Anthony Hocking

On our trip to the Eastern Cape in April 2021, we booked an overnight stay in a town called Bethulie, to break the long journey. Bethulie, on the eastern side of the Gariep Dam, on the Southern-most tip of the Free State and close to the Eastern Cape border, is largely a sheep and cattle farming town established in 1829. It has the longest combined road and rail bridge in Southern Africa, which was completed in 1901. Bethulie also contains the site of  one of the largest Boer concentration camps. The town came to some prominence when screen writer and actor Patrick Mynhardt, it’s most famous son, published his book called, “A Boy from Bethulie”.