Popular South African singer, Christof Berg, was born in the Autumn of 1986 and grew up on Witkraal, a salt farm in the Freestate. He has performed in more than 40 countries worldwide, gaining fans over all the world`s continents.  He is currently back on the farm to work on a full-length album that will be released in 2024.

The first single off the new album, “Wil jy sien hoe lyk die hemel,” was released on Friday, November 10^th. Christof says the song “arrived unexpectedly like they sometimes do.” He says: “I was making curry in my little kitchen in Cape Town and some random words just rolled into my mind. I scribbled it down and wasn’t initially sure what on earth it meant. 'Ek gaan soek toe na die hemel, want ek het jou verskriklik gemis, maar die pad lei my toe reguit na Witkraal toe.”'

Witkraal farm is the anchor of our family. I arrived on the farm two weeks later and the song started to take shape over time. The process of this piece of writing filled me with reverence for deep themes, particularly Death and the sense of tremendous loss that it mostly leaves us with.

The making of the video:

Because the song was originally written at Witkraal, I thought that it would only be appropriate to film the music video on the farm. I asked the farmworkers to help me shoot the video and they ended up being my technical team and camera crew. Christof says: “We transported my grand piano to all the special nooks and crannies on the farm with a tractor and a wagon. The piano stood proud and ready for action on every noticeable landmark on Witkraal: from the dunes to the salt pans, the prickly pear and pecan fields and we also filmed at the iconic farm entrance. It was a day to remember. We worked hard, but had as much fun!”

Christof Berg, the artist from the middle of South Africa.

Witkraal, near Petrusburg, is located exactly in the middle of the country, just a few kilometres from the official geographical centre of South Africa. The centre of the country symbolises the heart of South Africa and the return to Witkraal, a metaphor for the return to his mother tongue, his own people and family roots, a homecoming thus, to his inner self. “die hemel is binne- in jou.”

Christof is excited to introduce the song to everyone who is keen to listen. “I hope people enjoy it as much as I enjoyed writing and recording the song. Yes, it was also recorded at Witkraal, so it is totally homemade! With love!”

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