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    South African Kaleidoscope
    South African Kaleidoscope
    South African Kaleidoscope
    Ebook103 pages1 hour

    South African Kaleidoscope

    By Richard Baker

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    About this ebook

    Short stories about life in South Africa before the revolution. No politics or moralising, just excerpts from a priviliged life in a wonderful country. Includes life in a semi-rural area, working as a guide in a game reserve, a member of Johannesburg traffic police, boating in Durban.

    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherRichard Baker
    Release dateJun 29, 2011
    ISBN9781370517169
    South African Kaleidoscope
    Author

    Richard Baker

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      Book preview

      South African Kaleidoscope - Richard Baker

      South African Kaleidoscope

      Copyright 2013 Richard Baker

      Published by Richard Baker at Smashwords

      Smashwords Edition License Notes

      This ebook is licensed for your personal enjoyment only. This ebook may not be re-sold or given away to other people. If you would like to share this book with another person, please purchase an additional copy for each recipient. If you’re reading this book and did not purchase it, or it was not purchased for your enjoyment only, then please return to Smashwords.com or your favorite retailer and purchase your own copy. Thank you for respecting the hard work of this author.

      Table of Contents:

      Acknowledgements

      Prologue

      Chapter 1:

      Names to Remember.

      Faction Fights.

      Chapter 2:

      The Ride.

      A Hole in the Ground.

      Lena.

      Mariani’s Circus.

      Full Moon Furor.

      Chapter 3:

      Cowboy Rick.

      Headache.

      Long Jack.

      Brotherly Trouble.

      Tembu.

      Police Bike Trauma.

      More Police Bike incidents.

      Hell’s Angels.

      Chapter 4:

      Trading Store.

      Lions at the Station.

      One Happy American.

      A Walk on the Wild Side.

      Beware the Baboon.

      Rudi’s Narrow Escape.

      Baboons Again.

      Chapter 5.

      A Love Story.

      Cockroach war.

      Aborted Seychelles Trip.

      Back to Jo’burg.

      Boat Building.

      Launching the Boat.

      Time in Court.

      Chapter 6.

      Big Mama and the Bike.

      Gypsy’s Again.

      Selling the Truck.

      About the Author

      More Titles by the Author

      Contact the author

      Acknowledgements

      My sincere thanks to my wife, for her unending love and patience. She has endured more travel and life events than could be expected, yet she remains strong and true.

      She is also a notable artist, and graciously allows me to use her images for the covers of my books.

      Also my parents, who endured many trials and tribulations, and my many friends, who inspired me.

      Prologue

      South Africa. A land torn by racial conflict, and mismanagement by intolerant politicians. My mind, as I write this, is a jumble of memories clamouring for attention - people, places and events, in a brightly coloured kaleidoscope. Through many years spent in one of the most vibrant countries of the world, all the people, places and events combine to create a mosaic of life, never to be repeated, only remembered.

      Born in London, England, I was raised from the age of three years old in South Africa, and as a young person just accepted the way of life prevalent in the country at that time. As time went by I progressed through school and some university, becoming more and more aware of the severe restrictions and injustices imposed on the indigenous people of that land, many of whom I came to know intimately.

      The native people of South Africa were remarkably patient for a long time, long-suffering and tolerant in the face of grave injustices and humiliation, a situation that took a revolution to change. The apartheid policy which was regarded with such distaste by most of the world’s peoples is a part of the picture - a part which affected every individual at every level of society. The government of the day even went as far as showing new immigrants (white, of course) passages from the Bible, which on the surface ‘proved’ that black people were destined to serve the other races. So, the reasoning went, if they already are a servile people, then we must do our duty and make sure they stay that way!

      The relevant passages in the Bible are Genesis 9:22-27, but of course further enlightened study would reveal that Ham was not actually a black man. Nevertheless, apartheid (separateness) was instituted, and became a part of the law of the land. Any person who thought about the policies and their enforcement could very quickly discern that the government was setting up inescapable self-destruction.

      By the time I was eighteen or nineteen I had come to the conclusion that a man was a man, whatever his colour, but every-day living in South Africa had convinced me that openly opposing the policies of apartheid might be good for my sense of justice and well-being, but was not very effective on a practical level, so I gave everyone the respect they deserved, regardless of colour.

      I will not go any further into the morals, the rights and wrongs, of the government position, as these have been reported at length, and constitute an entirely different story of their own. In this collection of stories I will present to you only the facts of life in South Africa, the joys, the disappointments, the excitement, the sadness, the day-to-day life as we all lived it, and the people who took part in it.

      Chapter 1

      Names to remember

      My early memories always include the ever-present black maid or housekeeper, who worked for the white people (or the few rich people of other races) all day every day for very low wages. Often living in a small room provided by the homeowner, they could survive on the small wage they earned, but real family life was impossible. The provided room had to be separate from the main house - according to the law, people of a different colour could not live together, and also according to the law, only the maid was allowed to inhabit the room provided. Not her husband, not even her children!

      Many of the more liberal employers turned a blind eye to who was actually living in the servant’s quarters, which at least gave some semblance of dignity to the whole arrangement. Usually these women cleaned their employer’s houses, washed their clothes, cooked their food, and cared for their children, yet were given no respect and were not allowed a family life of their own.

      Far from being resentful, these wonderful people were usually pleased to have any job at all, and my thoughts of black South Africans most often come back to their flashing smiles, ready laughter, and chattering banter as they worked. And the music! Every and any occasion was celebrated or mourned with song. Mothers and fathers sang to their children, workers sang as they worked, people sang or chanted at weddings, funerals, or even at night around a camp fire. They were a happy, excitable, noisy, friendly people, so obliging that they bore our thoughtless abuse with no complaint.

      HOW obliging is shown by their habit of taking common English names - biblical names like Samuel, Moses, Simon, Ruth or Mary were popular. These were not the real names given to them by their parents, of course. Those names would be Jabulane, Meshak or Tembu, or some name that the whites would have difficulty pronouncing and remembering. So to make it easier for us, they also took Western-styled names so that proper communication could be maintained.

      Faction Fights.

      Many black men worked in the mines and businesses of the city. Actually, the black population working in Johannesburg (or any of the larger towns or cities) was made up of various tribes, with the tribe indigenous to the area predominating;

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