Military Oral History: Regiment Oranje Rivier 50 Years

In 2004 the armour regiment of the Western Cape, Regiment Oranje Rivier turned 50 years. The ROR armoured unit was activated in October, 1954. In the 1950s the ROR Armoured Unit (Training) was formed as part of the Army Reserve and continued right into the new South Africa. With headquarters at historic Goodwood Base in Cape Town, the ROR is one of 7 armoured units of the South African Army Reserve. ROR was responsible for the defences of the old Cape Province during the previous dispensation. More than a 100 active reserve soldiers train monthly and for two contiguous weeks during the year to provide critical skill units for the total Army in a variety of specialized disciplines. These include engineering, transportation, postal and other combat service support skills. Many of these soldiers have skills and specialties which are well aligned with their civilian occupations - providing additional benefit to the Army and the community. The rehearsal for their 50 anniversary parade was captured on camera. During rehearsal oral histories where collected regarding their experiences in the bush war and how they have adopted to the new South Africa reserves. For copy of dvd eion@telkomsa.net

Grey College Oral History

The historical Grey College and its Old Boys influence can be felt across the world on various stages in public life. This influence varies from the field of academics (University rectors e.g. Prof Frederick Fourie of UFS, Prof JC van der Walt – RAU, Prof Frank Horwitz – Director: UCT School of Busines), corporate world (Richard Gus of Anglo American, Wilhelm Landman, Richemond ), world of law (Judge Percy Fischer, Nico Coetzer - President of order of attorneys),), field of politics  (Various presidents e.g. Pres MT Steyn en Pres CR Swart and activists e.g. Abraham Fisher, politicians e.g. Klasie Havenga, Albert Hertzog, Manie Schoeman, Kraai Van Niekerk, etc), literary world (Etienne Le Roux, Sir Lourens van der Post, W.A. de Klerk, Eben Venter) and also the world of sport.

The objective of the audio- visual project is to capture reminisces and stories of the old students experiences at Grey with the purpose to preserve it for future generations. In contemporary history writing, oral witnesses are becoming more important as one of the major historical sources a modern researcher has access to.

From a contemporary historical perspective, there exist various books about the history of Grey College as contained in commemorative books. Not much attention is paid to the experiences of the students against the bigger picture (groot geheel) of the school through the various development phases it moved. The aim was rather to interview the bigger role-players with the mystique that had surrounded them, to interview the average student. For the first time there is a focused project in which the ordinary student can share its world of experiences and tell how it was to be a part of the Grey family.

With the knowledge of the producer, it is the first time that an endeavour of this sort is taken on to capture the experiences of Old Greys. This project can deliver a important contribution about the various elements experiences within Grey College before it disappears in the mist of times.