Riemvasmaak is a settlement situated between the Orange River and the now dry Molopo River, in the Northern Cape Province of South Africa, close to the Namibian border.
Riemvasmaak is located north of the Augrabies Falls, about 60 km from Kakamas and 170 km from the Nakop Border Post with Namibia. The settlement falls within the Kai !Garib Local Municipality and the ZF Mgcawu District Municipality.
Riemvasmaak covers a large area of the Northern Cape and has imposing mountains, extensive desert plains, and miles of unspoiled wilderness. Dating back millions of years, Riemvasmaak is a place of haunting beauty.
The name Riemvasmaak means ‘tighten the strap’ or ‘tied with straps’. Early in the 1900’s, the Bushmen, who also lived in the area, stole the community’s stock animals. These stock thieves were caught and tied to a large rock in the Molopo River with thongs or straps (called ‘rieme’ in Afrikaans). When the community people came to fetch the thieves the next morning, all they found were the straps left lying on the rocks. From then onwards, the area was known as Riemvasmaak and the community as the ‘Riemvasmaakers’.
Riemvasmaak is a wilderness born from violent volcanic activity millions of years ago, but it is a land of beauty that takes on spiritual proportions. Here you can relax in the hot springs, dwarfed by 80m high granite cliffs.
History
It was originally settled in the early 1930s by people of Xhosa, Damara, Herero, Nama, and Coloured origin, but in the early 1970s, the community was sent back to their ethnic homelands by the apartheid government to make way for a military testing site. The Damara group was sent to Khorixas in South-West Africa (today Namibia) and became known as Riemvasmakers. They were given land by Damara Chief Justus ǁGaroëb to settle in that area.
In 1975, Riemvasmaak became a military testing site, Riemvasmaak Ranges, for live fire exercises of the SADF Armour, Artillery, and Air Force until 1994. Long Range Artillery of calibres 120 mm and above, as well as air-to-ground rockets, cluster munitions, and ground-to-ground rockets and missiles were tested. It also garrisoned a Company/Squadron of the 62nd Mechanized Infantry and two Companies of the 8 SAI of the SADF, co-located with a Target Locating Regiment of the SADF Artillery and a Rocket Artillery Battery.
In 1998, a process of land restitution allowed the return of families and communities. Some of the Namibian Riemvasmakers returned, but a residual group founded their own traditional authority. They are seeking recognition from the Namibian government to be recognised as a separate Damara clan.
The Riemvasmaakers land claim was successful, and a large number returned to their ancestral lands in 1997.
The Melkbosrand area, consisting of the farms or areas known as Hartebeesvlak, Blousyfe,r and Wabrand that cover the northern side of the Augrabies Gorge and the Augrabies Falls National Park, was deproclaimed by parliament, withdrawing it from the national park, with the proviso that it be used for community-based eco-tourism and conservation. Opening to the public was expected in 2015.
