South Africa
Uncommon Ground
September 2000 – 26’44
02’53
Ella Thabana is graduating today. She’s spent six months in the valley called Badimong, or “Place of the Ancestors”… training as a sangoma or traditional healer. Her family has travelled across the Free State… to take part in the celebrations. Their religion is a complex mix of traditional beliefs and Christianity.
03’18
Badimong is a sacred site… situated on privately owned farmland. In recent times, tension between farmers and pilgrims has grown… as more and more people make the journey to satisfy the ancestors. Both sides say they have rights to the land.
03’46
White Man
“We worship the holy trinity…it’s very difficult for us. We would never be able to agree with them because they say the also worship the Lord, but what form?”
Black Man
“With them own selves ok let them go. They are not a superior one to us to tell us what to do.”
White man in Chair
“I guess one does respect tradition especially black people who are quite tradition bound.”
Black woman in blue dress
“The whites have nothing to do with us. They must leave us to our way. They must leave us in peace.”
04’15
Ella will now go home to practice her craft. From time to time she’ll return to Badimong… or one of the other sacred sites… as her ancestors make their wishes known…
04’34
Clarens is in the Eastern Free State. The Dutch Reformed Church has been here for 80 years. It's one of several denominations in this largely Christian community.
04’45
But conflict is brewing. White farmers here are trying to come to terms with the influx of pilgrims to land they own. Pilgrims and sangomas say they have no choice...when the ancestors call, they have to obey… even if it forces them to trespass on private land. This is a story of people divided by deeply differing worldviews, grappling to understand each other.
05’07
The story begins here...off the highway between Clarens and Fouriesburg. Local farmers call it Salpeterkrans...pilgrims call it Motouleng - the place where drums beat.
Centuries of rain and wind have eroded massive caves in the sandstone cliffs. During the Anglo-Boer War. Boer women and children hid from British soldiers in caves just like these. More recently hikers used Salpeterkrans as an overnight stop.
But today, apart from the odd tourist group, the pilgrims are the only visitors…
05’40
SANGOMA NIGHT…
EDNA KHOZA Soweto Sangoma
“My name is Edna. I come from Soweto. I am inside with my ancestor. I had a vision sometime last year. My mother told me to come here and I would get everything that I want. I was sick and no Doctor or hospital could cure me. And she said to me go to Badimong that is where you get healed. That is where my soul will get cured by the Sangoma. My weight was not good. Before I came here I heard a rumour that this place had been closed and tha no one must come here.
06’38
Motouleng is on privately-owned farmland. Two years ago the owner of the neighbouring farm – and his wife – were murdered. Since then, there’ve been rumours that the caves are closed…confusing and upsetting pilgrims.
The tragedy drew farmers together. But their attitude to the cave dwellers hardened. Kol Roos was the farmer who was murdered… and his son Neels now runs the farm. But pilgrims in the cave know little about the landowners…
07’00
When I asked why the answer was people were killing each other in there. A white couple that had been killed by people coming here. And they stole the white couples livestock and when he asked why they killed them.
07’22
Television Broadcast
Free State police have questioned several people about the murder of the couple on their farm in the Bloomsberg district on the Masuto border. 65 year old Kohl Roos and his 60 year old wife Annakin were shot in the back at the weekend.Two firearms were stolen from there house.
07’40
Son Neels Roos
“If I as a son I could introduce my father to you he was a very humble person and very sympathetic. He understood human nature.
07’48
Jan Roos
“When it comes close to you it hurts and raises many questions. It wasn’t a nice thing for us as a family”
07’58
Neels
“That morning I was so bitter all sorts of things went through my mind. It immediately caused a grudge and I guess hatred towards everyone no matter who or what guilty or not guilty.
08’15
The murder of Neels’ parents shook the peaceful community…as any farm murder would. But what made this worse was the fact that the suspected murderers were rumoured to be hiding in Salpeterkrans… right in their midst…
08’25
Policeman Insp Di de Villiers
“We received information in March last year that some of the suspects of the Roos murder were hiding in the cave and because of that information we held a clean up operation in the cave.”
Neels
08’36
“But as the clues came out that there were no links to the cave so tempers cooled.”
08’48
Di de Villiers
“We couldn’t find anything. We couldn’t find any suspects or any clues that these people had been staying in the cave.
08’56
Neels
“And the support I got from the cave dwellers as I showed you in that letter was really just positive:
“….I hope and pray the police will arrest the suspects…The people of Motouleng will help with further information on the suspects….I am your friend… My heart is very sore about the death.”
09’10
The murder disturbed an age-old trust… between the users of the cave and the farmers. Since then, things have never been the same. Though two of the suspects have been arrested, four remain free. They’re said to be the sons of a powerful sangoma who frequently visits the cave.
09’24
Edna
“I once had the fear if I could do that I ought to be killed but my ancestors pushed me to come here. When I came here I was shivering and shaking. That feeling that people are dying came to me. But nothing happened people were just happy. I asked is true what I feel and they said no. Well that is why I am here.”
10’03
It was the rumours of strife between pilgrims and farmers, that brought Special Assignment to the cave. Here we found a handful of pilgrims… worried that they might be barred from their holy ground. On the land, we found the farming community had closed ranks… fearful of revenge attacks or victimisation.
10’22
Di de Villiers
“The cave is a sore point for everyone in the area at this stage especially because it receives so much publicity. Many people believe it will become a second Moria and that people will stream there and that crime will escalate.
10’37
Eddie von Maltitz is a well-known rightwinger and Eastern Free State farmer. He’s only too aware of the dangers farmers face. He’s on a solo crusade… to make farmers aware that they need to find common ground. But he also knows why farmers are reluctant to speak out about things like the cave. They’re scared the media will brand them racist.
10’55
Eddie von Maltitz –Ficksburg farmer
“There is a lot of tenderness between farmers and their staff they are like families. When I am on my farm my staff are like my family. There is a lot of communication between us. But whereas these hot potatoes are concerned it is a thorny issue, a contentious issue the farmer does not want it to blow up in his face.”
11’17
Three farmers in the area are directly affected by the influx of strangers. To get to the caves, pilgrims must cross Neel’s land. But the caves are actually on Meleanor Scheepers’s farm. And then there’s her brother-in-law Fraser van Heerden … who rents the farm from her and lives there.
11’32
Edna
“I think there are two farmers working I don’t know them I am new here. I heard that they were going to blow this place up with dynamite. I don’t want this. What I want to know is what this place did to them.”
11’55
UPS S Times: Meleanor Scheepers was quoted as saying she’d already had holes drilled into the walls of the cave to blow it up…(VIS: S. Times story). She was less than keen to put the record straight.
12’08
Reporter
“May I speak to Meleanor Scheepers please?
Who’s speaking?
It’s Anna Maria Lombard here..
I’ve nothing to say to you”
12’17
Fraser van Heerden was equally defensive when we spoke to him. We wanted to confirm what he’d said on a recent radio programme...UPS RADIO12’23
Radio Recordings
Oranje FM
“It’s a sensitive issue that’s been causing problems here for years. It’s witchcraft taking place. Sangomas are staying there. There are No Entry Signs but no one takes any notice. They told me if I don’t allow them to practice what their ancestors dictate my world would become very small.”
V/O
After numerous attempts to find out if he stood by his position on witchcraft...we gave him a last opportunity to respond - on the record.
V/O over visuals of phone chat:
Reporter
“Fraser I’d like to know if you’d speak to us to give you the opportunity.”
Fraser
“I’ve spoken to the Farmers Association and we won’t say anything.”
13’03
Despite his reluctance to speak, Fraser was initially keen to take us to the cave. He pointed out the increased litter… and complained about the stench of human waste. He also spoke about cave dwellers setting his grazing alight… four years in a row. But the cave’s recent publicity has had a more sinister spin-off: Conservative religious groups offered to help. One group in particular, Fraser said, had offered to wash the walls of the cave… with grape juice and salt. Grape juice symbolising the blood of Christ and salt, the earth. In this way, they hoped, some disaster might befall the cave and the large numbers of pilgrims might be driven away.
13’38
Fraser
“We have tremendous problems in the area. Now they’re flooding in. Sangomas from all over the country are on their way here after what Meleanor said.”
13’48
Despite repeated efforts to get the farmers’ point of view, in the end, only Neels Roos would talk.
13’50
Neels
“The cave itself is not on my land it’s on Meleanor’s land but the access route to the cave is on my land and to cut a long story short I’m actually in control of the cave. It wouldn’t solve the problem at all. We could blow up the cave but who’ll be saddled with the problem? I can’t allow the cave to become my problem. I’m here to farm. It’s not very nice to suddenly see strangers walking on your land. Let me put the question back to you: If you have a house in Johannesburg and you see someone coming into your yard you want to know what he’s doing there
VIS people walking through trees…
14’40
V/O
Jan Roos
“They simply walk over your land. It’s not just one entrance route to the place. From all sides they just walk to the Salpeterkrans.”
15’02
Di de Villiers
“The law on the prevention of trespassing prevents anyone from simply coming onto a farmer’s land. But the cave is a unique case because there are people who have been staying there for a long time. So the law on the occupation of land comes into play.
Neels and other farmers complain that pilgrims stray off the main route to the cave. They also leave the site and roam the surrounding land… in search of herbs and roots for their medicines.
15’19
Thousands visit the cave over Easter and Christmas. But there can be as many as 40 people living there semi-permanently. The law prevents Neels from evicting them - only the courts can do this. And if someone’s been living there for more than 6 months, Neels would have to come up with alternative land for resettlement.
15’36
Jan Roos
“The people who one can almost say ‘occupy’ the cave think it’s their right to be there. I don’t think it’s their right to be there it’s a privilege.
15’49
Neels Roos
“They basically on an entrance fee. So they can stay for a weekend; that’s what the entrance fee is for. Those from the cities come on Friday and leave on Sunday with them. We have no problems.”
16’06
Jan Roos
“The land on which the Salpeterkrans is situated has a title deed. And that title deed after all belongs to a specific person.”
16’16
To have a measure of order, Neels employs a full-time access controller. She makes sure that the parking area is cleaned up… and that the gate to the cave is unlocked when visitors arrive. There’s a R5 entrance fee which goes toward maintaining the access road.
By law, Neels can refuse new visitors… but with many, waiting for the call of the ancestors, it would only add fuel to the fire.
16’40
Edna
“I have no choice. The spirit calls for me. Calls for me to be Sangoma. I have to obey them. Come what may I have to come here. We did not come here to stay in this cave. We are not mountaineers. I’m afraid of that mountain. What can I do I’ve no option.
17’16
The Eastern Free State has always been contested territory…among Basotho, Boer and Brit. This year Clarens and Fouriesburg commemorated the battle of Surrender Hill - a hundred years since one Boer general broke ranks and surrendered to British forces.
17’50
It was one of the darkest hours for the Boers, in their three-year war against Britain. The Surrender left huge rifts in the Boer community.
18’03
A hundred years on, a new dispute over land rights is stirring. But unlike the clash between conquerer and conquered, this rift is now between two race groups…both in needing this land to survive.
Coincidentally, the signposts to Surrender Hill also mark the entrance to the farm on which the sacred cave Motouleng is situated. Pilgrims are compelled to visit these sites despite the fact that they are trespassing. And farmers believe pilgrims are responsible for crime in the area.
18’36
Eddie
“I see it as a militarist, as a farmer and not as a politician. It was going well until the farm murders happened. Farmers got scared they thought that people wanted to get close to attack the farm. These guys were trained not that well like us to make a reccie on the place go in and take a look buy some eggs ok take a look to see if it is soft target or if it has a power station. To look plan to attack it. This is what the farmers thought. More and more people are coming here maybe they are planning to attack us.”
19’08
There have been farm attacks in the area… and increased stock theft. But it’s never been proved that pilgrims are responsible for crime - or even that they harbour fugitives.
19’20
Police
Di de Villiers
“The biggest problem we have around the cave is that there are allegations of mealies being stolen and there are allegations that grazing is burnt down every year by people who use the cave. Then there is sporadic stock theft and allegations that cave dwellers are responsible. But every time we get a report of stock theft we search the cave and we look around and we’ve never found meat inside the cave. “
19’50
The local commando helps maintain security on the farms. They say there’s crime on border farms simply because they’re close to a resource-hungry Lesotho.
Major Johan Sauer
Bethlehem Commando
20’00
“These places here where you have border crossings of illegal people. They cross here at Matsuto where there are no border posts.”
20’16
Di de Villiers
“We could say that there are farms between the cave and Lesotho where stock theft takes place more than on the other farms.
20’28
Lesotho’s population is exploding… and the land has deteriorated to the point where it can’t sustain its people. It seems this need for resources is directly related to increased crime in the Free State.
But there’s another reason. Lesotho is undergoing economic restructuring. Steven Gill has lived through these changes for the past 21 years. Being part of Basotho society, he believes it's also the uncertainty of change that compels people to stream across the border.
20’55
Stephen Gill
Lesotho Historian
“The Basotho have seen much of the freestate and see it as their land any way because they have been part of this regional economy for such a long time they may feel themselves to be patriotically part of Lesotho. They therefore have to find resources to sustain them selves. And there seems to be more across the border so they go. The political and economic changes that made them go lifted what is called a spiritual repsonse. I believe most of these people who go to these sites in the Eastern Free State are doing so to obtain a certain sense of spiritual equlibrium.”
21’39
V/O
There are several sacred sites in the Eastern Free State. One of these is Modderpoort, near Ladybrand. It was used by the first Anglican monks in the Free State as a dwelling and church. Today sangomas and pilgrims come here to pray. It’s infinitely smaller than Motouleng, but suggests ways to manage people pressure.
Understanding what pilgrims need and harmonising their needs with those of landowners is not simple.
Badimong is a massive sacred valley that stretches across two farms near Fouriesburg. Here too, pilgrims come to pray and give thanks; be healed from diseases; and train as healers. One of the farmers that had to deal with their demands is Willie Nel.
22’33
Willie Nel
Moolmanshoek Ecotourism
“When we saw the new South Africa coming we realised that these things had to be managed because it’s two totally different worlds so we approached the Department of Constitutional Development and asked foe anthropologists or whomever they had available to do a study and advise us on how to manage this thing.
23’02
The experts Willie roped in recommended that farmers erect a controlled access point and put up signs to explain the rules of the area. They also recommended that an entrance fee be levied to help maintain the site.
Willie
23’15
“It’s a world I know nothing about and the average Afrikaner knows nothing about. Looking at the surface you don’t understand it and you get angry because it does make you angry when an anthropologist talks to you about these things so that you understand what’s going on and how they see it. You start I can’t understand it but you begin to realise and that’s very nice as long as you work with the original traditional people. And I have to tell you these things have been a lot better since. Because one had a document that said this is what is going on here. This is how their heads work manage it this way.”
24’02
Willie's now given up full-time farming in favour of running a guest house. In effect, he still draws on the riches of the land to earn a living. (UPS) But now there’s also the valley of Badimong, where Willie’s guests have the opportunity to look into the heart of ancient cultures...
24’44
Ancestral spirits are not remote impersonal gods, but rather a living force...constantly watching over the present generation. It is this generation that's responsible for restoring the peace at Motouleng...and for allaying the fears of farmers like Meleanor Scheepers and Fraser van Heerden that believe sangomas are descending in numbers to seize the cave and perpetrate witchcraft...
25’15
Isaac Mthokwa
Traditional Healer
“When they talk about witchcraft. What is witchcraft? Witchcraft is when some people are practising wrong things –evil. The people here don’t kill people .The people that are here have been called by their fore fathers and fore mothers. To teach them how to heal sick people.”
25’36
Police
Villiers
“ I don’t think there is another solution in short. For instance the rumours that the farmers wanted to blow the cave up.”
25’44
Gill
“I don’t think it would be easy to be a large landowner in this large sub-continent.”
25’50
Woman in blue
“This is our University. Not the Cape University. This is our University. Without coming here you are nothing.
26’06
Villiers
“There’s no short term solution. I’d say a workable solution would be as on e farmer suggested would be to put up fences to control access and fence off the whole place with razor wire. Then they wouldn’t be able to move out of the cave and onto the land.”
26’25
Mthokwa
“We could make a good entrance for the people when we close here people can go that way.”
26’33
“The farmers aren’t financially able so it would be good if the government could investigate and suggest something to make the farmers feel safer.”
26’48
Eddie
“ I reckon the government should move in and guarantee that farmer a place where his animals can be safe his place won’t be burnt. Where a match gets thrown down the farmer runs out and gets shot.”
26’59
Gill
“Lets try and break this cycle of fear. And through dialogue maybe they can understand where we are coming from. The fears of the white land owners are real. The same way they need to understand the African side the blacks need to understand their fears. Through that dialogue middle ground can be found.”
27’27
Mthokwa
“We can come in numbers when talking. But no violence. Our forefathers here do not allow it. The people that want trouble should not come here. The farmers down here. The farmers here are there own people. They are free to stay here. They have settled here. We don’t want to kill them. We do not want to provoke them. These farmers should stay in a nice way.