Rusape Community Church 

While thinking about what I could share in this blog, that family might not be aware of, I remembered a letter which I had, written to my dad and mom Ken and Rosemary Ziehl, from Bill Clark, Chairman of the Rusape Community Church Executive, on September 20, 1989.

In the letter Bill Clark writes:

For some time now we, the Rusape Community Church, have felt the

need for an extra facility a to accommodate a Sunday School Branch

and to this end we now have embarked upon a small hall next to our

present sanctuary.

We have set a date to commence building this hall now with the

estimated cost round $60,000. In the course of our

deliberations we naturally came to the point of discussing what

this hall should be named! The decision was to name it the Ziehl

Memorial Hall in honour of your Mother Susan; and Father, Lenny.

Your Father had donated the Land to the Church and had maintained

A close relationship ever since together with your Mother who for many

Years was a stalwart in the Women’s Association and in Church

Affairs.

We therefore feel honoured to have been associated with your

Parents in the building of the Lord’s Church in Rusape and proud

and humble now in being able to perpetuate Lenny and Susan’s memory

in a tangible form.

We extend a very warm welcome to you to participate with us in this

venture, ensuring the well being of our children and equipping them

For the future with a sound Christian grounding.

A Ground Breaking Ceremony following the Morning Worship Service on

Sunday the 8^th October has been planned. We would be honoured

to have you with us on that occasion.

Pop Gran was definitely a “stalwart in the Women’s Association and in Church Affairs.” As a child, I remember her sewing room on Alpha Farm always had some garment or other in the process of being made for a church bazaar or fete. I knew she was a religious person without her saying as much. My dad always said she was a saint. Although the people that attend the Rusape Community Church now may never know why the Hall is called the Ziehl Memorial Hall I am grateful that I do and for the contribution that Pop and Gran made to the church and to the community.

 Letter from Bill Clark of the Rusape Community Church Executive

Pop Gran’s Parents 

I know very little about the parents of our grandmother, Susannah (Van De Venter) Ziehl, so was excited to receive an email recently, with pictures of her parents, from our second cousin Alec Ingram. Alec said he had just been to Cape Town, and reconnected with a cousin, Peter Breen, who he hadn’t seen since Peter left Rhodesia in 1974. Peter had later sent Alec the pictures. Alec and Peter are the grandsons of Katy (Van Der Venter) Ingram, Susannah (Van Der Venter) Ziehl’s sister. Their parents, our great-grandparents, are Cornelius Johannes Van Der Venter and Anna Pretorius.

Katy married George Ingram in Bulawayo, Rhodesia in 1921, before Susan married Lenny Ziehl in Rhodesia in 1927. Katy and George had five children Olga, Hamilton (Bob), Joyce, Aubrey and Dennis. Alec is the son of Dennis Ingram, and Peter is the son of Olga (Ingram) Breen. Peter has Katy’s old photo albums, from which he obtained the pictures of our great-grandparents. The two brides in the picture look like sisters, but I have yet to confirm that.

Cornelius Johannes Van Der Venter and Anna Pretorius were

married in Molteno , Eastern Cape, South Africa in about 1895.

Anna Pretorius

What I do know about our great grandfather is that he Anglicized his name, and was known as Charles John Van Der Venter, not Cornelius Johannes Van Der Venter, which is a very unusual thing for an Afrikaner to do, especially during the time of the Anglo-Boer War.

Rudolf and Annie Ziehl’s life in East London

From the death notice of Rudolf and Annie’s fifth child, Philip Arthur Ziehl, who died at 4 years old in 1902 from Croup, we learn that the family lived in Park Street, East London and that Rudolf was a watchmaker. [1.] This confirms what I suspected. Family tradition says he was a jeweller, but I remember going into “Pop’s” [2.] office on Alpha Farm when I was a child, and seeing German books and Bibles as well as wooden boxes with very small drawers on the top shelves in his office. On one occasion we were shown what was in those little drawers. There were tiny, rusty parts of the workings of clocks. These had belonged to Pop’s father, our great grandfather Rudolf, which he must have brought with him, to Rhodesia, from East London.

The following picture shows two of Rudolf and Annie's children, Reuben and Louis, playing in Franz Moeller’s Orchestral Class, in East London, in 1903.

1. Philip Arthur Ziehls Death Notice. ( https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:939Z-P19C-7W?i=300&cc=1779109 : accessed 28 Oct 2018)

2. Leonard Ziehl (Lenny) was called Pop by his grandchildren.

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What happened to the Ziehls in Rusape?

Lenny and Susan were very much involved in the building up of the community in Rusape, as Lenny’s parents had been. Lenny built Duly’s Garage in Rusape, and a few houses to the left of it on the main Salisbury, Umtali Road. He was instrumental in the building of the Makoni Country Club in the town, and the Cinema amongst other things.  

Three of Lenny and Susan’s children married and continued to farm in Rusape. Their eldest daughter Sylvia married Kevin Curran on Alfa Farm in 1950. Kev worked for Lenny for a few years, and lived on the farm until he bought his own farm Carolina, about twenty miles north-west of Rusape. Kev and Syl had four children Raynadene, Linda, Dawn and Kevin.

Gerald, Lenny and Susan’s eldest son, married Gillian Parker in about 1956. They also had four children, Vanessa, Ingrid, Geraldine and Robin. After working for his father for a few years Gerald bought Crofton Farm next door to his parents.

Lorna, Lenny and Susan’ youngest daughter, married Johan (Kaay) Koch. They lived in South West Africa for a while then settled in Johannesburg, South Africa. They had three children, Josephine, Philip and Edward.

Kenneth, Lenny and Susan’s youngest son, married Rosemary Baines in 1957. Ken bought Recondite Farm from his father after his grandfather passed away. The couple had four children, Julie, Deborah, Nicolette and Kenyon.

In 1965, the Rhodesian Government declared Unilateral Independence from Britain UDI. This action threw the country into a state of war against Britain and the African Liberation organizations. In 1966, the United Nations imposed economic sanctions upon Rhodesia. For the next 12 years, the white minority government fought to maintain their hold on the country while the people fought for survival in a bush war.

Everybody was affected by the war;  there were curfews from 6 a.m. to 6 p.m. with no traffic allowed on the roads after 6 p.m. except with an armed escort. Security tightened in businesses, homes and on farms. People lived behind barbed wire and security fences. All men were expected to serve in the armed forces. Carrying guns became a way of life. Nikki Ziehl, in speaking of those days said, “we lived in fear.” [1]

In 1978, the Prime Minister, Ian Smith, conceded to a multiracial democracy, which eventually led to Zimbabwean independence, in April 1980. In the process of forming a new state, Rhodesia had a provisional government. Ken Ziehl, who at that time was a Major in the Rhodesian Army, as well as being a farmer, was given the task of taking down the Rhodesian Flag and raising the new Zimbabwe Rhodesian flag, at a ceremony in Rusape in June 1979. For the history of this time click here.

Ken Ziehl (middle) lowering the Rhodesian flag for the last time and raising the Zimbabwe Rhodesian flag, June 1979.

After the war, peace returned and a semblance of normality resumed in Zimbabwe. As wounds healed, there was new hope for the future. The fourth generation of Ziehls, for the most part, had left Rusape to study or to find work in the city (Salisbury / Harare). Many of them married elsewhere or moved to South Africa during the war years. Of that generation, only Kenyon Ziehl, Robin Ziehl and Mark Freer (son-in-law of Syl Ziehl) and their families continued to farm in Rusape.

At Christmas time, however, many members of the extended Ziehl family would return to their parent's farms in Rusape, bringing with them new additions to their families. It was always a festive time, for the cousins to meet and catch up.

Ziehl gathering on Boxing Day 1997 at the Lesapi Dam, Rusape.

However, all was not well in Zimbabwe. Because of the land reform policies of President Robert Mugabe, the white farmer’s lands began to be expropriated. Farmers had to make the decision to either sell their farms to the Zimbabwean Government, for the cost of improvements and not for the value of the land, or risk having their farms taken away without compensation.

In 2001, Ken Ziehl chose to sell Recondite to the government, and move to Stone Acres farm nearer Rusape. His brother Gerald Ziehl (who had since their father retired, moved on to Alpha farm) remained on Alpha Farm, while brother-in-law, Kev Curran, continued to farm on Carolina Farm. Kenyon Ziehl was on Harrisonville farm and Robin Ziehl on Alpha Farm. For the next few years they battled in court to keep their farms, but, by 2010, they were all forced to leave with no compensation. Many farmers in Zimbabwe were given 24 hours to get off their farms and were only able to take their household goods with them. Farm equipment was considered the property of the land. Kenyon Ziehl was one of those who could take only what was in his house.

Today, the fourth and fifth generation of this Ziehl family are scattered over four continents. Gill Ziehl (of the third generation) is the only one who remains in Rusape. Those who still live in Zimbabwe continue to gather at Christmas time with whoever is visiting from across the world. In my next blogs, I hope to include some of the families memories of their life in Rusape.  

1. Nikki Ziehl, recording of her memories of the war days in Rhodesia. In possession of Deborah Mocke, Provo, Utah, USA.