Has no age restriction
In the quaint village of Hilton, an inspiring love story has unfolded between two seniors, Kingsley Pooler, 75 and Maria van Rooyen, 71.
What began as a friendship blossomed into a romantic journey filled with shared walks, mutual interests and a surprise proposal.
Their serendipitous connection emerged through the Hilton Buddies group, an initiative aimed at connecting seniors with volunteers and fostering companionship during challenging times. Monthly gatherings allowed them to socialise, leading Pooler to strike up a casual conversation with Van Rooyen, discovering they lived in close proximity to each other and shared a love for leisurely walks.
Despite not actively seeking love after experiencing the loss of their respective spouses, Pooler and Van Rooyen found themselves unintentionally transitioning from friends to something more.
Pooler, sharing the poignant story with Maritzburg Sun, revealed that three years had passed since his wife's demise, while Van Rooyen had been widowed for two years. Their connection, formed a year and a half ago, initially began with a quest for friendship after Van Rooyen’s recent move to KwaZulu-Natal.
“When I joined the group, I was just looking for friends because I had just moved to KwaZulu-Natal in 2022 and was looking to meet some people in the area,” Van Rooyen said.
“I was very actually very surprised, when after just a few walks, (Pooler) invited me to come over to his house for tea and scones,” Van Rooyen said with a laugh.
The two say that there was never a specific moment when they decided that they would be more than friends. "It all happened very “naturally” they said.
Van Rooyen said that she began to see Pooler as a romantic partner when, during one of their walks, he took her hand in his.
“From that moment, I would say it took a little over a month before I fell in love with him. Can you believe it? At my age?” Van Rooyen said.
Pooler couldn’t say for sure when he realised their relationship had become a romantic one. However, he is sure that he is deeply in love with her.
It was that certainty of his feelings for Van Rooyen that led to him hatching a plan for a proposal in December. Just before Christmas, Pooler told Van Rooyen to come to his backyard to look at how beautiful one of the trees was. When she arrived, Pooler asked her to marry him under the tree that had
been decorated with balloons and red roses.
Van Rooyen accepted and the two will be tying the knot in two weeks time. Van Rooyen said that her wedding dress will be gold and not white as she has been married before and would like this wedding to be more joyous than a traditional wedding.
Pooler is not certain what he will be wearing as he is consumed with excitement for the upcoming nuptials and seeing his fiancé in her wedding dress. “A dress which she is altering herself!” he proudly said.
For those who are reluctant to date and those eagerly waiting to date, Van Rooyen and Pooler offered some words of advice. Van Rooyen stressed the importance of having shared interests and openly communicating about topics that could be uncomfortable to talk about. “You must have the same or similar interests so that more activities can be done together,” Van Rooyen said.
Van Rooyen encouraged open communication among couples on sensitive topics to ensure understanding.
Pooler recommends that people hesitant about love or thinking about marriage should “give it time” and that if one is sure of their love for someone else then they should not be afraid to “take the leap of faith.”
Pooler said that singles should “be open” and frequent social events or places where they know they will find like-minded individuals.
The two are excited to be joining their families (Van Rooyen and Pooler have two and three children respectively) and look forward to taking many more walks together as husband and wife.
Some residents of Ashburton and Lynnfield Park were still without water yesterday after a truck destroyed a main water line on the bridge over the Little Mpushini River last Friday.
Frustrated residents said despite the over 72-hour-long disruption, no water tankers had been despatched by the municipality.
Area councillor, Edith Elliot, said Msunduzi employees fixed the pipe on Friday evening but when the water was restored, it was only for about five minutes. Some residents in Lynnfield Park have been without water since then.
At the time of going to print, water had been restored to most parts of Ashburton, with a few areas still without water.
However, Msunduzi employees had to be called back to the area after the same pipe was hit again, this time by the trailer of a truck at around 10 pm that night.
“A section of the metal pipe was knocked completely out.
“Work continued all day — Saturday through to Sunday morning, using multiple thinner PVC pipes.
“During this time some people in Greenpoint, Sara Lane, Hillview and Restdene did not have water.
“They still do not have water and are angry.
“By Sunday afternoon, these areas still did not have water. The problem is that the R103 is now serving as the only alternative route to the N3 while construction continues from Lynnfield Park to Ashburton on the N3. It is too narrow for trucks (three metres instead of a minimum of 3,5 metres) and bridges, such as the one now hit multiple times at Tumble Inn, are unsuitable for their use.
“It is too narrow and the road too winding,” said Elliot.
Elliot said she had been in constant contact with the municipality during the incidents and employees had responded timeously, working around the clock to restore water supply to the area.
The pipe is laid on the roadside of the bridge over the Little Mpushini, between Ashburton and Lynnfield Park near Tumble Inn.
Maritzburg Sun, Speaking to residents said that a team from Msunduzi Municipality’s water department was trying to fix the pipe “but with no luck” since attending to the area from Friday.
Karen Goss, a Green Point Road resident in Ashburton, said their concern was about their hygiene since they were not provided with a water tanker as a temporary measure while the workers were fixing the broken pipes.
“We can’t flush toilets and we can’t do anything.
“When the workers were here for the first time we asked how long it’s going to take before water could be restored. They said shortly and, indeed, it returned but only for five minutes.
“They returned on Sunday and have been here since the morning. By 10.30 am they said the water would be restored in an hour, but by 3pm we still had no water. This is insane,” said Goss.
She said a water tanker would have made a difference had one been made available for the area.
Another resident, Sheila Stead, said her tenants demanded answers from her about the water outage. She said the pipes were bound to get damaged as they were installed on the roadside.
“These people are not organised. Those pipes are on the roadside instead of the other side of the bridge and with the trucks taking a detour in this area, they are likely to get wiped out again,” she said.
highly anticipated docuAmentary
on the life of controversial South African politician, popularly known as the Bengal Tiger, Amichand Rajbansi, is set to be released later this year, with filming already underway.
The
The production, named
Bengal Tiger,
will be offering a series and a cinema cut by Arish Sirkissoon (LX Seth) and Shameen Thakur Rajbansi.
The trailer of the documentary that delves into the life and journey of Rajbansi was released on Friday and is already receiving much attention.
Shameen Thakur Rajbansi said the idea of documenting her husband’s life and work was a topic that she always spoke to him about but he never had the time to do.
“It was an idea that I always had and spoke to him about. I used to say to him that there should be a book or movie about him and I would take my black book to him and ask him what ideas there could be for a title for a book or movie and he would say leave all that, there are more important things to work on.
“Over the years I had gathered a wealth of information and clippings on him — and his story is a legacy that should be told. Following the 2019 elections, I met Arish when he was releasing another of his movies and we then spoke about my idea,” said Shameen.
She said since 2021, her son Pradhil and his fiancée Priyanka worked with her to gather information on Rajbansi and set up meetings for the movie.
“It was exciting because this is about his journey into politics and a man that the current generation do not know about. It will motivate the youth, allow them to appreciate those who were a part of their journey, and inspire younger and budding politicians,” said Shameen.
She said the motivation to compile the documentary was simple.
“It is simple. He wanted to serve the people and there is a call for this message in South Africa,” she said.
“Halfway through conducting
interviews and research, Pradhil and his fiancée Priyanka died in a car accident. That set me back quite a bit. I then had to think about what I wanted to do.
“I decided to go ahead with the documentary as I wanted to document Rajbansi’s legacy.
“I have really missed the children in this time while we continued with the documentary, as they helped me with most of the information.
"My son hero-worshipped Rajbansi. They often went to events and meetings together and I knew they would take care of each other. This also allowed Pradhil to see first hand what Rajbansi was doing. So, this will also be a dedication to the children,” said Rajbansi.
Directed by Arish Sirkissoon, the project promises to bring Rajbansi’s captivating story to life, uncovering the untold journey of a man who overcame poverty, apartheid and scandal to leave an indelible mark on the South African political landscape during its most controversial era.
“This is my first documentary and it certainly will not be my last. I want to tell the stories of the Indian community and how they brought change to the system.
“I am learning so much with the research and how much the Indian community played a role in liberating this country and these stories have to be told.
“This is the story of a legend that must not be forgotten. It’s best that we document it,” said Sirkissoon.
He said that he enjoyed working with Shameen to make the documentary.
“Working with Shameen was a pleasure. She allowed me to do what I wanted to do with the documentary. It was a devastating time when Pradhil and Priyanka passed away as we worked on the documentary together. They were passionate about this project,” said Sirkissoon. The Bengal Tiger
will be available in a series and cinematic cut across cinemas and streaming sites.
For updates on the documentary’s progress and release, follow LX SETH (PTY) LTD on social media.