The De Rust history – farmland becomes a town

While gathering information for the compiling of the history of Hazyview and its surroundings, the following report has come to the newspaper’s attention. It is an archaeological impact assessment on portions 2, 12 and 16 of Perry’s Farm 9 JU and Portion 12 and the remainder of Portion 109 of the farm De Rust 12 JU.

This thorough research piece completed in 2012 includes a history of the area and – to my knowledge – the most comprehensive to date. It gives a detailed listing of the initial development of the village in terms of the allocation of land and sites as well as the erecting of structures.

The report was compiled by Kudsala Antiquity Empact Environmental Consultants by Mr JP Celliers, whom is well-known in local archaeological and conservation circles. Cilliers is also the curator of the museum in Lydenburg. This is the third delivery and here we look at an historical overview of the farms under investigation for this study. In this case the farm De Rust:

It was not possible to trace a full title- deed history of the farm De Rust 12 JU in the farm register at the National Archive of Pretoria. The farm was, however, first sold by the South African Government by Crown Grant on May 9, 1930 to one Mr Harry Charles Christopher Wolhuter. The farm was established by combining the following lots from the Kaap Block, section F: lots 91, 92 and 103. The following section will give an overview of developments that could be traced on the various portions of the farm. No specific information could be traced on 109 of the property.

On April 26, 1968 Mr AP Steyn, the owner of Portion 54 of De Rust, made application to lift the restriction of Act 21 of 1940, which prohibited the establishment of a business or an industry on a farm. The map below, dated to 1968, was submitted with his application.

In a subsequent letter dated March 13, 1969 Steyn stated that he wanted to establish a general dealership and a motel on the property. The motel would consist of 10 rondavel huts.

A report by the Department of Health stated that an inspection of the property was done on April 18, 1969. It mentioned that the portion consisted of 12,6178 morgen and that there was an existing residential house with some outbuildings on the property. The farm was also developed and the northern section was planted with citrus. The report stated that there was bilharzia causing snails in the water drawn from the north Sand River and that water usage for the public would have to be strictly monitored. The report concluded that the application should be approved.

However, in a memorandum issued by the administrator in the executive committee on February 5, 1970 the application was turned down. The reasons given were the fact that there were already a number of similar businesses in the area and that the establishment of Hazyview, the holiday town, in close vicinity to the proposed development, could be hampered by this development.

On December 7, 1970 an application was submitted for the development on De Rust, portion 59. Developments elsewhere on the farm are mentioned as being a business complex, cooporation, garage and cafe, shop, motel, and hotel and a rest camp.

The application was not approved. In 1971 permission was granted for the establishment of a hotel on portion 102 of the farm no 12. The permission was granted to Rhodes-Harrison Louw Hoffe and partners. In June 1974 the owners of De Rust, namely the Hazyview Koörporatiewe Sitrus Maatskappy BPK, requested to be exempted from the determinations of a specific law. This law seems to have stipulated that due to the development on their farm, the residential and developed area would thus be declared a town, which would have to be divided into lots. The company’s reason for the requested exemption was that they never intended for the developments to grow into a town, and that dividing the land into lots, without granting ownership of the lots to anyone, would be a useless exercise. The director of local development was in favour of this exemption, which was granted in 1980 to the mentioned company under the condition that no further development would take place in the area.

In October 1980 the director of roads made an objection against the granted exemption on the grounds of the determinations in the law pertaining to the roads.

Therefore a council meeting was held to decide the outcome of the situation. A list of the existing developments on the farm was given as follows: six residential houses with outbuildings, two apartments, one bungalow/chalet, a water reservoir, a weather station, some petrol pumps, a fruit stall and the sales department of Sabie-Sand co-op as well as some other structures including four tennis courts.

On June 21, 1977 Mrs MJ Baettig made application on behalf of Vrugbare Eiendomme Edms. Beperk to establish a bakery, office blocks, manufacturer of Christmas decorations and decorative candles, manufacturer of ceramic tiles and ornaments, snuff manufacturing and wholesale snuff dealer on the farm De Rust 12 JU, portion 49.

The application was, however, not approved and although Baettig appealed to the Department of Local Government the issue was still not resolved on December 30, 1982. No further correspondence regarding the application was present in the file (CDB, 15115, PB4/19/2/30/12/8). A sketch plan below, dated 1977, was submitted with the application:

In a letter dated May 26, 1985 mention is made that the administrator of the Transvaal approved an application for the establishment of a general dealer, post office, cafe, liquor store and funeral undertaker on portion 104 De Rust 12 JU, Nelspruit.

An application was made by the Administration Board of the Eastern Transvaal for permission to sell sorghum beer on portion 104 of the farm De Rust 12 JU.

The Transvaal Board for Development of Peri Urban Areas had no objection to the application. Objection was, however, made by the principal of the local primary school. The application was approved on March 4, 1985.

Also read: Discovering the rich history of rural Hazyview