by Ian Vorster
Having punched through the Zuurberg Mountains and skirted the old frontier town of Kirkwood, the 250 km long Sundays River, or Nqweba (Thorn Tree) River as it is known in Xhosa, flows into the Indian Ocean at Algoa Bay north just north of Port Elizabeth (Gqeberha). The river matures in a fertile valley that extends for about 64 km and serves as the home of South Africa’s citrus ag industry.
With its source in the Compassberg Mountains near Nieu Bethesda, they river’s many nooks and crannies are packed with tales of hardship, sprinkled with romance, and anchored in dreams rich with hope.
Kirkwood is the main town in the Valley. Situated about 80 km from the ocean and 100 meters above sea level, the place is known for summer heat. In 1928 the weather bureau recorded a temperature of 50.3 C here, the highest recorded temperature in South Africa. One of the first things you will hear from farmers in the valley is, “the temperature reaches the fifties here you know!” One can’t be sure how often it has done so since 1928, but it did …once. The fact is, the Valley seems to have the ideal climate for the growth of both citrus fruits and local characters.
At the turn of the 19th century, the Sundays River formed the eastern border of the Cape Colony. As a border region, similar to the later and more heavily storied, Great Fish River, it was one of the few areas where all of the South African ethnic groups fought against each other.
General Jan Smuts and his “Bittereinders”
During the Anglo Boer war, General Jan Smuts and his Commando of 250 bittereinders (Afrikaans noun that describes the group of Boers who fought to the bitter end) passed through the valley on their epic quest northwest. Mr. C. G. Green of Kirkwood, whose anecdotes are kept in the Fitzpatrick Library in Sunland, wrote the following of those days:
“I was born in 1886, 19th October, in a small cottage on the bank of the Sundays River near the wagon bridge at Hillside. We then lived on the farm my father bought, called “Oak Villa.” I grew up there with my family, we were six brothers and two sisters. There was no house and my father had to build one and take out the bush to grow crops, we boys used to work hard. My father had a span of oxen and eight mules. He used to take on jobs to plough for Settlers, and I was the leader of the span of oxen at six years of age.
I was in the Boer War and was caught by General Smuts when I was a Despatch Carrier, I was only fifteen years old, but was a big lad at that age. The Boers didn’t want to be bothered with youngsters, so I was let go. The lot that got me was under Colonel Denys Reitz.”
Green’s great-grandfather arrived in Algoa Bay with the 1820 settlers, and his grandfather was one of the few Brits to escape alive from the Battle of Isandlwana — memorialized with the well-known song Impi by Johnny Clegg and his band Juluka.
In 1814, Governor Cradock awarded the first Sundays River Valley farms to leaders of the successful burger commandos for their role in the victories in the border wars of 1811 and 1812. Fieldcornet J.S. van Niekerk received ” Goewernements Belooning,” the farm where Kirkwood would be established almost 100 years later.
James Somers Kirkwood, an auctioneer from Port Elizabeth, arrived in 1877 to auction off the same farm. A flooded Sundays River prevented him from reaching the farm and instead he climbed a hill in the Zuurberg Mountain foothills, known today as The Lookout, from where he had a view of the entire valley. It was here that the seeds of his vision were planted. He imagined the entire area, overgrown by valley bushveld at the time, transformed into lush green irrigated fields with fruit trees. His idea included farm produce being delivered via barges down the Sundays River and across Algoa Bay into Port Elizabeth.
Shortly afterwards, Kirkwood purchased “Goewernements Belooning.” He established the Sundays River Land and Irrigation Co. and prepared irrigation for the land on a large scale. In spite of much publicity, he failed to attract interest in the venture. It coincided with the big diamond rush in Kimberly and people were rather investing in diamond mining. The company eventually failed and Kirkwood died a broken man in 1889.
Like many pioneers, James Somers Kirkwood was ahead of his time. His vision came to pass in the following century with the Sundays River Irrigation Project and eventually the Orange River Water Project which provided the stable water supply necessary for citrus.
AuthorPercy Fitzpatrick and his vision
Well-loved author of the book, Jock of the Bushveld, Sir Percy Fitzpatrick next caught the vision for the Sundays River Valley. It was from another point also named The Lookout, but this one was close to present day Sunland and afforded views of the valley, the Winterhoek and Zuurberg mountain ranges. Now a largely unknown National Monument, it is where Fitzpatrick chose to be buried along with his daughter and her family.
Citrus was already being grown in the valley at the time of his first visit, but he promoted the valley as a return destination for World War I troops. This resulted in what became known as the ‘1920 Settlers.’
In 1908, Mosenthals of Port Elizabeth exported the first citrus from the Eastern Cape, and a Mr. J.W. Babcock was the first farmer in the Sundays River Valley to export citrus to England. In 1908 he established an experimental stand of 1900 fruit trees of which 350 mixed citrus trees were planted on his farm Selborne at Sunland. By 1916 he had planted an additional 1250 citrus trees and built a packhouse.
Fitzpatrick had 500 Valencia trees and 500 Washington Navel Trees on his farm Amanzi (water in Xhosa) by 1914. By 1924 there was so much interest in citrus that the Sundays River Citrus Cooperative was established. There were then 50,000 citrus trees in the lower valley and 7,000 in the upper valley near Kirkwood.
South African citrus is marketed overseas under various trademarks. These include Outspan, Goldland and Odda (2nd grade). Both Outspan and Odda originated in the Valley. Odda is simply the reverse spelling of Addo and Outspan was the Trademark of Fitzpatrick’s Amanzi Packhouse. Before he wrote Jock of the Bushveld, Fitz as he was known, penned a collection of short stories and published them under the title ‘Outspan.’ He was proud of this book and chose the title for his trademark. The first Outspan fruit arrived in Britain in 1935 and is a South African export brand known worldwide to this day.
Fitzpatrick suffered personal vilification because the dream of a strong citrus producing valley did not reach fruition during his and many other settler’s lifetimes. Droughts plagued the valley, and many accused him of profiteering. It was only the completion of the Orange River Scheme in 1990 that finally guaranteed water to the crops, and waylaid the almost certain catastrophe that the regular droughts brought.
The valley’s current total irrigated area now incorporates approximately 50,000 acres. In 2004 the 160 producers of the Sundays River Citrus Company owned 4,3 million trees on 7,300 ha. Over 1,3 million were Navels, while later varieties such as Valencias, Deltas and Midnights made up about 1,4 million. Almost 911,000 are lemon trees (the valley produces 50% of the South African lemon crop), and the rest are given over to Grapefruit, Tangelos, Satsumas, Clementines and Novas. In 2003 the Valley produced 10 million 15 kg cartons for export which were picked and packed by almost 4,000 people and amounted to nearly 43, 000 tons of produce worth R170 million.
With the transition from apartheid to a democratic government in 1994, the Sundays River Citrus Company began to introduce a transformative model that included the establishment of the SRCC Foundation Trust. The Trust has initiated a variety of community development projects in the Sundays River Valley, the most recent of which is a partnership with a local school that put staff through a leadership program before establishing a compute lab. (See video below.)
The Farmer’s 4 Seasons
The valley citrus growers have a lot in common with other agricultural types. For a start they operate according to the farmer’s four seasons – pruning or sowing, spraying, reaping, and complaining.
Nothing comes easy, as they say. It takes five years from the planting of new trees before a crop can be reaped. Spraying must be done in the cool night hours, either just before dawn or just after sunset, when there is little dew and no evaporation. Reaping relies on labor and a contingent degree of diplomacy — not what is known to be ‘second nature’ for many farmers. Add in fluctuating markets, frost and various other factors and they can be forgiven for taking the last quarter off for bellyaching.
Vision by its nature seldom takes these variables into consideration. For the most part it only sees the best. Perhaps that’s as it should be, for in that way vision becomes reality. That, it seems, is the difference between a dreamer and a visionary—the latter gets things done. The only part of James Somers Kirkwood’s vision that is incomplete is the mode of delivery. Barges don’t transport the fruit downriver and across to the Port Elizabeth harbor, the railroad used to serve this purpose. Nowadays they’re trucked.
The valley is also well known for its social attractions and highlights. The Addo Women’s Institute used to present the Addo Rose Fayre each year. Synonymous with roses for generations, it is no longer running. The event used to offer a tranquil escape to the countryside, where exquisite roses, good food, and friendly locals were the order of the day. With around 15,000 visitors attending the last few, a pat on the back was received from a former World President of the Federation of Rose Societies, Helga Brichet, when she declared that Addo is “undoubtedly the best rose display I have seen in the world.”
The figures for the Kirkwood Wildlife Festival show significant growth from 2004 (15,000) to 2023 (40,000) similar results. The main attraction of the festival is the game auction, which is supported each year by the nearby Addo Elephant National Park.
Just a Country Town
Theo Aronson a son of Kirkwood and world-renowned author (he wrote about European royal families) once told a story that perhaps sums up the tale that is the Sundays River Valley. Educated at Grey High School in Port Elizabeth, he went on to graduate from the University of Cape Town before furthering his education in London. After a few years abroad, the longing for Kirkwood and his family overwhelmed Aronson and he decided it was time to head home. But, lacking any finances, his only recourse was to hitchhike his way down Africa.
After an adventurous journey, he arrived home safely on Christmas Day of 1958 to surprise his parents who thought he was still in London. When the excitement and hugging subsided, Theo’s father asked him, “Which way did you come?” Theo replied with no little enthusiasm, “I boarded a boat in London, caught a train to Marseilles, hooked a ride on a freight ship to Cairo and…”
“No” interrupted the old Kirkwood resident, “Did you come through Addo or Uitenhage?”
Whichever way you approach the Sundays River Valley, and however far you come, take the time to visit Kirkwood’s Lookout at sunrise, and Fitzpatrick’s Lookout at sunset. The view will prove that successful vision relies on one part inspiration and one part perspiration.
The 2024 Kirkwood Wildlife Festival will be held over the weekend of June 28 – 30. Tickets are available here. The Lookout and the Fitzpatrick Cemetery have recently been restored by Addo Tourism. The location is well worth a visit, and you can find more to do or places to stay in the area at Addo Tourism. It goes without saying that you should add in a visit to the Addo Elephant National Park, the only Big 7 reserve in the world. For more about the Sundays River Citrus Company, check out their website.
