It was braaivleis, rugby and a mild seaside-town evening last Saturday as the Boknes community celebrated the 70th anniversary of the newly renovated Daniel Scheepers community hall, and the 150th anniversary of of the founding of the Genootskap van Regte Afrikaners (society for true Afrikaners). But mostly, it was a chance for friends and neighbours to get together to share a fire (there was an impressive bonfire), a good meal and good company: a good old-fashioned makietie.
First up was big-screen rugby, with the broadcast made possible by Herotel. Without going into too much detail about that, Boknes Ratepayers Association chair Jan Smit then spoke about the founding and growth of the village. Daniel Scheepers, after whom the hall is named, was key to its current layout. In about 1913, Scheepers had bought what had been a private beach – part of the Heathcote family’s 5000ha farm.
Smit named older residents who’d told him how they remembered, as children, being recruited by ‘Oom Daniel’ to carry rocks for building the hall, which was completed in 1954. Like the hall, the tennis courts built alongside were paid for by residents. It had been hard work. Speaking in Afrikaans, Smit described how volunteers went around with a list, collecting two or three rands from each resident.
The community centre soon became the heart of the village.
“Hier was daar gedans, gevry, vakansie romanse en kerk gehou.”
Smit described how organisers of Saturday night dances had to make sure it was in a fit state for church the next morning.
A history of the village, compiled from residents’ memories by Elise Palmer, describes Daniel Scheepers as handsome and well built, with black hair and blue eyes and a booming voice. He had been not only the owner of Boknesstrand, but its heart and soul.
Between 1920 and 1930, he had the first 22 individual plots measured out, and families started moving in.
To mark the hall’s 70th anniversary, former Boknes Ratepayers Association chair Piet Vosloo cut the ribbon, after he and wife Elmarie were invited up to receive a gift, thanking them for their contribution to the village over many years.
Of the cultural milestone, Smit spoke about the founding on August 14, 1875, of the Genootskap van Regte Afrikaners. The GRA had asserted the legitimacy of Afrikaans as a language in its own right, as well as a distinct cultural identity. It was only 50 years later, in 1925, that the South African government officially recognised Afrikaans as a distinct language.
Smit said he didn’t see the early epithet to Afrikaans as a “kombuistaal” as negative: “Die kombuis is die hart van die huis,” he said.
With delicious aromas coming from the braai area outside, an elegantly decorated table loaded with pap, sauce and roosterkoek inside, and DJs warming up the dancefloor with boeremusiek, everyone soon forgot about the earlier 28-22 drubbing of the Springboks by an agile Wallabies outfit.
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This article was first published in Talk of the Town, August 21, 2025. The newspaper serving the communities of Ndlambe and the Sunshine Coast, with a weekly wrap of Makhanda news, is available at stores from early on Thursdays.
