Written by Ursula Wilbraham, supplied by Jemma Gill SSA Youth Influencer 

Over the weekend the Western Cape Springbok Dinner took place 31 Scouts were awarded their Springbok Award. 2024 has been a bumper Springbok Scout year for the 1st Durbanville Scout Group in the Western Cape as no fewer than five Scouts achieved this prestigious award this year. The Springbok Scout Award is the highest award a youth under 18 can achieve within SCOUTS South Africa.

Daniel Wilbraham was the first of the five Scouts to achieve his Springbok Award! He led his Patrol of five Scouts on a two-night/three-day Springbok Expedition in the breathtakingly beautiful Groot Winterhoek mountains. Their two overnight stops were at De Tronk and Groot Kliphuis and other rest stops included Die Hel and Disa Pool where they swam and took in the majestic sights. Daniel undertook a 57-hour long community service project in collaboration with Kids Republic Playschool which is situated next to the homes of the Signal Gun Farm workers in Durbanville. The outcome of this project is a continuous supply of fresh vegetables for the farm workers and their families. Daniel and his Patrol built several large vegetable planters and planted a variety of vegetable seedlings in them. Once the children harvested the first vegetables, the workers were able to save the seeds from those vegetables to start a planting/growing/harvesting process, thereby ensuring a continuous vegetable supply.

Daniel chose a Springbok pioneering project as his Major Scout Skills Project to showcase his prowess in pioneering. He led his team in the construction of a Brynbach Tower which was not only a testament to his leadership and organisational skills, but which also gave his team members the opportunity of consolidating their
pioneering skills and introducing them to the realities and safety precautions of heavy pioneering. Daniel also became the first Scout at 1st Durbanville to earn all four challenge award cords, namely the Bosun’s Cord, The Airman’s Cord, the Bushman’s Thong and, most recently, the Service Cord.

Oscar Berteler was the second Scout to achieve his Springbok Award! He led his Patrol of five Scouts on a two-night/three-day Springbok Expedition in the astoundingly magnificent Cederberg. His 40km hike traversed several very overgrown paths, but the river crossings and pools made it worth it. Oscar undertook a worthy and fulfilling community service project of which the recipients were two underprivileged farms schools in Robertson. Oscar and his Patrol built two large bookshelves which were made from recycled wood pallets and then filled them with over 500 books which he received as donations over a period of time. The bookshelves and books were recently handed over to the two schools and to round off his book-themed project, Oscar spent some time with the children and read them stories.

Oscar chose a Springbok banquet as his Major Scout Skills Project to showcase his culinary skills. He led his team in the preparation of a Dutch-themed banquet which was a solid testament to his leadership and organisational skills as he and three Scouts worked for almost nine hours to cook and serve a delicious meal to the 20 invited guests. Everyone dressed up as farmers and skits and jokes were the order of the day for those who broke the banquet rules. Oscar also earned the Bosun’s Cord.

Keagan Coetzee was the third Scout to achieve his Springbok Award! He led his Patrol of three Scouts on a two night/three-day Springbok Expedition in the sublime Cederberg. His 43km hike started at Pakhuis Pass and ended at the small town of Wuppertal. Thanks to the ideal weather, cool breeze and companionship of the Patrol, everyone reached the end of the hike in good spirits. For his community service project, Keagan worked with a group of Scouts to clean and repaint parts of the Bella Vista old age home in Bellville. The Scouts cleaned the dusty and dirty walls and repainted the window sills of all 10 floors. The residents were delighted with the results.

Keagan chose a Springbok banquet as his Major Scout Skills Project for no fewer than seventy Scouts! He kicked off the year by planning a 007-themed banquet for the 1st Durbanville/2nd Plumstead joint Troop camp at Vogelvlei Yacht Club. The menu included plenty of quiche, butter chicken and peppermint-crisp tart for dessert. Keagan also earned the Airman’s Cord and the Bushman’s Thong.

Luke Fittock was the fourth Scout to achieve his Springbok Award! He led his Patrol of three Scouts on a two night/three-day Springbok Expedition along the Gecko Trail in the Nuy Valley near Worcester. Luke’s community service project addressed environmental conservation in his community. With a group of Scouts he painted the trunks of camphor and fever trees in the Durbanville area to combat bark stripping.

For his Major Scouts Skills Project, Luke chose to build a campsite on an island on the main dam at Klein Fissantekraal on the outskirts of Durbanville. He and his team of Scouts worked for multiple days spread over the course of a year to complete the project. In order to make the island more habitable, they constructed items such as stairs and wind screens. Luke also earned the Airman’s Cord.

Hannah Murphy was the fifth Scout to achieve her Springbok Award! For her Scout Expedition, she and four Scouts hiked a 42km circular route over 3 days in the Groot Winterhoek Wilderness despite the cold, rainy weather. For her Springbok community service, Hannah held a stationary drive to gather pens, pencils, colouring-in books and other items.  Together with her Patrol she sewed over 100 zipped pencil cases, filled them with the stationery donations and handed them over to Wamakersvallei Primary School in Wellington.

Her Major Scouts Skills Project was a Christmas themed banquet which was held in December for twenty guests. She and her Patrol prepared a delicious vegetarian three course meal. The entertainment included “forfeits” and the exchange of secret Santa gifts.

Photos: Supplied by 1st Durbanville Scout Group.