LANDROVING IN KZN

April 2007

Chairmans Comment 

A few comments and changes from last month.

Firstly Gary and Cheryldene van Schoor have stood down from the committee. Gary Clinton has moved into the Trails portfolio but the Secretary portfolio is vacant. If you feel that you would like to be part of the committee and fill the Secretary portfolio then please give me a call.

Note : Some of the “landroverclub” email addresses have changed and others might still changes due to high levels of spam received. “trail” has changed to “trails” for example. As the changes are made an email will be sent to notify all.

2^nd Tembe Trip 9 – 12 August 2007. On page 3 is a list of the names I have been given for the 2^nd Tembe Trip. Please check the list and let me know NOW if you are on the list and no longer able to make the trip or if your name is not on the list and you are interested in going.

Something different. A Gates event in the DARK is planned for later in the year. For those that have returned to camp on the many trails that we have done, in the dark, you will know that this will be different.

The year is fast approaching winter and with the weather upside at present it looks good for a Lesotho snow trip equal or better than last year. This year we will camp over in Lesotho. “Be prepared” that means you and the Landy.

30 April 1948, Land Rover shown to the public for the 1^st time at the Amsterdam Motor Show. Much more to follow on the event to celebrate this historic occasion, Land Rover’s 60^th birthday, April 2008.

……… and by the way. The Series 1 project is going along very slowly. In fact far too slow, but I hope to speed things up after the Tembe Trip (said that before). Lots of stripped, cleaned pieces but nothing ready to be assembled. The problem is that when you run more than one Land Rover you have very little time for a 3^rd , along with all the other pressures of life.

WELCOME TO THE FOLLOWING NEW MEMBERS

Carl and Jean Whittaker                         Umtentweni                   Disco TDi

Noel and Rose Statelfelqt                       Bluff

Robin and Sharon Hood                          Pinetown

Future Events for your Diary

TRAIL GRADING All our events from now on will have a Trail Grading according to the 5 grades below.

1.        Complete novice soft dirt road trail, no low range required. Suitable for all Land Rovers including the Freelander.

2.       Limited low range required but suitable for the novice driver. Suitable for all Land Rovers with certain trails not suitable for the Freelander.

3.       Low range and limited off road knowledge required. Suitable for all Land Rovers except the Freelander.

4.       A low range technical trail suitable for the experienced. The inexperienced will be able to do the trail, as assistance will be available from the more experienced members. Suitable for all Land Rovers except the Freelander.

5.       Extremely technical, suitable for the experienced only with the possibility of vehicle damage. Only suitable for "Series" Land Rovers and maybe a few others.

August Tembe Trip

Steve Maloney            Mark Lewis

Alan Tilley                    Allen Muller

Jeff Sperring                Mervyn Gans

Roy Laming                 Barry Baum

Glen Twiggs                Andre Snyders

Michael Lauterbach     Don Erwin

Shaun Palmer             Fred Johnson

Allan Swatton

Gunther Kanz

Deon Venter

Rodney Wight

Nitrogen in tyres      Nitrogen is acknowledged as being the best possible gas for tyre inflation being used in the tyres of all jet aircraft, the Space Shuttles, Tour de France bikes, Formula 1 racing cars and already in over 100 000 truck tyres on southern African roads as well as many mines.

The advantages of inflating tyres with Nitrogen are many: a 65-70% reduction in pressure loss. With little or no oxygen there is no formation of condensate in the tyre, which means there is no oxidation of the inner liner, the steel belt package, the Rim or the rim components. With the removal of oxygen, tyres run cooler and the possibility of "auto-ignition' is eliminated. The bottom line is a reduction in tyre failure and replacement costs as a result of stronger, more flexible casings while the improved pressures and cooler running extend the life of a tyre.

Nitrogen for tyre inflation is made by an on-site generator, which separates oxygen out of the compressed air supply leaving Nitrogen at a purity of about 97% for tyre inflation.

Defender will soldier on until 2013 

According to Autocar, an all-new Defender is in the works and scheduled to launch in 2013. The report suggests Defender II will be rugged as ever and visually it'll be an evolution of the current look, but also influenced by a new 'premium adventure' design language. A dedicated platform is also expected because Land Rover sources say the integrated bodyframe used in Discovery 3 might be too expensive. Land Rover is looking to double sales from the current 25,000.

The current Defender will be updated again in 2010 to meet new pedestrian-impact legislation, but stiffer emission standards go into effect after 2013.

 The all-new replacement for the Land Rover Defender is scheduled for launch in 2013, only the fifth time in 60 years that the iconic model has been renewed by the company. Land Rover is currently in the exploratory stages for the new Defender with design, engineering and marketing teams looking at the early engineering and business case for the new car.

The significant date, six years away, is critical because of future emissions standards, rather than crash legislation. Land Rover is confident it can get the revised 2007 Defender, a revamp of a car whose lineage goes back to 1983, through the next phase of pedestrian-impact legislation in 2010.

What is known about the new Defender is that it will retain rugged go-anywhere durability and the styling will be an evolution of today’s look, influenced by design director Gerry McGovern’s new ‘premium adventure’ styling theme.

It is already clear that the business case must revolve around a hefty rise in annual sales, from today’s 25,000 to closer to 50,000 units.

That rise will come from extra sales in new markets like Russia, China and Asia, but more significantly North America, where airbag legislation killed the current model in the late 1990s.

It is also clear that the new Defender will be built on a dedicated platform. Land Rover could share componentry with the ‘integrated bodyframe’ structure from the Discovery, but sources confirm it’s too costly to underpin a utility model.

Lusaka and Environs in 1950’s     By:  Andy Willman

In 1949 Lusaka, the capital “city” of Northern Rhodesia, (now Zambia), boasted a 1 mile stretch of tar road along Cairo Road, which ended at Tarry’s Corner.  Tarry’s was a corrugated icon hardware store, which sold everything from farming equipment to tools and guns.  Another tar road led to “The Hill”, an elite residential suburb around the government and municipal offices.  The rest of the “roads” were muddy quagmires in the wet season.

The 1950’s saw an unprecedented upsurge in road tarring and building activities, as whites flocked to Lusaka and raised its white population from a few hundred to over 4000 over the decade.  It was still a wild place, though, and I remember farmers driving through Lusaka in their Ford or Chevrolet “van” loaded down with a couple of dead lion, shot whilst raiding the farmer’s cattle.  Lion were then officially classed as vermin.

Those were the days of the Copperbelt “boom”, when copper prices went through the roof, and miners on the copperbelt (+ -200 miles North of Lusaka) bought new American cars with their bonus money.  Those were the days of the formation of the “Federation of N. Rhodesia, s. Rhodesia and Nyasaland”, and of the building of Kariba dam.  The future of this Central African Federation looked very bright indeed.  What a pity when politics raised its ugly head and the Federation disintegrated in 1963.  N. Rhodesia became a black nationalist Zambia, recession set in and most whites emigrated for safety’s sake and just to be able to make ends meet!

I went to school in Lusaka between 1950 and 1957 (Lusaka Boys School and then Gilbert Rennie High School).  As a teenager, I bought two ex-police motor bikes (Triumph speed Twins) and PWD auction sales, fixed them up and used them as all purpose transport to school, around town and especially for bundu-bashing in road-less areas of which there were plenty.  (Trial bikes were then unknown).

On weekends I would get on my bike, put an old .303 rifle across my thighs and head for the outskirts of Lusaka and then along paths, tracks or cross country for miles to wherever my fancy would take me.

On one such occasion, perhaps 40Kms South East of Lusaka, I came across a group of 3 or 4 “pole and dagga” huts, accessible by footpath only, and occupied by a white family who spoke no English, only very simple Afrikaans, and were dressed in worn out and very much repaired clothing.  Their children, whose ages ranged up to early teens, had never been to town or to school, and they looked upon me with awe as some super-human hero who had descended upon them from out of the bush on some awesome clattering mechanical horse (they had never seen a motor bike) and was impressively armed with a readily available rifle across his knees.

My visit had obviously surprised them as much as their isolated existence had surprised me, and my departure was attended by many a well meant warning to be on the lookout for and ready to deal with the many “Tiers” and snakes and other dangers all around.

Such is the stuff my memories of the old Northern Rhodesia are made of.  My wanderings around N. Rhodesia brought me across a number of both black and white people who lived their lives in such isolated primitiveness.

Sixty years ago in the 1940’s travel was a hardship undertaken in getting from one place to another.  The roads were bad, conditions were harsh, and primitive, disease and mosquitoes prevailed, vehicles frequently broke down, got stuck and were unreliable, and there were few amenities (if any) along the way.  There were no cell phones (or telephones, for that matter, away from main centres), and travel was a serious undertaking with real difficulties to be overcome.  There were no 4-wheel drive vehicles, and Land Rovers put in their first appearance in the early 1950’s, although I do remember seeing the first prototype in Lusaka near the end of 1948.  It was the source of awestruck talk amongst us 9 year olds!  Willys Jeeps were even rarer.

A far cry from today’s plush and pampered modes of travel !

Seen at the AGM gates event. Disco Pick up Conversion. 

Now that’s what I like to see. Not the side bit BUT the  cooler box and spare wheels are strapped down correctly.  No one hurt in the mishap.

Shooting in Southern Mozambique - Ponta Malongane's Reply

Dear guests and supporter of the Ponta Malongane Holiday Resort

We have received many queries with regards to the recent articles in "The Beeld", "Die Burger" and "Cape Argus" about AK-47 shooting over the Easter holidays and in response (as being named the resort under the scrutiny of the media) we would like to inform everyone on the situation.

A group of South African tourists from the Western Cape, who were on holiday at the Ponta Malongane Holiday Resort, decided to embark on an excursion outside the boundaries of Ponta Malongane, and explored areas further to the north of Ponta Malongane Holiday Resort.

On their return from Ponta Mamoli, about 5 km from Ponta Malongane, the ambush incident occurred. Three unknown young men appeared out of the dense vegetation, one who was armed with an AK47. Unaware of the strange happenings the driver stopped, he asked the three men if there was a problem, but they just told them to turn-up the vehicle's windows and keep on driving. In relief they proceeded whereupon the armed individual suddenly opened fire on the vehicle. The motif remains a mystery as the majority of the shots were low, indicating an attempt to stop the vehicle. After the gun was fired the three men fled the scene without any reward.

The wounded middle aged man was treated and stabilized in the camp by the Ponta Malongane paramedic with the assistance of two other paramedics which were also on holiday at Ponta Malongane. The man was soon stabilized and then transported to South Africa, escorted by the Mozambique Police and Ponta Malongane security. We also would like to mention, that without the experience of the Ponta Malongane team and the holiday volunteers, the man could have died. Ponta Malongane supplied most of medical equipment and disposables to save the victims life.

So there are questions to ask yourself about objectiveness of our media/what's wrong with our media? Why even reputable newspapers downgrade themselves to "yellow press" in order to get "hot sensational material"?
When for the first time over the last 4 years a single violent crime incident took place in the Southern Mozambique, it was enough for them to start the hysteria. Three of the most reputable newspapers placed the articles on their first pages, screaming about 'Bloody Easter' and 'holiday in hell', without any confirmation from either Mozambican or South African police or resort's management on the facts they published. All conclusions of the above articles were based solely on the opinion of the victim, facts of one article were contradicting to the facts in another and it was said nowhere, that after 1 hour of the incident, Mozambican police had investigated the scene and set block posts on the main roads in the area. There was no mentioning of the fact that additional 50 policemen from Maputo were deployed by Mozambican government the next morning in order to catch the criminals and provide maximum security in the area.

Ponta Malongane has always been and still is a safe destination for thousands of South Africans who prefer to spend their holidays in quiet and crime free natural environment in the Southern Mozambique. Yes, crime free environment. The strict laws of Mozambique, which prosecute serious crime offenders unmercifully, created the environment, where it was too dangerous for criminals to commit any such serious crimes as murder, rape, armed robberies, etc. Don't get the message wrong, Mozambique is well known for the theft, so look after your cell phone, camera or your wallet, like everywhere else in the world, but it is, by far, much safer place than South Africa. The government of Mozambique, despite the corruption, tries its best to minimize criminal activities, realizing the importance of the tourism for their country. So, the single incidents of the violent crime do happen once in a while, but then they are carefully investigated, criminals are caught in most cases and are punished to set an example for the others not to commit crime ever again.

And last but not least, thousands cases of violent crime are reported in SA on the monthly basis without any attention of the press; in fact, it happens so often so it has sadly become a part of our daily routine. But the single incident in Mozambique has created such havoc in media, which snowballs on the daily basis. So, please, do not let the press, who hunts for the cheap sensations, influence your opinion about safety in Mozambique.

Best regards
The Ponta Malongane Team

MEMBERS COMMENT

Hi George,

In a lovely article in the last newsletter Rosanna Stone refers to 'illegally purchased cottages' on the Wild Coast!
I was urged by my conscience and by members of our own little syndicate not to allow the comment to pass unchallenged. Attached is a reply which you may publish if you are happy it will not give offence.

Cheers,
Peter

The Editor,

Land Rover Owners’ Club KZN,                                                                                        29 March2007

I enjoyed Rozanna Stone’s delightful account of the Club’s Transkei trip last December. Particularly interesting to me was the reference to the ‘illegally purchased cottages’, which she encountered at Mbotyi. I know the Transkei coast quite well yet I know of no such cottages.

Like most of us I have heard of the ‘brandy bottle cottages’; holiday homes reputed to have been built by unscrupulous city-dwelling landgrabbers who have conned indigent rural  communities into parting with tracts of pristine coastal land for a bottle of brandy and R200. For a time I myself trawled up and down the coast with a couple of cases of Klipdrift in the back of my landie inviting opportunity to knock. Though I came across  many a tribesman with a weakness for strong drink and a desperate need for R200, none was willing or able to accept these trifles in exchange for land. 

Eventually I became convinced that these rumoured illegal cottages on the Wild Coast are like the fabled Peacock Throne from the wreck of the Grovenor; mere figments in the mind of a gullible public.

And so I am left wondering what it was that Rozanna saw that looked to her so much an illegally purchased cottage………

Kind regards,

Peter Bassett

Adverts that appear in the LROC KZN newsletter are from companies that have sponsored or part sponsored a LROC KZN event. Please support them as they are an important part of the LROC.

Thanks to Pietermaritzburg and in Pinetown for the lucky draw prizes at the 18^th AGM of the LROC KZN.