Trompsburg lies somewhere in the emptiness between Bloemfontein and Springfontein, next to the straight-as-an-arrow N1. An island in the expansive grasslands of the Southern Free State, where grey-blue ridges rise in the distance. On a koppie, the Uniting Reformed Church presides over Trompsburg. Karel Schoeman’s birthplace.
Was he prone to sitting on a sun-warmed rock and gaze out over the town and the vast expanse of space in which it hovered?
Winter is here: at midday the veld gleams white, the same dirty white as merino wool at this time of year – and when the sun drops towards the horizon it turns a ripe orange that bathes the landscape in gold. Your shadow grows so long that, standing on the hilltop, you can touch the windmills there in Fontein Street. High in the blue sky, cirrus clouds blow in ahead of a cold front. On the corner of Kerk and Van As streets, in front of Karel Schoeman’s house, a poplar glows like a candle flame.
THE TOWN LOOKS very spruced up at the moment, even though the residents are frustrated with the municipality. Word has it that most of the municipal officials live in the upmarket Woodlands Hills estate in Bloemfontein and not on one of Trompsburg’s gravel streets. This is why the townsfolk often step in to help keep the town neat.
Louwrens Strydom, principal of Trompsburg Primary School, says their Bag-for-a-Bag project aims to keep the town spick and span, and support the unemployed. For every bag of rubbish that’s picked up, a reward is a bag of flour, rice, vegetables or other groceries in exchange. The school is also repairing the section of tar road that leads up to its gate, with tar and used oil donated by farmers.
The longer you chat with Louwrens, the more you understand how much he and the school mean to the town and the community. Since his arrival in 2019, small satellite schools have been started in Fauresmith, Philippolis and Colesberg. These schools offer preschool as well
