{"id":46359,"date":"2024-04-24T17:13:42","date_gmt":"2024-04-24T15:13:42","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/novanews.co.za\/peoplespost\/an-embarrassing-mess-20240422\/"},"modified":"2025-03-19T22:24:36","modified_gmt":"2025-03-19T20:24:36","slug":"an-embarrassing-mess-20240422","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/novanews.co.za\/peoplespost\/an-embarrassing-mess-20240422\/","title":{"rendered":"Tokai Manor House: Preserving history amidst neglect and ghostly tales"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Today the Tokai Manor House, just below Elephant\u2019s Eye in the Tokai Forest, is a shadow of its former state, which evoked the area\u2019s rich history, not only for locals, but for tourists and others with an interest in the area, such as ghost hunters.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Tokai Baboon Action Group\u2019s (TBAG) Gerry Hunt-Higgs often heads up to the forest to monitor baboon troops roaming the area.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI have lived in Tokai for the past 45 years, and it galls me to see the ever-derelict state of our beautiful, beautiful buildings that hold a tremendous amount of history,\u201d she told People\u2019s Post<\/span>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Hunt-Higgs pointed to the manor\u2019s exterior, in serious need of a new coat of paint and most of its features and thatched roof needing refurbishments to, including the iconic marble Roman bath once hailed as the principal feature of the estate.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThere used to be beautiful statues and pillars featured all around,\u201d she said, \u201cbut today most of it is gone or broken down, all the marble tiles have been stripped and what\u2019s left is overgrown with grass and weeds. The last I heard was that most of the beautiful oregon-pine wood interior had also been stripped and most of its trinkets \u2013 it all went missing.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

According to South African History Online the farm was originally granted to Johan Rauch in 1792. Within two months he had sold it on to Andries Teubes, who probably built its manor in 1795-96 of which the design is credited to French master architect Louis Michel Thibault.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Thibault was South Africa\u2019s first architect who designed many of its finest buildings, such as the Granary, Groot Constantia, Koopmans-De Wet House, and The Drostdy in Graaff-Reinet. These are just a few of the best still standing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIn the early 1800s the residence was owned by Petrus Michiel Eksteen,\u201d CapeInfo.com reported. \u201cHe was a party-loving spendthrift who hosted the finest banquets. His parties were well-known and his cellars always well-stocked.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It was during Eksteen\u2019s time that the house became infamous among myths, legends and old folk\u2019s lore, commonly known as the \u201cGhost of Tokai Manor\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

CapeInfo continued: \u201cDuring one of Eksteen\u2019s New Year\u2019s Eve parties, his son Frederick accepted a wager from his father to ride his horse up the staircase and into the dining room. The guests watched expectantly as he mounted the steep steps of the Manor House on horseback. The horseman circled the dining room table, hooves clattering, spurred on by cheers and laughter from the revellers.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

While descending the exception\u00adally steep steps the horse tripped and both horse and rider fell. The young man broke his neck in the fall and lay dead alongside his horse at the bottom of the staircase.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It is said that the spectral horse and rider still canter through the forest and sometimes, especially on New Year\u2019s Eve, they still try to repeat their foolhardy act. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

However, Hunt-Higgs said she once was present at the manor during New Years eve, and did not hear the sounds such ghost stories illude to.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Last year on Tuesday 6 June, South African National Parks\u2019 (SANParks) new CEO Hapiloe Sello shared encouraging news to stakeholders in Tokai that Table Mountain National Park (TMNP) was allocated an additional R35,9 million to go towards infrastructure maintenance over the next three years (\u201cMountain service gets needed cash injection\u201d, People\u2019s Post<\/span>, 20 June 2023).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

SANParks said of the R35,9 million, R28 million was allocated for the Tokai precinct, R3,9 million for roads, and R4 million for strategic fencing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The R28 million, SANParks added, was needed for upgrading services \u2013 water, sewerage, power supply, communications and access \u201cto have a viable tourism product\u201d \u2013 for the Tokai Manor House and surrounds, including a picnic site and stables. The latter, SANParks said, would be put out on a concession (public-private partnership).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIt\u2019s upsetting and embarrassing for SANParks that everything is in such a sad state of disrepair under their custodianship.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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Manor House: Preserving history amidst neglect and ghostly tales | People's Post<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/novanews.co.za\/peoplespost\/an-embarrassing-mess-20240422\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Tokai Manor House: Preserving history amidst neglect and ghostly tales\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Today the Tokai Manor House, just below Elephant\u2019s Eye in the Tokai Forest, is a shadow of its former state, which evoked the area\u2019s rich history, not only for locals, but for tourists and others with an interest in the area, such as ghost hunters.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/novanews.co.za\/peoplespost\/an-embarrassing-mess-20240422\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" 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