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Cattle Dip / Dipgat
Hermitage, Swellendam, Western Cape
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Contact Artefacts | MenuHomeUpfront Now Up Books Towns Structures People Firms Lexicon | Cattle Dip / Dipgat | | ||||||
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Click to view map Coordinates: | An outbreak of East Coast fever, a disease caused by the parasite Theileria parva, transmitted by the brown ear tick, Rhipicephalus appendiculatus, was experienced in South Africa in 1914 resulting in massive cattle deaths. In an effort to control the disease, a Government order was issued making weekly cattle dipping compulsory at the owner's costs. By this method East Coast Fever was eradicated by 1954. This dip was built to service cattle of owners of small herds or single milk cows as was common household practice in those days and located near the nearby stream for the water required to keep it filled with a 20% solution of arsenic. The plunge trough is flanked by two crushes, one for corralling the cattle before they were driven into the dip, the other to drain them and so have the excess drip water return to the trough so as not to waste the excess dip poisons. In 2009, at the initiative of the Speaker of the Municipal Council of Swellendam, Councillor J du Toit Loubser, the 'Dipgat' was restored. The restoration was conferred a Merit Award by the Swellendam Heritage Association. References:
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