Weekend Argus (Saturday Edition)
NORMAN CLOETE
There’s no Red Supreme cabbie quite like this one, writes
IF YOU are ever in Stellenbosch and want to take a taxi ride that will be unlike any you have ever experienced, make your way to the taxi rank in the centre of town and ask for “Tisa”. She will be the woman, with a taxi called Rykie and a shade of red lipstick called “Red Supreme” and she will show you the area of Vlottenburg in Stellenbosch like no tour guide can.
Leatitia Solomons-Manuel is the toast of Stellenbosch following her success on Leatitia se Taxi which aired over seven episodes on Via’s Channel 147 on DStv and follows the daily life of Stellenbosch’s only female taxi driver.
Weekend Argus spent a day with this actor, community activist, motivational speaker, role-model, mentor and taxi driver extraordinaire, whose main responsibility is getting her passengers home safely
“with all their eggs whole”.
“I submitted a proposal to Via and they just said yes. They allowed me to be the creative producer and developer of Leatitia se Taxi,” she added.
Driving a taxi is in this remarkable woman’s blood and the Solomons family have been transporting goods and people since her grandfather hitched his cart to his donkey and started selling fruit and vegetables more than 60 years ago.
Today, the family operates six taxis on various routes across the picturesque Winelands town of Stellenbosch and those routes must surely be some of the most scenic one can find.
Solomons-Manuel, her husband, her father, her brother and future brother-inlaw, are drivers in this family business.
She and dad, Japie Solomons, co-own and manage the business, while husband , Mitch Manuel, join in on the fun on weekends when the family and Stellenbosch taxi industry is at its busiest.
Solomons matriculated from Bloemhof High School in 1999 and completed a Legal Secretarial course at Boland College but could never see herself as a secretary.
“When my granny passed away in 2009, it was a wake-up call for me that there were still so many things that I wanted to do. I always had flair for drama and I decided: ‘nou gaan ek alles doen wat mal is’ (now I am going to do all the crazy things),” said Solomons-Manuel, with a somewhat mischievous grin on her face and that dazzling red smile.
Luckily for Solomons-Manuel, she enjoyed the support of a loving husband and family and was able to follow her dreams.
“It was difficult at times. It has been a journey for everyone who walked this road with me,” she added, no doubt thinking back to the times when she wondered whether she had made the right choice quitting her job and making the stage and driver’s seat of her taxi, her new office.
When Solomons-Manuel started her career as a taxi driver her father left her with four pearls of wisdom which she still adheres to: Always be friendly. Respect the passengers. Every person is important. Be a gentleman, this is a gentleman’s industry. (Daddy might want to change the last bit of advice in the future.)
“I also wanted to give people another idea about taxi drivers instead of always only the negative things that have been said about the industry. I am all about respect and many of my male colleagues share the same values,” said SolomonsManuel.
It is not only the fact that she is the town’s only female driver that makes her special but Solomons-Manuel has a very well-known alter-ego, called Matilda, who has been entertaining fans for the past eight years.
“Matilda is a woman who speaks to all women from all walks of life. They have the same struggles regardless of where they live or come from. She tells it just the way it is,” said Solomons-Manuel.
Matilda was born following the release of Solomons-Manuel’s hit play Vetterig off te not at Woordfees 2010 where she also won the award for Best New Production.
In March this year, her one-woman show, Vol klagtes en gedagtes was sold out at the Drostdy Theatre in Stellenbosch and she received standing ovations from appreciative audiences.
The play was performed at Spier and again the result was overwhelmingly positive.
Some of the highlights of her career include Best Actress Award at the Zabalaza Festival at the Baxter in 2014, an honorary award from the Heritage and Cultural Society of Stellenbosch and small role in Die Boek Klub on KykNET where she had just three lines.
“I was so excited for my three lines. It was an honour to say those three lines.
And I got it right on the first take,” said Solomons-Manuel as she doubled over with laughter in the driver’s seat of Rykie.
When she is not working on her own productions, this “maker of time for people”, is busy presenting educational theatre at schools, puppet theatre on hygiene at pre- and primary schools or teaching the youth about their heritage during her annual Heritage Month programmes.
“I have become such a good listener and by doing this I am always finding new material. I find it in my taxi, at the clinic or even the rugby field when I go to support my nephew who plays for Evergreens
‘This busy lady with the
one-woman show’
Junior Rugby Club,” she added.
Weekend Argus also spoke with Stellenbosch head rank master, Richard Brooks about the fact that women are slowly entering this male-dominated industry.
Brooks added that many female taxi owners are part of their local taxi association so there voices and input are already being felt.
“It would be good for more women to become drivers. Women are strong. Many people were excited about Tisa. Her family is well-known in the taxi industry in Stellenbosch and often people say, here comes our celebrity.
“She has remained humble,” said Brooks.
In the one day Weekend Argus spent with Solomons-Manuel, she went from taxi driver, to brand manager for her productions, to drama mentor and back to picking up and dropping off her most precious cargo, the children of Vlottenburg at their homes on the various farms where they live.
This busy lady with the red lips is currently working on her new one-woman show, Die Begrafnis, which she hopes to open in March 2019 and has pitched a proposal to the Suidooster Festival at Artscape to give Capetonians a taste of her theatrical abilities.