The demise of the old SAPS Canteen premises, hidden in a clump of trees off Argyle Street, has elicited many memories of a venue that saw members of all communities come together for socialising, weddings and other events.

Malan Nel, a retired Dundee policeman who served the town from the early 1960s, was part of the team of dedicated SAPS members who worked long and hard for many years to build up the canteen into the popular spot it came to be. Its history can be traced back to when the SAPS had a very active pistol shooting club.

“Previously, the shooting range was used by the Dundee Glencoe Army Commandos, where Lindelani now is. But that was only for rifle shooting and we needed a pistol shooting range,” Malan told the Courier. Col Dawid du Toit, then second-in-command of the Dundee Police District, was very involved in the 1980s and with his encouragement, policemen like Malan did all they could to collect suitable material to build a range. “We visited the old compound at Indumeni mine (which was closing down) to collect bricks, et al, and Durnacol, where we were offered other material.”

The shooting range, named after Dawid du Toit, gradually took shape and the little canteen provided a place for members to gather and socialise after shooting practice. Malan remembers that policemen like Hennie Botha, Tom van Rooyen, Jan Calitz, Albert van Quickelberge and others were very involved. “Shooting as a sport was very popular with the police in those days. And we had some crack-shots like Carl Lauwrens, Chris Dames, Kobus Olivier and many others.”  

The SAPS Natal team, that included many from the Dundee area, even made the Sunday Tribune sports pages with the caption ‘Crack Shots’. Besides competing in many internal and provincial competitions, the SAPS Pistol Team took part in a tournament in Namibia which saw a ‘rest of the world’ team (that included Olympic champions from the UK, Switzerland and Germany).

The SAPS team won in the heavy calibre pistol category. From there, the canteen continued to grow, with a new hall being added on, with many local businesses like Corobrik keen to support the venture to make the extensions a reality. Their bravery paid off. “The hall was so busy with weddings, parties, end-of-year functions, etc, we actually had to have a book where we could note all the events! It was wonderful to see how our small Shooting Club had grown into this venue serving the whole of Dundee and people of all communities.”

The canteen was open daily, except for Sundays, where police members, members of the public and others could pop in after work for a social drink, play darts, pool and even badminton in the hall. “Policemen on the Canteen Committee would take turns to man the bar – people like Joey Singh, Peter Singh, Johann Adendorff, Rassie Erasmus and many more,” Malan said. “We also hosted visiting Australian policemen who really enjoyed the South African hospitality and the traditional braai at the canteen.

They bought a wooden plaque (like many of the supporters did), which former policeman Hennie Roos put up after engraving the names of the group. We had many plaques up there on the walls; it was our own memory wall,” Malan recalled. Sadly – as many of the founding members of the canteen either retired, were transferred or passed on – its popularity waned. It was eventually sold off privately and then fell into disuse.

To visit there now is sad for people like Malan, who spent so many hours of hard toil building up the initial clubhouse. “Many people did so much in building up this canteen – it was a team effort and the public were so generous in their support.” He remembers making trips to Vryheid to collect the wooden slats that were put in to make for an attractive ceiling. The long grass is starting to take over the old parking area, and the driveway has become a dumping ground for household waste. The doors to the hall swing open and while there appears to be some sign of security on the premises, it is another monument to “failing to maintain what we have”.

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