Voor Paardeberg is not to be confused with Paardeberg. Voor Paardeberg is a granite outcrop just East of Malmesbury.
Paardeberg is the famous site where General Cronje surrendered to Field Marshall Roberts. The surrender and loss of 4000 odd fighting men to the British was a signal moment in the Anglo-Boer war. General Cronje made his mark in the first Anglo-Boer war of 1880. In the second Anglo-Boer war he was tasked with preventing the relief of Kimberley. Massively out numbered, and without the nimbleness of de Wet, it was inevitable that Cronje would crumble. His career trajectory reached an even lower point. Teaming up with the flamboyant Ben Viljoen, the pair were star attractions of the Boer War Exhibit held in St Louis (USA) in 1904. Viljoen was street smart and managed to salvage his reputation.
Not so Cronje who, pious of nature and devoid of showmanship, managed to end his days in obscurity and depression.
Viljoen, with unbelievable self-confidence and an award winning ability to self-promote, launched an extra-ordinary career in the US. Hobnobbing with President Roosevelt, then President Taft, he succeeded in creating a reputation as soldier, statesman, farmer, peace-maker and family-man. If he had stayed in South Africa, perhaps he would have hood-winked his way into becoming our first prime minister. There was something of the Donald Trump in old Ben Viljoen. Luckily for South Africa, Ben remained in the US.
The image above shows an irrigation dam in the winelands of Voor Paardeberg. These slopes are North East facing and home to fabulous red and white wines of the Cape.
Below is Dr Piaget’s delta trap. This is a shallow structure designed to trap lees from a wine cellar. There are some who promote the use of spent lees as a facial moisturizer. Generally the lees is dried out and mixed with organic material to make compost. Because the lees has a very high organic load, it is good practice to remove this material from winery effluent before discharge to a bioreactor (see winery effluent treatment)
