An early etching from his Voortrekker series reveals the characteristic elements of Benjamin's style.
At first glance the image appears playful, with simple, childlike or comic-book objects symmetrically arranged in three bands. The axis of symmetry is vertical. At its apex is a flaming torch, the fakkel or badge of the Voortrekker movement.The torch is flanked on the right by the highly recognizable silhouette of the Voortrekker Monument. It was built to commemorate the Great Trek, a central myth of the Afrikaner nation. The Monument has been enclosed in a thought bubble emanating from yet another Afrikaner icon: the Ossewa (covered ox-wagon that carried the nation accross the Drakensberg to the Promised Land).
To the left of the torch is a horizontal group of the three flags of the old Afrikaner Boer Republics, carried by three faceless women in kappies. The women and the covered wagon are placed at either end of the central band. Across the bottom band are some Sotho words. Translated they read "the value of these goods is 47 cents".
