••••
IN T H E SP OT LI GH T
History
at Kleinheuwel
A NAME DESCRIBES THE ESSENCE OF A FARM, WHICH IS
ALSO THE CASE WITH KLEINHEUWEL, NEAR BLOEMFONTEIN, FARM OF SENWES PRODUCER, CHARL YSSEL.
AUBREY KRUGER
K
leinheuwel describes
Charl perfectly. Klein
(small) in the sense that he is
the picture of humility. But the
farm also has a rich history.
FAMILY
A producer is often part of many
generations of farmers. In Charl’s
case he is at least a sixth generation
farmer on his father Robert and
his mother Poenkie’s side. Charl
bought a part of the farm Kleinheuwel from his father and he
bought the adjoining Uitvlug-Wes
from his mother.
BLACK WILDEBEEST
The black wildebeest has an
interesting connection with Uitvlug-Wes. After the Boer War the
family starting to fence in the
black wildebeest, blesbuck and
Senwes producer, Charl Yssel farms at
Kleinheuwel near Bloemfontein.
16
OCT/NOV 2016 • SENWES Scenario
springbok. The black wildebeest
numbers had declined to 900
world-wide, 600 of which were
on their farm. “The numbers
started to increase from this point
onwards after they were moved
to animal sanctuaries and game
farmers.” His grandfather, Jan
Bekker, was crowned as the best
game keeper in the Free State at
one stage.
KING BLACK WILDEBEEST
The king black wildebeest, with
the black marking on the head, is
highly sought after. Charl sold 15
of them for R1 million in 2015.
KRUGERSDRIFT DAM
More history is that the land on
which the Krugersdrift Dam is
situated, belonged to the family
and it was sold when Charl was
four years old. This is where the
name comes from - Krugersdrift
Dam. The construction of the
dam started in 1968 and the dam
was opened in 1970. Charl tells us
that, when the dam levels are low,
the remains of the old farm house
has can still be seen. The dam,
which is 25 metres high, stretches
over 5 kilometres and has a capacity of 66 miljoen m³, has a proud
family history. During the drought
the dam level droped to 6% in