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Among the trustees elected by proxy during an annual general meeting (AGM) on October 11 emerged three new faces, while one old hand in the estate’s management history continues to carry forth the baton.
Congratulations are due to newly elected trustees Marilyn Kamp, Chris Horsley, and Gerrit ‘Fielies’ Nieuwoudt, who joined Gerrit Botha at the Kingswood HOA (Homeowners’ Association) helm, and are sure to benefit from his longterm experience at Kingswood.
Gerrit Botha has been a trustee since 2009, with only brief interruptions in service during the preceding decade of his involvement.
“Over the past year, I’ve stepped back a little, leaving some of the activities in the knowledgeable hands of former trustees Roy Edge and Pieter Viljoen. But I have always remained part of the process.”
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Gerrit explains that there is great synergy of late between the HOA trustees, and the trustees representing KGE, i.e. Kingswood Golf Estate (Pty) Ltd.
“If in the past there were matters to be settled between the homeowners and developers, we now have a great working relationship. This is essential for us to move forward, as the next two years will be crucial.”
He is elated by the decision to buy the gatehouse and echoed Kingswood CEO Willem Jacobs when paying tribute to residents for their proactive involvement.
“Along with the outgoing trustees, I thank all members for their diligent participation, without which this process would not have run as smoothly as it did.”
At the audited meeting where the new trustees were elected and financial statements approved, 89% of members voted in favour of the acquisition of the gatehouse property and 92% voted in favour of accepting the settlement agreement and the transfer of the roads and private open spaces in Phases 1 to 3, which is covered elsewhere in this edition.
“The outgoing HOA trustees congratulate the new trustees and thank them for their willingness to serve this wonderful Kingswood community,” he says.
Gerrit’s ambition is to create a world-class clubhouse for all residents and club members to enjoy. “Hopefully, we will soon be in a position to announce a brainstorm session about the project.” When not concerning himself with the smooth running and future planning of strategic matters affecting the Kingswood Golf Estate, Gerrit is in charge of Momentum Distribution Services for the Cape and Free State Chris Horsley is excited to serve as a trustee of the Kingswood HOA and no stranger to the format. “I’m comfortable with this role, having often in the past been an active participant of homeowners’ and residents’ membership bodies,” he explains.
He chuckles and says these past experiences sometimes equated to being part of a primary school committee, but in the case of his Kingswood colleagues, he is enthusiastic about getting to know the new team and looks forward to “making it work”.
Chris and wife Alyson have lived at the estate since November 2017. They relocated from Bedfordview in Joburg and they are ecstatic to be permanent residents now. Although Chris worked in the Free State for many years, he is not intimidated by his new home town’s mother tongue of preference We spent many years in Welkom where Afrikaans is the lingua franca,” says Chris, whose career as extractive metallurgist comprised various levels of responsibility at gold recovery plants and refineries.
He started off running metallurgical plants for Anglo American for 15 years at Free State Goldfields. In 1996, the Horsleys moved to Johannesburg where Chris held various senior positions in operations, marketing and gold supply chain management at Rand Refinery.
Another 15 years later, Chris left Rand Refinery to become an independent consultant for the UK-based World Gold Council, and was instrumental in developing the Conflict Free Gold Standard. Being idle is not his wont, so when relocating to the Southern Cape, Chris became involved with the Gouritz Cluster Biosphere Reserve (GCBR). He has been a director of its board since October 2019, and currently serves as vice chairman.
Alyson is responsible for GCBR’s marketing and communications while Chris does consulting work for this non-profit company, which aims to be a catalyst for change towards sustainable development.
“We have lived on golf estates before, and the style and location of Kingswood appealed to us,” says Chris. “I don’t play golf, but we enjoy walking our dogs on the estate and really like the mountain views.
“My daughter and son live in the Netherlands, but they always rave about the pictures I send them — and about the estate, the few times they have been able to visit here “The people of Kingswood are friendly, helpful and nice to chat to. I’m not yet familiar with my fellow trustees, but am looking forward to getting to know them and for us to tackle the road ahead together.”
When we first caught up with Marilyn Kamp, she was out walking Lucy, her daughter Linda’s Maltese puppy. Lucy is the only furchild in the Kamp household.
“Our daughters are all grown up now, with Linda having recently moved to live with us at Kingswood after the lodge she managed in Mozambique was adversely affected by the various lockdowns.
“Over the last year, with things in the hospitality industry spiralling out of control, she has been spending much time with us at Kingswood and it has now become a long-term project to keep her with us on a permanent basis. She has been successful in a job application with Amazon and now works from home.”
Marilyn ‘semi-retired’ and her husband Allan retired when both children were out of the house and on their feet. They have another daughter, Jillian, who lives in Canada with her husband and two sons. “We were fortunate to have paid them a visit in August 2019 – just six months before life changed so drastically for us all.”
The Kamps had bought their Kingswood stand four years ago and moved here permanently in May last year. Friend and fellow resident John Strauss introduced them to Kingswood — after that, there was no looking back.
“We have not missed Sandton for a minute from the moment we left. Although I do fly up for business sometimes, I don’t find it enjoyable to be in Gauteng any longer.”
When working full time, Marilyn was a corporate pension consultant. “My role was looking after pension funds for corporate clients such as Impala Mines and RCL Foods,” she explains.
But what moved her to avail her services to Kingswood HOA? She explains: “I’ve been a trustee on the boards of various retirement funds. I am still a principal officer on a few funds and remain a consultant to some. Pensions should be properly governed, and I thought it would be interesting, having never been a trustee on an HOA like Kingswood. I hope to add value and bring some of my expertise to the team.”
Marilyn is excited about the vision for the year ahead after the recent AGM saw deals clinched on the gatehouse and roads. She’s also had a positive experience working with CEO Willem Jacobs. “He has such presence,” she says. “We thought we would never move away from Joburg.
But we are so happy in our beautiful and comfortable Kingswood home and when I see the mountain — ‘my mountain’ — changing colours every day, I know we are here to stay.
Kingswood residents for the past 18-odd months, incoming HOA trustee Gerrit ‘Fielies’ Nieuwoudt and his wife, Lidwinia, have been enjoying every moment of their time as permanent residents of the beautiful estate The Nieuwoudts lived in Limpopo for 20 years until relocating to George last year, and before that resided in the Free State town of Bothaville, where Gerrit served on the town council for 11 years.
So there’s no questioning the fact that the second Gerrit in Kingswood’s recently elected foursome of trustees has a barrel of town and corporate management experience under his belt.
Here it’s necessary to note that Mister Nieuwoudt goes by the name of ‘Fielies’. “If you call me Gerrit in front of my family, colleagues, friends or acquaintances, no one would know who you’re talking about!”
The origin of this nickname remains a mystery to this day.
“Sometime at school or during my national service days ‘Fielies’ had stuck, and it’s been sticking ever since.”
To add to the couple’s moniker-rich heritage, the maiden name of his Dutch wife was Kleine Punte, and Fielies is convinced that Lidwinia agreed to marry him for the sole purpose of getting rid of that surname …
Fielies says his 12 years as chairman of Heritage Village townhouse complex in Tzaneen should stand him in good stead as a Kingswood trustee “Kingswood is much bigger, but the core principals all apply. My only concern is that the estate seems so well managed, I’m not sure we trustees will have enough on our plates!”
Fielies says they were motivated to move to George because they’d simply “had enough of the north”. And after visiting friends at Kingswood two years ago, they realised it’s one of the best and most beautiful retirement options available.
“I’m very fond of the ocean, which is just a short drive away but not close enough for everything to rust. Another huge drawcard was Kingswood’s incredible security,” he says, adding that they are serious mountain-bikers and love the estate’s trails.
The Nieuwoudts have two sons — one lives in Joburg while the other currently calls Belgium his home. Because of Covid-related travel limitations, they haven’t laid eyes on him for three years but hope to welcome him to their Kingswood home at the first opportunity.
Having spent the last two decades of his career as managing director of national seed supplier Hygrotech, Fielies is enjoying the diversion of overseeing the construction of their second Kingswood home, while Lidwinia pursues her calling as maths educator par excellence.
And on the odd occasion that he’s not out and about or chillaxing in their home facing the seventh green? Well, then Fielies rather enjoys playing a round of golf.
