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- A local rock musician has launched a crowdfunding campaign to help a small-town entrepreneur making unique guitar-shaped braai grids.
- Ladismith’s Bert Lintvelt has already hired two unemployed people to help him produce the grids.
- These grids have been sold all over the world, even Keith Richards of the Rolling Stones owns one.
Ladismith is a small town located in the Eden region of the Western Cape. But for many, it is nothing like a biblical paradise. Poverty, blight and unemployment abound in this small community along the Swartberg Mountains in the western Klein Karoo.
It’s where 36-year-old Afrikaans rocker Willim Welsyn grew up, and it’s a place he still holds close to his heart. It is also where he met Bert Lintvelt, 63, whom he refers to as a “Klein Karoo cowboy.”
Bert visited a friend of his in town and liked the place so much that he decided to stay, says Willim. And when Willim’s older sister, Zazzie Barnard van Rooyen, moved to the Netherlands with her husband, they asked Bert to take care of their home.
“But look, this is the kind of person Bert is: they were coming back to visit and then Bert had built them a pool, like, from scratch. And that lawn of his is perfectly maintained, it looks like a green on a golf course “.
When Cape Town-based Willim and his band recorded their album Blitzkriek In 2017, they decided to use a studio in town, and Willim and his bassist, Gerhard Grobler, stayed at Zazzie’s house with Bert.
Bert was so impressed with Willim’s music that he decided he wanted to make him a guitar. “I had heard a lot about Willim Welsyn. The first time I saw him perform with some of his friends, my jaw dropped.
“I know I can do anything with my hands. That night I decided that I was going to build this man a real guitar. But then it was a long time before the plan crossed my mind again. I wanted to make a guitar and I was making braai grids at the time, so I thought, why not make a braai grille shaped like a guitar? ”
So in 2018, Bert presented Willim with a unique birthday present – a guitar-shaped braai grid.
The image that started it all: rocker Willim Welsyn with the first Blitzkriek Braaikaaster.
“It was a one-of-a-kind gift! I googled it and couldn’t find anything like it. So I put a photo on Facebook and suddenly people wanted to order, everyone wanted one.”
Without consulting Bert, Willim and Zazzie received 10 requests. Fed up with working behind his computer screen, Bert accepted the challenge, stepped onto the anvil, and moved into the garage. After sleepless nights, he shed his blood, sweat, and tears to sculpt those first 10 Blitzkriek Braaikaasters out of mild steel. All were individually numbered.
But then Bert told Willim that this thing must never rust, it must shine. And it was through the testing of metal and the will of iron that the blacksmith finally found his format: stainless steel.
“What do you buy your dad or uncle for his birthday? Another pair of socks? Finally, there is something unique here,” says Willim. “The only problem is that these grids are so beautiful, people don’t want braai in them. So I have a prerequisite, if you buy one, you HAVE to braai in it …”
Bert Lintvelt working in his garage.
Bert became obsessed with tuning and retuning the Blitzkriek Braaikaaster. Every Braaikaaster that left Bert’s hands exponentially increased the demand and pressure for more.
As a craftsman, his trade was lonely. He needed apprentices.
Bert employed Werner “Boetie” van Eik, 30, a local gardener who vowed to learn: Trial. Error. Polish. Grind. Weld. Rewind. Repeat.
Perfection.
“I was unemployed,” says Werner, “and one day I came and asked Bert for a job, and he took me to his garage and explained a little about the work he does. Then he asked if I could do the polishing and I got the hang of it. Then I started working with a grinder. “
Werner mastered many of the skills, such as welding, and earlier this year Bert asked him if he knew of anyone else who could help them.
Enter Werner’s 23-year-old cousin Lenovia “Novi” van Eik, a farmer with ambition and attitude, who was also committed to learning: Trial. Error. Polish. Grind. Weld. Rewind. Repeat.
Perfection.
Novi expected to do normal housework, not “a man’s job.”
“I had no idea what I was going to do,” he says. “But I enjoy it because now I can work with the grinder and I can weld a little bit. It’s fun!”
Werner and Novi van Eik.
Together the three have built over 100 stainless steel Blitzkriek Braaikaasters. All of this with just two grinders, a drill, a vise, and a welding machine.
Some of these grids have ended up in the hands of some famous people, such as legendary Rolling Stones guitarist Keith Richards and Springbok World Cup winner Eben Etzebeth, according to Willim.
And there are Braaikaasters in homes around the world: Australia, the Netherlands, the UK, Mozambique, Switzerland, Russia and the US.
Springbok World Cup winner Eben Etzebeth with his Braaikaaster.
“Imagine what would be possible with an expanded production line of raw materials, tools, employees and job security,” says Willim.
“Right now, Bert and his team can’t keep up with the demand. Right now, Bert has two grinders, a drill, and a welding machine.
“So we want to expand this operation by giving them tools and resources to make more of these great networks faster. So I decided to launch a crowdfunding campaign on Heritage Day to get them what they need: more tools and more people, without compromising quality. steel, lots of welding rods, templates, sandpaper, and other vise, among other things.
“If you donate, you could also have a chance to win the 100th Braaikaaster.
“We have mastered the research and design of this proud South African Braaikaaster and now we want to take it to the next level. We want to start building new guitar rack designs and accessories: the Stratobraaikaaster, Blomkaaster, Babybraai, Braai2D2 and more.”
Willim couldn’t think of a better day than Heritage Day to launch his campaign to help the makers of “the coolest braai grill in the world.”
“To think that an image started all this. It has given Bert a new lease of life and created employment opportunities. They have a new purpose. And I want to tell their story so that people can see how special this is all. It is. . ”
Bert working in his garage.
Werner “Boetie” van Eik.
Bert Lintvelt holding one of his Braaikaasters.
Novi van Eik.
Bert says that he, Boetie and Novi have become a family. But he is almost moved to tears when he describes the poverty in the area.
“They’re good people. They don’t have electricity, so they have to cook over a fire. We all cook over a fire, but it’s elegant because braai. But it’s all they have. If you look at the condition of their clothes, the shoes they wear … You cannot save the whole community, but in some [communities] You can make the difference. And it’s wonderful, the beautiful people you meet here. People with heart and desire to work.
“So yeah, if we can do something to cheer people up too, it will be wonderful.”
Visit the crowdfunding page here.
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