S for South Africa

A tale of misplaced optimism

In the summer of 1973 I was interviewed to determine if I was a suitable candidate to join a team that was being assembled to undertake a project for the company's associate in South Africa. A year earlier I had been considered for an opportunity in Swaziland. I obtained a passport and had a number of inoculations against tropical diseases. That project did not materialise but I now had the necessary protection in place for this new chance to sample life beyond the British Isles.

It was to be an accompanied assignment lasting between 18 months and two years. I wondered about the ethics of working in a country that practices Apartheid. We lived in Coventry, a city with a diverse population in which people of colour were officially treated as equals. Our son attended a school that contained black and brown children. What might the experience of segregated education do to him? After due consideration we concluded that we could demonstrate by our own behaviour and beliefs that the idea that his skin pigmentation endowed him with special privileges was abhorrent.

The next hurdle to overcome was the journey. It transpired that we would not be able to travel together. A visa would not be granted to my wife and son until I had been in South Africa for enough time to satisfy the authorities that I was welcome. On the evening of the third of August 1973 I embarked aboard a Boeing 747 at Heathrow, bound for Johannesburg. The final leg, from Johannesburg to Durban, was completed on the afternoon of the fourth. With me were the Project Manager, Barry; Walter, a fellow designer from Coventry that I barely knew, and Peter, an Electrical Engineer recruited from the Project Manager's base in Derby.

Initially we were accommodated in a hotel in the small coastal town where the project was located, approximately 30 miles south of Durban. The project comprised of several specific elements each designed to update the storage and handling of raw materials for a wood pulp production facility.

Some work was already underway with the completion of a new coal fired boiler and generating set by Babcock, together with associated coal storage. Aside from timber, the principle raw materials were raw sulphur and crushed limestone used to manufacture the acid solvent that caused the separation of cellulose fibres from the timber. In the initial stages Walter was assigned the task of updating the Sulphur and Limestone facilities whilst I completed the coal storage area. Later the timber handling would be split between us: Walter dealing with wood chips whilst I was responsible for the transport of logs to the chipping machines. The electrical aspects of all areas were Peter's domain.

A few days after our arrival Peter suffered a heart attack and was hospitalised in Durban. Violet, his wife, was allowed to join him on compassionate grounds. Fortunately he made a swift recovery and was able to remain in post for the duration of the project.

Freda and Ian arrived midway between his 8^th birthday on 11^th September and our tenth anniversary on the 18^th. They were accompanied by Walter's daughter who had been delivered to Freda the previous day by her grandmother, Walter being a widower. Walter and I flew to Johannesburg to meet them there and accompany them to Durban.

After a brief stay in a colonial style bungalow which we did not like, we were allocated the tenancy of a newly built duplex overlooking the ocean. A recently recruited Welsh chemical engineer moved into the adjacent unit with his Dutch wife and two-year-old twin sons.

Ian attended the local primary school where he was placed in a class of boys and girls two to three years older than him since South African children did not start school until age 7 at that time. So did Walter's daughter. Violet took on the role of minder for her, outside of school hours.

Ian also joined the local cub scouts group and Freda and I became actively involved in supporting the group as volunteers and taking part in fund raising activities.

Neither Violet nor Freda were able to take up employment. On the contrary, it was expected that we would employ African women as servants. At first Freda refused several potential 'maids' who came knocking at our door. She was well used to doing her own housework and had time on her hands anyway. Violet convinced her that providing work for a local woman made sense given our comparatively privileged position. The 'girl' she took on proved to be an asset. The block of 5 residences included a separate wash room building specifically for the use of African employees. Freda, rightly, ignored this stipulation and permitted the woman to use our facilities.

In addition to swapping evening child minding between ourselves and our neighbours with their twins when ever we wanted to socialise in the evenings, we had no qualms about entrusting Ian to the maid as sitter on certain evenings. This would necessitate me taking her back to the African workers' village, thereby breaking another rule which forbade us from entering this segregated area.

Many weekends we spent at the beach or visiting beauty spots throughout the wider area. We would also spend Sundays at the hotel's pool where delicious curries were served for lunch.

We took a 2 week holiday in July of 1974 and drove 500 miles north to the Eastern Transvaal. Because of the world wide fuel crisis underway at the time we were subjected to a 50 mph speed limit. This gave us time to admire the landscape as we made our way over the Drakensburg mountains and across the central plateau where maize was the principle crop.

Once arrived we found a hilly and forested region with many more interesting places to visit. A highlight was the day on which we drove down the Eastern escarpment to Kruger Park, a vast safari park where we encountered wild animals in their natural environment. The escarpment contains a number of spectacular viewing points, the most magnificent of which was called God's Window with views across the vastness of the eastern plain towards Mozambique. The route down the escarpment was peppered with orange groves.

At a time when our fellow countrymen were suffering three day weeks and frequent power outages, we enjoyed a lifestyle we could never have imagined just a couple of years before. We had no illusions, however, we knew it was not going to last. The project was due for completion early in 1975 and we would have to get used to normal life once more.

As for race relations, we did not witness the extremes of Apartheid which were not imposed so severely in Natal Province as elsewhere. There was a sizeable Indian population, especially in Durban. Many ran businesses with which we dealt. On one occasion we visited a Hindu temple and were treated to an outline of Hindu traditions and culture. This included the blessing of motor cars, entailing the smashing of a pumpkin over the bonnet. We laughingly concluded that we now understood the reason for the reckless driving habits of some members of that community.

During a staff Christmas celebration in December 1975 I talked to one of the directors about the political situation and he assured me of his belief that discrimination would end soon. The business community wanted it because it would open up a vast untapped market. A cynical view, perhaps, but an optimistic one nevertheless. As things turned out, he was ahead of the curve of history. Within months riots in Sowetto produced a harsh response and it would be another decade and a half before Apartheid finally ended with the release of Nelson Mandela from prison.

Not only was our social life exceptional. I found my part in the project enjoyable and satisfying. Before we left, at the end of January 1975, I was offered a permanent position. I agreed to give it some thought. The man who made the offer was prepared to wait thee months for my answer. Once home, of course, the idea of permanently separating ourselves from friends and family in England seemed less attractive. My bosses in Coventry encouraged me to stay with the carrot of a possible project in their Canadian business. As you will have already discovered, it was not Canada, but Grimsby that I was destined for.