A tribute to one of the Soutpansberg’s stalwarts

Last month, the region said their final farewell to one of the stalwarts of the Soutpansberg, Mr Poog Henning, when he passed away aged 77 on 21 July. The following was sent in by his family to pay tribute to a man who has meant so much to so many of the region’s people:

Poog was born Arthur Smith Henning on 14 February 1937 at Elim Hospital and was immediately nicknamed “Poog” by his brother John, a nickname that stood the test of time.

Poog’s early school years were spent at Louis Trichardt Primary School where he boarded with Mrs Bergh (Denis Schnehage’s grandmother) and also with the Coxwells until 1948. At the time, there was a strong Swiss Missionary community at Elim and here he learnt to play a good game of tennis at their club. Poog also took music lessons with a certain Mrs Brunschweiller at Lemana (Elim) until 1949. He never took to horse riding as a youngster and this was not surprising as he lost half his middle toe after being trodden on by one of the farm horses.

At an early age, Poog started taking an interest in the Tsonga culture and learnt to speak the language fluently. On the farm Sweetwaters (now Mununzwu Estate) he learnt how to shoot with his pellet gun and later on with larger calibres, becoming an accomplished hunter.

Throughout his life, Poog had bad luck with knee injuries, the first of which happened when he fell, in 1947, into an open manhole for the petrol valve at Northern Motors (now Clicks) where he badly damaged his knee.

In 1950, Poog left for St John's College in Johannesburg (Nash House) where he continued his music by playing a bugle in the cadet band. He used to catch the train from Bandelierkop to Johannesburg along with school friends “Lumpy” Lyall Engels, Peter Knott, Paul Thomas, Gordon Coxwell and Errol Spud Murphy (Musina). He also continued playing sports, including swimming, rugby and tennis.

In 1955, Poog started attending Tukkies university to study dental prelim, at which he excelled. His uncle, Jan Henning, was a dentist and was hoping that he could leave his practice to Poog once he had graduated. Unfortunately, Poog’s university career was cut short because his elderly father, Oom Johannes, was now in ill health. Poog returned to Sweetwaters to look after the farming operations which were mainly seed potatoes, and he was a member of the “Klein Spelonken Seed Potato Association”. This also included the large Sweetwaters Dairy which had a depot in Louis Trichardt and a large herd of 1 000 head of cattle, which grazed on the hired farms Lovedale Park, Vleifontein, Melkhoutkopjes (Theo Menne) and the Lavin farm (now Ben Lavin). Poog was an active member of the Bonsmara Breeders association and was a very enthusiastic cattleman. Here het met many of his friends in the district who shared his love for cattle. Poog also farmed with tobacco, wheat, cotton, pumpkins and onions on the family farm Tuscanan, located near Pontdrift on the Botswana border.

In 1961, Poog was married to Jean Maureen Mackinnon. They had four children (Carl 1964, Rocco 1966, Sanchia 1968 and Nicola 1970). Sanchia died tragically in a car accident in 1988.

In 1965, Poog started planting avos and also granadillas. As a result of a number of hail storms, the potatoes were eventually phased out and granadillas planted in their place. Macadamias were added in 1972 and Poog was among the first to do so in the district. He was very active in the farming community and was one of the founder members of the South African Avocado Growers Association (SAAGA). He later also served as chairman of the association.

In 1980, Sweetwaters was expropriated by the government for the relocation of Kutama and Sinthumule, whose residents refused to move. The farm was incorporated into Venda. Poog continued farming as the estate manager until 2003, when he founded the company Mununzwu Newco. Shortly thereafter, his son Carl joined him and they grew their business to include Ngome Estate in Vryheid, KZN (old Sapekoe tea estate), and also Multispray, with branches in Johannesburg and Cape Town, which supplies spraying equipment to the farming community.

As an adult, Poog always belonged to service organisation in the district which were mainly directed at those people less fortunate:

* He was an active member and chairman of the Round Table;

* Joined Rotary in 1982 and became president in 1985;

* Was director of Rivoni Care for the Blind (Elim) and helped to start several projects;

* After Carl came back from Johannesburg to farm 2004, Poog became involved in a housing project and built 168 houses for his workers.

* Poog was an honorary member of the Lemba Cultural Association, whom he gave permission to hold their annual meetings on Sweetwaters in 1956. He was very interested in the Lemba heritage and was always proud of his contribution to them. He advised them not to try for a homeland, but to have a cultural centre and offered for them to have their meetings on the farm. To this day, the Lembas still hold their AGM in September on Sweetwaters (Mununzwu Estate).

* Poog built the Mununzwu Elim Crèche in 2008;

* He was a lifelong patron of Hlanganani Care for the Aged (Mrs Florence Khosa) and Rotary often partnered with Hlanganani on projects; Poog often represented Rotary there.

* He was deeply involved in the Elim community and was well respected for his advice and integrity on many matters; and

* he held education most dear, and there were many students whom he sponsored to better themselves.

Poog loved to write a diary and wrote an A4 page every day of whom he saw, what happened on the farm and even noted events that touched his friends. He loved helping his staff and there were many children which he helped put through school, and some even through teacher training college.

Poog was fiercely loyal towards his family and loved his grandchildren dearly. His eldest granddaughter, Rebecca, learnt only hours after his passing that she had been accepted to Onderstepoort in 2015 to carry on with a degree in veterinary service.

Poog had a lovely sense of humour and always had the biggest smile when he saw you. He had the very rare gift of getting the best out of people and this is what always attracted people to him. He always had time to talk to the stream of visitors who came to his office.

Poog was buried on Sweetwaters at the Henning Graveyard after a moving ceremony held by Prof Koos van Rooy, which included all the workers and many friends and acquaintances from Elim and surrounding areas.

May he rest in peace.

Date:29 August 2014

By: Andries van Zyl

Andries joined the Zoutpansberger and Limpopo Mirror in April 1993 as a darkroom assistant. Within a couple of months he moved over to the production side of the newspaper and eventually doubled as a reporter. In 1995 he left the newspaper group and travelled overseas for a couple of months. In 1996, Andries rejoined the Zoutpansberger as a reporter. In August 2002, he was appointed as News Editor of the Zoutpansberger, a position he holds until today.

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