Adventurous Beginnings

In October 1970, Dr. Andre Reitz and his wife Isabelle opened the doors of Knysna Veterinary Clinic: Knysna’s first – and desperately needed – veterinary practice. They arrived from Riversdale, and all their equipment could fit into the boot of their car.

There were two vets living in Knysna at the time. They were both highly qualified retired lecturers from Onderstepoort: Dr. Eric Robertson was responsible for the discovery of botulism, and Dr. Rene du Toit was an entomology lecturer.

The couple industriously prepared a simple clinic. This was a thatch-roofed rondavel beside the child welfare offices. In those days, these buildings were situated in a pleasant green park. Nowadays, the ABSA bank takes up the same spot, on a corner in Knysna’s main street. It was simply “a room and a half a room”. Mrs. Reitz, heavily pregnant with their first child, worked alongside her husband to clean and pack shelves and set up equipment. Before long, the clinic admitted its first patient – a pet owned by Mr. Quickelburger.

In the 1970’s in South Africa it was not unusual to tend to a sick animal on the lawn in front of the surgery… with half the town watching. Dr. Reitz vividly remembers four ewes being brought to the surgery with “domsiekte”. He operated on them, producing eight healthy lambs, with dozens of Knysna residents observing and critiquing the proceedings. He remembers performing a caesarean on a cow, and locals arriving to witness the mini-miracle. Whenever cases were brought to him, whether they were caesareans, post mortems, or anything in between, the town’s first vet did not hesitate to help – in the garden, on the pavement, in the back of a bakkie, or in the field.

As a young vet, Dr. Reitz worked in Cape Town for Dr. Jim Brownlie (an ex-Glaswegian), for 2 years. He was an excellent surgeon and a great mentor, and Dr. Reitz gained a lot of knowledge and confidence. He subsequently went to Riversdale where his mentor was Dr. Ian du Toit, an excellent farm animal vet. When Dr. Reitz started off in Knysna, he was a highly competent vet with caseloads of experience. He tackled challenging surgeries with bravery and a determined attitude of “If I’m not going to do it, who will?” Very humbly, Dr. Reitz stated that “there simply was no alternative and perhaps the success rate was not perfect, but not for want of trying”.

Mrs.Reitz was the practice’s first wingwoman. She juggled absolutely everything that Dr Reitz couldn’t manage, from helping clients at the reception desk, to assisting with surgeries and veterinary nursing duties, to deep cleaning make-shift kennels. She was a fanatically neat nurse; her husband’s gumboots squeaked and shone.

Rapid Growth

Soon, Dr. Reitz’s services extended to Hoekwil, George, Mosselbay, Stormsriver, and on over the mountain to de Vlugt, Uniondale and Humansdorp. Mrs. Reitz, who had a newborn in the home at the time, can still remember how her vet-husband would rush from the consulting room and surgeries to farm calls, and then exhaustedly make his way back home, falling asleep with his feet on the car’s dashboard.

As the years passed, a second vet set up in Knysna. He bought Reitz’s house at Hunters Home, and they moved to Welbedacht. A cottage on the Welbedacht property served as a makeshift consulting room. Oak crates, made comfortable with pretty blankets, were kennels. “Very primitive,” says Mrs. Reitz, “but it served the purpose.”

The couple decided to buy Mr. Peter Sass’ house for their animal clinic. Dr. Reitz remembers forking out R17 000 for this building (now Warwick Wealth), which he found “quite cramped”. They were there for several years before they finally settled into KVC’s current surgery at Trotter Street.

The practice owned no x-ray facilities or ultrasound machines. Pets were taken to the (human) hospital for x-rays. The hospital also kindly provided free swabs and short-dated stock. Vetserv, a veterinary stock supplier which we use to this day, sent them their medicine and goods.

In those days, veterinary practices didn’t hire nurses: the receptionist was also the nurse and cleaner. KVC’s first receptionist was Ms. Eve Joubert, hired right after she finished high school. The Reitzes remember hiring a few receptionists who, with the clarity of hindsight, caused some amusement. One once arrived for work stone drunk and “under the weather”. Eventually, Ms. Cindy Smailes (nee Terblanche) became the practice’s long-standing, loyal nurse and receptionist. She was part of the practice for many years.

The funny situations that Dr. Reitz found himself in, and unusual cases that he oversaw, were so numerous and fascinating that he could write a quite entertaining real-life book about it. Once, he was confronted on the main street in town by a disgruntled lady, who launched into accusation: “How dare you charge me R12 for a spay”! “If we can just make R300 per month, we’ll be okay,” he told his wife.

KVC Over the Years

Since its beginnings, Knysna Veterinary Clinic has seen seven partners. Dr. St. Claire Hayes (known by all as Saint) joined Dr. Reitz first and stayed on for about seven years, before moving to Botswana. Saint was replaced by Dr. John Nowers, a state vet from Grootfontein, Namibia. The two-man practice expanded to three when Dr. Colin Lovely joined the partnership. He did his pre-grad practicals at KVC and was recruited as a vet after he qualified at Onderstepoort. Dr. Rolf Lamprecht also started off as a pre-grad at KVC, before taking over from Dr. Lovely as partner.

Dr. Reitz moved on to Plettenberg Bay, leaving Dr. John Nowers and Dr. Rolf Lamprecht holding the reins in Knysna. Dr. Johan Eksteen also did his practicals as an Onderstepoort student under the wings of the KVC vets. He then left for a seven-year stint in the UK. During this time, Dr. Mark Shortreed joined the partnership. When Dr. Eksteen returned from overseas he took over the partnership from Dr. Nowers, who retired. Dr. Shortreed has since emigrated to Australia with his family.

Today, the Reitzes live on their family farm in Plettenberg Bay.

Knysna Veterinary Clnic has grown from a one-man show in a thatch-roofed rondavel to six vets in three practices.

We now boast well-equipped clinics in Knysna and in Sedgefield, and a consulting room in Wilderness. Upwards and onwards.