Johannesburg
7.11.81
Dear Mum,
I
should say I’m definitely not interested in any Navy job. All I want is my
journals if that is possible. I will be staying in the same place for a while
if that helps.
Here it
is rapidly becoming hot which is a change from September when it snowed here
one day which excited everybody. The high altitude is noticeable when you run
or play squash as the ball seems to react differently.
You completely misunderstood
Basutoland. This is the old name for Lesotho which is a completely independent,
separate and very poor country (like Botswana and Swaziland). However
Bophutswana is a homeland (or Bantustan). There is a paucity of things you can
say about it. A lot of men have wives in the homelands and girlfriends in the
city. If a husband leaves, his wife because of the housing shortage, there is a
good chance the female will be deported to a homeland. If a person dies the rest of the family
submits papers to see if they are allowed to stay in the city.
In Bophutswana is Sun City a casino
entertainment complex. All the international entertainers perform there because
its “multiracial” and not in Joberg which is a couple of hours away.
Joberg is a very puritan
calvinistic city. On the road to Sun City is a shop selling curios which has to
close on Sunday. Half an hour further on is a casino open 24 hours every day.
Some people love it (Sun City). Some whites hate it because it’s multi-racial
and you have “blacks acting like whites”. Some blacks hate it because it
destroys the rural culture with blacks acquiring the worst of the white customs
which they can’t handle. Such is life.
Regards
Alan
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