In the midsummer of 2007, we swopped the leafy northern suburbs of Johannesburg for a modest life in the Karoo settlement of Cradock.
Friends and family thought we had lost our minds. But despite some bumps and potholes along the way, there’s been no looking back.
Moving to the Platteland, however, is not just our story. While working in the outlands as freelance lifestyle journalists for the past 20 years, we recorded the impressions of many former city slickers who downsized to a dorp of their choice.
We found them scattered throughout South Africa, from Loeriesfontein to the Lootsberg Pass, Napier to Nieu-Bethesda, Cradock to Calvinia.
The Dream of Country Life
These people embody the dream that one George Craven, owner of Noorspoort Farm outside Steytlerville, had way back in the early 1980s when nobody was really listening.
Plattelanders were decamping to cities at an alarming rate, leaving their hometowns to wither away.
George, as ‘country’ as they come, launched a campaign to entice city-dwellers to the smaller towns of South Africa. It was called ROEP – Red Ons Eie Platteland (Restore Our Endangered Platteland).
In those days, you could pick up a decent little house in a small South African town for R5 000. But his entreaties fell on deaf ears, because he was more than a decade too early. By the mid-1990s, a brand-new, much more positive, platteland picture had emerged.
The New Semigrants
Dr Mark Ingle, who has studied small town revival in the arid areas of South Africa, identifies two major triggers for this phenomenon:
“One is the demise of Apartheid, which led to many middle-income people being retrenched or taking early retirement. A number of them moved to a more affordable life in the country.
“The other trigger was the rapid spread of the Internet and mobile communications technology throughout South Africa.”
Anyone wanting a slower-paced, higher-quality life away from traffic gridlock and serious crime is now free to do so and, in many instances, enjoy a city income in a rural environment.
This has sparked a minor renaissance in parts of the country as newcomers begin to restore old houses, revive schools and create entrepreneurial ventures.
New-Age Settlers
Some incomers transfer their city careers to small towns via the Internet or by commuting. Some reinvent themselves and have new out-of-the-box lives as guesthouse owners, tattoo artists, sculptors, chefs, landscapers, even farmers.
Like them, we enjoy knowing where our food comes from. We relish the extra hours that just appear in a day without traffic and queues. We treasure the space, the deep silences and fabulous conversations that happen on a stoep with big skies above and the veld purring with cricketsong.
Other new-age settlers arrive from distant lands, can’t speak one local word – and yet they manage to eke out a living in an often hostile neighbourhood. You’ll meet some of those folks here as well.
But dorp life is not for everyone. It is a mindshift as much as a geographical one. Read this book and then decide if the platteland is right for you.
Making the Big Move
Moving to the Platteland offers practical tips, warts-and-all anecdotes and experience-based advice from people of all ages, professions and income streams who have made the ‘country move’ to rural South Africa.
It will help you to:
- Navigate the ups and downs of semigrating;
- Find your nest;
- Make a living in the country;
- Locate your creative sweet spot;
- Choose the right school;
- Deal with a weak municipality;
- Restore your house;
- Run a guesthouse or restaurant;
- Go off the grid;
- Live lean;
- Master the art of country shopping;
- Develop your sense of social compassion. This is possibly the biggest reward of a platteland migration journey – being a part of something tangibly positive in your new neighbourhood. Most of us know we have to play a supporting role in the great rebuild of South Africa, but we’re not really sure how to go about it. This book shows you just how big a difference you can make in a small town.
The Trickle-Back
The world is urbanising at an alarming rate. South African cities, in particular, are taking strain. Two-thirds of our people are now city dwellers.
Moving to the Platteland, however, tracks the growing population trickle-back of counter-urbanisation. Ultimately we offer hope for renewal and a way forward based on the successes of platteland pioneers.
When you’re faced with a decision that could dramatically change the course of your family’s destiny, it helps to listen to those who have been there before you, who are mostly still out there.
Although the majority of voices here belong to the new wave of Karoo settlers, we trust it will be of use to anyone wanting to swop the city for the country.
And just remember what Confucius said:
“Wherever you go, go with all your heart.”
Get your copy of Moving to the Platteland – Life in Small Town South Africa (Print Version) HERE and the Ebook HERE.
