Tribute to ‘driving force’ behind Haenertsburg

TZANEEN – Karin Iuel (81), who lives at Macadamia Retirement Village in Tzaneen was the driving force behind many of the initiatives in Haenertsburg.

She grew up in Johannesburg, where she went to school and then went on to complete her BA at the University of the Witwatersrand.

Iuel’s father and the Dutch ambassador were friends and she was friends with his daughter, Sylvia Lenepp. Sylvia’s father was subsequently transferred to Copenhagen in Denmark. When Sylvia married in Meilgaard, Denmark, she invited Iuel to be a bridesmaid. The groom’s brother Christian, who was engaged at the time, was the best man.

Iuel recalls: “I was totally bowled over by this gorgeous looking guy who was in the Danish army”.

The best man was equally smitten and broke off his already ailing engagement. They dated for a year in Denmark and she stayed at the Iuel family castle.

Iuel’s father persuaded her beau, Christian Iuel to live in South Africa as he maintained that there was no future in the Danish army. She was 21 when they married in Johannesburg.

Her father was timber minded and the young couple moved onto the huge family farm outside the village of Haenertsburg. The young Iuel worked at the saw mills and the couple farmed cattle and timber.

Glenshiel Hotel is now on the farm that the family owned. They had 30 cattle and employed a manager, who was in charge of overseeing the cream that they sold to all the local shops.

“The staff gave me my nickname of Thamela, meaning ‘the one who shouts’. My family still calls me Thamela.”

Iuel then got involved in fundraising for village projects. She started the village library in a room in the village hall together with Emily Zeederberg and her husband, whose nickname was Sticks.

Brenda McGaffin and several other locals helped to run the library. Iuel recalls that Sticks was a very funny man and she loved doing projects with him.

She also started the black school on her farm. The schoolhouse was an existing old farm house. She gathered funds from government and raised personal funds to build the junior school for 150 children. She was also heavily involved in raising funds for Thusanang.

“It was Sticks’ idea to form the Agricultural Society that consisted of only four members. They were Sticks, Joan Provis and us. Under the auspices of the Agricultural Society, we raised money to put the ceiling in the village hall, as well as renovate and modernise the hall.”

Iuel was also involved briefly in politics as a member of the United Party. She and her husband were also involved in the yacht club at Ebenezer Dam. She has two children, Marietta and Pierre and four grandchildren.