OPENGATES

This lead-in artwork, Karoo Gate, by Charles van der Merwe – proudly Maeder’s brother-in-law – introduces this sandpit site as Maeder’s new playpen, and represents Maeder's interpretation of the idea of openness. The old Cape Colony gate is at a livestock area on the farm Hanglip, in the Nuwe Hantam. That farm is now owned by the neighbourhood Rodney Naude and Mal Terblanche families.
The artworks also beckon further discovery of digital journalism's 5 W’s - What? Who? Where? When? And Why? - towards developing and assisting prospective writers. Yesterday’s ancestors include archives of the former trilingual monthly newsjournal, Toverberg Indaba. Today’s and tomorrow’s successor is the current growing website - now in its mid 80’s of newsletters - at https://toverview.co.za, of which opengates is an independent potential server. The dot-Africa domain is a call to explore our own continent with new eyes. And all this is hopefully with the help of some friends, as the song invites.🎵🎵

Maeder’s stoeptalk view of this magical rock engraving feature by anonymous indigenous folk, also on Hanglip farm, nuwe Hantam, Colesberg, can also introduce and represent ideas, her beyond gates? The story here is around movement and change: mixtures of perhaps freedom, perhaps fear, perhaps escape, perhaps liberations? These are some abstract ideas represented to me, by the leaping gates buck (Eland…?) and a running bird (Ostrich? Secretary bird?.Gompow?). . They are moving away from a fixed standing staring animal (a Lion or Lioness…?) (A predator…?). (Food?) (Greed?). The lines around the face of the fixed poised animal, can be seen as part of explorations in modern research into such connecting ‘power lines’; so often a feature of indigenous rock art, worldwide. Maeder likes to suggest that such heritage and ancestry as this rock engraving and its many other nearby and far away examples, also open gates to discoveries of digital journalism, hopefully towards featuring, mentoring and assisting prospective writers. Yesterday’s ancestors include archives of the former trilingual monthly Colesberg district newsjournal, Toverberg Indaba. Today’s and tomorrow’s successor is the current growing website - now around a century of newsletters - at https://toverview.co.za, in principle the mother of this all. Opengates is an independent potential server to toverview. The dot-Africa domain at opengates is a call to explore our own continent with new eyes. And all this is hopefully with the help of some friends, as so many songs and artworks invite and challenge.🎵🎵

Featured Article:

Jasper Cook

8 November, 2026

Lobola Boys

“Jasper” reflected Maeder Osler, “will talk about anything and everything”. On the stoep one day, the subject of sakgeld came up.

I mean no disrespect to African men here. I really am talking about boys, not men. It is about how we are raised in our cultures.

Pocket Money

Young South African English speakers grew up in the British tradition of ‘pocket money’. Weekly or monthly, our parents gave us a little money, to ’learn money’: saving, spending or both. We saved for the things we wanted. In my childhood, this began at a shilling per week. My 1960 shilling would be buy me a loaf of bread. Today, its purchasing power is R12-15, so it does not buy me a loaf. Sad as that is, it is not my point.

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