Martha van Wyk
Ex-resident and former postal agency and municipal representative
At the retirement home Huis Moorrees in the neighbouring town of Moorreesburg, Martha van Wyk (80) is sitting in the living room just outside her small, cluttered room, where she still happily sews during the day. But she is extremely quiet for a woman who, for 20 years, much like the Pied Piper of Hamelin with his flute, had the ability to captivate Koringberg residents with her wonderful stories, especially when you called on a Wednesday with a request for the municipal truck to come drain your septic tank. (The old town still does not have a sewerage system, unlike the RDP development that was built in the early 2000s.)
For this unpleasant request, you had to knock on the door of Martha and Sylvie van Rooi at the postal agency, which also serves as the municipal office.
Martha reminds one somewhat of the character Mietie in the 1980s TV series Koöperasiestories and is always ready with a good story or a plan of some kind. “In the early days, the late Hillary Williams and I could easily earn R500 on Fridays when we sold pancakes at the Post Office – and you know, the ingredients cost just R45, plus the gas. At one stage I was selling 200 bottles of ginger beer each week at R8 a bottle, even to homes as far afield as Wittewater. The whole community would bring us their products – crochetwork and knitting, nets, rusks, biscuits – and we would sell these on their behalf. I even had a candy floss machine! In the Post Office!”
She recalls that the farming community accepted her right away, and how she enjoyed living in a rented house on Looiersvlei, a stone’s throw from the town, for almost 21 years. “Back then there were weekly cattle auctions for which the women prepared food, tour groups from Cape Town would arrive regularly… I find it interesting how those old-fashioned ideas slowly changed to become what we experience today. The people are just as lovely and interesting, but you don’t feel, like you did in the old days, that you know them inside out.”