‘Ladies of the night’ may soon light fire to history

Vryheid is a historically rich town with many fallen heroes who fought in different battles. The Lucas Meyer Museum attests to these events, but unfortunately the front of the museum is being used as a pick-up point by ‘the ladies of the night’. Every night, a group of these ladies gather to brave the cold night to earn a living. To stay warm, they light fires and use any debris they can find in the form of paper, plastic and pieces of wood to keep the fires going. This leaves a ‘stinking’ sight for overseas tourists who are visiting the museum, as well as residents who drive past in the mornings. The hookers have also moved across the road and made a fire next to one of the oldest buildings in town. Sadly, one can see the fire markings on the ‘raadsaal’ and it is said that it is only a matter of time before the fire can’t be contained and a piece of history will be destroyed.

Police commander Colonel Potgieter explains that prostitution is a very tricky situation to police, since they need to prove that a transaction occurred. He says they can get police officers to try and catch them, but the municipality’s bylaws when it comes to lighting fires on the pavement are not being enforced. “Our challenge is to get complainants who are harassed by them, so that we can act against them. Just like the hawkers on the street, the prostitutes are a common problem in society. They deal in drugs and then we arrest them,” Colonel Potgieter concluded.

Local self-proclaimed historian André van Ellinckhuyzen made it clear in his comment regarding the issue… ‘In his speech at Yale on April 12, 2016, the then Secretary General of the United Nations, Mr Ban Ki-Moon, said: ‘Citizens of the World must be as fierce in their passion to protect and preserve culture and cultural heritage as extremists are in their desire to destroy it’. As a human family, we cannot let them erase our history and identity. Any loss of cultural heritage is a loss of our common memory. It impairs our ability to learn, to build experience, and to apply lessons of the past to the present and the future. Our cultural heritage defines our humanity. Cultural diversity, like biodiversity, plays a quantifiable and crucial part of the health of human species”. Art, literature, music, poetry, architecture- these are the hallmarks of or human existence. This forms a common thread that unites all civilizations and cultures, a celebration of our emotional lives and the beauty of our natural environment”.

As a keen historian with a fair knowledge of the history of Vryheid, the history of Zululand dating to pre the arrival of the first white settlers to this area, the Anglo Zulu war, epic battles such as those at Hlobane and Kambula, the Anglo Boer wars, the foundation of the Nieuwe Republiek and Vryheid town in particular, it pains to view the deterioration of “our capital”. Specifically, Landdrost Street between Church and Market Streets. In this small area of Vryheid keen history eyes will see at least four Government Gazetted National Heritage Buildings. The Police Station, the Carnegie Library, the Lucas Meijer home, the ‘Raadsaal’ (Parliament) of the former Nieuwe Republiek with the fort/jail in its back yard. And like most of the streets in the CBD there you will also see a number of old buildings from the town’s humble beginnings. As a town we cannot allow these buildings to fall into total dilapidation. We cannot allow these heritage sites to be utilised as an area of prostitution, as a dumping site for trash (used KFC boxes, empty liquor bottles, and condom wrappers in particular). We cannot allow for the possibility that one of the many homeless persons who frequent not only Landdrost Street, might set fire to any building, let alone the ‘Raadsaal’ with its priceless historical treasures.’

Landdrost Street alone contains enough history to draw thousands of tourists to our town every year, so imagine the possibilities of sustainable jobs and income which may be created through bringing tourism to our town. Not forgetting those persons in the employ of local government who actually work in and at these buildings every day.

ALSO READ: Parliament fire: Emotional loss as South Africa loses valuable history

The news provided to you in this link comes to you from the editorial staff of the Vryheid Herald, a sold newspaper distributed in the Vryheid area.

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