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Snippets from my childhood

Vis Visagie, 30 September 2020

Vis writes that he was christened in Pretoria just days after the outbreak of World War II. As a railwayman, his father was later transferred to Zeerust, where Vis recently had the opportunity to once again see the impressive station building again.

When his father was on duty on a Sunday, the kids could play with the porter trolleys on the platform. In summer, they escaped from the heat by going into the cold room after school. The Railways provided employment to many people. His father was transferred to the Reef in 1949. The office did not have telephones in those years; only a telegraph with which messages were sent in Morse code.

In the gravel pit behind their house he could hunt frogs with a catapult and they also went fishing in the nearby stream. His mother then fried the 'ghieliemientjies' for him. Grandpa and Grandma Visagie often came to visit by train; the old man liked to tell anecdotes from the 'English War'.

Vis's life changed irrevocably when he was confronted by the English language at school in 1950 where he had to wear shoes and a tie.