AREA FOCUS
Lichtenburg
Arable land, maize world and Senwes world
Lichtenburg or Liggies is, according to Della Retief an “Oasis in the Northwest… A light
in the maize district...”. It summarises the area in the first paragraph of the poem in the
book Lichtenburg is hul Saailand.
By Aubrey Kruger
Senwes Scenario Editor
THE ESTABLISHMENT OF
LICHTENBURG
L
ichtenburg was established 145
years ago, on 25 Julie 1873, and
Hendrik Adriaan Greeff, the foun
der, named it after a place near
Durbanville, where he was born. At the
time of the proclamation it was mentioned
that it will be like a light in the Western
Transvaal and in the future! And it is still
the case.
THE SENWES EQUIPMENT BRANCH
Lichtenburg is maize world and branch
manager André Gouws tells us that cotton
has also raised its head in this area. The
branch officially opened in 2004 and the
branch is still doing well 14 years later.
The branch is situated at 131 Thabo
Mbeki Street, formerly known as Buiten
Street. Gouws tells us that Senwes
obtained the John Deere agency after the
32
SENWES SCENARIO | SPRING 2018
Ferreira Brothers, Andrag and NWK had
the agency.
MANAGER AND STAFF
The manager, André Gouws, knows the
industry and has been a marketer since
1980. In the late 1990’s he worked at
Senwes in Vereeniging and has been with
Senwes Equipment in Lichtenburg since
2011, where he was promoted to branch
manager in 2016. Every one of the 31
employees at the branch play an integral
role - from the manager to his valued
divisional heads, Estie Eksteen (head of
administration), Warren Waldron (spares
manager), Bennie Nel (workshop manager)
as well as Jannie Vergottini (marketer) and
Monique Waldron (administration and safe-
ty), all the clerks, technicians, apprentices,
drivers and general workers.
EXPERIENCED STAFF, GOOD SERVICE
Three members of staff, Estie Eksteen
(head of administration), Sarie Grobler
(receptionist) and Abel Rampau (general
worker) have 14 years’ service each while
three others, Paulina Setiro (general work-
er), Warren Waldron (spares manager) and
David Oliphant (general worker) have a
decade's service each.
LICHTENBURG AGRI-FACTS
The Lichtenburg Agricultural Association
was established in 1917 and by 1920
harrows were used by most producers, fol-
lowed by planters in 1923. The Women’s
Agricultural Union was established in
1926 and two years later the Lichtenburg
Agricultural Union. A lot of land was ear-
marked for grazing for oxen before the
Second World War and maize planting
increased only after the war. At the time
John Deere, McCormick, Massey Ferguson
and Case were popular tractors, which ran
on power paraffin.
A BURG WITH A NUMBER
OF FOUNTAINS
A number of farm names include the
word “fontein”, such as Grootfontein,
Elandsfontein, Rietfontein, Vlakfontein,
Wolwefontein and Leeufontein.