A holiday in Northern Transvaal

We visit relatives at Vaalwater

            I am certain that this story about our visit to Uncle Cecil and Aunty Lettie Whittal on their farm ‘Olievenhoutfontein” near Vaalwater in the Transvaal must have taken place round about 1940.

Voortrekker Monument in Pretoria



Uncle Cecil Whittal

         
   Uncle Cecil, who had originally bought ‘Maizefield’ with my dad, had been farming at Vaalwater for a number of years.   While grandpa was still alive he kept in touch with all his children so we knew all about this uncle of ours.   This would be an opportunity for us to get to know the family better.  They had seven children as follows – Frank 20, Katie, 19, Phil, 17, Cecil 14, George 12, Sarah 4 and Hettie was still a baby.

            We left early one morning; Daddy, Mommy and Aunty May with us six children.   I know that we stopped in Pretoria and it would be my first visit to a Zoo.   We wanted to see all the animals, and what I remember most was the enclosure of the wild pigs that stank terribly.   I was holding Aunty May’s hand very tightly and ran away with her from the stench.  

 The Chimpanzee’s fascinated me, animals with hands like ours, huge elephants using their trunks like hands, and so many more.   There were inquisitive monkeys and the rude baboons.   It was wonderful to a child who had spent his life on a farm, I could have stayed there the whole day but we had still a long way to go.   I remember that when we left the Zoo my dad started going the wrong way in a one way street.   The cop, on seeing a car with an OMF (Viljoenskroon) registration, very kindly helped him to make a U-turn and showed us to the road leading out of the city to the north.

            We arrived on the farm after dark, but were unfortunate to hit a big stone in the middle of the road, which made a hole in the sump and all the oil ran out.   My dad had to walk to the farm house and Uncle Cecil and his sons came to help us carry our luggage to their house.   I was too tired to eat and went to bed straight away and dreamt of all those animals.   The next morning they inspanned about six oxen to go and tow our car to the house.   My dad and his brother did the repairs themselves but had to go to Vaalwater to buy motor oil.

            I know that there was a beautiful stream of water flowing through their farm where my sisters went to swim with our cousins.   This was something they would regret later when it was discovered that they had picked up bilharzia.   Flowing streams were supposed to have been free from bilharzia and, as it was, not one of our cousins had ever picked up the disease.

            From the internet:-  “What is Bilharzia?   Schistosomiasis (also known as bilharzia, bilharziosis or snail fever) is a parasitic disease caused by several species of trematodes (platyhelminth infection, or "flukes"), a parasitic worm of the genus Schistosoma.   Although it has a low mortality rate, schistosomiasis often is a chronic illness that can damage internal organs and, in children, impair growth and cognitive development.   The urinary form of schistosomiasis is associated with increased risks for bladder cancer in adults.   Schistosomiasis is the second most socioeconomically devastating parasitic disease after malaria.

Auntie Lettie Whittal

            Then there was another nasty fly, or gogga, that would lay its eggs on people’s clothes and when the little maggot or worm hatched it would enter through your skin.   My mom and some servants were kept busy with ironing the clothes, but somehow some little worms had got to me and I developed very sore little pimples.   Aunty Lettie knew what to do, she would prick the pimple and then would pull the worm out with a needle.   I was scared and can remember that I cried and said, “let’s go home please”.

            It was so very different to our farm on the Free State flats; here they had typical bushveld country and a river flowing through their farm.   They had a nice house with a thatched roof and a wide verandah.   I think that it may have started my dad’s hankering to sell his farm and move.   The adults had a nice time and enjoyed each others company.   My dad would be out with his brother and I can remember him collecting some succulent plants to take home   Soon we were on our way back home to the Free State.   I did not see those cousins of mine again during the intervening years until we moved to Vereeniging in May 2000.   George Whittal was living in Meyerton and we used to visit them.   Just before we moved from Vereeniging in 2005, they invited us to spend a day with them.   Katie, Sarah and Hettie were also there and we have since become very close friends and relatives.

            After being back home it was discovered that all three my sisters had Bilharzia which they had got from swimming in the stream on the farm in the Transvaal.   The result was that they had to be taken to town three times a week for injections.   A little more than a year later the disease recurred with Daphne and, as my dad was away in the army by then, my mother had to take her to the doctor twice a week by cart and horses.   Poor Mommy!!   My sisters all recovered and never suffered from it again.

Back row - Sarah Whittal & George Whittal
In Front - Rita Whittal (wife of George), Katie (Whittal) Lee & Hettie (Whittal) Marais.

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