My name is Mariska Rain
and we are in my music studio.
I'm going to use a line from my own song to describe Oudtshoorn.
It always feels like, the line is....
"Maybe we're the only ones thinking..
our stories might one day turn into books"
Because everyone has a story in Oudtshoorn,
everyone can write a book about
their life here. Everyone is so special....
and so nice.
[ guitar intro]
[singing]
Right in the beginning there were mainly Khoi and San...
people in the area, and we can testify to this by
all the paintings, rock paintings up to the Cango Caves.
And they named this area the small karoo.
Karoo in Khoi means "thirst".
Small karoo, "small thirst", great karoo north of the Swartberg Mountains, "great thirst".
And at a point.....
Oudtshoorn was part of a farm....
owned by a farmer by the name of Cornelius Rademeyer.
The farms name was Hartbees River.
And the farmers asked Cornelius..
to give them a piece of land to build a Church.
So the community grew,
and that stage Oudtshoorn was known as Church Square.
The farmers were very poor,
there wasn't a lot of money in circulation,
later the name "Veldskoen" ( leather shoe) Town...
became the name....
and people didn't like it at all.
Up until 1847..
the Magistrate from George....
gave Oudtshoorn its name.
It was named after his wifes father, Baron van Oudtshoorn van Reede.
I am Stephen Muller
We are in Oudtshoorn at the moment and we are sitting on the verandah,
on CJ Langenhoven's verandah, the house "Arbeits Genot" (Pleasure of work)
CJ Langenhoven that wrote the National Anthem, (these two lines are included in the new Anthem)
he wrote about our "everlasting mountains"...
" where the echoing crags resound"
and I think its definitely about Oudtshoorn,
if you look how far the Swartberg Range stretches....
and the Outeniqua Mountains on this side.
We are definitely protected by the mountains.
And I think he wrote about that.
Its in your blood. Oudtshoorn when you first become....
part of this area, its climate, its people, then...
then you want to be here and you actually don't want leave.
I'm at that age where I don't want to go anywhere else.
And if you look what the rest of the world looks like....
then I think we're doing relatively well.
My name is Lauscher Coetzee.
I'm a farmer in the Oudtshoorn District, about 10km outside Oudtshoorn, in the small karoo area.
Small Karoo food....
is food from the heart.
Its not food that lies separately on a plate.
Its......
babotie...
its leg of lamb...
its a bit of game meat...
and then its naturally ostrich. Lots of it.
My name is Aurona Weideman
I'm here at my restaurant Nostalgie (Nostagia)
Here in the small karoo, Oudtshoorn.
Oudtshoorn definitely appeared on the world stage as a result of ostriches.
And Ostrich farming is an integrated into our lives here.
I can't see how we can't have it. I think the simple reason why...
we still farm with ostriches is that we are on relatively small properties....
comparatively, and ostriches fit in perfectly.
We don't need a big area..
to farm with them intensively.
We can't for example farm with sheep in the same numbers as the people in the Karoo do it.
Or in the other areas.
The ostrich palaces are something absolutely..
ubelievable. There are plenty that are hidden away,
you can't see them from the street.
But if you do some research, or find out a little...
there are unbelievable examples of these
massive ostrich palaces
that were around 1900
Most were built around 1900
when the big boom in ostrich feathers took place.
Each farmer basically tried to out do the other.
And you'll see many of these ostrich palaces have a small tower...
The towers mean nothing. There's no purpose...
there are no steps up them...
but, if you had a small tower on your house, it was a sign that you were extremely wealthy.
I love the people from Oudtshoorn.
People always say when they just arrive...
Oudtshoorn people are difficult,
but the thing is, you need to get to know the people.
You need to understand where people come from, because everyone comes from different places.
To a place like Oudtshoorn to become whole,
to rediscover themselves,
and everyone has their own story.
Strong people. Oudtshoorn people are strong people.
This verse was written by a friend of mine Frieda Schoeman from DeRust.
I'll throw joy in your basket,
A yellow finch that sings joyfully,
and swallows that bring summer,
You can choose what makes you happy,
because happiness you can get everywhere.