Today Stormsvlei is just a cluster of buildings off the N2 between Riviersonderend and Swellendam. For more than 200 years, however, its position at a major junction on the Old Cape Wagon Route made it an important stopover for the travelers, and even home to a manufacturing industry.

Stormsvlei, twenty kilometers east of Riviersonderend, just off the N2 highway on a trunk road leading to present-day Bonnievale, Montagu & Robertson, is situated on a part of the farm Avontuur with a very long history dating back to the early 1700s. In order to keep the ships of the Dutch East India Company (VOC) supplied with meat, bartering with the indigenous tribes for livestock was an important and continuous task for those in command at the Castle of Good Hope and exploration and trade expeditions to the hinterland were and ever-increasing activity. In time the VOC gradually withdrew from direct trade with the indigenous people and relies increasingly on the free burghers who had become farmers for their provisions. When Avontuur was first granted as a loan place in April 1732 it was described as being 'above the Compagniesdrift'. This old crossing (drift) through the Zonderend Rivier, about 300 meters upstream of the present bridge, was therefore already a recognized route to the Breede River Valley.


When the Sonderend River was in spate travelers had to bide their time in their wagons or, in later years, at the old Stormsvlei Inn which overlooked the crossing. Because of its strategic position the settlement was a hive of activity. Poor roads took their toll on wagons, carts and carriages, which had to be constantly repaired and the horses shod. Many of the owners of stopovers on the wagon route provided such services in addition to accommodation. The Stormsvlei crossing was particularly busy over the festive season when holiday makers form the Breede River Valley and Klein Karoo passed through on their way to the sea.


Stormsvlei in the early 1900s was a hub of activities with many families living in the hamlet and surroundings area. Apart from the Le Roux & Kennedy smithy, wagon-maker's shop and mill, there was also a school, church hall, the Stormsvlei Cash Store, a butchery, a post office, garages, and inn and later a proper new hotel (this is where the Restaurant & Farm Stall is now situated) where dances were held once a month.


In 1921 Stormvlei was 'electrified' even before Swellendam, with 110-volt electricity generated by an old engine charging Edison batteries. Also in 1921 a special building, now a beauty salon, was erected to accommodate the postal agency.


Exactly when the SA Police established a presence at Stormsvlei has not been established. From correspondence, however, we do know that the police took possession of quarters there on 22 May 1918. It is remembered as a significant station with a staff of three who patrolled the area on horseback - hence the large stables. The present owner of the premises, Dr Morley Thomson, recalls that a motorcycle with a sidecar later replaced the horses.


The old inn, which was later designated a 'hotel', was a rambling structure that had grown haphazardly over time. Its facilities were sub-standard and so a later owner, Johan de Villiers, decided to give the settlement a new lease of life by building a modern hotel and at the same time to boosting his lucrative off-sales business. It was built c.1920 on de Villier's holding of 47 morgen. As the nearby Riviersonderend was laid out in 1925 as a 'dry' village, anyone from Riviersonderend wanting to quench his thirst had to go to the pub at Stormsvlei, which was also known as Stokkiesbaai.


In 1955 the hotel was bought by Jimmy Blackenberg. He was married to Mitzi, an Austrian. They had four daughters, Emmie, Mary, and twins Erica & Monica. When Jimmy died 10 years later, Mitzi - or Tant Mietjie as she was known by then - ran the hotel all by herself for the next twenty years and in time would become a legend.


Jimmy & Mietjie's middle daughter Mary, and her husband Willem Spies took over the hotel in 1985. Ten years later the hotel ceased to provide accommodation, but retained its off-sales outlet.


In February 2010, Jeanne van Deventer (a Swellendammer) and her fiance Steve Collinson (a Londoner) relocated to Stormsvlei from London, England. Steve has worked for 20 years as a chef and later a pastry chef in various well known restaurants and clubs in London. They continue the culinary tradition set by Tant Mietjie.

With thanks to Annalize Mouton - Village Life Magazine