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| 14 December 2005 |
| Storm wind rips off roof |
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By Lynette Louw
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Three weeks after what was described as a mini-tornado hit the outskirts of Barberton, a heavy thunderstorm accompanied by rain, wind and hail once more swept through the valley causing damage that could run into millions of rand.
Shortly after 14:30 on Sunday the heavens opened and within a few minute 11 millimetres of rain fell in and around Barberton. The heavy rain was accompanied by strong winds and hail. The hail itself did not cause much damage but the strong gale-force winds ripped roofs off houses and uprooted trees.
According to Ferdi de Wet, engineering technician, most of the damage was done in Extension 11 at Emjindini and at Alma Plots on the Badplaas road.
He also resides at Alma Plots number six and more than half of the roof of his house was torn off. The rain and hail simple poured into the house, flooding everything. “The damage alone totals thousands of rand,” he said.
Nic and Sharon de Witt reside at Alma Plots 17. The roof of their storeroom and offices was blown away and a wall of their shed collapsed. They measured 15 millimetres rain in the short time the rain fell.
“We just repaired the one side of our shed that was damaged three weeks ago with the storm and now the other side was knocked down,” Sharon said.
Morné Pretorius of Doc Wim’s Mushrooms had litchi trees uprooted on his farm. The roof of his office was crumpled up as if it were a sheet of paper.
“I lost six 12-year-old litchi trees with the previous storm and another four were uprooted now,” he said. Both water tanks on his farm were damaged.
According to Morné they were thankful that the hail and wind didn’t occur at the same time as the damage would then have been much worse.
Only one accident was reported during the storm in which two people were injured and taken to hospital. Four vehicles were involved in the collision.
According to Insp Heidé Carey a truck and an Isuzu towing a Hilux was involved in a head-on collision on the Low’s Creek Road near the Verulam squatter camp when the brakes of the Isuzu failed. An Uno Mia that was overtaking the truck at that moment was hit as well. Fortunately nobody was seriously injured.
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| Stephan de Witt stands in the storeroom of which the roof was ripped open by the strong wind. |
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Ben Mncina and Lungile Mtshali trying to clean up the mess at the house of Ferdi de Wet. |
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| Tormar Ranch sold |
| By Lynette Louw |
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Tormar Ranch was sold to Mbongeni Ngwenya, who acted on behalf of a consortium, for R3,8 million at an auction that took place last week.
Tormar Ranch was declared insolvent a few months ago and everything was auctioned off through Auction Alliance. The auction was well attended and according to the auctioneers it was happy with the price.
According to Jaco Scheffer of Auction Alliance, the property included four houses, flat, seven storerooms, offices, workers accommodation, lapas, guestrooms, six chalet, conference facilities and various implements and items that were used when the ranch was still a farm.
Three Toyota Condors, five Toyota Tazz models and a Toyota Hilux were also auctioned.
Ngwenya didn’t want to comment on the sale but gave an indication that they wanted to get the place up and running as soon as possible. |
| Jaco Scheffer en Braam van Rensburg. |
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| Barberton treasures discovered |
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Various representatives of South African corporate companies and businesses were introduced to the treasures Barberton has on offer during a visit last Saturday. The delegates were invited to the launch of the Mpumalanga Tourism Fun-train, organised by the provincial Department of Economic Development and Planning.
The fun-train forms part of an awareness campaign to promote tourism to the province, Sibongile Zikalala, the director of the Tourism Directorate of the department of Economic Development and Planning told Barberton Times.
Guests from Gauteng arrived at Nelspruit station on Friday evening. On Saturday they were divided into three groups, one visited the Kruger National Park, the other the Panorama region and third visited Barberton on invitation of Barberton Community Tourism.
On arrival, it visited the Umjindi Jewellery Project where Flicka Goslett, manager, explained how historically disadvantaged youths benefited through jewellery design and manufacturing courses, which ultimately leads to self-sustainability.
Volkmar Seifert, chairman of the Gerbera Association South Africa, informed the group of the history of the Barberton daisy, the Gerbera Association and the development of the Gerbera Park.
Two geologists from Sheba Gold Mine, Charles Robus and Chris Rippon delivered presentations regarding the geological significance of the Barberton Mountainland and the history of gold mining in Barberton.
Allison Bornman, curator of the museum, provided a short summary of its history.
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| Flicka Goslett (Umjindi Jewellery Project), Sibongile Zikalala (department of Economic Development and Planning), Nomfundo Bongwe and Stanley Bongwe (both from the Diversity Institute). |
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Charles Robus (Sheba geologist), Sibongile Zikalala (DEDP), Volkmar Seifert (Gerbera Association), Jabu Mayaba (Deputy-Mayor Middelburg) and Chris Rippon (Sheba geologist). |
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| Karen rock |
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Oud en jonk het die naweek die vertoning van Karen Zoid ten bate van die CMR-kantoor wat by Diggers Retreat plaasgevind het bygewoon.
Daar is gerock tot in die vroeë oggendure.
Nog foto’s en artikels op bladsy 8.
Foto: Lynette Louw
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