Communities affected by illegal mining can do something – but when the streets run with blood, what happens?
THE annual mining indaba, now on in Cape Town, has spawned massive documentation and media reports. Organisers of the indaba – ‘Where the world connects with African mining’ – will have expected most of this publicity. But there’s one publication which may have been...
Angels visit Smithfield
Actually we had a number of angels visiting over the Christmas holidays, but none of the others was caught on film in complete regalia. These two angelic messengers, Jessica (6) and Rebecca (4) Klaaren, were strolling through the streets of Smithfield, round the...
Happy dogs are here again …
We’ve had a number of dogs staying at Trading Places, Smithfield, over the holiday season and they seem to enjoy themselves as much as their owners. Here’s elegant basset Maya with Natasja Delport. Natasja has a fab guesthouse in Johannesburg, but she has been...
SA can manufacture rail coaches, but outsources R51-billion coach contract
Today’s edition of the Free State Business Bulletin tells readers that South Africa has built and delivered specialised railway wagons to Botswana. Not only that, but there are plants in South Africa with capacity for building locomotives, coaches and other components...
Open letter to the Public Protector about fraud in the B&B business
DEAR Public Protector – You are quite right to be deeply concerned about ‘false billing’ – making the state pay for goods and services that were never supplied. And you’re right that the system of away-from-home accommodation for state employees needs a total...
Desperate Free State dorpies beg Lesotho for water help
SA dorpies appeal to Lesotho for help in getting drinkable water! Latest evidence of SA’s municipal woes from the current edition of the Free State Business Bulletin. So our poverty-stricken neighbours in Lesotho are now the last hope of people living in the Free...
Brand new tractors, abandoned in Bloemfontein, seek loving new home
The latest edition of the Free State Business Bulletin, an online weekly, is full of astonishing stories. Apart from its piece about desperate Free State dorpies asking Lesotho for help in getting drinkable water, the Bulletin also carries a story that made me pay...
Magnificent bird on R701 outside Smithfield – a long way from home!
We were driving along the R701 dirt road from Smithfield to Wepener when I had to stop sharply and turn the car round to make sure my eyes weren’t playing tricks on me. An African white-backed vulture, here? I tried to persuade myself that it was a Northern Black...
Three reasons why we wish it was Christmas holidays in Smithfield already …
Three pictures of our roses show what we’d like to share with our friends. Imagine what the late afternoon scent is like – wish you were here! Back verandah, overlooking the mountain Great stoep for sundowners, smelling the roses and watching the kestrels come...
Lilies – where they really belong
Our Orange River lilies are blooming at the moment. A great sight. And they are growing in my garden, virtually along the Orange River, where they belong. Actually only a slight exaggeration: Smithfield is 40 minutes from Aliwal North where the N6 crosses the Orange...