Page 60 - Bulletin 14 2010

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boss and at least kept the miners in employment.” The miners definitely inhabited a structure at
the silver mines to protect them from wild animals and this may still exist as a ruin.

 1672-91: A cattle station operated at Noordhoek.

 1699/1700: By this time two decisions that affected events in the Silvermine Valley had

been made. Firstly, Simon van der Stel, who eventually retired to Groot Constantia, was
granted grazing rights south of the farm. This included the Steenberg and it is thought that

a hunting lodge may have been built for him in the Silvermine Valley. Secondly, a Public

Notary, Nicolaas Oortmans, was granted a hunting license in the Silvermine Valley “to
shoot Hartebeest, Eland and Rhinoceros for family use.” Malcolm Ness, who wrote up the

history of the Silvermine farm, was mystified by this as Oortmans had a farm in the
Tijgerbergen and a house in Cape Town, but there was no mention of a house for him

when he came to the area to hunt. Perhaps Oortmans and van der Stel shared a hunting
lodge which may have been the old miner’s hut.

 1711: Nicolaas Oortmans was granted title to Zwaanswijk Farm (as it had become
known) when he married Johanna, the widow of Frederick Russouw, who had taken over

the farm from Catharina Ras (she had used this surname to protect the interests of her

children by Hans Ras.) Most importantly, in Oortmans’ title deed he was obliged “to keep
the track over the Steenberg in good repair.” This appears to be the earliest official

reference to a route over the mountain.

A second highly charismatic woman who lived on the Steenberg farm now enters the story. In
1717 Johanna Oortmans’ son, Frederick Russouw, married Christina Diemer, who bore him

twelve children. Frederick added to his land holdings, one portion of which was Raape Kraal,

also at the foot of the Steenberg. On his death Zwaanswijk farm passed to his widow, Christina.

 c. 1732: A map of the Peninsula – Hottentots Holland area, surveying all the private lands

at that time, shows the tracks in both the Constantia-Tokai and Fish Hoek valleys but no
connection between them across the Steenbergen. (Fig. 2.13.)