{"id":86626,"date":"2018-11-06T07:11:49","date_gmt":"2018-11-06T05:11:49","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/mobserver.co.za\/?p=86626"},"modified":"2018-11-06T11:58:51","modified_gmt":"2018-11-06T09:58:51","slug":"watch-place-refuge-vibrant-village-now-ghost-town","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/develop.citizen.co.za\/middelburg-observer\/news-headlines\/2018\/11\/06\/watch-place-refuge-vibrant-village-now-ghost-town\/","title":{"rendered":"WATCH: The Place of Refuge &#8211; Once a vibrant village, now a ghost town"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>The tourism hotspot was established after a Missionary from the Berlin Mission Society, Alexander Merensky purchased the farm in 1865.<br \/>\nBotshabelo soon became a vibrant little village with a population of over a thousand residents, all of whom played a part in the building of the famous Botshabelo Chapel.<\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_86628\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-86628\" style=\"width: 520px\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-86628\" src=\"https:\/\/mobserver.co.za\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/92\/2018\/11\/Botsh-2-Copy-520x400.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"520\" height=\"400\" srcset=\"https:\/\/dwu32cgxelq1c.cloudfront.net\/local_newspapers\/sites\/92\/2018\/11\/Botsh-2-Copy-520x400.jpg 520w, https:\/\/dwu32cgxelq1c.cloudfront.net\/local_newspapers\/sites\/92\/2018\/11\/Botsh-2-Copy-300x231.jpg 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 520px) 100vw, 520px\" \/><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-86628\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">One of the buildings in the Botshabelo village.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>Caught amidst ownership disputes for decades, the property was finally handed over to the Botshabelo Community Development Trust in 2005.<br \/>\nWith each change of hands, promises were made to restore Botshabelo to the proud attraction it once was but financial mismanagement has led to its deterioration.<\/p>\n<p>Since then, the plains that once teemed with wildlife is now a barren wasteland.<\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_86627\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-86627\" style=\"width: 520px\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-86627\" src=\"https:\/\/mobserver.co.za\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/92\/2018\/11\/Botsh-1-Copy-520x400.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"520\" height=\"400\" srcset=\"https:\/\/dwu32cgxelq1c.cloudfront.net\/local_newspapers\/sites\/92\/2018\/11\/Botsh-1-Copy-520x400.jpg 520w, https:\/\/dwu32cgxelq1c.cloudfront.net\/local_newspapers\/sites\/92\/2018\/11\/Botsh-1-Copy-300x231.jpg 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 520px) 100vw, 520px\" \/><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-86627\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">A view of the plains with no wildlife in sight. Game figures have decreased drastically due to poaching in the area.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>With the wildlife figures dwindling so drastically, a game capture operation was launched.<\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_86630\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-86630\" style=\"width: 520px\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-86630\" src=\"https:\/\/mobserver.co.za\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/92\/2018\/11\/Botsh-4-Copy-520x400.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"520\" height=\"400\" srcset=\"https:\/\/dwu32cgxelq1c.cloudfront.net\/local_newspapers\/sites\/92\/2018\/11\/Botsh-4-Copy-520x400.jpg 520w, https:\/\/dwu32cgxelq1c.cloudfront.net\/local_newspapers\/sites\/92\/2018\/11\/Botsh-4-Copy-300x231.jpg 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 520px) 100vw, 520px\" \/><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-86630\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Fort Merensky is a piece of history on its own. The wooden platform that once served as a lookout point has been used as firewood.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>Ms Rachell Visagie, who is leading the operation, was given permits to capture the wildlife until the middle of November. She has arranged with the trustees to purchase the animals from them legally.<\/p>\n<p>The wildlife that is being captured will then be sold to game farms where the correct measures of conservation are set in place.<\/p>\n<div class='tie-fluid-width-video-wrapper tie-ignore-fitvid' style='margin-bottom: 30px;'>\n\t\t\t<iframe style='width: 100%; min-height: 300px; aspect-ratio: 16\/9;' src='https:\/\/www.youtube-nocookie.com\/embed\/AXCSVTyWdc4' loading='lazy'><\/iframe>\n\t\t<\/div>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<h3>Other News:<\/h3>\n<p><strong><a class=\"anchor_post\" href=\"https:\/\/mobserver.co.za\/84862\/r10-000-reward-information\/\" target=\"_blank\">R10 000 reward for information<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong><a class=\"anchor_post\" href=\"https:\/\/mobserver.co.za\/84818\/kill-truck-driver-hears-hijackers-argue-fate\/\" target=\"_blank\">\u2018We should kill him\u2019 \u2013 Truck driver hears how hijackers argue about his fate<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n<div id=\"twenty_seventeen_advert_slider\"><\/div>\n<p><strong><a class=\"anchor_post\" href=\"https:\/\/mobserver.co.za\/84823\/trafficupdate-avoid-n4-near-machadodorp\/\" target=\"_blank\">#TrafficUpdate: Avoid N4 near Machadodorp<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong><a class=\"anchor_post\" href=\"https:\/\/mobserver.co.za\/84811\/machadodorp-two-granted-bail\/\" target=\"_blank\">VIDEO: Machadodorp two granted bail<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<h3><\/h3>\n<h3>Want breaking news on the go?<\/h3>\n<p>\u2022 Save our standby number (072 248 3855) and send us a WhatsApp message with the words \u201cAdd me\u201d to be added to our broadcast list.<\/p>\n<p>\u2022 Like us on\u00a0<a class=\"anchor_post\" href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/MiddelburgObserver\/\" target=\"_blank\">Facebook<\/a>, follow us on\u00a0<a class=\"anchor_post\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/MOBSERV\" target=\"_blank\">Twitter<\/a>\u00a0and\u00a0<a class=\"anchor_post\" 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wilderness.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":8164,"featured_media":86629,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"hasGravity":false,"cxt_article_byline":"Sjani Campher","cxt_disable_google_ads":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[7,2],"tags":[1649,14577,14575,14578,14581,14579,10010,14580,12898,14582,14576,10333],"class_list":["post-86626","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-local-news","category-news-headlines","tag-botshabelo","tag-botshabelo-game-capture","tag-botshabelo-trust","tag-deterioration-of-botshabelo-village","tag-finincial-mismanagement","tag-heritage-site-left-in-ruins","tag-local-news","tag-maladministration-of-botshabelo-trust","tag-middelburg-news","tag-millions-stolen-from-botshabelo-trust-fund","tag-poaching-at-botshabelo","tag-trusted-news"],"category_labels":{"Category":"News","SubCategory":"Local news"},"tag_labels":["Botshabelo","botshabelo game capture","Botshabelo Trust","deterioration of botshabelo village","finincial mismanagement","heritage site left in ruins","local news","maladministration of botshabelo trust","middelburg news","millions stolen from botshabelo trust fund","poaching at botshabelo","trusted news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/develop.citizen.co.za\/middelburg-observer\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/86626","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/develop.citizen.co.za\/middelburg-observer\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/develop.citizen.co.za\/middelburg-observer\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/develop.citizen.co.za\/middelburg-observer\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/8164"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/develop.citizen.co.za\/middelburg-observer\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=86626"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/develop.citizen.co.za\/middelburg-observer\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/86626\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/develop.citizen.co.za\/middelburg-observer\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/86629"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/develop.citizen.co.za\/middelburg-observer\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=86626"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/develop.citizen.co.za\/middelburg-observer\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=86626"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/develop.citizen.co.za\/middelburg-observer\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=86626"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}