24November1996

24 November 1996
My dear folks,

Here in Witbank - in this bit at least - it’s a peaceful, humid Sunday afternoon. There is bird conversation in the garden; from the lounge comes TV commentary on the cricket. You will either know which cricket I am referring to or you will not care. Micaela & Brendan have retired to the lounge for a break after spending a couple of hours revising for Micaela’s science exam tomorrow. Conal has taken Sandra fishing at the local dam. The locals are very proud of their dam which is both large & elegant, or so I’m told. I am newly returned from a shopping expedition to Spar, a large supermarket at a shopping centre 5 mins away in the car. The dogs welcome any such returns as the passage of goods from the car to the kitchen gives them ample opportunity to slip inside & join the family. They don’t like being kept outside when the family is home & are expert at briefly feigning obedience to “stay outside” instructions.

It’s been a very busy two days. I drove up to Johannesburg first thing on Friday morning to see Mum’s bankers (of which more, separately Mum) & the manager of Merrowdown. The sale of No 33 is not quite completed but the buyer is moving in - by agreement - prior to the transfer. I wanted to make sure that all was well on the Merrowdown side & it seemed to be. For lunch I joined a contact, Geoff, whose property interests in London I look after. He’s been able to retire in his early fifties & is taking up woodwork in a serious way. He showed me around his workshop which he’s equipped with the last word in machinery, worth sufficient to buy a small house. His own house in Rivonia, with lawn running down to the Braamfontein Spruit, is built in the style of a Roman villa & is simply magnificent.

He took me a few mins up the road to a new fish restaurant which has been done out in the style of an old inn - stone walls & trestle tables. The place is called NACL-H2O. I leave you to work it out. We arrived just in time to take the last 2 places in the parking area. Specimens of the fish on offer swim around the large tanks. You walk to the counter to select your fish & instruct the cook on how you want it prepared. I ordered tuna steaks - simply delicious. The place was packed.

From there I went around to the nearby townhouse of an old SABC colleague, Gary Edwards - long since one of the stars of Radio 702 - with whom I was to spend the night. I swam in his pool - chilly - & then warmed myself up in the Jacuzzi before sitting down to update my files on the morning’s business. Geoff & partner joined us again in the evening. He’d booked a table for dinner at a new restaurant in a new complex called Sandton Square which occupies the site of the former Sandton administration buildings/fire dept. A new hotel, the Michaelangelo, forms a major part of it. The complex is designed around a central square, reminiscent of Brussels - a combination of glitz & olde worlde. Sandton Square & Sandton City are apparently deadly rivals. No need to tell you that the whole area is replete with BMWs & fashionable people.

I returned to Sandton City the following morning with cousin Louise for brunch, a chat & a look around. I found a software programme I wanted for Conal & went hunting for a jacket similar to one that Jones had lost - & lamented - in a Lisbon taxi. We began in the larger stores, John Orrs & Suttafords, where prices for such garments ranged from R450 to R750 (about R8 to the Pound). Then, as much out of interest as anything - we stuck our noses into some of the fashion dens where there was nothing under R1,000 - even on the sales - & where tags demanding several thousand rand for a jacket didn’t even have the decency to blush. It was an interesting little venture but one would have to be very wealthy or very silly or both to shop in the exclusive outlets.

I drove back down to Witbank early Sat. afternoon. It’s a fast 90 min. run on a double highway but it’s a dull drive & even with the fan on full, I found it hard to stay awake, having to pinch myself pink to fend off the waves of sleepiness. The car - I borrowed Conal’s - is equipped with an air conditioner but like a fool I discovered as I arrived in Witbank that I’d inadvertently switched it off while fiddling with the radio. I promptly turned on the rugby on TV & fell asleep in front of the set. Brendan has two reclining chairs, both wonderfully comfortable.

Micaela was home. Brendan & Conal had gone to Johannesburg themselves to do some business. They arrived home sixish as I was getting in a few lengths of Brendan’s pool. It’s water was rather chilly & rather green, a reflection on the mixed weather we have & the trees surrounding it. Masses of leaves & twigs fall in.

Brendan was set on going for a gambling session at the Carousel, the casino he frequents on the road between Pretoria & Warmbaths. I was a bit dubious as we’d already had long drives & faced another 90 mins each way. Would Sunday not be a better idea, I wondered. No, Saturday night it was to be! And so we set off about eight, Conal, Sandra & Micaela in the back seat & the old men in front. It was my first visit to the Carousel, a smaller version of Sun City. Hundreds of other people were arriving, mainly boere but with a generous sprinkling of blacks & a few Asians.

Micaela had applied some make-up in order to make herself look as close to the mandatory 18 as possible. We’d barely settled down among the one-armed bandits when she struck lucky & a welter of 2-Rand coins came pouring out. Brendan told her to make herself scarce, fearful that the management would question her age & cancel the win - since the bulk had to be paid by cheque. Indeed, they took so long to pay the cheque that he suspected they were checking the video tape. But the cheque duly arrived, & since Conal, Brendan & I had also had smaller successes, we took ourselves off to supper on our winnings - trying unoccupied machines as we went. Brendan returned to the casino for a second spell while the rest of us lingered over supper or went for a walk. He told us that he’d won a whole lot more money but then blown it again. Even so, I think we returned home rather richer than we’d left. Certainly, I’m to bank R2000 in Micaela’s account tomorrow & that’s not to be sniffed at.

Over breakfast today - croissants & jam or honey - Bren lectured us on the importance of leaving the one-armed bandits while one was on top. I hope he was listening to his lecture for the rest of us found it richly ironic. He gets a lot of pleasure from gambling & plays for the highest stakes that the machines will allow. I tend to feed my coins in one at a time. Bren either bungs in five at a time, or feeds the “bandits” with a R50 note. He can’t see the point of not going for the jackpot. He’s not there to win or lose a couple of hundred rand. What he’s interested in is retirement.

Meanwhile, my visit rushes towards an end. Tomorrow morning, I’ll concentrate on some computing & paperwork while Micaela writes her exam. On Tuesday we plan to visit Nelspruit to inspect the coffee bar. On Wednesday, I catch the plane home. By Friday when the all important opening of the Nelspruit venture is hoped to take place, Jones & I will be home in our London pad. The weather will be nothing like this sunny Witbank afternoon. I guess that’s life!

Lots of love
T