Twenty-eight volunteers met on a chilly morning at the parking area on the western side of Malkopvlei (Bass Lake) to clear the public open space bounded by Edward Avenue, Green, Bass and Anglers roads. The goal was to complete the removal of, primarily, rooikrans from this area following the excellent work done by the Hangklip Hardcore Hackers (HHH) on Wednesday, 10 June 2026. Of historical interest, in the late 1950’s, this land was part of a nine-hole golf course surrounding Bass Lake. It was never completed and abandoned in 1960.
Two first time hackers, Vanessa Pitlo and Angus Mackintosch were welcomed. Daniela Pobuda from the HHH was welcomed to her first Betty’s Bay hack and a very welcome was extended to returning seasoned hackers, Karin and Louw Toerien and Tim Attwell. Last but by no means least, from hacking royalty, Brian Silberbauer joined us, continuing the proud family tradition of hacking dating back to the 1960’s.
The hackers dispersed to locate the remaining rooikrans trees. The hack involved chainsaw work, dragging the branches through the fynbos and stacking them neatly on the verge for easy removal by the municipality. OM arrived at the mid morning break to remove the heaped branches from the 10 June 2026 hack. The break was perfectly timed with the completion of the removal of the last rooikrans tree.
A big thank you to Dave Mourant for providing all that is needed for the monthly tea and coffee requirements and to Lee Boyd for making all the egg mayo and grated cheese and cucumber sarmies in Mary Whitelaw’s absence.
After the break, the battle continued with cutting, dragging and stacking of the seemingly endless waterberry trees (waterbessies) growing in the northern wetland of Bass Lake in the vicinity of Mimetes Road. The hack came to a rather abrupt end a half hour early when angry bees started stinging hackers close to the road verge after the swarm had been disturbed. Ken Meiring came off worst with numerous stings to his head, back and arms. Fortunately, Dave Mourant was unscathed. Dave carries an epipen in his pocket following his bee attack at a HH Hack several years ago when he was stung four hundred times and was rescued by courageous hackers who were also severely stung. A huge thank you to Jonathan Beattie who provided antihistamine tablets to those who needed.
The early aftermath was enjoyed by all. Hackers were strongly encouraged to become members of the Hangklip Botanical Society (NPC) for R200 per annum as it provides the funding for the hack and many other environmental activities in the Hangklip area.
Tim Attwell gave a thorough explanation for the branch name change and confirmed that it remains an external branch of the Botanical Society of South Africa.
Many thanks to our neighbours for their ongoing, invaluable support: Christine Coupar from Kleinmond who came despite planned protest action, Anne Woods, Daniela Pobuda, Karin & Louw Toerien, Ken Meiring and Chris Geldenhuys from Pringle Bay and Megs Tweedie from Rooiels.
As ever, on behalf of the Betty’s Bay Fynbos, thank you all for your efforts.
Rob Boyd
Convener Betty’s Bay Hack Group