Riemvasmaak

Miemie Kapenda, Sheila Mapanka and Tannie Tien – more affectionately known as the grannies of Riemvasmaak – have reason to celebrate the freedom of their natural surroundings. In 1973 they and their families were forcibly removed – some to Namibia and some to the Eastern Cape. It was not until 1994, and the coming of democracy that they were allowed to return to this starkly beautiful and remote corner of the Kalahari. But while the wrinkles on their faces tell of hard times away from home, the twinkle in their eyes tells a different story.