Spirits of the Past

The East London Museum and the Border Historical Society are privileged to co-host our talk for November 2024 by a well known local historian, tour guide and public figure.

Alan Weyer 

will present

SPIRITS OF THE PAST

on

Saturday 16 November 2024 at 14H30 

in the MC-L Hall

at the 

East London Museum

The history of the Eastern Cape frontier may evoke different interpretations, but what cannot be disputed is that it involves the ancestors of people from all over the world. The confluence of African and European cultures which took place in this region shaped modern South Africa. 

The mounting pressure from colonial expansion was resisted for over 100 years by the Xhosa people, putting them at the forefront of African resistance and underlining their prominence in South African politics today.

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A nominal entrance fee of R50 will be charged to cover expenses.

We attach a poster advertising the talk

Who is Alan Weyer:

Born, bred and educated in the Eastern Cape; a true son of the Frontier region and of farming stock going back four generations, Alan’s interest in history and people began as a young boy roaming the family farm with his companions and friends; wondering about the lives of those who had once lived in the ruins which littered the farm.

Alan went to school in Grahamstown and after national service, he went farming Pineapples in the Grahamstown region in the early 1980s.

His interest in History eventually led him into tour guiding full-time in 1998.

In 2004 Alan launched his lecture series: Spirits of the Past at South Africa House in London where he spoke to a sold-out audience.

Alan has since been awarded the

• 2005 winner of the prestigious SA Tourism’s Tour Guide of the Year
• 2006, the Grand Prix winner of the inaugural SA Tourism Welcome Awards as the best tourism product in the country.

Alan’s knowledge of the people of the Eastern Cape and his fluency in isiXhosa led to him being involved in many community-based projects including Edutourism and The Angus Gillis Foundation.

In 2010 he was appointed General Manager of Kariega Game Reserve and continued offering sought-after lectures throughout the country and the province’s frontier territory.

In May 2020 resigned from Kariega (partly due to the Covid pandemic) to pursue his passion for History full time.

In addition, Alan is one half of the popular Boet 'n Swaer comic duo, regaling crowds with their hilarious, dour renditions of farming life in the Eastern Cape and playing to audiences throughout the country, UK and Australia.

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There will be time for questions after the talk.