This is Bokkie, the sad little grysbok you see on fire warning signs in the Western Cape. And this is his story
In the mid 1950’s the Cape Provincial Administration embarked on a fire awareness program centered around a grysbok, a buck endemic to the Western Cape. “Bokkie”. They dished out this booklet in English and Afrikaans to schools, accompanied by road signs similar to pictured here.
The idea was to spread fire awareness in the hope kids would remember Bokkie's story and perhaps think twice before chucking their stompies out their car windows and general recklessness when it came to fire prevention when they grew up, particularly when out in the mountains and veld.
Perhaps influence their parents behaviour too.....
It must have been a very successful campaign. Everyone knows Bokkie, and his face, filled with sorrow and hurt, remains a familiar reminder to us on our roads to this day.
