Scott Balson's trip to South Africa -
4th September 2006 - Pretoria

A pefect spring day on the highveld. I caught a taxi from Sandton to Pretoria and was, once again, taken by the large number of African drivers on the road - a quantum shift from twenty years ago when it was quite rare to see a black driver on the busy connection road (14). It was only a taste of what was to follow in what had once been a "white" city. It was now black as you will see in the images below.

From my discussions with several whites over the last few days they have embarked on a siege mentality - rarely venturing out from their place of work or home unless it is to visit family or friends or to go to "safe" places like Nelson Mandela Square in Sandton for dinner or drinks.

After checking into the Arcadia hotel (image right - just ZAR440 for bed and breakfast) I was driven to Budget Rent-a-Car where I picked up my small aircon car. It took me at least half an hour to master this manual and its indicators... windscreen wipers were going, gears grinding and that rear gear was a devil in disguise to try to get into I nearly went the wrong way up a busy one way street in the heart of Pretoria with the windscreen wipers going - but eventually worked it all out.

My next challenge was to get a mobile phone that worked - the Vodacom store in Pretoria sold me two phones that did not work before the third ... which did! The phone and prepaid time was incredibly cheap compared to Australia - just ZAR600 (just over Au$100) and that included ZAR275 of prepaid time.

It was near lunchtime before I could start visiting historic sites - and my first in the images below was Paul Kruger's house which is located in Church Street near the centre of the city. The house is in a run down, black area of Pretoria and has virtually no security or burglar guards on the window. The only symbol of its former glory is an old flag of the ZAR which flies outside. Inside was just one black man who took the entrance fee - there was no one else monitoring the place and small vluable and historic items were within easy reach of thieving hands. I was not amazed at the lack of security but the apparent lck of interest by the Afrikaners in such a historic symbol of their past. 

My next destinatiion was the famous Voortrekker Monument which was an exhilirating experience.

As callenging and beautiful as ever it has not changed since my parents took me there nearly 50 years ago when I was a small boy.

I spent a long time visiting all its parts - including the fort/old Boer armoury that overlooks the city of Pretoria and the Tangajika (sic) Monument which was replicated from a larger monument in Tanganyika.

A large fire burnt in the scrub nearby casting a haze over the city.

The tour of a nearly deserted moument was a delight - especially as there were genuine Boer Powder Horns made out of buffalo on display - they were no were near as elegant as my engraved Griqua Horn.

The Union Buildings of Pretoria were my last stop... the sprawling gardens and architecturally grand buildings and monuments are now starting to fall in disrepair. So sad. From my meeting with the Business Day reporter at the Sandton Sun there was a clear feeling of ati-colonialism and lack of interest in white history - the Boer war was not our war. The state of Afrikner relics is starting to reflect this reality. It is the Afrikner's apparent lack of interest in their own rich cultural history that really amazes me - how times have changed!

Return to Home Page