Huis Kombuis – The Food of District Six

HUIS KOMBUIS T h e

Fo od

of

D i stri ct

Si x

PHOTOGRAPHY BY JAC DE VILLIERS PRODUCED BY TINA SMITH

HUIS KOMBUIS As a child in the early nineteen-sixties, I often accompanied my father to a fish market in an area of C a p e To w n k n o w n a s D i s t r i c t S i x , l o c a t e d i n t h e h e a r t o f t h e c i t y a t t h e f o o t h i l l s o f Ta b l e M o u n t a i n . I t w a s a mixed race neighborhood, established about a hundred years earlier as a community of freed slaves, merchants, artisans and immigrants.

Fifty years ago on February 11, 1966, the nationalist government of the day passed a law declaring District Six a whites-only area. Their houses were subsequently bulldozed and they were relocated twenty-five kilometers outside the mother city to a wind-swept sandy scrubland known as the Cape Flats.

C a p e To w n n o t o n l y l o s t a v i t a l c h u n k o f i t s p o p u l a t i o n and architecture, it lost its soul.

To d a y a f e w m o s q u e s a n d c h u r c h e s d o t t h i s w a s t e l a n d where once a spirited community lived. According to ex-resident Ruth Jeftha, “District Six was all about food – we didn’t have much, but food brought us t o g e t h e r. I f y o u h a d k i d s t o f e e d y o u w o u l d g o t o y o u r n e i g h b o u r a n d a s k f o r f o o d .”

Huis Kombuis (Home Kitchen) is a term coined by a group of twenty-two ex-residents who participate in a memory workshop program with team leader Tina Smith, curator of the District Six Museum. It ’s a design project where storytelling, performance and traditional c r a f t w o r k i n v o l v i n g e m b r o i d e r y, s e w i n g a n d a p p l i q u e work are used to document the culinary life of the era.

A couple of years ago Tina Smith invited me to work with her on a food book with the working title, ‘Huis K o m b u i s – T h e f o o d o f D i s t r i c t S i x ’. I t i n c l u d e s t h e testimonies of her group, their recipes as embroidered artworks and as stylized food photographs – as well as their portraits. It will be a unique cookbook in the sense that it records and celebrates the food of an absent society...

This eBook serves as a catalogue for a current exhibition of portraits and testimonies of the Huis Kombuis group at The District Six Museum, commemorating the fiftieth anniversary of the notorious event when, by the stroke of a pen, sixty thousand residents were rendered personae non gratae.

Jac de Villiers

FATIMA FEBRUARY “Sunday wouldn’t be a Sunday without chicken and nowadays they have this masala chicken. In those days it was just pot braaied chicken. So ja I looked forward to Sundays, you s l a u g h t e r e d y o u r o w n c h i c k e n .”

I was born in District Six, in Clifton Street and I was one o f f i v e c h i l d r e n t o m y p a r e n t s . H o w e v e r, e v e n t h o u g h I w a s residing with my maternal grandmother at 13 Roos Street, I visited my parents on a daily basis. My grandmother had a Beatrice stove as well as a Dover coal stove while each of her sisters cooked separately in the kitchen while we ate together at night. Dinner time was always a big festival as we had three different meals to choose from and if anyone wanted tomato bredie that another family had cooked, the mother of that family would dish for you as a sign of respect.

Sundays were picnic days and we collected allikriekels from the rocks, washed them, placed them in a pot and covered it with water while boiling the onions, salt and pepper although sometimes we removed them from their shells to make a little bredie. I loved to drink that watery soup that remained after the shellfish was removed from the pot. The onion and pepper flavour you dipped in buttered bread – delicious!

MARION ABRAHAMS-WELSH “I remember my grandmother and my mother cooking right through the night. We had a huge black cast iron pot.

In that pot my grandmother cooked a small pig, a whole one, together with the turkey, the roast beef and the roast potatoes. Everything would go onto the table at lunchtime, t h e v e g e t a b l e s a n d t h e b e e t r o o t s a l a d .”

I lived in Sheppard Street, District Six with my parents and I was the third oldest of six sisters and two brothers.

I s t u d i e d a t Tr a f a l g a r J u n i o r a n d a t Tr a f a l g a r H i g h . I n o u r house, on the left hand side of our kitchen was a wall cupboard. It had old-fashioned gauze wire in the doors and my mother stored the dinner services, the dishes and everything in that cupboard. My grandmother and great grandmother stored their cut-glass vases and crockery in the middle cupboard and the top shelf held the bone china teacups.

We cooked and roasted our food in huge black pots on a big coal stove. Our Christmas lunch was special – picture a small piglet roasted with an apple in its mouth and p l a c e d o n a p r e t t y p l a t t e r. M y g r a n d m o t h e r c o o k e d i t and my mother made roast lamb, a gammon joint, largest roast potatoes and different vegetables. Do not forget the traditional biscuits baked in big tins and the ginger beer that went with it, including the huge big Christmas pudding with tickeys in it.

M O E G A M AT B E N J A M I N “ D e s p i t e l e a v i n g s c h o o l i n S t a n d a r d Tw o , I w a n t e d t o a c h i e v e something in life and my employment in different jobs g r a d u a l l y i m p r o v e d m y l i f e .”

I was born in District Six in the Salvation Army home. My m o t h e r, w h o w a s n a m e d F a t i m a , r e m a r r i e d , c o n v e r t e d to Christianity and moved to Bonteheuwel. My paternal grandmother brought us back to live with her in McKenzie Street, in District Six. I attended the Albertus Street School next to the Methodist Church and later the School of Industry in Roeland Street. I had to leave school in Standard Tw o a s I w a s t h e s e c o n d e l d e s t o f 1 1 c h i l d r e n a n d h a d t o assist the family financially.

I worked as a tea boy at Popular Styles when I was eleven.

Later I worked as a cleaner in Greatermans in Claremont and later became the supervisor of the China and Glass Department. During my childhood I participated in the klopse, played netball and coached a women’s netball team. I was involved in starting an all-male drag queen netball team.

I started dancing for the carnival at the age of 8 years old until my 30’s. I got my nickname from PP Arnold who released a long-playing record album in 1970 entitled Kafunta.

I loved her songs.

ANNIE BAM “ We never knew what chicken was really like because we only ate it at Christmas time. In our small backyard next to the toilet, there was like a long opening; my aunty always k e p t f o w l s i n t h e r e .”

My mother married into the Drury family that came from England and lived in Port Nolloth originally. I was born on 3 June 1923. I was seven years old when my father died in Mount Street. After my father passed away I lived in Wicht Street. I left school at 15 to help my mother financially.

I moved to McKenzie Street and met my husband at the D u t c h R e f o r m e d C h u r c h i n L o n g S t r e e t a t 1 7.

We had eight children and I learned to cook. My favourite dish is breyani cooked from a recipe I got from my cousin.

My last job was at the Peninsula Maternity Hospital where I worked as the senior supervisor in the kitchen. When we were forced to leave District Six, I moved to Manenberg with seven of my children. I stayed in Manenberg for five years before buying a house in Rocklands, Mitchell’s Plain. I moved back to District Six and have lived here for 10 years.

LINDA FORTUNE “What I remember – that when my mother made beef curry, s h e m a d e i t w i t h v i n e g a r, s u g a r a n d a p r i c o t j a m . T h e re w e re certain dishes she made with certain cuts of meat. If we had m u t t o n o r l a m b t h e n s h e w o u l d m a k e a m o r e s p i c y c u r r y .”

I was born at St Monica’s Hospital in the Bo Kaap but lived a t 1 4 Ty n e S t r e e t f r o m a b o u t t h r e e d a y s o l d . O u r k i t c h e n had two kitchen dressers and a coal stove in the corner with a chimney. We would check the oven temperature to decide whether it was still warm enough to bake cakes, bread or food.

T h e r e w a s a d a i r y i n H a n o v e r S t r e e t v e r y c l o s e t o Te n a n t Street that sold this egg loaf with a shiny plaited top.

My mother placed a standing order for one of those oval shaped, Jewish loaves on Fridays because they did not sell many of them. We always ate this bread with the vegetable soup that my mother made with big chunks of vegetables and tomatoes. It was very traumatic when my f a m i l y w a s f o r c i b l y r e m o v e d f r o m Ty n e S t r e e t , D i s t r i c t S i x – especially when we arrived at our new, strange home in Hanover Park.

I still miss the smells of District Six. I used to walk up Hanover Street on my way home and could identify what different people were cooking. I truly miss the food, the smells of District Six.

J AWAYA R F L O R I S “On Eid morning of course, there was the gebakte brood. There i s n o t h i n g b e t t e r t h a n l o v e l y , h o t b r e a d m e t s o u t v l e i s o p , n ê ? .”

I was born to Fatima and Ishaj Freeman on 21 May 1923 at 22 Albert Street, District Six. My father was Irish and my mother was Moslem. She passed away when I was f o u r s o I c a n n o t r e m e m b e r a n y t h i n g a b o u t h e r. I w a s t h e y o u n g e s t i n o u r f a m i l y o f f i v e – m y f a t h e r, m y t h r e e brothers, and I. On Sundays, we baked our own bread at a place at the top of Hanover Street where you could have your bread baked.

I remember the fire burning and taking our bread dough there in our baking tin and eating freshly baked bread.

The highlight was pickle – pieces of snoek pickled in a balie with vinegar and cloves and probably bay leaves for about three weeks. We placed it in water for a few h o u r s b e c a u s e i t w a s v e r y, v e r y s a l t y. T h e n w e c o o ke d it with either cabbage or with peas. It was delicious.

Many Muslim people bought this fish during Ramadan for their early morning meal. We bought it from a big Jewish grocery shop in Hanover Street. I only know that we called him the Rooikop Jood.

J OYC E J O N AT H A N “ E v e n t o d a y w h e n I p a s s t h ro u g h D i e p R i v e r, I c a n n o t h e l p i t , I s i t i n t h e b u s a n d t e l l p e o p l e , ‘ O h t h i s i s m y h o m e g r o u n d ’ .”

I was the third daughter of William and Wilhelmina Jonathan’s four children – born in Hanover Road, Diep R i v e r o n 2 2 J a n u a r y 1 9 2 7. I h a d t w o s i s t e r s a n d o n e b r o t h e r. M y f a t h e r w a s a s o l d i e r d u r i n g t h e F i r s t Wo r l d War and after the war he worked as a chauffeur for Sir De Villiers Graaf Senior in Hermanus. My mother worked as a waitress at the Alexandra Hotel in Muizenberg and she was responsible for the cooking. Her experience at the hotel influenced her behaviour at home – we had serviettes on the table and grapefruit before breakfast, t h a t s o r t o f t h i n g . H o w e v e r, w e c o u l d n o t s a y, “ I d o n ’ t w a n t t h i s a n d I d o n ’ t w a n t t h a t ”. T h e r e w a s n o s u c h t h i n g .

My mother cooked Irish stew, tomatoe bredie, ‘pens ’ and of course, we had our roast. We kept fowls in the yard, but we ate chicken only on special occasions. We had quite a big kitchen with a paraffin stove and a coal stove.

I n t h e w i n t e r, w e s a t a g a i n s t t h e w a l l i n t h e d i n i n g room because that was where the heat was.

M A R A L D I A ‘A U N T M O L L Y ’ A B R A H A M S “ We had a special recipe for the different kinds of curry. We weighed everything before it went into the pot; the onions, the meat, a certain amount of water must go in there, a certain amount of oil must go in there, a certain amount of butter must go onto the rice. That was how we catered for our customers. We gave them the very best. My brother-inlaw w a s v e r y p a r t i c u l a r l i k e t h a t .”

I started working at the Crescent Restaurant at the age of fourteen on the opening day. I remember the beautiful marble entrance of the restaurant. At that time, the C r e s c e n t w a s p e r h a p s t h e o n l y p l a c e i n C a p e To w n w h e r e people of colour could have a quality sit-down meal. Its ambiance attracted the Saturday night crowd and women arrived in evening dresses and the men wore black suits and bow ties. It was a place where people celebrated weddings, a night on the town and even clandestine political meetings. The restaurant was started by Mr Abdul Hack Kathrada and his wife Aziza Jainoodien who opened the restaurant in Hanover Street in October 1948.

I r e m e m b e r t h e d a y w h e n J a k e s Tu l i w o n h i s f i g h t i n C a p e To w n i n 1 9 5 1 . M r K a t h r a d a s p r e a d t h e w o r d a n d t h e w h o l e of District Six crowded into Hanover Street to welcome him while the band played as he entered the Crescent. It w a s a b e a u t i f u l d a y, t h a t d a y.

ABOUBARKER BROWN “During Ramadan, before sunset when we break our fast, children would run up and down the streets with plates in their hands or with those three tier canisters with soup inside; o n e fo r t h i s n e i g h b o u r, o n e fo r t h a t n e i g h b o u r ” I was born at 181 Hanover Street, District Six. My mother died when I was seven years old. I was the youngest in the family. I had three sisters and two brothers. I attended Tr a f a l g a r J u n i o r S c h o o l a n d l a t e r a t t e n d e d Tr a f a l g a r H i g h .

Before I was married, my stepmother taught me how to bake date and walnut cake and how to make blatjang with jam and dates. I used to ice and decorate cakes for the neighbours’ confirmations and for other celebrations. My aunt baked the cakes and I did the decorations. I gave it up to play rugby. I played for Rosebuds Rugby Football Club. Some Saturdays I arrived late for the match. They fined me or put the reserve in my place. I told my aunt that I was going to play rugby instead of decorating cakes.

I miss many things about District Six. Number one is the togetherness of people in the community. I was 26 years old when the Group Areas Act forced me to move. My time spent in District Six was the most beautiful time of my life.

RUTH JEFTHA “ We had a lovely kitchen. It was my weekend job to put wood or coal in the stove. Sometimes we ran out of wood. We went to this furniture factory and came home with bags of wood f o r t h e f i r e . W e c o o k e d o u r b e s t f o o d o n t h a t s t o v e .”

I was born on the 19 June 1945 in the Bo Kaap, my family moved to 35 Stone Street in District Six when I was three years old. I was the third oldest of eleven children. We shared the house with three other families. Later we moved to the Bloemhof Flats after the house in Stone Street was sold. It was our first residence that had electricity and my family decided to buy a fridge even though we were used to setting our jelly outside on the stoep.

I attended two primary schools – the African Methodist Episcopal Church School in Blythe Street until Standard Three and the School of Industry in Roeland Street.

I attended Roggebaai High School in Suffolk Street, Green Point. I had to leave school at 17 when my father had a stroke. My first job was at Kelner & Sons in Commercial Street and later I worked as a manager at the Manhattan c l o t h i n g f a c t o r y i n S a l t R i v e r.

LINDA FORTUNE “What I remember – that when my mother made beef curry, s h e m a d e i t w i t h v i n e g a r, s u g a r a n d a p r i c o t j a m . Th e re w e re certain dishes she made with certain cuts of meat. If we had m u t t o n o r l a m b t h e n s h e w o u l d m a k e a m o r e s p i c y c u r r y .”

I was born at St Monica’s Hospital in the Bo Kaap but lived a t 1 4 Ty n e S t r e e t f r o m a b o u t t h r e e d a y s o l d . O u r k i t c h e n had two kitchen dressers and a coal stove in the corner with a chimney. We would check the oven temperature to decide whether it was still warm enough to bake cakes, bread or food.

T h e r e w a s a d a i r y i n H a n o v e r S t r e e t v e r y c l o s e t o Te n a n t Street that sold this egg loaf with a shiny plaited top.

My mother placed a standing order for one of these oval shaped, Jewish loaves on Fridays because they did not sell many of them. We always ate this bread with the vegetable soup that my mother made with big chunks of vegetables and tomatoes. It was very traumatic when my f a m i l y w a s f o r c i b l y r e m o v e d f r o m Ty n e S t r e e t , D i s t r i c t S i x – especially when we arrived at our new, strange home in Hanover Park.

I still miss the smells of District Six. I used to walk up Hanover Street on my way home and could identify what different people were cooking. I truly miss the food, the smells of District Six.

ISOBEL SMITH “Sometimes on a Sunday my mother cooked skaapkop and sheep tongue and my father always said that there was n o b o d y t h a t c o u l d c o o k i t l i k e h e r .”

I was born in 1933 in Nile Street, District Six to George and Jane Fransman, and I was the second oldest daughter of five siblings. We lived in a room and shared the rest of the two-bedroom house with my father ’s brother and his family. When the living conditions became too cramped we moved to the Bloemhof Flats. My father worked in the docks at the oil refinery for his entire life while my mother had multiple jobs – she worked in service fo r a J e w i s h fa m i l y, d i d a d d i t i o n a l w a s h i n g a t t h e Public Wash House in Hanover Street and she also ran a small business from home.

My mother cooked everything on a coal stove and she enjoyed cooking bredies such as cabbage, green beans or tomatoe bredie that I still enjoy cooking today.

It was always a big meal and she always made the lovely pampoen moes, yellow rice and sweet potato pudding with it. I only really learnt to cook after I got married because my mother took charge of running the household and preferred to do most of the shopping and cooking.

N O M V U YO N G C E LWA N E “Our food was different from our coloured neighbours because we mostly ate stamp mielies and beans that we boiled for about four hours on the Primus or Beatrice stove. We did not h a v e a n e l e c t r i c s t o v e .”

I was born in 22 Cross Street, District Six where we lived in one room with my parents and my three siblings. I attended a Methodist school in a church hall near Castle Bridge from Sub A to Standard 2 (Grade 1 to Grade 4). Then I attended schools in Langa because Africans in District Six were officially barred from attending ‘Coloured’ schools.

Apart from salt, my mother did not use spices; only Bisto for making and thickening gravy. She dished the samp and put in the cooked meat and gravy over everything. All the mamas queued at a Castle Street butchery that sold offal that cost about 20 cents for large amounts of pens or ox lung.

We were forcibly removed to Langa West because of the Group Areas Act. My father explained that they were starting with us to prepare District Six for white people and were going to rename it Zonnebloem. It happened in 1963, when I was 20 years old. I loved living in District Six and mixing with other cultural groups.

VICTOREEN GILBERT “One month before Christmas, I went with my mom to Wellington’s Fruit Growers where we bought the dried fruit for the cake. The fruit was soaked in some brandy. That was the only time that we bought brandy. Of course, now and t h e n w e w o u l d t a k e a t e a s p o o n a n d t a s t e … h m m m .”

I w a s b o r n o n t h e 1 7 M a y 1 9 4 7, a n d g r e w u p a t 1 7 S t i r l i n g Street with my parents, Johnny and Cornelia Gomas and my sisters, Janette and Elizabeth. I attended AME Primary a n d l a t e r Tr a f a l g a r J u n i o r S c h o o l a n d t h e n H a r o l d C r e s s y High School.

After school or at other times, I helped my dad with his tailoring. I enjoyed sewing the buttonholes for the suits by hand. It taught me a lot about sewing and I developed an interest in sewing at that stage. I loved music and always danced when listening to music on the radio. There were African families up the road who enjoyed township music, especially the pennywhistle.

At 17 I started working at the dispatch department of Fairweather Fashions. The building is still in Sir Lowry Road. I walked down to my workplace from District Six.

R E V I N A G WAY I “My aunt planted her own mielies and we went into the forest to collect wood for the fire. She preferred to cook food and make tea all on an outside open fire. She did not use a Primus stove or any other stove. She also taught me how to cook different dishes like stywe pap, spinach marog, tomato bredie with rice and how to fry chicken feet with spicy polony, o n i o n s a n d s w e e t c h i l l i e s a n d a l s o h o w t o b a k e s t e a m b r e a d .”

I was born in Qina village near Butterworth in the Eastern Cape in 1957 and had four sisters and three brothers.

Later we moved to Centane, a village where I spent most o f m y c h i l d h o o d . W h e n m y fa t h e r p a s s e d a w a y, m y m o t h e r took me to her sister ’s house in Nqutu Location where I attended school from Sub A to Standard Six. I m o v e d t o C a p e To w n a n d g o t a j o b a t t h e D i s t r i c t S i x Museum coffee shop in 1999. I worked on embroidering the names of ex-District Six residents and their messages i n t h e m u s e u m f r o m 2 0 0 0 – 2 0 0 7.

Here I joined the Huis Kombuis project, it was difficult at first. I am a museum assistant and my work with the residents of District Six has given me the capacity for love and I’ve learnt about compassion and forgiveness.

DOREEN HANNING “ We lost the house when a government official told us that our house was a white elephant due to the Group Areas A c t . M y g ra n d fa t h e r, w h o b u i l t a n d o w n e d t h a t h o u s e , s a i d ‘Where am I going to go? What am I going to do?’ It was the f i r s t t i m e I s a w g r a n d f a t h e r c r y .”

I n 1 8 9 9 m y g r a n d f a t h e r, B e n j a m i n S a u n d e r s , a r r i v e d i n C a p e To w n f r o m S t H e l e n a I s l a n d w i t h h i s p a r e n t s . H e was 12 years old and became an apprentice to Madame D u m a s , o w n e r o f a F r e n c h d r y c l e a n e r. I w a s b o r n o n 1 1 April 1942 at Longwood, Rochester Road, in District Six. F o o d w a s s c a r c e d u r i n g Wo r l d Wa r Tw o .

M y m o t h e r, g r a n d m o t h e r a n d I w a l k e d p a s t G e o r g e Golding School, down to Dover Street where the army food trucks parked. I was about five years old but I r e m e m b e r t h e r a t i o n s . M y g r a n d m o t h e r b o u g h t b u t t e r, real rice – not mielie rice – fish oil and other basics. My grandfather taught us not to be ashamed of being poor a n d s o u n a s h a m e d l y, I w e n t b a r e fo o t e d t o Ly d i a W i l l i a m s School. My mother did my grandfather ’s books and my f a t h e r w o r k e d a s a d o c k y a r d l a b o u r e r. O u r u p b r i n g i n g was based on Christian values; respect for others and reprimand for wrongdoing.

JANAP MASOET “There was no need to buy chickens because we raised them at home. We pot-roasted the chicken and ate everything, even the legs, but not the heads. There was always something to e a t f o r a l l t h e v i s i t o r s .”

I was born in Number 46 Arundel Street, District Six.My paternal grandfather was a tailor and his workshop was in our yard. After school, I went to Mr Siffman in Hanover Street to buy cotton and the chalk that my grandfather used to mark out the pants patterns on the fabric.

We were raised on snoekkop, lekker gekoek. I still eat it today. Monday was fish day – we ate salt fish with c a b b a g e s m o o r. T h e k e i t e a n d t h e g r a t e w e g o t f o r f r e e and we could make a big pot of bredie with the fish grate.

We could go to the Fish Market to get kaaiings and when there was no money we would collect allikriekels free from the rocks on the beach.

My grandmother ’s name was Zainap and her house was filled with people every day. She made warmed polonies in the oven and potato cakes and pampoen koekies when it was cold.

SHEILA ROLLS “A n o t h e r f a v o u r i t e p i e c e o f f u r n i t u r e w a s o u r k i t c h e n d r e s s e r where my mom displayed her Willow pattern dinner service: side plates and dinner plates and cups hanging from hooks on shelves. The top of the kitchen dresser had a beautifully c a r v e d d e s i g n .”

I was born at Peninsula Maternity Hospital and lived at 1 4 Ty n e S t r e e t , D i s t r i c t S i x , u n t i l t h e a g e o f 2 1 . I l i v e d with my seven siblings, parents and my aunt. My sister and I took turns washing the dishes every alternate night.

When I washed up, she dried the dishes. I peeled and grated the vegetables when my mother was making her special soup. She allowed me to help her in the kitchen when she kneaded and baked bread.

I a t t e n d e d S t M a r k ’ s P r i m a r y S c h o o l a n d Tr a f a l g a r H i g h S c h o o l . I b e l o n g e d t o t h e C h u r c h Yo u t h G r o u p a n d t h e Cape Province Mountain Club and enjoyed going to clubs, music, hiking, and reading. My first job was at Colemco when I was 18 years old. It traumatised us when the government forced us to leave our home. It was not because we had to leave in a hurry. It was just such a terrible thing to leave our home, to leave District Six.

PAT I E N C E WAT L I N G T O N “ We crammed into that kitchen because my mother believed that we should sit at the table as a family when we had o u r m e a l s .”

My parents Sarah and Emile Watlington lived in College Street, opposite Zonnebloem College. I am the second eldest of nine children and had to care for my siblings.

My family moved to 163 Bloemhof Flats Block D when I was fourteen. I attended Upper Ashley Street Preparatory a n d l a t e r Tr a f a l g a r J u n i o r S c h o o l a t t h e a g e o f t h i r t e e n .

As a child I was responsible for cooking, bathing the kids a n d d o i n g t h e w a s h i n g . I l e f t Tr a f a l g a r H i g h S c h o o l a f t e r Standard Nine.

I decided to look for work at the Ensign Clothing Factory.

I worked there for only six months. Then I applied for a three year general training programme in nursing and was fortunate enough to receive a Red Cross bursary to fund my studies. After my training programme I completed a year o f t r a i n i n g a s a m i d w i f e a n d q u a l i f i e d a s S i s t e r. I w o r k e d as a nurse at City Hospital that specialised in infectious diseases and later worked at Red Cross Children’s Hospital.

A N A S TAC I A S C H O U W “I am not quite sure when I was first invited to the Huis Kombuis workshop. I did not know what it was all about but I’m not sorry that I came. I did not think that I could do certain things but I eventually managed and yes, I really like it because of the camaraderie among the women there – one c a n s e e t h a t t h e y a l l l o v e i t .”

I was born in 62 Cecil Road, Salt River on 22 November 1 9 3 4 . M y f a t h e r, E a r n e s t H a m m e r s c h l a g , j o i n e d t h e a r m y during the Second World War and my mother Sylvestra Abelgus, was a seamstress in a factory. My parents had three daughters of which I was the youngest. In my family home there was a stove – an old black coal stove and definitely a Primus stove, always a Primus in our kitchen. The sink was not modern as it was one of those heavy cemented sinks with an old brass tap, and it was probably tiled.

We all sat and ate around the kitchen table that was covered with an oil cloth. My mother prepared the family meals – bobotie and tomato spaghetti. That was my mother ’s favourite and we bought our fruit and vegetables at the Salt River Market.

M O E G A M AT N O O R E B R A H I M “On Saturday mornings, my mother would give me a list of meat I had to buy from Mia’s Butcher on the corner of Hanover and Horstley Streets. There were times when the shop was so full that I had to wait up to two hours to be s e r v e d .”

M y g r a n d f a t h e r a r r i v e d i n C a p e To w n f r o m S u r a t , I n d i a in 1890 and met and married a Scottish woman, named F a n n y G r a i n g e r. T h e y h a d 1 1 c h i l d r e n . I n 1 9 2 2 F a n n y was renamed Mariam and died in Mecca. I am a descendant of my grandfather ’s first marriage and was born in District Six at No 247 Caledon Street. I had two brothers and three sisters.

As a young teenager I sang in a vocal group called The Crescendos. After that, I sang with the klopse for about f i v e y e a r s a n d l a t e r I j o i n e d t h e H o l l a n d s e M a l a y C h o i r.

I s a n g A f r i k a a n s s o n g s f o r 3 5 y e a r s i n t h e c h o i r. I w a s forced to move from District Six in 1975 but had saved enough to buy a house in Athlone for my wife and my two children, aged five and three.

I started to work as a guide in the District Six Museum in 1994 and in 1999, I published my memoirs of growing up in District Six called, Noor ’s Story: my life in District Six. It is now in its eighth edition.

JEAN PRETORIUS “ We had a beautiful family kitchen with a coal and a paraffin stove. I remember the Dover coal stove glowing – the yellow coffee pot brewing the moer coffee. That was t h e a m b i a n c e o f o u r w i n t e r d a y s a n d n i g h t s .”

I was born in St. Monica’s Maternity Hospital in Bo Kaap in 1945. I am the oldest of thirteen children, nine girls and four boys. I was reared by my great-aunt in Thornton R o a d , A t h l o n e , k n o w n a s t h e “ S a l o n .” J u s t l i k e i n D i s t r i c t Six there were many klopse teams in Athlone. I often went t o w a t c h t h e k l o p s e i n D i s t r i c t S i x o n N e w Ye a r ’s D a y.

There was soup every night in our house. If you wanted a s e c o n d h e l p i n g , y o u c o u l d h e l p y o u r s e l f. O f t e n f r i e n d s a n d neighbours popped in right on time for a cup or a bowl of soup. Our favourite soups were split peas and ‘stamp en stoot ’, known today as beans and white mielies or samp.

We had a large table and shared delicious family meals, although most of the times it was just soup bone bredie – but it was still a meal. Later my mother bought a three plate electric Defy stove. We preferred the coal stove because it heated and stored hot water and it also baked gorgeous loaves of bread.

MENISHA COLLINS I was born on 15 December 1953 in the Salvation Army home in District Six. My mother was Serina Philemon and my married surname is Collins. I lived in the Bloemhof Flats that were s i t u a t e d i n f r o n t o f t h e H e w a t Tr a i n i n g C o l l e g e a n d b o r d e r e d

by Constitution Street, McKenzie Street and Drury Lane.

Our kitchen was very small and very warm.My granny and my mother were always in the kitchen. We had a small pantry where we kept all our utensils and groceries and there was a b r o o m c u p b o a r d b e h i n d t h e k i t c h e n d o o r. O u r e l e c t r i c s t o v e was on a small concrete platform and we also had a Primus stove. My granny prepared the family meals because my mother was the eldest and she started working at the age of 14 or 15 to contribute towards the family income.

We ate fish mostly on Fridays. Although we had the same traditions in District Six, it differed here and there. For example, the Catholics ate fish on Fridays and I remember that sometimes my mother made smoorsnoek and cabbage.

It is still in my mind so I used it for my tea cloth recipe.

During the week it was always meat, so we had fish and chips on Fridays that my mother fried.

N e w Ye a r w a s a c t u a l l y t h e n i c e s t t i m e o f t h e y e a r. I t w a s a casual but very special occasion. Sometimes we ate pickled fish and friends always invited us to their homes. When we were forcibly removed from District Six, we moved to Walmer Estate and then to Retreat on the Cape Flats. We have lived there for 32 years.

DISTRICTSIX.COM JACDEVILLIERS.COM JAC@JACDEVILLIERS.COM