Molteno, named after the first premier of the Cape Colony, Sir John Molteno, was founded in 1874. It became a municipality in 1884. During the Anglo Boer War it served as a British military base and the Battle of Stormsberg (1899) took place in the vicinity. The town is situated on the Stormberg mountain range at an altitude of 1580 m. Molteno is thus favoured for it’s climate, particularly by asthma sufferers. Winter snowfalls are not uncommon. Molteno lies on the main railway line from Johannesburg to East London, about 300 km from the latter and 80 km from Queenstown. The town started off as a coal mining centre of great promise, until competition from the Natal and Transvaal coalfields eventually put an end to production. Today it has become a prosperous wool growing centre, as well as for cattle, wheat and stud farming. It is also the home of the nationally famous Ouma Rusks, a bone meal factory, a well known cabinet making firm, a handicraft design enterprise and a brick making plant. There are many amenities to meet the needs of the local community and visitors. Two hotels, a caravan park with all facilities and basic accommodation near the Molteno Dam in an adapted railway coach. Good medical facilities, including a fully equipped hospital. Shops and services to cater for most needs. The region is particularly rich in rock paintings, some of excellent quality and dating back thousands of years. There are also fossils of many kinds, a wealth of semi precious stones (at three extinct volcanoes in the area), while stone age implements are scattered over the district. The scenery is, in some parts, spectacular and the area is rich in succulents of infinite variety. Also worth seeing is Stormberg Junction, scene of much Anglo Boer War activity, and the site of the Stormberg Battlefields.

GENERAL INFORMATION

How to get there

Aliwal North 124 km, Burgersdorp 66 km, Dordrecht 68 km, East London 282 km, Queenstown 76 km

Banks

FNB, Standard

HISTORICAL VIEW

Methodist Church – Built in 1883

The Dutch Reformed Church – Built in 1905

The Clock Tower

Built in 1903, this is a national monument featured on the label of a well known medicinal product.

ATTRACTIONS

Annual Events

Agricultural Show – held once a year

Isuzu 4x4 rally

The Home of Ouma Rusks

Simba products was founded in Molteno in 1939, during a period of severe depression for the farming community. Anna Greyvenstein, the wife of a local farmer and the ‘Ouma’ of our story, was one of several ladies given a few shillings each by the Church with the exhortation to increase the value in the best way possible in the interests of the community. Mrs Greyvenstein thereupon set about baking rusks – so successfully that within a short space of time she found her product greatly in demand and the money started flowing in. Her fame soon grew and before she was accepting orders from customers as far afield as Queenstown. Meanwhile, her son went to work in Johannesburg and discovered a ready market for the rusks there. An outbuilding of the farm was converted into a bakehouse which remained in use until it was destroyed by fire in 1945. Subsequently a loan was provided by the Industrial Development Corporation to build a factory on the site of the one which exists today. Production boomed and in the 1950’s potato chips were added to the product range. In the early 1960’s the company name was changed to Simba-Quix, and the business was eventually sold to Fedfood in the 1970’s. The Greyvenstein family then moved to Johannesburg, but the Simba-Quix head office remained at Molteno. From humble beginnings at the Simba Molteno factory the Simba organization, with the head office now in Isando, Johannesburg, blossomed into the mighty business it it today – with six manufacturing plants and depots nationwide. Packets of Ouma rusks and Simba chips can be seen in nearly every grocery store and café in the country and have made Simba the leading snack manufacturer in South Africa. ‘Ouma’ Greyvenstein lived on to see the ultimate rewards for her efforts begun half a century earlier. She died in 1988 in her late 90’s. Her name remains an enduring legend in Molteno and in places far beyond.

ACTIVITIES

Angling

The 7 km long Molteno Dam offering fishing, boating, water sports and other recreational facilities.

Hiking

Hunting - (on private estates)

Bird Shooting

Accommodation in and around Molteno