Eersterust man builds models to celebrate local history
Casper Jeftha plans on opening his own museum to house his miniatures.
An Eersterust man’s love for heritage and history has inspired him to create beautiful models of some of South Africa’s most popular landmarks and heritage sites.
Using only the bare minimum materials to build these models, Casper Jeftha’s creations have given joy to many children and adults who have not had the opportunity to see these places live.
His many models include the Voortrekker Monument, Robben Island and Freedom Park.
Over the years, Jeftha has built 15 models and in 2016 won the Golden Shield Heritage award.
“There are many people in this country who want to see the Voortrekker Monument or the Cradle of Humankind but don’t have the resources to do so,” he said.
“With my miniatures I can take them on a ‘tour’ of these places and they can learn a bit of our shared history.”
Currently his garage houses all of his creations but he is busy building his own museum in Eersterust where people can see them with him as their own personal tour guide.
“I want the museum to be a special place for the history of our country, where children can walk around, see my models and learn the history of our country.”
He will charge people only R3 to enter his museum.
The museum will also offer a type of raffle, the winner of which will be given a guided tour of the real heritage sites and monuments.
“I will organise the tours myself.
“We will have kombis that will drive them to the sites and I will be their tour guide.”
Recently, Casper built a model spaceship for his grandson, Tyler.
Tyler has always had a love for NASA and dreams to one day go to space.
For his 13th birthday, Casper surprised Tyler with a miniature space rocket, much to the young man’s delight.
“He loves space and he has never seen a rocket so I built him his very own.”
Casper said the favourite part of his work is seeing people’s reactions, and he was more than happy to bring a smile to his grandson’s face.
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