S.A. Fancy Pigeon Association

Northern Transvaal

ESTABLISHMENT AND HISTORY:
NORTHERN-TRANSVAAL FANCY PIGEON REGION: 
1969 TO 2006 
(ESTABLISHED 1970)
Page 1 of 5

PART I: 
THE FIRST YEAR 1969 

On the 29^th of November 1969 a meeting was held at the home of Flip and Adri de Bruin, where the Pretoria fanciers decided to establish a Show Committee.

 JJ van Loggerenberg with the help of Flip de Bruin had the task of informing the Pretoria fanciers about this important meeting, which was to be held 14 days later, unfortunately attendance was not as good as expected.  Ray Martin wrote in the January 1970 Fancy Pigeon as follow:  “I appeal to our Pretoria breeders not to take this negative attitude.  Please, make a point to attend the next meeting”.  The pigeon fancier’s who attended were all fanciers who realized that there was a necessity for more action and further activities in the hobby.

 Under the leadership of Bas Sloof, whose knowledge and experience the fanciers depended upon, a show committee was chosen.  The committee was named the Pretoria Show Committee and the undermentioned fanciers were elected as committee members:

Chairperson:
Bas Sloof
Secretary:                                 
Ray Martin
Assistant Secretary:                  
Flip de Bruin
Additional Members:           
Henk Holder, JJ Van Loggerenberg, EJ Francis, Dirk Rossouw

 The members at this meeting also decided that at the following meeting they would elect a Show Manager.  Bas Sloof, EJ Francis and Flip de Bruin donated an amount of R2-00 each.

PART II: 
THE YEARS 1970 TO 1979

 The first show was held in Pretoria from the 7^th to the 9^th of May 1970 on the Old Student Sport Grounds, in Moscastreet, next to the Pretoria Zoo. There were 650 birds on show. The membership money for the Pretoria Club was a mere R1-00 per year and these entitled members to show their birds at 25c per bird while non members had to pay 30c per bird.

 On the 3^rd of October 1970 at 15:00 a meeting was held in the Eendtacht Hall in Potgieter Street Pretoria , and the Northern-Transvaal Region of the South African Fancy Pigeon Association was established.  Present at the meeting was Bas and Kootjie Sloof, Flip and Adri de Bruin , PA Swanepoel, HJ Holder, Dirk J Rossouw and son, LJ Hall and L Orchard. 

 This historical event was the result of 2 years of preparations by Flip de Bruin and Dirk Rossouw who were directly responsible for the establishment of the Pretoria Show Pigeon Club.  As the Region had no finances Flip de Bruin, Dirk Rossouw, Bas Sloof and Ray Martin dug deep into their pockets and also borrowed money to acquire the necessary equipment needed for shows.

 As per the early Constitution and Rules of the Northern Transvaal Region, the geographical borders of the Region were as follows, “--- to the North and including the neighboring towns that are in the imaginary West - East line, Zeerust, Swartruggens, Rustenburg, Halfweghuis, Bronkhorstspruit, Witbank, Middelburg, Machadodorp, Nelspruit and  Komatipoort.”  The first Regional Committee Members were as follows: