A young Scout from Marina Da Gama is hard at work cleaning and maintaining 15 grave sites at Dido Valley Cemetery in the hope of achieving his Springbok Scout badge.
Dominic Nicholas (17), along with four other 1st Muizenberg Scouts assisting him, is completing his final advancement of Springbok Scout by the end of May this year, his mother Louise Ball said.
The Springbok badge is seen as the highest award in the scouting advancement system and represents exceptional dedication, perseverance and leadership.
“Part of the project’s requirement is to lead a team in completing 40 hours of service to the community,” Ball said. “Dominic and his patrol embarked on a five-day project over this Easter weekend to clear the overgrowth, remove the weeds and right some of the headstones as well as replace three name plates that have either been damaged over the years or stolen.”
The four scouts assisting Dominic are Angelique Appelton, Rachel Turk, Levi Appelton, and Phoebe Bosch.
Muizenberg 1st Scouts, Rachel Turk and Angelique Appleton seen busy clearing the overgrowth at Dido Valley Cemtery over the Easter weekend. (Supplied). Credit: Supplied. 
Dominic Nicholas seen clearing a grave at Dido Valley Cemetery. (Supplied) Credit: Supplied 
Dominic Nicholas and a team of four Muizenberg 1st Scouts embarked on a project to clear the overgrowth at Dido Valley cemetery during the Easter weekend. The scouts who assisted are: Angelique Appelton, Rachel Turk, Levi Appelton, and Phoebe Bosch. (Supplied) Credit: Supplied
Dominic said his grandfather’s love for history was the inspiration that sparked his desire to tackle the renovation of Dido Valley Cemetery.
“I was inspired by my grandfather, Tony Nicholas, who is also (chair) of the Old Boys Association, who gave me the idea and I ultimately decided to work on the graveyard because I saw it as an opportunity to show respect for people of the past who have long since passed on.”
The Old Boys Association forms part of a maritime academy in South Africa for the training ship General Botha.
The Dido Valley Cemetery has a long history, with many maritime and defence force ties, and is only partially maintained.
The area where these 15 graves are has remained untouched for many years, resulting in gravestones damaged and fallen over, weeds out of control with some graves completely hidden under the overgrowth, according to Ball.
Locating and clearing the overgrowth at the graves was quite challenging, Dominic recalled.
“Making the headstones look brand new proved a long and difficult process, each grave a unique experience. Clearing each one I felt a sense of pride at state of the grave before and after the cleaning process.”
The section of the cemetery with the grave sites of naval personnel who operated from Simon’s Town from 1922 until World War II, according to Ball.
“A keen history buff, Dominic recognised the need to show respect to those who came before us who served our country in ways we can only imagine,” Ball pointed out.
“He chose to embark on a project to maintain the grave sites of 15 individuals, who trained at the South African Maritime Training ship General Botha.
“Dido Valley Cemetery has a long history, with many naval and defence-force ties, and is only partially maintained
Dominic also arranged to have local company Flying Robot to 3D print new name plates for the 15 grave sites.
“The Training Ship General Botha attempted over recent years to maintain these graves but, with members spread all over the world this has proven difficult,” his mom said.
Dominic and his team of scouts completed the final stretch of their cemetery clearing project on Saturday 26 April.
