We are people, not mountains
I pause in Steinkopf to refuel the Renault Duster, then I proceed north on the N7, passing Eenrietberg just outside town. Beyond that, I turn right onto a wide, sandy road to Henkries. Close to Henkries, water is pumped from the Orange River. From there, for nearly 250 km, a pipeline provides water to nearly all the towns in this part of the Northern Cape: Steinkopf, Springbok, even distant Kleinzee. I pass construction vehicles – the pipeline, originally built in record time back in 1973, is currently being replaced for most of its length.
After a while I stop and get out. A hot wind blows. I walk towards a rondavel-sized quiver tree, 50 m away. It’s the only thing taller than calf height. It’s late January and bone dry, even for Bushmanland.
The quiver tree says nothing, and it says everything. I cup an ear to its trunk; there’s a heartbeat deep down inside. I whisper something to it, and return to the car. I pass a place called Doornwater – a booster pump station on the pipeline. Not a soul.
Before I reach Henkries, I turn right towards Goodhouse, a small settlement next to the Orange River.
A few years ago I travelled through here with 4x4 guide Rey Janse van Rensburg. That day we stopped and ate lunch in the shade of a shepherd’s tree. Shepherds appeared with their flock of sheep and goats, watering them at a trough. I walked over and met Iky Engelbrecht, a Steinkopf-based farmer. I decided then I would return one day to see how on earth people like Iky manage to survive in this semi-desert.
And here I am.
I’m not meeting Iky in Goodhouse – he and his livestock are too far off the beaten track; I’d never reach them in the Duster. But through Johanna, Iky’s wife who lives in Steinkopf, I have set up a meeting with another well-known farmer called Jasper Cloete, also known as Oom Vick, or Vicky Jasper.
Jasper is currently encamped near Goodhouse. This whole area is communal land where farmers from Steinkopf lease grazing rights.
I scan the landscape for signs of life but see none. Just heat waves, rising from stubby, hardy grass called gha. How can anyone farm here?
Suddenly I spot a human silhouette, off to the left, 200m away. I stop and wait for the sock of dust to pass over the vehicle before I get out.
Meet Kado
Rikardo Markus is 31 years old. People call him Kado, he tells me. People? I
