The transport rider was a trader who transported goods by wagon into the interior in order to sell or barter the goods. Transport Riders provided valuable services to remote communities, white and black. The discovery of diamonds (1867) and gold (1881) resulted in a huge rush of diggers, businessmen and transport riders to the diamond fields of Kimberley and the gold fields of the Witwatersrand, some 1000km from the Cape Town harbour, causing an extraordinarily high demand for vehicles. This enabled the wagon manufacturers of Paarl and Wellington to flourish.
The main route from the coast went through Ceres and this led to great economic progress for the town. But what was their lifestyle and…..