Elsa Skippers

Elsa Skippers is one of ten children. She feels that during Apartheid white people were much kinder than they are now. They walked barefoot to school – a long distance from Grootfontein to Noordhoek, and were seldom lifted by whites who drove the same way. There were no nutritional programs at the schools. Elsa’s parents could not afford to send her to high school, so she never realised her dream of becoming a nurse. She married and had three sons, who grew up in the house they have lived in since 1981. Elsa worked in the orchards, then in the office in a woman’s house. After Apartheid she started teaching young children as she cares deeply for them. She completed various courses on kindergarten teaching and has many certificates. Elsa and her family are converted, practicing Christians. She speaks about Willem Bees, a young orphan boy involved in crime who was jailed multiple times.

Elsa’s father loved fishing. One day he came home and told his wife that he had seen their dog, tail between its legs, looking at the river. He saw a beautiful woman sitting on a rock, with the lower body of a fish, brushing her hair and gazing into a mirror. She had blood-red cheeks. As he moved closer she disappeared into the water. Elsa says that these waternooientjies (watermaidens) and waterbase (water bosses) live in the black hole in the river. She says the river is alive, and there are creatures living inside it. Once a pretty boy was playing alone by the river and could not move to get out. His friend came to help him and pulled him from the hole he was stuck in. The waterbaas had caught him – they catch beautiful people and people with moles. The boy never went back to the river.

 

My name is Elsa Skippers. My ma and my pa… my ma and my pa… my pa’s … my pa’s name is Auguster Thys (?? 00:27) and my ma’s name is Lea Fortuin. My pa is actually from the Sôgrô district (?? 00:32) and my ma is a Citrusdaller. They were married and had ten children.

I was born on Katloek, me and my four other brothers, four, and the other six were born at this place. But those were days of hardship because our home… But we always had something to eat. These days –  the other day I was talking to a woman I worked with and told her that in the apartheid years the white people were actually more loving than now. And I visited in the old people’s house, visited Grandma there, also stayed there. They slept with the white people in the evenings, but I was a friend, played together, then the guy said to me, “You can sleep here tonight.” We slept at my friend’s, but these days it won’t be so easy to befriend… All of us went into their houses, all of us were like friends, but through the years we grew up… My other uhh, four brothers and sisters didn’t go to school…  My four brothers, sisters of my brothers, have passed away.

Only from myself upwards did we go to school. We walked from Grootfontein, very far, to school, barefoot… as my husband said. We didn’t have shoes. We struggled to get by, but had a desire to go to school. We simply walked barefoot. And in those days the white people didn’t pick us up. If they didn’t have a bakkie* they drove past you, or otherwise in the trunk. They didn’t want us sitting in their cars, but we wanted to get to school. We had to walk far and it wasn’t like now, when the children have those feeding schemes. If you… bread in the morning (inaudible 02:26).

Then we walked back again in the afternoon. And there wasn’t any water along the road. It was covered with duckweed, but you were thirsty, you pushed the duckweed aside and drank the water. Thus we walked.

From Sub A to Standard 4, and I was in (inaudible 02:44) up to Standard 6. But my ma didn’t have the money to send me to secondary school. But anyhow, I studied. My desire was to become a nurse, but I didn’t (inaudible 02:58). And if I became a nurse, I would have been too high.

And in time I met my husband, and we later had Jeremy, and after that Anton. After Anton I married. My other son’s name is Dominique. I had them, and now… we still get the (inaudible 03:22), in 1981, where we lived, where they grew up.

And then we worked on the farm. I was in the orchard at first, then I worked in the office. From the office into the house of the oumies*, the woman’s house. From there (inaudible 3:48), when Mandela took over, you know, then the nursery schools started, then I said I was more into the children. For the children, I was more concerned for the children. Then I started with the nursery schools and then I said… In time we started going to classes.

I started finding out about everything. Now, Stellenbosch, we were in Wellington, there at the (inaudible 04:16), was there in the mountain, was in Stellenbosch. There isn’t a place where I haven’t been to a nursery school class. Thus it developed so that the people’s children could learn. So later on I asked, why don’t I level. Then I did level four and five at my age, 50 years old at level five. Oldest student of the bunch. But I finished him*, got cards and went to teach children. And we’re now studying at Pammil (?? 4:51), a company that was started in Stellenbosch. We go every month, we go get our work, we give the children work. And thus we teach the people’s children.

Some of the children I’ve taught are teachers. They are, there is one that did university, he’s now a manager. I’ve learnt at two companies to be, to be a group leader. When I – say it’s a school with 30 children, then I go to the bathroom, go pray, then I say, okay, look after the children, I’ll be back. This way some of them learnt how to be team leaders, and there are the first team leaders. And more children are… in Vredendal they’re also learning nicely. Some of them are teachers, some work in the packing shed, and those who didn’t make it, they land up (onhoorbaar 05:47 ??in the ditch).

I converted and have worked for the Lord for thirty years, that I serve the Lord. Both my sons are converted, their wives are converted, the husband is converted. So we’re now leading a good life because meeting the Lord put us on a good path. That is why I say today that the Lord is merciful.

Now, Xhosas murdered my grandchild, only knew his great-grandma for two years. I remember it is now the fifth year that my grandchild is dead, went through heartbreak, went through pain, but I continue, maybe we help…

Have you ever heard of a man called Willem Bees?

Uhmm.

Can you tell us what you heard about him?

Willem Bees was dangerous. The Willem Bees that I remember was a young boy. He didn’t have parents, you know. He didn’t have a father, no mother, mother is dead. But his people were my friends, Kampfers (?? 06:56), were my friends and when he was fifteen, he… for the first time, he probably thought no one could be bothered. Then I heard all the things that he had done – burgled the (inaudible 07:08; ??ounie??), assaulted the (inaudible), and then he went to jail. Long time in jail, came out, assaulted someone again. The girl was also (inaudible 07:18). There at Paarlkop. She lives there. He… her…