ADULTHOOD
IN THE OLD AND THE NEW
1970 ~
2000
This is a brief look
at my years in South Africa and is illustrated with photos of people and
places ...
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| ADULTHOOD
1970 ~
2000 *** |
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THE SEVENTIES
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| After
leaving school I started my adult life in the seventies by being called up
to the Army Gymnasium in Heidelberg in what was then called the Transvaal.
My intention at the time was to become a career officer in the SA Defence
Force (Permanent Force). I arrived in Heidelberg in January 1970 and was
posted to Delta Company. The photo on the right was taken soon after my
arrival. I did my basic training at The Army Gym, then joined the
Permanent Force in April 1970 while waiting to hear whether I had been
accepted for Officer Training.
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Immediately after I joined the Permanent Force I was transferred to Youngsfield, Cape Town, to the 10th Anti-Aircraft Artillery Regiment/Anti-Air Defence School. Here I served as basic training instructor. Pictured with me are some of my colleagues at the time: Bombardiers Schmidt (left) and Fourie, and Sgt Twiss (right). | ||
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Life in Youngsfield was easy, but even the training exercises in the dunes at Strandfontein on the False Bay coast did not quite satisfy my desire for adventure. I was becoming bored! Things looked up when I was sent to Oudtshoorn to the Infantry School at the start of 1971, but by that time I had already started thinking of another career, and so I was soon back in Cape Town, where I left the Army on May 31st, 1971 -- the day of the 10th anniversary of the Republic of South Africa. |
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June 1971 saw me starting my career as a reporter with the Afrikaans morning paper Die Burger in Cape Town. For three months I did general reporting, especially covering Magistrates Court cases, before I was transferred to the Night Room as crime and accident reporter. Life in South Africa at this time was still very much as I had known it as a youth. It was 10 years after Sharpeville, and it seemed as if politically matters were calming down. Of course this was only how it seemed ... | ||
| This was also the time I started taking writing more seriously and fancied myself a budding novelist and poet! I was really much too young still, and had much to learn and experience. By now there were also more frequent demonstrations against the government, especially on campuses like that of the University of Cape Town. By the end of September 1972 I was getting itchy feet again, and decided it was time to go to university ... |
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... so in February
1973 I started my student life at Stellenbosch University. This was a
wonderful time, stimulating, inspirational and filled with great
friendships -- and many hectic parties, too! My course was very much a
languages course: I was studying Afrikaans and Dutch, French, German,
English and General Linguistics. I also had some serious infatuations at
this time! |
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It was during my years at university that matters were starting to come to a head politically. We were involved in the war in (then) Southwest Africa and Angola, and at home there was growing opposition to the government. My brother was fighting in Angola and I was becoming more and more disillusioned by matters. The opposition parties did not seem to have any truly viable alternatives, though, so I had to pin my hopes on a change of heart in the leadership of the National Party at the time. Now we all know that this was to come some 15 years later, but even then there were already encouraging signs... My last year at
university was also when I met the girl who was eventually to become my
wife. |
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| Ann
and I met through a mutual friend and were soon in love. She was a student
nurse at the time, and the next year (1976) I started teaching at Paul
Roos Gymnasium, Stellenbosch, a large boys' school with an old and strong
tradition. The school was named after Paul Roos, the first rugby Springbok
captain and former Rector of the school. Being a teacher meant that I had
to cut my long hair shorter and trim my beard, but not too much, as you
can see on the photo of Ann and me! |
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1976 was of course the year of the first major anti-government riots in Black schools. Ostensibly the aim was to protest against the teaching of Afrikaans (then the only other official language, alongside English), but there was a deeper thrust: the anti-apartheid movements were out to use the youth to destabilise the country, hence the slogan of the day "Liberation Before Education" -- a tactic which was to cost the Black youth of the country dearly for many decades to come as they paid the price of their lack of education in a liberated South Africa. It was the start of a bitter time for all South Africans: not only were the troops often sent into the townships to restore law and order and to keep rival anti-apartheid groups from one another's throats, but sanctions were starting to erode the standard of living of all South Africans except the very wealthy. Towards the end of the seventies, in 1978, Ann and I were married in the Presbyterian Church in Darling. Despite all the unrest and upheaval, we were starting a new stage in our lives. |
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When the
eighties started I was still teaching in Stellenbosch and Ann was working
as a nursing sister in the local hospital. Things were looking up; we
bought our first brand new car and the next year (1981) our son Roger was
born. That was the year we moved to Somerset West and into our own house.
Three years later Tim was born, and in 1988 our daughter Connie.
Politically matters were much worse, with sanctions and riots very much in the news, as were the thousands of innocent civilians who were dying or being maimed as a result of bombs planted in restaurants and other public places as part of the "struggle" against apartheid. The fact that some of the most vocal advocates of sanctions were living in luxury both in and outside the country did not go unnoticed, however. |
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At
this time we were spending our winter holidays every year in Langebaan, on
the Cape West Coast. It is a delightful place, very serene and beautiful,
and it always reminded me more of Greece than any other place in South
Africa. Luckily I had at last managed to get my own boat -- something I had
wanted ever since I started reading Arthur Ransome's Swallows and Amazons
books when I was 12 or so. Of course my little 10 ft Fisherman dinghy (built
by Country Craft Boats in Knysna) was called Swallow as well. We had
many a glorious sail on the lagoon at Langebaan. Sailing here is not always
easy, as there are strong tidal currents and the wind can be very fluky and
changeable. Luckily Swallow was a very seaworthy little craft and
quite dry, even in rough water, so we could sail right across the lagoon to
have a picnic lunch on the little beach at Kraal Bay. I miss my staunch
little ship very much and hope to own another little boat again one day... |
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In 1987 I took two terms' long leave from teaching at Paul Roos, so I spent the last six months of that year helping a friend of mine, Kevin Larkin, set up his own photographic studio in Somerset West. We were soon very busy with weddings, advertising, studio and commissions and doing quite a bit of aerial photography as well. On the left I am aboard a Bell JetRanger, ready for take-off from Stellenbosch airfield on a shoot. Working as a photographer was very satisfying, but unfortunately I could not risk my family's security and go into the business full-time. We had loads of fun, though, even though we were working very hard and long hours both on shoots and in the darkroom. |
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THIS PAGE IS STILL UN
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CONSTRUCTION
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