A month after the small sawmills received notice that Komatiland forests (KLF) would not renew their contracts, the situation remains unchanged. 
According to Edward Ferreirinha, director and co-owner of Verulam, the mill is on a four-day work week and has given its 270 workers notice that it will have to close down by the end of the month. “We are receiving odds and ends of timber from different sources, but it is not enough to keep us going. We will most probable go down to a three-day week next week,” he said. 

The announcement by the Department of Water Affairs and Forestry that it would supply their own available timer to these sawmills, has as yet not materialized. Ferreirinha said on Friday that they haven’t heard anything from the department and are still trying to set up a meeting with all parties involved to try and find a solution. 
On Friday July 23, 3.000 timber workers marched to KLF’s head offices to hand over a memorandum expressing their dissatisfaction with the non-renewal of their contracts. In a statement issued to the media KLF said that it was aware of the economic impact and potential job losses that its allocation of logs might have on the affected sawmills. 

Although the overall shortage in available log volumes had been anticipated, the company claimed that forest fires that swept through the plantation in 2003 exacerbated the shortage. It added that the allocations were based on valid quotes and the application of objective commercial, financial and social criteria to determine successful mills. 

According to Ferreirinha the allocation process was not transparent. “We have proof that two mills received double volumes and that three people who do not even own mills were allocated timber.” He said that they then sold the wood to other mills at a profit. 

According to Terence Jenkins of Glen Garry Sawmills, they are in the same situation as Verulam. “We receive small amounts of timber of surrounding sources that keeps us going for the moment,” he said. They haven’t given their staff notice yet as they had another operation at which they would be able to use most of the workers.

It was business as usual on Monday with municipal and mine workers in Barberton on the job. This while most major cities experienced a cessation of municipal services and miners of the Harmony, Gold Fields and Anglo-Gold Ashanti mining groups went on strike. 

According to Johan Joubert, acting municipal manager, they knew of no problems anywhere in town. “We experienced a strike a week ago when approximately 30% of the municipal workers went on strike,” he said. The action is due to a deadlock in wage negotiations with the South African Local Government Association (Salga) which went into negotiations in April with the SA Municipal Workers Union (Samwu) and the Independent Municipal and Allied Trade Union, affiliated to the Federation of Unions of SA. 
Joubert added that if the workers went on strike it might be today, but they were prepared and services would be delivered as normal. 

As far as the strike of miners was concerned, a reliable source at Barberton Mines, owned by Metorex, said they were not part of the action as the mines weren’t part of the Chamber of Mines. This was confirmed by National Union of Mineworkers (Num) publicity and information head Morferefere George Lekorotsoane. “Barberton Mines is not participating in the strike because it doesn not fall under the Chamber of Mines. 
The only mine in Mpumalanga that is affected in Evander, which belongs to Harmony Gold,” said Lekorotsoane. 

The strike was called for by Num after it rejected the latest offer by the Chamber of Miens, the industry group that negotiated on behalf of gold firms, of a 4,5% to 5% wage increase plus bonus payments. The union was demanding a rise of between 10% and 12%.

The Makhonjwa Mountains were abuzz with quad bike and 4x4 activities during this past long weekend as out-of-towners flocked to our picturesque town to visit its historic sites.
Few Barbertonians have never had the opportunity or made time to visit our historic sites up in the hills.
Who knows that you can actually see the spot where the oldest rock in the world was found and which is a clear indication that we are sitting in a huge crater?
Who has been to the area that shows the ox wagon tracks set deep into the rock where the pioneers crossed the mountain? Or stood at the graveyard in Eureka City listening to a guide recounting the interesting stories of the people who lived here in the 1880’s?

Eureka City itself is a site alive with an almost tangible spirit and interesting tales. Standing in front of the Victoria Hotel ruins you can close your eyes and visualise the golden days, the hum of voices in the bar, activity on the street and the very popular horse races taking place in front of the building. 

Imagine these people walking all the way down to Barberton every day, visiting all the saloons on the way and paying for their gin with gold nuggets.

Standing in the Golden Quarry where it all started, you sense the presence of the gold diggers, hanging on their ropes at this huge man-made cave with the sun filtering through the holes in the roof where Edwin Bray started his digging after he stumbled over a rock and in a fury hit at it with his hammer, only to discover that it was pure gold. Throwing a stone down one of the holes, hearing it fall way down into the depths of the earth, makes you realise the conditions under which those diggers worked everyday, always in the hope of finding that precious yellow ore that would make them wealthy.

The richest sample of gold in the world, came out of this quarry. From the first 50 tons that Bray had crushed the amount of gold recovered was 300 ounces. After this discovery the value of gold shares rose from R2 to R240 each.
Despite all the fascinating tales and the sites you could visit in the mountains, you have the added advantage of splendid scenery, of spotting a Barberton daisy or seeing the Protea curvata in bloom. 

We are truly sitting on a gold mine with guides who tell you the most interesting stories, all based on facts. We need to advertise this far and wide as we have a tourist destination that is well worth visiting.

Make time to go and explore your own town so that you can tell every one you know what we have on offer. With more tourists visiting, everybody could benefit and we would truly prosper. 

There are people who have done the groundwork, set up endless meetings with parks board, forestry and the mines and have permission to take you places beyond your imagination. 

How can be advertise our town if we haven’t visited the places ourselves?

Above:
Exploring the route the ox wagons took over the mountain to get to Eureka City. The tracks can clearly be seen etched into the rock. 

Right:
Visiting the golden quarry where Edwin Bray found the richest gold in the world.