4th of January 1965.

Now you may ask what is so significant about the 4th of January 1965. Well that is the day I started my working career, and today is the 47th anniversary of that day.


At the end of 1964 my brother and I had both reached the academic heights of std. 8, grade 10 in today's terms. Way back then there was a a school certificate, called a junior certificate, or JC. You still had 2 years to go before you qualified for a senior certificate and completion of high school. But times were tough and our parents did not have the funds for us to continue school, so with our JC's we set of to find work. I was sixteen and my brother fifteen.


One of our uncles, my mother's younger brother Chris, offered to take us to the big city of Durban to seek our fortune. At the time we were living in a small village where my father worked and employment opportunities were few and far between. The first place we went to was the employment office of the then South African Railways and Harbours, (SAR&H). 


To be employed by the railways one of their doctors had to declare you fit. So the first thing we had to do was go for a medical in the same building. My brother saw the doctor first and came out full of smiles, he had passed the medical. Then I went in, the doctor took his time and was very thorough. When he was through he said, "No sorry but you haven't passed your medical, with the state of your heart I doubt that you will see 20." As a result of  a bout of Rheumatic fever when I was thirteen, I have what is known as tacky cardiae, very erratic heartbeat. Well I think that doctor has been pushing up daisies for a long time and I'm still here. He was not the only doctor to predict my early demise, for one medical reason or another, over the years.


To cut a long story short, my brother was employed by the Railways as a clerk and he was told to report to the local railway station in our village on the 4th of January. Me? Well I went to every possible place where I might be able to find employment in Durban, with no luck. Even the humblest place had one look at me and my Junior certificate and weren't impressed. Spent two days from almost sunrise to sunset, with my uncle encouraging me to try just one more place. Eventually we decided to pack up and go home.


The day after we got home, (30th December and my 17th birthday) I decided to try at the local Post Office, I wasn't too optimistic but decided I must try.  Walked into the PO and said to the lady behind the counter that I was looking for work. I don't think she was very impressed either with what she saw, but said she would call the Post Master. The Postmaster looked at me for a long while before he said to the counter lady, "Give him an employment application form to fill in." She had to give me three or four as I was so nervous I kept messing them up. 


Eventually I managed to complete a form correctly and the counter lady took the form to the Postmaster. She came back a couple of minutes later and said, "The postmaster says you must report for work on Monday morning the 4th at 7:30." Turned out that our local Post Office was the regional training office and the Post Master got a bonus on the number of clerks he trained in a year. The only medical the Post Office had back then was to weigh you. Too fat or too thin, and you weren't employed, I was too thin, but seeing as I was the only male that had applied they let it pass. Weren't too worried about discrimination or human rights back then. My starting wage was R45 per month before deductions, a princely sum I thought. Only money I had seen before then was my 10c a week pocket money.  


Monday morning arrived and I reported for work at the stipulated time, wearing my school uniform, grey flannels, (any one remember flannels), black school shoes with grey school socks, white shirt and an old tie that my uncle had given me. The flannels were short at the ankles and the shirt short at the wrist. There was no money to buy fancy clothes to go to work in. I felt very proud though, I was a man making my own way in the World. Well, being the new guy I was the dogs body, any one who needed something done gave it to me to do. After three months I had to write an exam which I passed and I was told my employment was permanent.


Over the next two years I studied by correspondence for my Matric, (Senior Certificate) which I passed end of 1967. The Post Office paid me a bonus of R50 for this achievement and a R5 a month pay increase. (During 1966, I was the guest of the South African Defence Force, doing my compulsory military training, no human rights qualms here either. You go to the army or you go to jail). Spent the next 20 years in the Post Office, with several promotions over the years including Post Master with my own Post Office, and had to take early retirement in 1985 due to ill health. (Which turned out to be a blessing in disguise) 


If I had stayed in the Post Office this would have been my last 365 days of employment, with retirement being 4th January 2013. Compulsory retirement at 65, applies to all government emplyees

Scenes from my school

The entrance to the salt mine where I slave all day-:)

 

The school badge with a Lammergeier in flight over the Drakensberg. School motto; Liber sed integrer. Freedom with responsibility.

Pedestrian entrance to the school. In the background, entrance to the school hall and reception area. Administration block on the right. Click on photos to enlarge.

Southern sports field, rugby, soccer and athletics. Net-ball courts on the to terrace next to the school.

Another view of the south sports field. If you look carefully when you enlarge the photo you will see part of the Drakensberg, unfortunately mostly obscured by cloud.

Southern sports field, cricket and hockey. To the left, half obscured by the tree in the left foreground, are our tennis courts and swimming pool.

View of the library taken from my work station. Right back, foundation phase library (Grade 1 - 3). This has just been added to the main library, hence all the boxes and no entry sign. About 1,500 books still to be put on the system. At the back and to the left out of photo non-fiction section. Middle shelf and to the right, and out of photo English fiction.

Left foreground, Afrikaans fiction. I have since had the TV and video recorder removed, the school has a separate  video room with large, wall mounted flat-screen TV with video and DVD player. Behind and to the left is the reference shelves and behind that the teachers resource library. The teachers resource library has about 2000 items.

View of the reference section, encyclopedias, etc., with teachers resource library behind. Between the two is where I prepare and repair books. Issue counter and entrance to the left.

The library is fully computerised and when I have completed the foundation phase section, will have +- 10,000 items in stock.

I do all the purchasing of books, preparing them, classifying and cataloguing, and entering new stock on the computer system. One teacher assists me with preparation and repair of books for one hour twice a week. I also have 5 library assistants, grade 7 learners, who help pack books and tidy up.

Furthermore I see all the grades from grade 1 to grade 7 every week, three classes to each grade. Grade 1 to 2 come for a half hour story reading. From grade 3 to seven they have a one hour library period where I teach them library use, research, etc. Learners also change their books in this period. Learners may change books at any time during the day, at break times, or after school from 2 to 3pm.

I usually get to school an hour before official starting time as I find this my most productive time to do administrative work and lesson preparation.

About three times a year I organise a Book fair where travelling book sellers bring their books and display them in the school hall. This Book fair is open to the whole community and other schools in the area.Local people and schools support the Book fairs enthusiastically. Once a year I get an organisation Called "Hooked on Books". These are drama students from the University of KwaZuluNatal, Pietermaritzburg campus, who present parts of books as a mini play. The learner's just love them. After these presentations I have to make sure that I have enough copies of the books presented, because they all want to read them.  Other schools in the area also attend.

I love my job and the days just fly by!