Hello again,
In those days, regular servicing was not the done thing in our poor communities and the Beast would have been uncomfortable to being subjected to all these 'strange' actions. I therefore had the Beast put through a minor service by the same mechanic that helped me drive it from Cape Town just after it was bought (
Know this!!! The more people call me stupid, the more likely it was that it would become a self-fulfilling prophecy - obviously within reason :-)
The day of departure came ... The Beast was ready ... And I had enough testosterone going to last me the whole journey ...
The drive from Stellenbosch was relatively uneventful until about 40 kilometres outside Bloemfontein, then capital of the OFS!
My left front wheel suddenly attempted to dislodge itself and I was stuck in the proverbial MIDDLE of the OFS! This took place around 2 o'clock in the afternoon and those days cellphones were simply not yet on the market!
Yep, the nightmares of being accosted by human behemoths suddenly entered my rather cheerful disposition and the sun fled my emotional landscape !!!!
Furthermore, I was a loss of what to do in the situation. I had no tools, little understanding of what exactly had gone wrong and 40 km was a long way to walk on a OFS highway.
There must be some Boer blood in me somewhere because my only impulse was to prepare a 'laager' (defensive position used by the early #Voortrekkers when under attack!) and hunker down for the night in the Beast and find a better solution the next day.
I leaned against the Beast while considering my chances of survival when all of a sudden a chap with a CY registration (that is Bellville, Western Cape, for all you #MAKWEREKWERE out there) stopped and offer his assistance. He was on his way to Bloemfontein and his family over there reportedly knew how to get a tow-truck to me.
Did I warn you that these were the dark days of apartheid??
This kind of help, offered across the racial divide, was never extended to me up until that time - oh I forgot to mention that the Bellville chap was classified white and I was not !!!
As a result of my sensitivity to the racial situation in our country, I did not put much coin in the promises of the chap from Bellville and proceeded to take stock of my provisions and kitting out the Beast for an off-road overnighter. I kept a beady eye on the road for the fabled OFS traffic cop but, for some strange reason, they clearly saw no profit in patrolling that stretch of roadway. I still harboured a secret hope of rescue though ;-).
At about 5 pm, just as I was finally giving in to my cynicism, a tow truck arrived from the direction of Bloemfontein.
God's provision is always on time - even when, as at that time with me, you were an atheist!
Now for the funny part ...
The tow truck driver was white and he could, by law, not tow the Beast, it being a coloured car. I tell you what: Had the Beast known it was a coloured car., it would have repaired itself right there and then!
My money was the right colour however and we waited until it was dark and then we towed the Beast to a Bloemfontein #Ford dealer. This dealer kept its workshop doors open after a radio request from the tow-truck operator. A quick inspection by the mechanic on duty and it became clear that the Beast chewed through its wheel bearings (which has not been maintained for many moons!). The Beast would have to wait until the next day for repairs.
The second apartheid comedy struck.
I knew no-one in Bloemfontein and the white mechanic only knew a white taxi service and ... you guessed it! ... the white taxi service were not allowed to transport a coloured person! He phoned this service and surprisingly the taxi service was happy to transport me to what was called an "International Hotel" for a little extra fee.
Luckily for me, Bloemfontein got its first "International Hotel" a few weeks before as a result of embarrassment to the South African government when foreign black VIPs had no decent place to stay!!! The government then also had to let "local" local blacks stay in these former "white" establishments.
After an uneventful night - no dreams of OFS traffic cops :-), the Beast and I were on the road to Durban at about 11am the next day.
It proved to me that the OFS was not a bad place after all. Its people understood the value of money even in the dark days of apartheid.
The greatest blessing God bestowed on me during this incident ?
I WAS NEVER CONFRONTED BY THE HUMAN BEHEMOTH!
Luckily things have changed for better in our country post-apartheid but the helpful and accommodating tendencies of Free State (the "Orange" was dropped after the end of apartheid) people have not changed much.
The Beast and I had great times in Durban but I lost all my pics when we moved house, sorry.
Next time I will be on my way to Abuja (the federal capital of Nigeria) with the model of a small satellite.
Nearly forgot!!
My good wife (and part-time censor! or editor) indicated I should tell you what the term "MaKwerekwere" means! It is township slang for foreigners.
Salani kahle, y'all!
I had a look through our readership stats and found the United States catching up with South Africa, Belgium rapidly reeling in the UAE, Germany and the Netherlands just keeping their noses ahead of Namibia and Nigeria :-). Thanks guys and do not forget to share what you like with your mates. I also have no issue with people who do NOT like what I write - send me your comments, either on the blog or mail me on olivier.ron@gmail.com.
I've neglected the Beast for a while :-) and this post will correct my tardiness! For a first mention of the Beast, see http://expectmeagain.blogspot.com/2014/03/where-did-it-start.html.
I've neglected the Beast for a while :-) and this post will correct my tardiness! For a first mention of the Beast, see http://expectmeagain.blogspot.com/2014/03/where-did-it-start.html.
In 1981, at the height of #apartheid, I decided to take the Beast from Stellenbosch to Durban. The occasion was me having enrolled for engineering studies at Natal Technikon and needing to get there.
I had a choice of routes: I could either go through the Bantustans (Ciskei and Transkei) or through what was legally the heart of apartheid provinces especially for people classified as Indian, the Orange Free State (OFS).
I spoke to many people in my research on what to expect on my trip through the Orange Free State. Most people warned me about provincial traffic #cops - how badly they treated people of colour, etc.
Now I was told that these were not Cape-sized traffic cops. According to the tales, the OFS variety were all 120kg plus (about 240 pounds), had ruby complexions, were thoroughly hairy, with fore-arms the size of my thighs, all carrying neck-muscle straining moustaches and spoke only in the language approved by General Koos de la Rey (Famous Boer General from the Anglo-Boer War).
I was also told that they did not like Rooinekke (meaning rednecks, which was a reference to the English, not hillbillies) and they were especially severe on coloured English-speakers! At night therefore my dreams were filled with encounters with these human behemoths! Bedtime was the least welcoming part in my daily cycle for quite a while!
Now I was told that these were not Cape-sized traffic cops. According to the tales, the OFS variety were all 120kg plus (about 240 pounds), had ruby complexions, were thoroughly hairy, with fore-arms the size of my thighs, all carrying neck-muscle straining moustaches and spoke only in the language approved by General Koos de la Rey (Famous Boer General from the Anglo-Boer War).
I was also told that they did not like Rooinekke (meaning rednecks, which was a reference to the English, not hillbillies) and they were especially severe on coloured English-speakers! At night therefore my dreams were filled with encounters with these human behemoths! Bedtime was the least welcoming part in my daily cycle for quite a while!
On the other end of the scale, people I spoke to were scathing about the condition of the roads through Ciskei and Transkei. I had great regard for the Beast and subjecting it to below par road surfaces became less appealing as time progressed.
My determination normally ramps up to the bigger of challenges so travelling the 1600 km through the OFS it was going to be !!!.
I had never taken the Beast further than the 50-odd km to Cape Town or or 40+ km to Wellington from Stellenbosch, so clearly I was not the driving equivalent of a SMURF.
When I told people close to me of my decision to drive to Durban via the OFS I elicited expressions of incredulity followed by rather disparaging remarks. WTF, dude! was not trending in those far-off days but its equivalents were thrown at me or whispered behind my back as often as I took sugar in my sweet black coffee.
In those days, regular servicing was not the done thing in our poor communities and the Beast would have been uncomfortable to being subjected to all these 'strange' actions. I therefore had the Beast put through a minor service by the same mechanic that helped me drive it from Cape Town just after it was bought (
Know this!!! The more people call me stupid, the more likely it was that it would become a self-fulfilling prophecy - obviously within reason :-)
The day of departure came ... The Beast was ready ... And I had enough testosterone going to last me the whole journey ...
The drive from Stellenbosch was relatively uneventful until about 40 kilometres outside Bloemfontein, then capital of the OFS!
My left front wheel suddenly attempted to dislodge itself and I was stuck in the proverbial MIDDLE of the OFS! This took place around 2 o'clock in the afternoon and those days cellphones were simply not yet on the market!
Yep, the nightmares of being accosted by human behemoths suddenly entered my rather cheerful disposition and the sun fled my emotional landscape !!!!
Furthermore, I was a loss of what to do in the situation. I had no tools, little understanding of what exactly had gone wrong and 40 km was a long way to walk on a OFS highway.
There must be some Boer blood in me somewhere because my only impulse was to prepare a 'laager' (defensive position used by the early #Voortrekkers when under attack!) and hunker down for the night in the Beast and find a better solution the next day.
I leaned against the Beast while considering my chances of survival when all of a sudden a chap with a CY registration (that is Bellville, Western Cape, for all you #MAKWEREKWERE out there) stopped and offer his assistance. He was on his way to Bloemfontein and his family over there reportedly knew how to get a tow-truck to me.
Did I warn you that these were the dark days of apartheid??
This kind of help, offered across the racial divide, was never extended to me up until that time - oh I forgot to mention that the Bellville chap was classified white and I was not !!!
As a result of my sensitivity to the racial situation in our country, I did not put much coin in the promises of the chap from Bellville and proceeded to take stock of my provisions and kitting out the Beast for an off-road overnighter. I kept a beady eye on the road for the fabled OFS traffic cop but, for some strange reason, they clearly saw no profit in patrolling that stretch of roadway. I still harboured a secret hope of rescue though ;-).
At about 5 pm, just as I was finally giving in to my cynicism, a tow truck arrived from the direction of Bloemfontein.
God's provision is always on time - even when, as at that time with me, you were an atheist!
Now for the funny part ...
The tow truck driver was white and he could, by law, not tow the Beast, it being a coloured car. I tell you what: Had the Beast known it was a coloured car., it would have repaired itself right there and then!
My money was the right colour however and we waited until it was dark and then we towed the Beast to a Bloemfontein #Ford dealer. This dealer kept its workshop doors open after a radio request from the tow-truck operator. A quick inspection by the mechanic on duty and it became clear that the Beast chewed through its wheel bearings (which has not been maintained for many moons!). The Beast would have to wait until the next day for repairs.
The second apartheid comedy struck.
I knew no-one in Bloemfontein and the white mechanic only knew a white taxi service and ... you guessed it! ... the white taxi service were not allowed to transport a coloured person! He phoned this service and surprisingly the taxi service was happy to transport me to what was called an "International Hotel" for a little extra fee.
Luckily for me, Bloemfontein got its first "International Hotel" a few weeks before as a result of embarrassment to the South African government when foreign black VIPs had no decent place to stay!!! The government then also had to let "local" local blacks stay in these former "white" establishments.
After an uneventful night - no dreams of OFS traffic cops :-), the Beast and I were on the road to Durban at about 11am the next day.
It proved to me that the OFS was not a bad place after all. Its people understood the value of money even in the dark days of apartheid.
The greatest blessing God bestowed on me during this incident ?
I WAS NEVER CONFRONTED BY THE HUMAN BEHEMOTH!
Luckily things have changed for better in our country post-apartheid but the helpful and accommodating tendencies of Free State (the "Orange" was dropped after the end of apartheid) people have not changed much.
The Beast and I had great times in Durban but I lost all my pics when we moved house, sorry.
Next time I will be on my way to Abuja (the federal capital of Nigeria) with the model of a small satellite.
Nearly forgot!!
My good wife (and part-time censor! or editor) indicated I should tell you what the term "MaKwerekwere" means! It is township slang for foreigners.
Salani kahle, y'all!
Another great post!
ReplyDeleteThanks FF. Hard work especially with the censors keeping a beady eye on proceedings
ReplyDelete