Memoir being written on Great Brak
A man, born and bred in Great Brak, is writing a book about the village, called Deur die oë van 'n kind.
Hein Boshoff emphasises that his book will be a personal account of his boyhood, not a strictly historical piece.
He was born in 1956 in the house in the small agricultural area in Great Brak behind the NG Church. The church is in Long Street.
The house was built in 1916 for the chauffeur of the well-known Searle family of Great Brak.
Boshoff was head boy of Great Brak Secondary School - then the only school in the village - which offered classes until Standard 8. After that he went to Point High School in Mossel Bay. "I finished at Point in 1973. My future wife sat next to me in class in standards 9 and 10. We have been married for 41 years."
Boshoff says of the Great Brak of his childhood: "In those days we knew nothing of Apartheid. Our best friends were the Coloured boys.
“We played cricket and rugby with them.
Disappointed
"My parents passed away in 1983 and 1984. I was so disappointed that Coloured people could not attend their funerals, so I made a scene and then they were allowed to sit in the gallery.
"Die Toue, which is now a Coloured area, was a white suburb when I was a child. The white people were moved to an area near Bergsig, where the present police station is.
"The Coloured people were moved from Mossienes which is at Pick n Pay and from Tannery Kloof to Die Toue.
"As children, we went into the Coloured areas and played hide and seek and cowboys and crooks. Today I still go there and visit friends and we have no problems."
Boshoff said that as children, they were not allowed to be seen playing in the streets from 15:00 to 16:00 because they were supposed to be doing homework. "We used to hide in the tall grass under the bridge during that time," he said.
His book will include descriptions of the suburbs of Great Brak. He is also writing about the formal and informal sector businesses, so there will be anecdotes about the factories, shoe making, leatherwork and the bakeries. There will also be information about social aspects of the town, such as the church activities, interschool sports days, bazaars and how people holidayed - in round tents at that time.
Memories
Boshoff is also including his memories of relations between English and Afrikaans speakers in the village. He hopes to complete his book by September next year. Boshoff currently lives in George.
He had an impressive sports career, playing SWD schools cricket and rugby and then country districts cricket. He then played rugby for Boland. In 1976 he played against the All Blacks in Wellington, New Zealand. He went on to join the old South-West Africa national team. Boshoff also played rugby for Stellaland province and cricket for the Griquas.
He was a colonel in the infantry. For 20 years he was a partner in an insurance brokerage in Port Elizabeth.