The Griqua's Apprentice: Ancient Healing Arts Of The Karoo

by Antoinette Pienaar

When Afrikaans singer and actress Antoinette Pienaar first stood before renowned Griqua healer Oom Johannes Willemse, he said: ‘So you have arrived here at last, Juffrou!’ For almost forty years Oom Johannes had been dreaming of a woman in a red bakkie to whom he would transfer his knowledge – knowledge passed from grandfather to grandson since the dawn of time. After a seven-year apprenticeship, Antoinette now writes about the healing powers of Karoo herbs. About how they can move you – for Oom Johannes’s approach heals not only body, but also soul. In The Griqua’s Apprentice you hear the warm voice of Antoinette as thousandsof people have come to know it on radio and on stage. With insight and empathy, and always ready with an anecdote, she shares her knowledge and Oom Johannes’s wisdom compassionately and wholly. Enriched with photographs, stories, advice and indices, The Griqua’s Apprentice is as much a reference as it is a storybook.

143 pages, Paperback

First published October 1, 2008

About the author

One of five sisters, Antoinette Pienaar was born in Carnarvon and studied drama at the University of Stellenbosch. She became a singer and performed countrywide, often telling the stories of historical heroines such as Krotoa of the Cape. For the past seven years she has been apprentice to Oom Johannes Willemse in the deep recesses of the Karoo. The Grigua's Apprentice is the translation of her first book. For advice on herbs, phone Antoinette weekdays between 17:00 and 19:00 on 023 4161659.

The oldest of twelve siblings, Oom Johannes Willemse was born on the farm Breekkierie in the Kenhardt district. With his brothers, he accompanied his father, a pieceworker, from farm to farm, opening irrigation furrows, ploughing lands, building stone kraals and digging pits. In the veld his Oupa Hansie taught him the healing knowledge of the Griquas. Through a life of hard, wholesome work he has treated many with the healing arts of the Karoo.

Antoinette, a Karoo child from Carnarvon in the Northern Cape, already knew as a little girl that she would one day tell stories and learn about herbs. Since she could not obtain a degree in story telling, she decided to study drama and later became known as an actress and story teller. During a trip to Mali, West Africa, she contracted and nearly died of cerebral malaria. Seriously weakened, she went to live at her parents' home in Beaufort West. During a coincidental visit to Theefontein, the farm of second cousin Jacques Pienaar, she and Oom Johannes' paths finally crossed. "Only now madam arrives,' was his slightly impatient first words to her. Since then she has moved into a workers' hut opposite Oom Johannes' where she not only experienced complete healing, but also slowly but surely learnt about herbs, veld-knowledge and peace. Seven years later in 2008, the book Kruidjie roer my, became the first step in preserving the Karoo herb heritage for South Africa and the world.

Antoinette still performs, but these days her shows are another way in which she is 'custodian' of precious heritage that would otherwise become extinct. Soon (May 2009) she and Oom Johannes will mostly be on the farm so that Antoinette can learn more and write a second book.

Reviews

[Alet · Rating 4 out of 5]

4

[Lizanne Pitt · Rating 4 out of 5]

Fascinating learning more about Karoo herbs… I know lots about international ones but not nearly enough about our local herbs. Would love to learn more.