Once there were two rivers

In 1949 Willem Bezuidenhout (son of Frederick Bezuidenhout) sold the land that is now Bezuidenhout Park on condition that it be used as a park for the benefit of the community; that the family home be maintained by the City Council; and that the family graveyard remain on the property.

The Bezuidenhout farmhouse is still there. Now a national monument , it is used by the Rotary Club for meetings and office space. The family graveyard, although vandalized in recent years, is still there too.

The house was built in three portions over a period of time. The main portion was the centre of the house. It was built of mud and brick, with a thatched roof, in 1863 and consisted of a front room, two small bedrooms on either side, a bathroom and a kitchen.

In around 1880 a new kitchen was added at the back of the farmhouse and the existing kitchen was converted into a pantry.

More substantial additions were made to the farmstead in 1887, at about the time that the Bezuidenhouts were selling off the land for the development of Doornfontein and New Doornfontein. These included two bedrooms, a bathroom and typically Victorian ornamental features such as a bay window and barge-boarded gables. The changes have given the house a Victorian character.

City Parks horticulturalist, Alan Buff, who lived in the house from 1981-1986, met members of the Bezuidenhout family when they gathered for a family reunion while he was living there. The oldest descendant at the time was well into her nineties. She told Buff that she had memories as a ten year old child, of being caught up in the activities taking place in the old kitchen, where fruit and vegetables were cooked and bottled; dairy products processed and packaged; and candles produced for sale to members of the Chinese community who had a market located on the site where Darras Centre is now situated.

There was a fireplace in the back room of the house, she said, and the family used to sit there to do the book work relating to the administration of the farm.

In the front room on the right hand side of the property, a mural of Cape Town was painted on one entire wall by an Italian artist who was commissioned by the Bezuidenhout family. The artist apparently came to South Africa to make his fortune but his plans were interrupted when the Anglo-Boer War broke out. The money he was paid by the Bezuidenhout family helped him to get back home.

Originally the Bezuidenhouts planted oak trees and grew a variety of fruit trees, almond and walnut trees. The family orchards extended through the suburb that is now Cyrildene, right up to Gillooly’s Farm. Streets in Cyrildene are named after members of the Bezuidenhout family.

Bezuidenhout Park still contains oak trees planted by a member of the Bezuidenhout family, who brought seeds from Cape Town in the 1860s. Alan Buff confirmed this by counting the annual rings of an oak tree that came down about ten years ago. There were stables where the Oak trees are in the park today.

Water came from a number of sources. There was a well that was in the vicinity of what is today the car park and a natural wetland which the animals drank from, in the place where the sports fields now are. Two rivers dissected the property. One came down with stormwater from Doornfontein. Originally it flowed from Brickfields in Newtown, through Joubert Park, to the dam which is now the Ellis Park Stadium, and on through Bertrams to Bez Valley. It ran through the bottom of the property to what is now Bruma Lake. The other river still exists today. It runs through the Observatory golf course.

After the property was sold to the City of Johannesburg, the municipality decided to build a storm water system and then to develop the sports fields. Once the canal had been built and the water diverted, the wetlands started to dry up. The land was then considered suitable to be used for recreational purposes.

With the British occupation during the Anglo-Boer War, the small cottage on the left hand side of the homestead was taken over.

The Indian horse brigade, which consisted of some 4, 000 horses, maintained by 7,000 non-combatant Indian forces, camped out in the area of Bezuidenhout Park that is now the caravan park. The monument to these Indian soldiers is on Observatory Ridge. Originally a cemetery was established especially for them in Observatory Park, just behind the electricity service station. Only four soldiers were buried there according to Buff. In the 1960s their bodies were exhumed and moved to the Braamfontein cemetery.

Buff was told that the section of the park that is more or less where the Siyakhana Food Garden is now situated, was where a Concentration Camp for Black internees was set up during the Anglo-Boer War.
(*Blog on Siyakhna below)

Back to Eden... The Siyakhana Food Gardens

The Siyakhana Food Gardens were established in Bezuidenhout Park in 2005 in a partnership between Wits University and 16 Early Childhood Development and Home-Based Care NGOs.
http://siyakhana-org.win24.wadns.net/WhatWeDo/FoodGarden.aspx


Mandla Tshabalala is the manager. A member of the Seventh Day Adventist Reformed Church and resident caretaker of the church property in 8^th Avenue, Bez Valley, Mandla began as a volunteer when the garden was still a dump site.

His knowledge and his love of gardening come from observing his gardener grandmother as a child; from his training at a permaculture school in the Free State and an eco-village in Germany; from the Bible; and from teachings contained in the book  Back to Eden, claiming that everything that humankind needs for nutrition and healing is provided for naturally.

Quoting from Back to Eden and from the Bible, Mandla talks of a wide variety of herbs that can be used for the healing of boils; cancer, heart conditions, diabetes, stomach complaints, syphilis, blood ailments, sinusitis, and many other illnesses. Herbs grown in the Siyakhana Food Garden  include White Clover, Yarrow, Comfrey, Borage, Feverfew, St. John’s Wort, Sage, Calendula, Roux, Peppermint, Fennel, Lemon grass, Oregano, Plantain, Sage and Marjoram.

The first trees were planted by Trees and Foods for Africa activists in 2005. Today the garden contains an orchard full of fruit bearing apricot, peach, pecan nut, plum, lemon, olive and apple trees, and a food garden that produces a wide variety of vegetables including beans, cabbages, lettuce, tomatoes and spinach. Produce is given to NGO partners in the inner city of Johannesburg.

Dried herbs and a variety of vegetable salts and creams are also on sale to visitors.

Siyakhana has a number of purposes. It is a research site for university students; a permaculture training centre; a site for pionering eco-buildings; and the propagation of plants is important. “Seeds are replanted… Some will be sold to food gardens or NGOs… The idea is to keep the cycle going so that skills are not lost and so we can reach out to others because we now have an abundance of herbs and trees and shrubs,” Mandla says.

There are many visitors to the garden. They come to observe, to learn, to be inspired, and to consult Mandla not only about permaculture gardening but also about healing remedies.  A close neighbour who visits Mandla on a regular basis about growing vegetables and healing herbs, is the man who manages the cleaning of the Jukskei in the Park (see earlier blog, The River Runs Thru).

“Community members consult me about their ailments. People learned about the use of herbs and they came here to get some. I have stopped it because it upset a lot of other things I have do do in the garden, but I still advise people in my personal capacity.”