White Horizon article in Vrye Weekblad to celebrate Antarctic Treaty in Dec 2019

Vrye Weekblad was at the Woordfees at Stellenbosch University,  Ria Olivier, Principal Investigator of Antarctic Legacy of South Africa met with a friend of ALSA Hanlie Gouws. (see video insert below)

Hanlie published an extract of the diary of the first South African team in Antarctica last year in Vrye Weekblad with the 69^th Anniversary of the Antarctic Treaty

Wit horison: Die dagboek van die eerste SA span in Antarktika 

                                “Op 3 Desember 1959 het ‘n Noorse poolskip, die Polarbjorn, die eerste Suid-Afrikaanse span na Antarktika geneem. Daar het hulle vir langer as ‘n jaar onder die sneeu gebly in ‘n basis wat ons by die Nore geërf het wat ons navorsingswerk daar aan die gang gekry het.” Die spandokter, ANDRÉ LE ROUX VAN DER MERWE, het dagboek gehou van die hele avontuur.

The Publication “Die Wit Horison” was written in Afrikaans by Dr André le Roux van der Merwe, Medical Doctor of SANAE 1 – South Africa’s first Antarctic expedition of 1959-1961.  The text has been translated by Hanlie, who was an environmental journalist before joining Vrye Weekblad, visited Dronning Maud Land in Antarctica in 2011/12. The translation was edited by Marienne de Villiers and final editing of the translation was undertaken by John Cooper.  South Africa’s National Research Foundation and the Trans-Antarctic Association grants have allowed publication of The White Horizon. Human & Rousseau agreed to the publication of the English text. The White Horizon book launch took place in 2018 in Pretoria which three of the first SANAE team members attended. The book is still available from ALSA.

The Antarctic Legacy of South Africa Project was invited by Hanlie to the Mountain Club of South Africa to give a talk to

its Cape Town Section on the work that the project is undertaking. She invites us to talks and make use of the ALSA archive for keeping her readers informed on South Africa’s Antarctic Legacy.

She visit Antarctica and keep up a blog for Die Burger and News 24 did an interview with Hanlie about her experience on Antarctica.

Images copyright Media24