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IAN STRAUSS
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THURU
- Place of the Wild Cat -
(based on a true story)
© Ian Strauss 2018
Synopsis by
Ian Strauss
(+27) (0) 84 720-9528
A young woman fights for her rights and her survival in the Kalahari. Will she be able to stand her ground against the forces of nature and a corrupt government agent?
During the 1950's the South African government handed farms to potential farmers. They had to develop the land and drill for sustainable water. When this is achieved the farm is transferred onto their name. Tina's husband, Andrew, was one of these farmers, but he dies after three years of marriage. Tina continues to develop the farm with the help of the neighbours' son, Hermon. Together they continue the drilling process, but Martin, a government agent, tries his best to convince Tina to leave the farm. Because she is a woman the farm may not be transferred to her.
Hermon and Tina marry and together they fight against the forces of nature. It's very dry and the sheep die of thirst and hunger. The wild animals suffer as well and the baboons descend from the mountains and kill the sheep. Hermon must take drastic measures to fight the baboons away from the sheep. There are unforeseen consequences to his actions. They also have great losses as the drilling machine breaks down and the workers that fall prey to everyday hazards in the Kalahari.
Hermon falls ill due to an unknown condition. Black magic is at hand and a woman mysteriously dies with burning wounds by her own evil spell.
This is a story of hardship and determination to fight for their loved ones and the place they love. The story also shows the good side of relationships between White and Black cultures. But how much can they endure and will the “Earth that roars” belong to them?
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SCOTTY SMITH
- Robin Hood of the Kalahari -
(based on a true story)
© Ian Strauss 2018
Synopsis by
Ian Strauss
(+27) (0) 84 720-9528
Scotty Smith - Robin Hood of the Kalahari. A reckless thief and plunderer who stole the people's hearts.
George St Leger Lennox (1845–1919) born into a noble Scottish family, popularly known as Scotty
Smith, was a South African bandit known as South Africa's Robin Hood of the Kalahari. Many times,
living up to his nickname, he robbed the rich to give to the poor. He was well known as a cattle thief,
lover and thief of horses, dealer in illegal diamonds, smuggler and friend of the poor.
As he was not willing to marry the girl that his father had chosen for him in Scotland, he therefore did not receive his inheritance and he left home on the first available ship. Scotty trained as a veterinarian andland surveyor. He was an expert on horses.
Scotty arrived in South Africa in 1877.
When he arrived in South Africa there had been at least nine tribal wars going on and he got involved in gun-running, general theft and hunting activities in the then Bechuanaland (Botswana). He was also
involved in legal and illegal diamond buying in the diamond fields of Kimberley, horse theft and highway robberies. He was caught and sentenced several times for these crimes, but, always managed to escape somehow and claimed that no prison cell could hold him. It appears that a lot of these activities were on behalf of the British government and he was released without blowing his cover.
Scotty Smith was a genius when it came to fooling people into believing that he was someone else by
changing his character. Besides English and probably Scottish Gaelic, Scotty was fluent in German,
Afrikaans and an unknown number of Bushmen languages, and possibly also in a few of the other native Southern African languages.
After being in jail for illegal diamond running, he took on the character of a reformed sinner and became the confidant of the British commissioner at the time, who gave him a position as sub-inspector of the Native police. As he had been a British supporter all his life he acted as a spy for England on the Boers as well as the Germans who infiltrated from South-West Africa.
Unfortunately, it was in Smith's blood to gamble and caused havoc wherever he went and although he
tried, he could not live a safe and quiet life. He lived dangerously and when a Boer commando attacked
his farm, he was forced to leave for the safety of his wife and children.
Scotty died a respected elderly townsmen at the age of seventy-four in Upington, a town in the Northern Cape province of South Africa during the 1918/19 flu epidemic.