Member Notice Board

The intent of this page is to list news flashes and items of interest, as well as to provide a space for shareholders to offer items for sale, request information etc.

Please submit any correspondence by sending an e-mail to John and Lorna Hill at

News Flashes

• Posted 12/01/2012 - Please note that the phone number for the farm has changed to 071 492 5473 with immediate effect. The existing landline will be discontinued at the end of January due to continuous service-related issues and slow response by the incumbents to rectifying the problems, and this will be the only phone number used to contact the farm manager.
   
• Posted 12/01/2012 - The total rainfall for December was an amazing 432 mm, making 552 mm for the year so far. This is fantastic news given that the average annual rainfall in the area used to be in the region of 550 mm per annum.
    
• Posted 31/12/2011 - For those shareholders unable to visit the farm over Christmas, it is really looking beautiful and green with 116 mm of rain falling on the 24th. As a result, all dams are full and the stream is running strongly down Breekloof.
   
• Posted 06/12/2011 - New arrivals for the summer have started with 4 red hartebeest, a blesbok and several impala so far.
   
• Posted 06/12/2011 - The November rainfall was 58 mm. The YTD total for the season is 120 mm which is slightly more than this time last year.
     
• Posted 05/12/2011 - Thank you to those shareholders who have so far responded to the questionare distributed earlier. We have received some very valuable feedback so far. Approximately 25% of shareholders have responded to date. If you have not done so yet, please take a few minutes to respond as the higher the return-rate, the more meaningful certain suggestions are. We will provide the feedback and next steps in due course.
     
• Posted 05/12/2011 - For those of you who have visited the farm recently, you will have noticed a radical change to the entrance. Thank you to Sampie Stols who undertook this exercise !!! Sampie has requested donations of plants / shrubs indigenous to the Limpopo area to neaten it up even further. Should you be able to assist, please contact Sampie on 078 638 6892. Below are some picures, so you recognise the turn-off on your next visit !!
  

• Posted 08/11/2011 - Rainfall for October was 62 mm, which was the first for the new season.
    
• Posted 31/10/2011 - An Afrikaans translation of the minutes of the AGM held on 3 September 2010 is available on the AGM 2011 webpage.
       
• Posted 30/10/2011 - The October newsletter for the Waterberg Nature Conservancy has been published.
    
• Posted 25/10/2011 - Please diarise the planned date of the next AGM on Saturday 11 August 2012. the Thursday is a public holiday and schools are closed on the Friday. The date will be confirmed closer to the time.
       
• Posted 25/10/2011 - 25 impala rams and 6 kudu bulls were captured a few days ago. A total of 30 kudu bulls were planned but they made themselves scarce in the mountains.
       
• Posted 05/10/2011 - The first rainfall of the new season arrived with 12 mm falling on 1 October.
    
• Posted 27/09/2011 - The minutes of the AGM held on 3 September are available under AGM in english. The afrikaans version is in the process of being translated and will be posted on completion.
       
• Posted 08/09/2011 - After 3 days of having the comment / forum capability enabled, it has been changed slightly to force users to register once before allowing them to post comments or a thread in a forum discussion in order to reduce the risk of junk being published. An email with a link will be sent to the user inbox to complete registration. Apologies for this inconvenience. The Discussion Forum had been created as a seperate page.
       
• Posted 05/09/2011 - A forum for general comments has been added above to the website as requested at the AGM for shareholders  and others to share views and comments.
    
• Posted 04/09/2011 - The MD's presentation from the AGM held on 3rd September has been posted. Thank you to those shareholders that were able to attend and to the farm staff for all the hard work in preparing a tasty kudu potjie and freshly baked home-made bread !!
       
• Posted 26/08/2011 - A number of shareholders had their lightning conductors tested recently. One of the shareholders raised some questions to the service provider, and these are provided below together with the resposes received.
   
  1.       Is it required by Law or stated in the NHBR-or-SABS regulations that a conductor for a thatched roof residence has to be inspected annually? 

  1.      It is recommended by the SABS to have lightning conductors checked annually.

  2.       If not required by Law, the NHBR or SABS, is it required by the Short Term Insurance?

  1.        The final say rests with your insurer as to how often the lightning conductor needs to be checked, they should however take heed of the SANS 10313 Code of Practice for the Protection of Structures Against Lightning.

  3.       Which components do you inspect/service on the Lightning Conductor?

  1.      The ohmic resistance is measured and should be under 50 Ohm in order to be SABS compliant. A physical examination of the lightning conductor is also carried out including angle of protection and safe distance from thatch overhang.

  4.       Does this inspections/services only have to be performed on Lightning Conductors that is situated on the mountain?

  1.      All lightning conductors, regardless of where they are situated, should be tested.

  5.       Do you issue a COC after inspection that can be produced to the Board of directors?

  1.        Yes, a COC is issued if all is in order and the system is SABS compliant.

  6.       Is all the information and regulations as well as inspection intervals listed on your web-site?

  1.        The information pertaining to SABS regulations are downloadable off the SABS website at a fee (not sure how much but know that its not cheap).

  7.       Do the residents of Welgefonden Game Ranch and other Ranches and farmers in the vicinity also have their Lightning Conductors tested/inspected annually?

  1.       Yes, I frequently test lightning conductors at some of the lodges at Welgevonden and other reserves as well.
    

• Posted 19/07/2011 - Dr Michelle Thorn is studying carnivores in the Waterberg and has published her first report on her findings, particularly in relation to carnivore - human conflict with a request to assist in the survey. Her report is published on the Conservation page.
    
• Posted 16/07/2011 - Mr Charles Hattingh has been appointed as a director, subject to ratification at the next AGM.
    
• Posted 16/07/2011 - Please diarise the date for the next AGM for Saturday 3 September on the farm. Notices will be posted shortly.
    
• Posted 16/07/2011- Please be aware that there is a service offered by the farm for yard-cleaning should your visits be infrequent. This assists in maitaining a neat and tidy area around your house. 
• Posted 07/05/2011 - A photo of terrapins taken at Waterbuck Pan has been published in the Photo Gallery.
    
• Posted 22/04/2011 - A veld assessment report undertaken by Frits van Oudshoorn in April has been published under Conservation.
    
• Posted 19/03/2011 - Six giraffe ( 3 bulls and 3 cows ) were captured together with 11 Impala rams as the quick breeding of the giraffe is starting to outstrip the carrying capacity.
    
• Posted 11/01/2011 - Shaun Mare submitted a photo of a leopard photographed with a trip camera on the farm, published under Unusual Sightings.
    
• Posted 11/01/2011 - Another giraffe has been born over the last 2 or 3 days.
    
• Posted 01/01/2011 - Despite previous requests to utilize bin-liners in the dustbins to help prevent refuse from being blown off the bakkie on collection, a number of shareholders are still not using these. We cannot expect the staff to be handling this waste when collecting. No dustbins will be cleaned and garbage removed unless it is put in bin-liners. These are available at Snoepie.
    
• Posted 28/12/2010- Those that were on the farm over Christmas will have noticed that the transmission on the new Vodacom mast was completed on 20 December and that there is full signal strength for cellphone usage at last.
    
• Posted 07/12/2010- The Building Contracts Policy as outlined at the AGM has been published under the Procedures webpage.
    
• Posted 02/12/2010 - The first two wildebeest calves of the season have arrived together with impala starting to calve.
    
• Posted 01/12/2010 - The tree list has been updated by the special interest group and marked up with trees identified on the farm so far.
    
• Posted 04/11/2010 - There have been a number of queries regarding the make-up of the electricity charge. The breakdown is contained in the MD's Report presented at the last AGM. The charge is made up of two components - the first being usage, which is a combination of an Eskom Service Charge, Network Charge, Energy Charge and Environmental Charge.
  
  When calculated back to a KWh usage charge, this was R 0-80 plus VAT until 1 Oct, and from 1 Oct will increase to R 1-00 per KWh plus VAT. From 1 March 2011 this will increase to R 1-25 per KWh plus VAT.
  
  On top of that there is a monthy reading and meter replacement fee of R 30, which equates to a R 90 quarterly charge included with the quarterly invoice.
    
• Posted 31/10/2010 - Another baby giraffe has made an appearance. it was first spotted a week ago and is probably 2 weeks old. In addition, there are 2 new Eland calves.
    
• Posted 31/10/2010 - A big thank you to Andre and Liesel and those farmworkers that assisted in the devastating fire that destroyed over 100 hectares in the area. Fortunately the farm was spared apart from the small section on the other side of the Schoongelegen road. Below are a few photos taken while assisting. 

• Posted 22/10/2010 - A new webpage under "Farm" called Unusual Sightings has been created with some wonderful photos taken with a trip camera set up on the farm of animals not often seen !!!   
    
• Posted 18/10/2010 - A reminder from the AGM discussion to shareholders that Electrical Certificates of Compliance need to be obtained for all electrical installations in both new and existing houses. These need to be provided to the farm manager by end of December. Thereafter, the farm will arrange a contractor to check and issue compliance certificates for those houses that do not have. Please advise John Hill should you in any case wish to make use of this opportunity.
    
• Posted 03/10/2010 - The MD's presentation from the AGM held on 02 October is available under AGM 2010.
    
• Posted 29/09/2010 - A new baby giraffe has made its appearance in time for viewing at the visit for the AGM !!
    
• Posted 29/09/2010- Six gemsbok were seen at the Schoongelegen road sites.
    
• Posted 09/09/2010- We have been informed by the environmental consultants that the application for prospecting rights over Woodstock 161 KQ has been withdrawn by the applicant, AEMFC. Thank you to all shareholders who opposed this application in their private capacities.
   
• Posted 09/09/2010- An e-mail forwarded via the WNC requesting information of sightings of wild dogs in the Waterberg has been published under Wild Dogs.
   
• Posted   04/08/2010 - Birdlife SA distributed a press release on 3 August ( also published under Prospecting Applications ) protesting about AEMFC's activities in environmentally sensitive areas including the Nylsvley application for coal prospecting rights. Hopefully this will accelerate public awareness and protest.
   
• Posted 30/07/2010- A website, under Interesting Links, showing the night sky and times satellites pass any particular points. If needed, the GPS co-ordinates for the farm are on the homepage. 
    
• Posted 20/07/2010 - Hermanusdoorns has become a member of the Waterberg Nature Conservancy. We were kindly allowed to publish all their newsletters since 2008 for the benefit of all shareholders. A web page for Waterberg Nature Conservancy has been created where the newsletters can be viewed.
    
• Posted 15/07/2010- A link under Waterberg to an Environmental Management Framework for the Waterberg - Draft Desired State dd 8 July 2010 by Environomics Environmental Consultants and downloadable from the MetroGIS website.
    
• Posted 03/07/2010- A reminder to shareholders from farm management that house cleaning services are not available to shareholders while they are on the farm. There are not enough staff to be able to provide this service. There has been a huge improvement over the last few months in the quality of cleaning services, Should shareholders need a particular type of ad-hoc clean ( eg windows etc ) arrangements can be made with farm management prior to their visit.
   
• Posted 03/07/2010 - Please note that the pub is only open for special occasions, rather than having it staffed for every sporting event screened over weekends.
   
• Posted 03/07/2010- Procedures and Regulation for the usage of Contractors by Owner Builders have been published under Farm Rules.

• Posted 30/06/2010- There is a fascinating book available on the Waterberg titled "Waterberg", comprising two short stories "Vintage Waterberg" and "Timeless Waterberg" written by Lex Rodger who lived for many years in the Hangklip area ( today Entabeni ). The first part contains anecdotes and stories from people who lived there early in the 20th century, while the second part focuses mainly on the trees. It might become available at Black Mamba.
    
• Posted 30/06/2010 - The Leopard Trail has recently been maintained and upgraded. Below is a picture of one of the streams encountered on the trail.    

• Posted 01/06/2010 - Hippo spoor has been spotted on two seperate occasions close to the river sites. 
   
• Posted 25/05/2010 - An objection to the Application for Prospecting Rights for Coal on farms adjoining the Nylsvley Nature Reserve has been lodged by the board. The motivation is available on the Prospecting Applications web-page.
    
• Posted 20/05/2010 - There is a further application for Prospecting Rights in the Waterberg District - this time for coal on farms surrounding the Nylsvley Nature Reserve. The board will lodge an objection on behalf of Hermanusdoorns but shareholders are urged to also object in their personal capacities due to the environmental sensitivity of this wetland. Further details are available under Prospecting Applications. 
   
• Posted 18/05/2010 - An Approvals Framework has been posted under AGM / Approvals. 

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