Paul Kirk
When Boer General Christian de Wet visited Europe in 1902 to seek funds to rebuild a South Africa nearly ruined by three years of the Anglo-Boer South African War, a journalist jokingly asked him if he could ever have invaded London.
After serious contemplation, De Wet said: “Yes, give me 500 men like Michael Prinsloo and I will take London.” The hacks were stunned: they had never heard of Prinsloo.
Three months ago Stefan Weyers set out on a trek to retrace the footsteps of his hero – Prinsloo.
Weyers intends staying in the saddle for another eight months. To the amazement of his family and friends – not least his girlfriend – he gave up a promising career in nature conservation to wander around battlefields that echoed with rifle fire and men’s screams 100 years ago.
“I was a senior nature conservator in KwaKwa National Park. I suppose it was about as good a job as one can get in nature conservation, but I gave it up. I sold my bakkie and everything I own to finance this expedition – I even used my inheritance from my father.”
Weyers decided he wanted to ride to all the major battlefields as a tribute to Prinsloo – and also to view the battlefields as the participants in the war had. He wanted to experience life on the veld as Prinsloo would have experienced it and to use the same equipment as he had. Very little.
Weyers tried to secure sponsorship for the expedition, but no one was terribly keen on the idea. He will be near penniless when he finishes.
A deep love of history is all that keeps him going.
“Prinsloo acted as General de Wet’s rearguard most of the time. He was an incredibly good soldier – but you hardly ever hear of him. When De Wet visited Europe he claimed he could have captured London if he had 500 men like Prinsloo, but that is about all the publicity he ever got.
“Prinsloo was so humble, he always avoided publicity. He never told war stories. He even died in the humblest of ways – while planting trees in the streets of Bloemfontein. A madman went amok with a gun and killed him as well as some policemen.”
After initially setting out on his expedition alone, Weyers soon had a companion – Deon de Waal asked if he could join him. He agreed, but decided that if De Waal – an Englishman – was going to come along, someone should represent the thousands of African troops who fought on both sides.
Weyers asked Mshweya Nqcubuka, the brother of one of his rangers, to join them.
The trio decided they would dress the way they would have 100 years ago. They would also go without luxuries – but the sole concession the expedition made to the 20th century is toilet paper.
Says De Waal: “We eat hard beskuit, fruit, mielie meal and so on. We sleep under the few blankets on our horses and live in the veld. Occasionally a farmer will give us some food – but that’s about it. It’s a hard life, but it lets you know what the Boer War was really like.”
They are relearning much of the lessons of the war. Weyers’s two stocky boereperde – a breed of horse directly descended from the ponies the Boers used – are getting healthier by the day. De Waal’s thoroughbred, Ironmonger, is not coping so well with the trek. Ironmonger has to have vitamin supplements and cannot match the ponies’ endurance.
Says Weyers: “Some of the problems we are facing were faced by the opposing armies 100 years ago. The British lost 400 000 horses during the war here. Thoroughbreds look nice and can gallop fast, but they are simply not suited to our conditions.
“The other problem is water and, in some ways, the problem is worse today than 100 years ago. During the war one could lead a horse to any dam and let it drink. Today most of the dams are on private farms and are fenced off.”
Being in the bush for almost three months has taken its toll on the trio.
Says Weyers: “We were riding through Newcastle the other day and I saw this young girl of about 23 or so – about my age – so I decided to say hello. She replied, ‘Middag, Oom.’ Hell, it took the wind out my sails, do I look so haggard and old as to be addressed as Oom?”
As for Nqcubuka, he is convinced this will take years off his life. “Yes, this is no easy thing, it gets very cold. We have no tents, just the blankets on our horses.”
However, Weyers plans to put this experience to good use.
“After this is all over, Mshweya and I aim to go into business; in fact, we have already set it up. Together we will have knowledge of the battlefields nobody else has and we intend to offer horseback tours of the battlefields.”