The Great Karoo

Steynsburg lies to the far east of the eco-region known as the Great Karoo. The region is some 400 000 square kilometres in extent. It is classified as semi desert and the name derives from the Khoisan word of uncertain meaning. During its geological life, it has been glaciated, and later it had great inland deltas, lake and swamps. At times during its prehistory it was ravaged by massive volcanic activity. Reptiles and amphibians populated the area, in large numbers. Today their remains have made the region a paeleontological treasure trove.

The vast grassy plains were identified as being excellent sheep grazing country in the early 1800's and today it is the major sheep region of the country.

Anything Worse than a Lawyer

Soon after New Year, I flew to East London and met up with owner D. We went through many details of the operations, and technical issues regarding infrastructure, and then signed the final agreement.

I had an appointment with my attorneys set for 10am the following day. Guess what, the conveying attorney did not pitch, and his PA had no record of the appointment. I had met previously with O, my attorney and chairmen of the firm to finalise the incorporation of the farm and operating company into the family trust, and he had advised at the time that partner B would do the transfer.

B's PA did her best, but it was all most unsatisfactory. With the new FICA regulations everything would take about twice as long. B eventually pitched, but the damage was done; I really think he was incompetent. It later transpired that that chairman O and the three senior partners had resigned from the firm, to start their own. The junior partners and the hangers on seemingly would not be able to hold the 100 year old firm together, and it was merging with another. Guarantees were lodged with the attorneys, and the sale became irrevocable.

I phoned brother R and gave him the green light to proceed full speed ahead with emigration procedures. R and SiL G were scheduled to fly down to Johannesburg the following week. As per the agreement, we were to spend a full week on the farm learning the details of the operation prior to the handover. Conveniently it was the week that the farm sheep were to be sheared - a very important operation to be learned. SiL G had not seen the farm and was flying blind, having only seen photographs. Happily she was very happy with the house and garden. There would be a lot to do to get the place to meet our requirements, but it was a great start.

There was a lot to take in: windmills, transformers, pipelines, pumps, tractors and hundreds of other details. And a lot of keys!

....But No Rain

Dry Dry Dry

The rains are late this year. Although the total rainfall year to date matches the entire rainfall of last year, those rains started early, and ended in May. The high rainfall early in the year means that the grass cover is very thick. As dry as it is it is very susceptible to fire. We have already had one fire this year. Eskom has not lives up to its mandate as the monopoly supplier of electricity in this country. Behaving in a typically third world manner, it forgot to start building power stations about ten years ago, and now electricity supply is seriously lagging behind demand.

Notwithstanding its recent 37% price increase, it no longer does power line patrols, or any form of preventative maintenance. The upshot: transformers leak, powerlines fall over and transmission cables break. In our case the wood pylon stay broke, and the high voltage cable was touched by an inquisitive heifer. Result one very dead heifer, a fire and about 10ha of burned out veld. Luckily it was noticed quickly before it got out of control. The linesman visited and put in a temporary stay, which, at the time of writing (some 3 weeks after the incident) is still there.

Imagine the outrage if we were as disinterested in our payments as they are in fulfilling their service obligations to the consumers.

The long range weather service GRIB.US is predicting heave rain for the area on Sunday afternoon. Hopefully they have got it right! Will keep you posted.

Cats and Dogs....

One of the unexpected free benefits of the farm came in the form of four fluffy ginger farm cats, and a border collie cross sheep dog - James JMMWG (!) du Preez nicknamed 'Jimmy'. The problem with James is that he is scared of sheep. Not much value added there. He lives to ride on the back of the bakkie (pickup truck) and to eat. The cruelest thing a person can do to him is feed him and then go and start up the diesel bakkie near him. Instant crisis of indecision!

The cats are what is referred to as 'werf' katte; not house cats, but certainly not wild or feral either. The live in the barns and out building and do an amazing job of keeping down rats and mice. They are enormous friendly and fluffy and love being sociable with the family. According to neighbours, all the ginger cats in the district are related to these - a seriously dominant gene pool obviously.

White Christmas (Not)

Looking NW towards the homestead

The southern hemisphere winters are mild, relative to those experienced in Europe and America. This part of the Karoo is an exception. Most of South Africa seldom sees snow; on the farm, it is a fairly regular occurence. The average altitude of the farm is about 1600m (5250'). Snow is most likely to fall in July or August. It is an unusual winter that sees no snow at the homestead; snow capped mountains in the vicinity are a regular occurrence. The winter diurnal temperature range is between 16 to -8 Celsius. The lowest recorded temperature so far during our tenure -15 Celsius. A rude shock indeed for those from the African tropics.

Rain Rain Go Away

Not something you are ever likely to hear a farmer say; especially not a Karoo Farmer. The weather is an all consuming passion; something that is discussed with enthusiasm, no matter how recently it was last discussed. We were lucky enough to get very complete rainfall records of the farm. Unfortunately not since its founding, but from 1916 to the date of takeover. The Karoo is renown for its limited rainfall. Although this part has been blessed with relatively high precipitation compared to other parts, the watchword is 'drought is only six weeks away'.

There rainy season is from September to March, although heave rain may be recorded in any month of the year. With the exception of the years 1964 - 1973, the 10 year moving average has ranged betweem 400 and 500mm per year; the "quoted rainfall" given when, for example, advertising a farm for sale is 450mm per annum.

The 10 year moving average for the farm has risen steeply over the last 7 years, currently it is 538mm. Indeed since we acquired the farm, we have experienced the second and fourth highest rainfall since the records started.

While this analysis is hardly rigorously scientific, it seems that, unlike other parts of the world, or South Africa, this little area is becoming a 'higher' rainfall region. This can only be good for the farm.

Hurry Up and Wait

I am impatient, I admit it. However waiting for this Karoo Accountant to draw up the agreement was torture. After about seven days waiting, he produced a draft which was totally unsuitable. I complained to owner D who said he would get him to hurry up. Nothing happened. In sheer frustration I told owner D that the matter was now urgent and that I would draw up a draft agreement which would then be finalised by my attorneys; we had agreed that they would also do the conveyencing and transfer. I bashed out a first draft overnight and faxed it to him. Within a week we had a final agreement which only need to be signed. I was leaving for Zimbabwe on 15 December, so there was no time for a face to face meeting. We agreed that he would sign a copy and fax it to me as proof of his bona fides, and that we would sign a final agreement in the new year.

The urgency was twofold, firstly there could be no possible reason for the family to commit themselves to emigration without a place to go, and secondly, I wanted to take over the farming operation and business on 1 March 2004; the start of the new financial year.

The trip to Zimbabwe was uneventful, if sad. What had been a great country was now sinking fast. White farmers being beaten up and killed, their worker treated similarly, their crops stolen. Shortages of all basic commodities, but specifically fuel. MAD BOB has a lot to answer for. We agreed that the family would put their emigration papers in as soon as possible after new year, and that both R and G would come down for a week in mid January to visit the farm and become familiar with the operations. Better this than to arrive blind and try to run a farm without any knowledge of the place. I returned to Johannesburg just after Christmas and in early January set about getting the agreement actioned.

Johannesburg efficiency I had told owner D. Famous last words!

Mission Accomplished

The project had stalled! While it was entirely feasible to look for another farm, in this area or elsewhere, the obvious decision was to wait to see if this farm would come back on the market. The main reason to wait for this farm was familial. The cousins' maternal grandfather had brought the world famous "Hillmoor" Merino stud to the district, and had established it on the farm next door. My father, 90 years old at the time of proposed purchase, had worked with his brother on this farm in 1932 - his first job after leaving high school in England and returning to South Africa. His brother N had married the daughter of the wool baron, and his family (the cousins) had been in the area ever since.

On the night of 29 November, I phoned D - the owner.

"Has the farm been sold?" I asked.

"No, but the option holder has requested an extension." D replied.

Since I had an irrevocable option once the first option expired, I advise him that I would not allow an extension.

"If we are going to do a deal, it will be done very quickly, if not then you can revert to the original option holder within 2 days." I said.

We agreed that I would phone him on the morning of 1 December to see if the option had expired or if the farm had been sold. I then phoned brother R to see if they still wanted to pursue emigrating from Zimbabwe; I was not going to pursue the farm if they had changed their minds and were going to tough it out up North. He conferred with the family and confirmed they had not changed their minds. It was a relatively brave thing to do, his wife G had not visited the farm; the only connection she had with the place was the photographs we had taken during our fleeting visit. We agreed on a reasonable purchase price; above which we would not go and terminated the call.

I phoned owner D on 1 December and asked the million rand question: Had the property been sold?

"No" D stated, the option holder has not been able to raise the finance, and since
you would not give him an extension, the deal fell through"

Adrenalin Rush !!

We disussed various issues and I then made the opening offer. He rejected it (as I knew he would) and made a counter. His counter was exactly the amount R and my agreed price was. After another call to brother R, I phoned D back and agreed to his price. we then discussed procedure and takeover dates. He said he would get his accountant to draw up the agreement of sale, and get back to me as soon as it was ready. I phoned brother R and told him the good news. It is one thing to agree to a deal in principle, it is quite another to commit to it when emigration and a whole new life is part of it. There would be stressful times ahead.I then phoned the cousins and told them that barring unforseen circumstances they had a new neighbour.

The agreement was reached in less than 8 hours. That, unfortunately, was to be the only speedy part of the transaction. It was to become apparent that a Johannesburg sense of urgency and an Eastern Cape one were not the same animal.



It was to be a long road ahead!

To Be or Not to Be

We visited the farm again the following morning to check the farm implements and equipment offered with the land and livestock. Since the Owner was leaving to travel to East London for a few days, there were no further opportunities to visit the farm. We spent a few more days with cousins D,C and S looking at the numbers, doing financial projections and generally exhausting all possible scenarios regarding the farm.

We had a rude introduction to Karoo farming life while we were there. Brother R, cousin S and I went to have dinner with the other cousins A and P (P being D's brother and A being C's sister). We got a call that there was a grass fire on the farm that had been caused by lightening. Happily the lightening had been accompanied by moderately heavy rainfall, and the fire was under control and out within a few hours. The upside thereof was that we got to meet a large number of potential new neighbours!

We left cousin S' farm and spent a few nights with cousins A and P and returned to Johannesburg on the Sunday. Brother R returned to Zimbabwe and I finalized my feasibility studies. When I phoned the owner D, to futher discuss the possible purchase, he advised that a third party had taken an option on the property until 30 November. To say this was disappointing was an understatement! It certainly was irritating. I got Owner D to agree not to renew the option should it expire, and also agree that I would then have right of first refusal. I advised brother R of what was happening, and we settled down to wait for the outcome.

Landed Gentry

Panorama from Google Earth

The ongoing tour of the farm highlighted the variation in land types and vegetation. The highest point on the farm is 1724 m the lowest point 1572m. The farm is approximately 30% Hill farm 70% Vlei.







Vlei Grasslands

Hill View

The camp fences seem well maintained, although the gates needed attention. Waterpoints were well constructed. The many windmills and reservoirs all seemed to be in good condition and an added bonus were the remote handling facilities at strategic points around the farm. The property certainly went way beyond whatever expectations I had, and seemed to be a very viable proposition. Would the price asked make it a reasonable propositon?

Animal Farm

Stone Shed

The shed area comprised a new large factory standard shed approx 30m x 15m used for storage, with an area set aside for shearing, a stone shed with full length afdak built in 1908, two small stone ramsheds and a half completed storgage shed. In addition a large stock handling facility surrounded by a stone wall contained all the races and pens required. All large buildings were in very good condition. So far so good! We were taken on a tour of the farm, and shown all the important features.







Oats under Irrigation













Lucerne Under Irrigation







There were two areas of lands set up for dragline irrigation from boreholes. The larger covering 8Ha, the smaller 4.5Ha. Arable dry land spread throughout the farm measured 25Ha. The water resources are sufficient to increase the irrigation to 25Ha.

Small Dam

Big Dam

There were several small dams and 1 shallow but very large dam both of which were empty at the time of initial viewing.

Uncertain Expectations

Our appointment to view the farm was set for the afternoon. We had no particular expectations of the property - just that it was a good farm that had been in the owners' family since 1875. He had decided to sell because his son did not wish to farm it. Although the farm has a common boundary with S', the main access road is further along the main Steynsburg - Molteno road. We retraced our route and set off to view the property.

Kromhoogte



The farm land mark is a mountain called "Kromhoogte" a flat topped conical hill, easily visible from the surrounding countryside for miles around. The translation is literally "Crooked Heights". For some reason, the name made me (and still makes me) think of an agrarian version of Fawlty Towers! Hopefully, if we purchased the place our attempts at farming it would not be a variation on that famous Brit comedy. On a more somber note, part of the Boer War was fought in the district; the British forces active in the area had an observation post on the mountain. To partially over come boredom, the troopers carved their names on the rocks where they maintained lookout.

By road, the farmstead was about 15km from S'. We turned north off the main road immediately past Kromhoogte and followed the road for about 3km, after crossing the railway line. The countryside was beautiful despite the post-winter dryness; reasonably flat - but with a significant number of large mountains all around.

View from Farm Entrance


We had not discussed the house or the main infrastructure much, apart from noting that it was about 90 years old, had three bedrooms and one bathroom. The original homestead had burned down and the existing one built in 1914. I was interested to see what the house would look like - an iconic Karoo farmstead, or a functional but architecturally boring house.

First View of House

The first view of the house became visible about two thirds of the way up the dead straight tree lined entrance.

Homestead

WOW! Instantaneous raising of expectations. I am not sure what I was expecting, but it was not this. What an amazing structure.

















The dressed stone foundation, and the wrap around verandah were outstanding.

















This raised the stakes. Now would the rest of the farm live up to the standard of the homestead? Of course, the objective of buying a farm is not to own a house. The sheer presence of the homestead raised the stakes, and the "buy" signal moved from interested indifference to very interested. The additional infrastructure in the yard area comprised a double garage, two storerooms, an outbuilding that housed the lighting plant before the the farm received Eskom power, and a rondavel build of ironstone.

Making a Virtue of Necessity

One thing was very noticeable - it was freezing. Mid September in South Africa is usually well into Spring. Not here! At about 1600m above sea level, the winters are long, very cold and frost is a regular visitor until mid October. Many a farmer in the area has been caught out by a sudden post-shearing cold snap, leading to many deaths of sheep and goats. Suprisingly lambs born in such weather are not seriously affected by such cold, unless it is accompanied by strong wind and/or rain.

We had an appointment with the owner of the farm for sale the following day, so that afternoon we settled in did the usual 'tourist' thing. We had lengthy discussions with the cousins about the relative merits of property for sale. By all accounts it was a prime farm, well maintained, well watered and had great potential.

It was an interesting proposition from my point of view, both as a 'safe haven' for the Zim family, as well as a 'lifestyle asset' for myself. The prospect of having a second home did not, and still does not, appeal. Forays into rental properties have proved that a holiday home is a fun idea, and a nightmare reality.

This was hopefully different - a lifestyle asset that could be a real business proposition. More importantly, the realisation that Zimbabwe would never again, in the forseeable future, be a viable country meant that the necessity of the family leaving Zimbabwe, might also be an interesting and lucrative thing to do.

The Small Trek

Gariep Dam from Wall

Cousin S' farm is some 7 hours from Johannesburg, so we left the following morning. We travelled on the N1, past Kroonstad, through Bloemfontein and the Free State and into the Eastern Cape. It was interesting to travel to the Eastern Cape again; I hadn't been there in 10 or more years. We turned off the national road about 150km south of Bloem and filled up with petrol. We then stopped at the Gariep (formerly HF Verwoerd) Dam. There was a lot of water in the dam although the countryside was dry.

We turned off near Venterstad and headed for Steynsburg and S' farm. The regional roads are in surprisingly good condition and the remainder of the trip took about an hour. The country around Venterstad is relatively flat interspersed with the rugged flat topped hills that are iconic to the karoo landscape.

Typical Karoo Landscape

We went down a small very windey pass, the road dotted with rocks; some large some small, from frequent rockslides that plague the cutting. It was really a wake-up call after the earlier monotony of the flatland. Crossing the railway line as we entered Steynsburg, it felt like entering a time warp,everything looked exactly the same as it had done when we visited as children, only a bit more decrepit and definitely a lot more uncared for.

Turning left towards Molteno, and following the railway line we headed for the farm. Every few kilometres or so we passed homesteads, all surrounded by tall trees and all green oases of cultivated lands and gardens. The karoo, and this area in particular is floating on a vast network of underground aquifers, providing the lifeblood of the farms. Farms seem inevitably named after the underground springs, "fonteine", that sustain the livestock. "Roosterfontein", "Morsfontein" and "Vlakfontein" are typical of the trend.

The dirt road to S' farm branches north on the outskirts of town. Forget what I said earlier about the well maintained roads! This one in particular was appalling and appeared never to have been graded. Interesting new landmarks in the form of solar powered telephone microwave towers now dot the landscape. They will never compete with the iconic and ever-present windmills though!

It was about lunchtime and we had arrived. Some things for certain had not changed: the Karoo hospitality and the quality (and quantity) of the food.

A Chance Suggestion

I am South African. I grew up in Rhodesia, and returned south after I completed an MBA degree at UCT in 1982. The rest of the family remained there. In 2000 MAD BOB MUGABE started his land grab; unleashing a catastrophe on the country, its people and destroying its economy.

By 2003 it was clear that the family would have no option but to return to South Africa, after the farms were gazetted for seizure. A chance suggestion by cousin J, in July of 2003, while we were having dinner - that I buy a farm as an investment, set in motion a chain of events that were clearly the workings of fate.

"What was our maternal great-grandfather's karoo farm is on the market, why not buy that." he suggested.

After further conversation the topic changed, but the seed was firmly implanted. I phoned him later in the week, and made some preliminary enquiries about the farm. The following day cousin S, phoned me out of the blue. He advised that the first farm was not a good buy, that it was run down and that it had no Eskom power.

"A better farm, situated on our boundary is up for sale. It is a great grass farm and the owners' son does not wish to take it over."

A further discussion ensued and I decided to seriously investigate the proposal. A phonecall to brother R in Zimbabwe followed.


"I am thinking of buying a farm, and one next to S has come on the market. Are you interested in coming back to SA to live there and run it?"

He agreed to come down and have a look. As a Zimbabwean citizen, he required a visa to visit SA. Predictably this took weeks to obtain. Eventually in early September he was able to fly down and we set off to take a look.

What's It All About

This blog documents the adventures of a Karoo sheep and cattle farm purchased in 2004. It will be part up to date happenings, part history and part anything else that relates to the venture.