Stoep Stories No 9

STOEP STORIES – TALES FROM THE KAROO
Published by the Graaff-Reinet Heritage Society 

BEWARE THE KUDU

By Mrs M Boshoff

Kudu in the Karoo and particularly around Graaff-Reinet where they are plentiful are a danger on the roads when they wander at dusk and dawn; they have caused serious accidents.
Sometimes even this menace can cause a chuckle. A decade or two ago a farmer on the Aberdeen road about 15 kms from Graaff-Reinet was returning home with his wife after supper with their son and his wife. It was dark and cold and the farmer was concentrating on the road. Suddenly there were two loud bangs and, since there had been some unrest in the town he immediately thought they had been shot at. He almost lost control of the bakkie but managed to keep it on the road and raced for home. He drove right up to the front door, hurried inside and locked the up.

At first light the next morning, there was a knocking on the front door. The farmer opened up to find one of his workmen on the doorstep.
“Morning” said the worker, “what must I do with the kudu”?
“Kudu”said the farmer…”what kudu”?
“The kudu on the back of the bakkie” said the worker.
This encounter had a good ending; only the kudu got hurt. And furthermore, the dead animal probably ended up as prime biltong!