Oom Stanley se Liggie

Stanley de Wit was a keen mountaineer. He regularly climbed the Elandsberg. On his numerous trips, he noticed that there was a perennial stream flowing down a vertical rock.  In May 1963 he felt inspired to install a light that would be seen from the town. It was a bicycle light powered by a bicycle dynamo. This was in fact a very small hydroelectric unit. As long as the water flow was constant, the light shone. Bulbs, however, had to be replaced from time to time. Stanley did not stop at just the one light he installed 5 more lights, this time they were wind driven. The lights this time were coloured and if the wind blew from the South the red light shone. Sadly however the system did not survive the prevailing winds and the lights were destroyed, there are still some old rusty bits of the lights left to tell the story. Stanley maintained the first light for 30 years climbing the mountain 278 times. He continued until his knees gave in and he had to pass the mantle over to Jackie du Toit and Jan Barnard from Nature Conservation. After the alternator in the unit was damaged in 2014, by lightning, the unit was modernized and a photovoltaic LED light was installed.

The light is at the turning point of the Elandsberg hiking trail, a hard climb of 6,1 km and 1 430 m above sea level. It takes about 4 – 5 hours to get to the light.