Groblershoop and Boegoeberg Dam

boegoeberg dam
Boegoeberg Dam – a legendary fishing spot outside Groblershoop. Photo: Karoo Space
Madelein Swanepoel is the caretaker of the holiday resort at  Boegoeberg Dam outside Groblershoop in the Northern Cape.

Her father was the sheriff and undertaker in Groblershoop, a tiny settlement that straddles the west-flowing Orange River.

Madelein and her dad would come out and fish at Boegoeberg Dam, the water-heart of the local table grape industry.

“Some of my best memories were made here.”

Boegoeberg Dam is all about peace. The road to the dam takes you past feeder canals and an incredible variety of bird colonies.

The long-awaited dam that kick-started the local farming economy was completed in 1929. Nicknamed ‘The Scheme People’ by disapproving locals, the dam workers and canal builders were recruited from the ranks of South Africa’s disempowered white communities. They earned less than five shillings a day, worked from sunrise to sunset and lived in crude, badly-built little houses with short life spans.

Today, it’s a different story. Boegoeberg Dam feeds local farmers, entertains families at its camp ground on weekends and promises to reward any swing of the fishing rod with a fat carp. Thatched chalets on the hill offer sweeping sunset views of Boegoeberg Dam.

The nearby town of Groblershoop lies directly on the twisting Orange River and its major income derives from the table grape industry.

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3 thoughts on “Groblershoop and Boegoeberg Dam

  1. Corrie Louw says:

    Ek het bietjie inligting nodig oor die ‘nedersetting’ Boegoegoeberg – net onder die dam.My ouma en oupa het daar gewoon en is in die klein begraafplasie te Boegoeberg begrawe.Ekself was daar op laerskool – Johan Calitz primere skool waarvan nog net gedeeltes staande is.Ek soek veral na lyste van huidige en vorige erfhouers.Inligting oor u oorbly verblyf sal ook welkom wees.
    Baie damkie
    Corrie Louw
    0796918508
    kerneels48@gmail.com

  2. Corrie Louw says:

    Haai,Corrie.Sien bostaande.Ek was in Johan Calits/z te primere skool te Boegoeberg.Onder andere het n mnr Steenkamp my oor spelling gefoeter.Einde 1960.Anna sy dogter en n nooi Erasmus was saam.En my neef Frikkie

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