About 17km south of Jansenville stands a couple of gnomes surveying the landscape. Why are they there? Why not pull over and ask them.

The story of the Karoo’s konka gnomes along the R75 began 50 years ago when an actress married a Karoo farmer. The actress, Rijkie van Nijkerk, a native of the Strand, and Ice Lotter, a farmer’s son from the Jansenville area, found eternal love in each other after both ended up in the same theatre company.

Their daughter, Francie Taljaard, a farmer’s wife from Jansenville, tells: ” About 50 years ago, my mother had a roadside stall there. She sold all sorts of cement garden ornaments (which she made herself). The gnome was an advertisement for what was sold there. The gnome has had different meanings for different people over the years.”

The original gnome has disappeared, but the two smaller ones are still there and, who knows, maybe their numbers will increase in future.