About 50 workers, mostly forklift drivers, are taking Heineken Beverages to the Commission for Conciliation, Mediation and Arbitration. (Photo: Ashraf Hendricks)
Heuningvlei’s traditional donkey cart trips have stopped since 2023 because roads in the surrounding Cederberg wilderness were washed away during winter storms. Many people in this remote village relied for income on hikers and tour groups visiting the donkey cart routes. GroundUp
Heuningvlei is in the Cederberg and home to about 75 people.
Many roads in and around Heuningvlei were washed away or are in a bad state from heavy rainfall earlier this year.
Long-time Heuningvlei resident Dalene van der Westhuizen runs the tourism office and the backpackers, with a committee, in the village.
Hikers make their way through the village. Usually hikers would walk from Pakhuis Pass to Heuningvlei, and have donkeys transport their luggage throughout their hike but this hasn’t been possible for months.
Lumeca and her mother, Audrey Ockhuis, outside their home in Heuningvlei. Ockhuis said she enjoyed growing up in the remote village.
89-year-old Johannes Ockhuis is the oldest person in the village and lived here for most of his life.
