy, het hy besef hy’t selfs Bliksem se emosie vasgevang.

In ’n 2010-onderhoud met Johan van Wyk, groet die 84-jarige Pierre met dié woorde: “Tyd raak min en daar wag nog baie wat gedoen moet word …” Hy doen daardie woorde gestand en onder die beelde wat hy sedertdien geskep het, is ’n lewensgroot buffel vir die Lynnwood Bridge-kompleks in Pretoria, gemaak toe hy reeds 89 jaar oud was.

Die lys van bekendes van wie hy borsbeelde gemaak het, het bly aangroei en in 2012 voeg hy Chris Barnard (skrywer) en Chris Barnard (hartchirurg) se beelde by dié van ander bekendes soos Anna Neethling-Pohl, Anna M Louw, en Uys Krige.

Op 1 Mei 2026 vier hy sy 100ste verjaardag, en kan hy bevestig hy bly steeds getrou aan sy leuse: “Omskep tyd in waarde”.

Hier, in sy tuisateljee (dis 37 trappe op en af), skilder en doen hy beeldhou-, hout- en metaalwerk. Dis nie al nie.

Op die yslike 4 000m2-erf met sy waterstrome en ’n verskeidenheid plante, diere en voëls haal hy bykans 80kg heuning per jaar uit sy byekorwe. Sy Hobie Cat staan gereed, en kreeftrek doen hy saam met sy seun en vriende. Hy leef voluit en met oorgawe, elke dag.

Soos die onderskrif by die Bloemhofferbeeld lui, getuig sy hele lewe van vreugde en van dankbaarheid. Hy sluit ons gesprek só af: “Ek wil die Here prys solank ek lewe, ek wil psalmsing tot eer van my God solank ek nog daar is.”

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Former Blitzboks and current Stormers rugby player Seabelo Senatla launched his wine brand, Glory Wines, as a tangible memoir of his Sevens Rugby career. Drawing inspiration from his favourite Bible verse – “Therefore, whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God” – the brand embodies Seabelo’s celebration of life and achievement beyond the rugby field.

“When I was entering the second phase of my career, I wanted to tip my hat to the run I had with Sevens Rugby,” says Seabelo. “It was accomplished and deserving of a memoir. I wanted something tangible that people could either enjoy by themselves or with others, a celebratory symbol. Wine was the perfect agent.”

While not a winemaker, Seabelo is involved in the entire winemaking process with the cellar team, from harvest to bottling. Here, he does the opposite of what he does on the field: he steps back and embraces the wine’s own pace.

“Every piece of the puzzle matters and forms part of the story when the finished product is presented. We work with a certain approach, but wine also likes to do its own thing,” says Seabelo. “I guess one of the applications that translates from the rugby field to the winery is not imposing myself, but letting things happen naturally.”

With Sevens Rugby at the heart of his story, Seabelo created a seven-cultivar blend, with each component reflecting a chapter of his Blitzboks career.

The 2016 vintage marks the year he was named World Sevens Player of the Year. With this blend, Seabelo aims to tell a story of overcoming and becoming, while celebrating both.

“We all have relatable stories of triumph, some smaller, others substantial. The magnitude doesn’t matter. The aim is for the wine to act as a ‘reflector’, to have people reflect on the struggles they’ve overcome. It’s an ode, a celebration.”

While some might refer to it as a balancing act, Seabelo doesn’t perceive Glory Wines as a departure from his sporting career, but rather a continuation of it. For him, the interchangeability between the two is demanding, but deeply rewarding.

“I’m a complex person with different sides to me. Rugby targets one part of me, while the other venture targets another,” says Seabelo. “There are parts that cross-pollinate, but mostly it feels like I rest the one while I’m busy with the other. This keeps me fresh. Truly speaking, there is no balance. I’m just gunning at both with everything I have, which is my only setting.”

Looking ahead, both culturally and personally, Seabelo hopes Glory Wines will help break old barriers and create new connections.

“I’d love Glory Wines to break the psychological barrier that wine is only for the elite – it’s for all of us,” says Seabelo. “More than that, I want it to make people slow down and celebrate themselves.”

Once the curtain closes on his rugby career, Glory Wines will provide Seabelo with a seamless transition into a new industry. “It was certainly the start of me carving another path for myself,” he says.

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Masch is a Stellenbosch-based fashion and leather atelier known for its quality leather bags, clothing and accessories that are designed to be timeless and versatile. While its beautiful Church Street storefront is now a local landmark, Masch’s first creations were sold from a simple dorm-room desk.

“My desk was always doubling as either a study space or a workbench for my craft projects,” says Madri Scherman, founder of Masch. “My uncle helped me source some leather and I made myself a clutch. I enjoyed the project so much that, with the leftover leather, I made a few more clutches in different shapes and sizes.”

At this stage, Madri saw crafting as nothing more than a hobby. While she was creating purely out of passion and curiosity, her enthusiasm resonated with people and ultimately set Masch’s journey in motion.

“My early supporters in Irene and around Stellenbosch were absolutely the reason I dared to dream bigger. It shifted my mindset from ‘this is just a little hobby’ to ‘maybe this could be something more’.”

Encouraged by her close-knit community, Madri soon moved beyond clutches and bow ties to the dresses and clothing she had once made just for herself. From the beginning, local enthusiasm steered the brand’s direction, with personal connections and trust becoming the building blocks for Masch. The result is a deeply personal brand where quality outweighs quantity.

“As a maker, I’m in this because I genuinely love the craft and I want every single piece that leaves our studio to feel special,” says Madri. “From the beginning, I’ve kept my runs limited. It allows us to pour our attention into each design and ensure it’s the absolute best it can be.”

While this approach has meant slower growth for Masch, Madri isn’t concerned – it’s all part of the brand’s bigger picture.

“I’m not interested in mass-producing a million bags or garments; I’m interested in making great items that people treasure. In practical terms, it also means less waste and a more sustainable way of doing business, which matters to me.”

Focusing on clean lines, functional shapes and high-quality materials, Madri’s design philosophy is aimed at creating pieces that outlast trends. Whether experimenting with a new leather texture or introducing a fresh colour palette inspired by her travels, Madri succeeds in keeping Masch’s designs classic and timeless without them becoming dated.

“I hope you can recognise a Masch piece by its balance of simplicity and subtle, distinctive details. Within this framework, I definitely allow my collections to evolve,” says Madri. “It’s a constant balancing act between consistency and creativity. We stay true to our roots so that any piece from any year still feels unmistakably Masch, but we also keep pushing forward so there’s always a next chapter to the story.”

Looking ahead, Madri hopes that Masch designs continue to be meaningful companions throughout the different seasons of people’s lives – whether it’s a leather clutch purchased as a student and still carried to work years later or a piece that becomes a family heirloom.

“As Masch continues to grow, I’ll keep designing with versatility and longevity in mind. I hope my pieces continue to offer people confidence and a sense of authenticity, no matter where they are in life. When you carry or wear something from Masch, I want you to feel that it’s your trusted piece, something that reflects your style and carries a bit of your story,” says Madri.

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Anton Louw and Nico Hendriksz are the designers behind Kino, an award-winning Cape Town furniture studio known for minimalist, solid wood pieces crafted with precision and care.

School friends and alumni of Paul Roos Gymnasium in Stellenbosch, the pair went on to study industrial design before turning their shared passion for craftsmanship into a studio that celebrates refined form, natural materials and thoughtful detail.

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Meegan Mitchell is a photographer whose work explores the expressive potential of both digital and analogue imagery.

Inspired by everyday life and people, she instinctively observes and composes moments long before pressing the shutter. For Meegan, photography has become a constant way of seeing.

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