Potchefstroom Dam – many activities, many memories
Today the tranquil body of water that is the Potchefstroom Dam presents many beautiful vistas. Over many years it had been a very popular recreational resort. During the lockdown its grassy picnic spots remained lonely, play areas abandoned and its facilities became the object of vandals.
This is the second article in my series about the water history of Potchefstroom.
It appears that there is a misconception about the origins of the Dam, official sites noting that it was only built in the 1950s. This could not be more removed from the truth. Mainly known now for its recreational purposes, it, however, has the utilitarian origin of being built to supply water to the Mooibank Settlement south of the town and the experimental farm (now Agricultural College) in the same vicinity.
As with anything else concerning the greater good, the building of the Potchefstroom Dam did not come about without a lot of pleas, agitation and effort. Read more about the water history of Potchefstroom in my previous article: https://lenniegouws.co.za/water-for-potchefstroom/.
An aerial view of the Potchefstroom Dam. It was posted on Facebook on 14 February 2022.
Geoffrey Jenkins wrote in 1938 about the Dam and Lakeside, as it was known in its early years:
For a long time agitation had been going on in Potchefstroom concerning the water supply and irrigation, and a scheme was forwarded as early as December, 1907. In the scheme the reservoir would stretch from a point slightly above North Bridge to above the railway bridge. This gave an extent of water about a mile long. It was the object of the scheme to supply Potchefstroom’s needs, those of Mooibank Settlement, and the Government Experimental Farm. It was also intended that the scheme should provide a pleasure resort for the town. This was the nucleus of “Lakeside”.
The Potchefstroom Herald reported on the building of the Dam in its first edition on 1 May 1908.
In 1994 I wrote an article for the Potchefstroom Herald on the history of the Dam and noted that the sluice gates of the Dam, known as Mirza gates, were transported to Potchefstroom by ox-wagon. These gates were designed to open by itself in case of a flood. The Dam itself was excavated by making use of oxen.
A photo taken during the building of the Dam. Photo: Potchefstroom Museum
The Mirza sluice gates of the Potchefstroom Dam. Photo: Jeanre van Antwerpen
My 1994 article continued:
Rondavels and huts were built where visitors could stay over, rowing boats were provided and willow trees planted.
In the early 1920s large scale efforts were made to upgrade the amenities at the Dam. Electricity was installed and a diving tower was erected. A tennis court and play area for children were built.
A motorised pleasure boat, named “The Olen” was put to use in November 1920. It was named after a well-known Potchefstroom resident, Charles Olen, who, at the time was the chairperson of the Parks and Health Committee. (See my article where Olen is discussed: https://lenniegouws.co.za/street-names-reflect-history-9-o/ )
In a brochure about Potchefstroom, published in 1932, the Dam was described as one of the most popular places for visitors and residents of the town.
In order to accommodate everybody existing facilities at the Potchefstroom Dam during the early years were augmented with tents. Photo: Potchefstroom Museum
The well-known Mrs Tina Jooste, daughter of Colonel Izak Meyer (see my article: https://lenniegouws.co.za/street-names-reflect-history-8-m-n/ ), later recalled that their family during the 1930s, always holidayed at the Dam during December. The whole family traded their large comfortable house for one of the rondavels at the Dam.
It became a very popular social meeting-place and all the holiday makers and visitors from town visited to and fro. Every day baskets filled with fruit and produce and milk were delivered from their house in town to them at the Dam.
Her father would go about his business in town and invited whomever he met to have tea with the family at the Dam. At their well-stocked house with all the necessary amenities in town (which still stands on the south-eastern corner of Retief and Kruger (Beyers Naudé) Street) it would not have been a problem.
At the Dam, however, her mother had to borrow cups and chairs from neighbouring holidaymakers to receive all the visitors!
Happy holidaymakers camp at the Potchefstroom Dam during the 1930s. Photo: Potchefstroom Museum.
Swimming guarded by strict morals
The swimming area at the Dam was popular. This was between the restaurant and the boat house with the diving tower a few metres from shore. For the brave-hearted a zip-line was installed that started at the top of the diving tower and ended on the shore of the Dam.
On this photo from the early days of the Dam the diving platform is still visible.
In the early days a Miss Klopper was the caretaker at the ladies changing facilities at the Dam. She used to live with her sister on the corner of Molen and Meyer Streets (where Ma Cachet Guesthouse is now). The two Misses Klopper were Lina and Berta, but it is not known which one worked at the Dam.
She checked admission tickets and tickets to swim at the Dam to admit people to the changing facilities. She also rented out black woollen bathing costumes, as not many people had their own bathing suits at the time. These costumes had green painted PM numbers (Potchefstroom Municipality) on the backs and a respectable skirt. Many ladies wore bathing shoes made from rubber and most of them had bathing caps. Those were almost unobtainable during the war years.
Before the swim season started each year, she commandeered the help of some ladies, who under her supervision, darned all the moth holes in the costumes.
The ladies walked out of the changing facilities into the water by way of a walkway with a handrail. The little path to the water was covered with chicken wire to prevent slipping.
Initially mixed bathing was not permitted – it could scarcely be called swimming. The younger boys and girls, however, were allowed to be together in the water.
According to tradition fixed times where set when men and women could swim separately. Legend has it that there was even a women’s moral committee in town, consisting of mothers with teenage daughters, who agitated that an hour should be allowed between the times when men and ladies were in the water! The reason being to prevent accidental pregnancies, which they thought to be possible. No confirmation of this hour long no-bathing rule could be found.
Mixed bathing was a contentious subject and in 1922 it was suggested that a partition be installed in the swimming area to keep males and females apart.
In 1935 new regulations were issued concerning swimming attire at the Dam. It had to be made from dark, non-transparent material. The collar was not allowed to be lower than 11,5 cm from the base of the neck in front and 23 cm from the neck at the back and was supposed to be tight-fitting around the hips. Nobody was allowed to remove a bathing suit in public.
Big developments from 1970 onwards
A former manager of the Dam Resort, Mr Koos Smit, regaled that the facilities at the Dam did not differ much in 1968, when he was appointed, than those available during the 1930s.
The entrance to the Dam was then where the stone entrance still stands. The ticket booth was the small stone building just beyond this gate. Admittance fee then was a mere 20 cents. (The builder of the stone gate was in all probability Mr Koos Minny, a well-known stonemason from Potchefstroom during the 1940s and 1950s. Read more about him in my article about the Rector’s Residence: https://lenniegouws.co.za/1-calderbank-lane-82-years-old-but-more-beautiful-than-ever/ )
The wall of the Dam was raised in 1965. At the time new roads were also built. The Herald of 16 April 1965 also reported that tenders for the building of 20 new chalets at the Dam had been accepted.
Boys playing in the run-off under the Mirza gates. The Dam and its environs have been popular playing spot with the boys of the town since it was built. This photo shows the raised portion of the dam wall, built with different stones than the bottom part.
From then onwards the Dam Resort had developed into a popular modern resort. The restaurant complex, that also included a shop, was built and an Olympic standard swimming pool was installed in 1976. Many chalets were built, as well as new toilet and ablution blocks. The modern caravan park was developed in the late 1980s. The Dam has 223 stands for tents.
The Olympic sized swimming pool at the Dam opened about 1976.
Although closed now for many years, in its heyday, the Dam Restaurant was one of the favourite dining places in town.
Not the tree of the song
On an island right next to the former restaurant stood a lone willow tree. A few years ago somebody suggested that this was the willow tree mentioned in a popular Afrikaans song with the lyrics: “Daar in Potchefstroom staan ’n mooi ou wilgeboom.” (There in Potchefstroom stands a beautiful old willow tree). It says further that two lovers carved their names in the trunk of this willow tree. The song was made popular by the duo Herbie and Spence. Numerous enquiries revealed that the writer of the lyrics never had any specific willow tree in mind when he wrote the song.
A willow tree that stood on an island in the Dam near the restaurant later collapsed to form this interesting trunk. It was supposedly the tree mentioned in the song mentioned above, but was, alas, found to be untrue. No carved names were ever spotted on the trunk.
This cartoon map of the Potchefstroom Dam was published by the municipality about the beginning of the 1990s. Note the rondavels, a relic from the earlier years of the Dam, in the centre of the picture. To the left all the activities that were available are depicted, including a water slide, putt-putt court, go-karts and even a merry-go-round.
The Dam plays an integral part in the student life and many tales were told about intervarsities and Jool (Rag).
Saved by students
The Dam was also saved by some brave students. In 1976 Potchefstroom suffered a disastrous flood. (Read my article: https://lenniegouws.co.za/potchefstroom-oorstroom/ )
Three students jumped into the flood waters to open the rusted Mirza gates of the Dam. One was swept away by the flood waters, but all survived the ordeal without any bad repercussions.
If the sluice gates had not been opened timeously, the dam wall would have broken with much worse damage to the town and its people.
The particular way in which the wall of the Dam was built, resulted in it ending up in the Guinness Book of World Records. It was built so that the curve is away from the water. Some prophets of doom described it as one of the most unsafe dams in the world. In spite of this the Dam still stands, making it one of the oldest dams in the old Transvaal.
When open water swimming gained popularity in the early 2000s, the Potchefstroom Dam saw many events. This is the start of the 2005 Energade Race. The boat house in the background is one of the oldest buildings at the Dam. The Boat Club, near the entrance to the Dam, has also been in existence for many years.
During the pandemic the Dam Resort closed down. At the time the facilities were vandalised, transforming the once modern resort into a ruin. An article in the Herald of 6 July 2023 shows the extent of the damage.
In spite of this, the Dam is still a popular spot. Fun days for school kids take place often. For a few years now the Tlokwe Family Day Jazz Festival have been held there on 1 January attracting large crowds.
Beautiful vistas, popular water sports, including fishing, have all been part of the Potchefstroom Dam that is more than a century old.
