Topic: Afrikaans

Orania

Orania is a small town where descendants of the boervolk lives and works. It is like a mini country on its own but within South Africa where Afrikaners and the Boervolk can live with their own values and their own traditions that's currently being taken away in the rest of South Africa from white Afrikaans speaking citizens.

Orania has their own currency called the Ora which is basically the same value as the Rand but you get discount when using it as some places.

Introduction:

Here is a video introduction in Afrikaans but you can see how the place looks, its clean and friendly.

The Orania beweging interview on RSG

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"The Help" wenner van Exclusive Books se Boeke Prize vir 2009

October 13, 2009 by Riette

The Help deur Kathryn Stockett. Penguin, R210.

Die roman speel af in Jackson, Mississippi, 1962. Swart vroue maak die wittes se kinders groot, maar hulle word nie met die silwerware vertrou nie. Hulle maak die toilet skoon – maar moet hul “eie een” agter die huis gebruik.

Die 22-jarige Skeeter is pas terug van universiteit en soek iets om te doen wat impak maak. Haar ideale verskil van haar ryk ma s’n, wat haar net getroud wil sien met ’n well to do-jongman.

Aibileen is ’n swart huishulp, ’n slim vrou wat besig is om “haar” 17de wit kind groot te maak. Haar beste vriendin, Minny, is ’n kort, dik enetjie. Sy kook soos ’n meester, maar kan – tot haar nadeel, meestal – nie haar mond hou nie.

’n Sameloop van omstandighede sorg dat dié drie vroue saam ’n gewaagde projek aanpak – en so vertrek hulle op ’n reis van selfontdekking, opheffing en selfwaarde.

Benewens die gewaagde tema van die boek, is The Help ’n roerende skrywe oor die verskillende soorte verhoudings tussen vroue.

Brooks se skryfstyl is verleidelik verteerbaar, al takel sy ’n onderwerp wat aan die een kant vir onsself so bekend is; en aan die ander kant vir so lank bedek was. Dit is liries, dog werklik.

Haar karakters praat soos mense werklik praat, wat dit soveel te meer intiem laat voel. En die resonansie met apartheid-Suid-Afrika is onheilspellend – selfs só met die huidige werklikheid in ons land.

Dis onomwonde duidelik waarom hierdie boek 2009 se Boeke Prize gewen het.

Geneem uit "Beeld"

Resensie geskryf deur Ronel Nel

30 Nagte in Amsterdam - Etienne van Heerden

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Zan. Sy’s ’n pragtige maar eksentrieke vrou, ook bekend as Xan met die onverwagse toevalle of Xusan met die geheimsinnige glaskamer. Sy’s die Susan met die onstigtelike erotiese drif. As aktrise en politieke aktivis het sy ’n voorliefde vir vreemde vriende, soos die rolprentmaker Cecil Dimaggio en die straatmusikant Manuel D’Oliveira. Henk de Melker, museumassistent in ’n klein Oos-Kaapse dorpie, ontvang onverwags ’n brief van ’n juris in Amsterdam waarin hy ingelig word dat sy lankverdwene Tante Zan haar huis in dié stad aan hom nagelaat het. Hy, “Henk Ekskuus”, is ’n voetjie-vir-voetjie-navorser, die skrywer van dun boekies waarin die lewens van onmerkwaardige mense opgeteken word – soos die beoogde een oor Cornelius van Gogh, die onbekende broer van Vincent en Theo, wat in Suid-Afrika begrawe lê. Henk reis na Nederland om sy erfporsie op te eis; terselfdertyd wil hy verdere navorsing oor Cornelius van Gogh doen. Hy moet besluit of hy permanent wil emigreer of nie, noudat hy eienaar word van ’n woning in Amsterdam. Mettertyd word hy ingesuig in die maalstroom van die gragtegordel met sy sakkerollers, prostitute en straatmusikante. Sy ervaringe in die binnestad konfronteer hom ook opnuut met sy kinderjare – saam met Tante Zan in die huis van sy ouma – en die invloed wat sy avontuurlike tante ná al die jare steeds op sy lewe het. Want deur alles wat van hom weggesteek is, eindelik oop te vlek, leer Henk de Melker homself opnuut ken. Die dertig nagte wat hy in Amsterdam deurbring, verander sy besadigde lewe onherroeplik.
What the critics say ... “...spellbinding...” The Northern Echo, UK * “Hauntingly rendered...” The Good Book Guide, UK * “Perfect portrait of the makings of a rainbow nation...breathtaking...from the first page to the last...” Lincolnshire Echo, UK * “Van Heerden brings the people, the spirits and even the terrain of Yearsonend to gorgeous life ... a rich novel ... (which) manages to encapsulate the tumultuous history of South Africa ... The sprawling story, eccentric ghosts and plucky heroine make The Long Silence of Mario Salviati as compelling as any page-turner, but Van Heerden’s rich prose and nuanced explorations of race, greed, passion and the history of South Africa elevate the novel into the realm of lasting literature.” The San Franciso Chronicle, San Francisco, USA * “Spanning wars, lives, and continents, this novel unites readers through its beauty as well as the moments of pain and glory in which the characters find themselves, in every chapter and on every page.” The Daily Iowan, Iowa City, USA * “A compelling story. The sort of book a reader can get lost in ... It is a novel washed in history and lingers afterward like a memory of a place one might have visited.” Mike Nicol, author of The Ibis Tapestry. * “A candidate for the Great South African novel ... Van Heerden controls his craft like no other.” De Volkskrant, Amsterdam, Netherlands * “Van Heerden’s words blast the reader’s mind through a clear, blue African sky.” The Telegraph, London, UK * “Dazzling storytelling magically weaves the fantastical with the everyday and lends a compelling power to the author’s meditations on history, art and life.” The Guardian, London, UK * “With his latest novel, translated from Afrikaans, van Heerden has lived up to his reputation as the South African Marquez. ... This is a wondrous tale, weaving magic realism and history, in which van Heerden captures the stark beauty of the Karoo and its people.” The Times, London, UK * “If ever a book captured the static charge of a sunbaked landscape, it’s Etienne van Heerden’s magical fifth novel set in a fictional town in the South African Karoo desert ... The tales (Ingi) hears are romantic, tragic, funny and bloody, preserved like fossils in sandstone: richly packed but often distorted.” Daily Telegraph, London, UK * “Professor van Heerden weaves many a spell in this engrossing tale.” Choice magazine, UK * “A new literary star is emerging.” OK! magazine, UK * “The novel is a complex tale, full of richly drawn characters from the last 150 years of South African history ... You are drawn in to the secrets of Yearsonend and its people as Ingi loses her outsider’s perspective and learns to see events through the villagers’ eyes. It’s a fascinating transformation.” The Big Issue in the North, USA * “It is, indeed, a magical book.” PopMatters, USA * “There is every chance the reader will fall in love with everything about this book and its characters ...” Lincolnshire Echo, USA * “Rich in insight and hope ... an impressively colorful picture of a fascinating and contradictory country ... As writers like Marquez gave a rich artistic depth to South America - and Alasdair Gray defined the imaginative landscape of Scotland in Lanark so Van Heerden has created an ‘artistic map’ of South Africa ...” Scotsman, UK * “Fantastical and outrageous ... Exuberant and imaginative ...” Independent, UK * “It's easy to see why Van Heerden is being described as an Afrikaans Marquez ... an exceptionally gifted writer.” Scotland on Sunday, UK * “Rich and absorbing ...” Sunday Herald, UK * “Immaculately constructed, well-told and evocatively rendered ...” Sunday Times, South Africa * “This sinewy novel ambitiously covers a great swathe of history — the Boer War up until the election of the first post-apartheid government in South Africa and everything in between — and it sets out, too, to map the human heart. Van Heerden succeeds by presenting a glittering array of characters with often symbolic names whose pasts and presents intertwine, often with disturbing results ...” The New Zealand Herald, NZ



Sleeve information (US Edition) “This is what’s always kept us together,” said Jonty quietly. “It’s the dream and the possibility that give meaning to Yearsonend ... For years now it hasn’t been about gold ... it’s been about much more than that ... Take Mario Salviati, for instance: once the gold is found, the general will let him go. We’d be able to leave the past where it belongs ...” Secrets abound in the South African Karoo – a remote landscape of mountains and desert, where legends weaves its way into daily life. A fabulous merman sculpture miraculously appears one morning in the yard of eccentric artist Jonty Jack, and Ingi Friedlander, a young art curator for the National Gallery at Cape Town, comes to Yearsonend to buy the masterpiece. When Jonty refuses her offer, Ingi resolves to stay and win him over. Intrigued by hints of the town’s unusual history, Ingi persistently questions its inhabitants, who reveal that a mythical trove of gold is buried nearby. For several centuries gold fever has gripped the town and sent ripples of suspicion through those who live there. Tracing the roots of Yearsonend’s violent and magical history of feuding families, troubled love, and corrosive greed, the narrative shuttles between the past and present, linking two patriarchs with shadowy pasts, an earthy angel, a woman without a face, a ragtag band of soldiers, and a host of other colorful characters. As Ingi delves deeper into the mysteries of Yearsonend, she is inexplicably drawn to Mario Salviati, a deaf, dumb, and blind Italian stonecutter who holds the key to many of the town’s secrets. A spectacular climax sheds light on many unanswered questions, and Ingi and the Yearsonenders learn that they are searching not only for their past, but also for the promise of the future. With extraordinary imagination and lyricism, Etienne van Heerden captures the essence of a land steeped in myth, and of a culturally diverse people, for whom storytelling and history are inextricably linked. In the rich magic-realism of One Hundred Years of Solitude, The Long Silence of Mario Salviati is an unforgettable journey towards understanding and inspiration.

Richmond Boekefees

Submitted by Riette on Thu, 2009-10-08 06:18

The BookBedonnerd Karoo Literary Festival

Richmond has become a focus of attention in recent months with an influx of several newcomers who have added a new wave of excitement to the little village. Long forgotten by tourists on their journey to the Cape, Richmond is about to become the BOOKTOWN of South Africa

What is a Booktown?

To celebrate our first anniversary as a Booktown, Richmond hosted the BookBedonnerd Karoo Literary Festival from the 23-25 October 2008. This festival is now an annual event with this years festival taking place from the 22nd to the 24th of October 2009. But our festival is not so much a celebration of the written word, but a weekend full of entertainment and activities, as evidenced by our impressive line up of guest raconteurs and speakers (See programme 2009).

Among the literati that attended the celebrations were Afrikaans storytellerAbraam de Vries; South Africa's most prolific literary biographer Prof. J.C. Kannemeyer; Prof. Wium van Zyl, head of department of Afrikaans at the University of the Western Cape known for his poems and short stories on small town South Africa; Dr Ian Player who spoke about his long association with Sir Laurens van der Post, Dennis Beckett who most readers will remember from Beckett's Trek on SABC; Chris Marais, no stranger to Country Life, and author of a fistful of travel books, Engemi Ferreira, author of the lyrical Die jaar toe my ma begin sing het, as well as local Karoo lass, Melina Smit.

Realising that most bibliophiles have partners who may not have the same infatuation with the written word, the organizing committee also ensured that the festival was not only a celebration of books, but a "Celebration of the Karoo". Thus, in an effort to be more things to more people, the festival also had tours to Anglo-Boer War sites, cooking and tasting sessions of Karoo kos by home grown chef Annatjie Reynolds, "Crawling Tours of the Karoo Veld" with Dr. Sue Milton, where people got up close and personal with the unique flora and fauna of the Karoo.

Len Raymond of the Drakenstein Heritage Foundation conducted an architectural tour of Richmond, highlighting the rich architectural heritage of Richmond, and tips on restoration and conservation. It was also worth diarizing that the imposing church in Loop Street, which reputedly has the highest pulpit in South Africa was open during selected hours, as was the Richmond Horse Museum, one of only two museums in the world dedicated to the saddle horse. Dr Richard Dean of the Percy FitzPatrick Institute also conducted an ornithological tour of the town as well as to the Deelfontein Boer War Cemetery.

So come on down to Booktown Richmond, and sip a bit of culture!

PLEASE CONTACT PETER BAKER OR ANNEKE BEZUIDENHOUDT IN ORDER TO RESERVE A PLACE FOR ANY EVENT OR TOUR.

PLEASE MAKE RESTAURANT BOOKINGS DIRECTLY WITH VENUE.

FOR MORE INFORMATION PLEASE CONTACT:

Peter Baker
011-447-2517
pcbaker@mweb.co.za

Darryl David
033-330-5928
083-486-4297
cowboys@sai.co.za

Anneke Bezuidenhoudt

Toring se Baai - 'n Weskusroman

Submitted by Riette on Mon, 2009-09-28 17:49

Toring se baai deur E. Kotze. Kwela (sagteband, 270 bladsye)

Resensie deur Leon Rousseau wat in Beeld koerant verskyn het.

Anders as vroeër spog die Afrikaanse letterkunde vandag met ’n stewige versameling goeie middelmoot-boeke, d.w.s. literêre werk tussen Van Wyk Louw en Etienne Leroux enersyds en strooilektuur andersyds.

Toring se baai deur E. Kotze is nie net een van die beste nie; die boek se egtheid en menslikheid, gepaard met die nostalgie van ’n vervloë wêreld, laat hom dikwels bo die middelmoot uitstyg. E (vir Elizabeth) Kotze skryf al 27 jaar boeke van bogemiddelde gehalte, ’n halfdosyn van hulle sedert Halfkrone vir die nagmaal in 1982.

J.C. Kannemeyer vergelyk haar werk met kontreilektuur soos dié van Boerneef en Con de Villiers, maar ook met MER.

Toring se baai is wesenlik die verhaal van ’n vissersdorpie êrens aan die Weskus, heel moontlik met Paternoster as inspirasie.

In 1940, wanneer die roman min of meer begin, voer ’n paar handevol mense ’n sukkelbestaan naby ’n kreeffabriek wat in ’n kwaai storm verwoes word.

Wit en bruin begin weer van voor, die fabriek word herbou en ’n toenemende buitelandse vraag na kreef bring ’n mate van welvaart.

Die boek eindig met ’n besoek wat twee oudinwoners in die vroeë 21ste eeu aan Toring se baai bring wanneer die plek feitlik onherkenbaar verander het.

Vir party van die inwoners, veral die bruines, bring verandering ten minste materiële verbetering. Ander kan dit nie verduur nie en trek al vroeg daar weg. Van ’n suinige vrou wat verhuis en alles saamneem, sê die poetsvrou Marija: “Sy gee my darem ’n paar ou bloemers. Maar só gestop – as ek loop, klop die bolletjie filoshene tussen my bene.”

Nog een wat padgee, is Smittie, wat “aan die toewaai [is] in hierdie sandnes. Waar die aandstilte nie meer aangekondig word met die geroep van die dikkop of die geskree van kiewiete nie, maar die geblaf van honde onder jou kamervenster”.

Vir Smittie se dogters, daarenteen, en veral vir Ita, is dit ’n oord waarna jy tot die einde van jou dae verlang.

Sy “klou nog vas aan die rooi, los sand waarin ’n mens kan speel sonder om regtig vuil te word ... “Sy voel haar
lewenslank verbind aan die bamboeshope, seevlooie wat in swerms daaruit opstyg, die reuk van kreefdoppe en vismeelsakke, die donderslae van die see as die branders teen die Toringklip opklim en uitmekaarspat.”

E. Koze het aan die Weskus grootgeword. Haar pa was ’n ingenieur by ’n kreeffabriek en sy het in 1954 met ’n skipper getrou. Oor dié bedryf, die streek en sy mense skryf sy eerstehands en absoluut oortuigend.

Dankie aan die uitgewer Kwela dat die manuskrip van Toring se baai met so ’n ligte hand gesub (geredigeer) is, want as gevolg daarvan kom die kleurige, dikwels kostelike taal van die Weskus na vore soos dit 70 jaar gelede gepraat is en in baie gevalle vandag nog gepraat word.

Reeds in die eerste paar bladsye is daar woorde of frases soos “die lafenis van ’n koel kenter as die weer op noord draai”; “volmaanspring” (springgety en volmaan); “eietyd” (baie gou); “fletter” (haastig beweeg); “Hier kom ’n man (kwaai storm) aan”; en “Terwyl die swel (deining) in die baai hoër word, paf Smittie aan sy half-dooie pyp.”

Talle mooi ou woorde word opnuut gebruik, woorde soos kortendag (gou-gou), moek-moek (net-net), bontniertjie (’n effens onstuimige see), foksel (nie fokseil of voorseil soos ’n mens sou dink nie, maar die verafrikaansing van “forecastle”, wat “foks’l” uitgespreek word), smôrs (smôrens), perdevoetjies en poeliesmankeppe (soorte skulpkos).

Benewens roman is Toring se baai ’n stuk sosiale geskiedenis.

Die leser ervaar diegene wat in die oorlogsjare na die Afrikaanse uitsendings op die Duitse sender Zeesen luister, dié wat weens Duitsgesindheid geïnterneer word, dié wat met “rooi lissies” in Noord-Afrika of Europa gaan veg, dié wat saam met die opbloei van die plaaslike visbedryf welvarender word nadat die toevoer van geblikte vis van Noorweë, Kanada en Japan weens die oorlogjare lank onderbreek word.

Uiteindelik ook die waar word van ’n voorspelling dat die see nie sal kan byhou met die groot toename in beroepsvissers nie.

Kotze kies selde kant. Haar karakters is mense, goeies en slegtes, OB’s en Sappe, verkragters en vromes, dronkes en nugteres, wittes en bruines. Toring se baai bied ’n besonderse leeservaring.

In memoriam - I L de Villiers

Submitted by Riette on Mon, 2009-09-28 16:15

Een van Suid-Afrika se mees geliefde digters, I L de Villiers is Saterdagaand in sy slaap oorlede. Ek onthou hom die beste vir sy gediggie "By 'n sterwende kindjie" wat 'n onuitwisbare indruk op my jongmeisie gemoed gemaak het.

Hierdie is 'n kort uittreksel uit beriggie wat op die webwerf van Versindaba oor hom verskyn het.

"Izak de Villiers het in die Paarl grootgeword en aan die Hoërskool Paarl Gimnasium gematrikuleer. Nadat hy hom as predikant bekwaam het, het hy vir 19 jaar lank as predikant gedien in verskillende gemeentes van die NG Kerk, waaronder Albertinia, Bonnievale en Constantia. Hy het in hierdie tyd 47 beroepe ontvang. Na ‘n periode waarydens hy vryskutwerk gedoen het vir verskeie instansies, het hy in 1982 die pos as redakteur van die vrouetydskrif Sarie aanvaar; ‘n pos wat hy met groot onderskeiding behartig het. In 1991 is hy aangestel as hoofredakteur van Rapport en het ook vir etlike jare op die direksie van Rapport-Uitgewers gedien."

Die gediggie "By 'n sterwende kindjie" verskyn ook op Versindaba se blog en ek haal dit graag hier aan omdat dit my gunstelinggediggie is . . . .

By ‘n sterwende kindjie

Eddie, kan jy my hoor?
Dis ek, oom Dominee.

Jy moenie bang wees nie,
die Here Jesus sal jou self kom haal,

jou handjie vat,
Jy is mos lief vir Hom.
Weet jy, die stad waar Hy woon
is so mooi, met pêrelpoorte
en fonteine. Sagaria, die profeet, sê
oral op die pleine en die strate
speel die kindertjies
Moet ek dit vir jou lees?

Jy wou iets sê?
Wag, ek kom nader-
kon nie mooi verstaan nie.

Jy wil nie gaan nie

"Teerpad" - Album bekendstelling

Submitted by Riette on Sun, 2009-09-20 15:02

"Kom join ons op ons tweede been van ons nasionale "Kry Rigting" Toer in Durbanville wanneer Teerpad hulle eerste album "Kry Rigting" kom launch.

Ons en twee ander local rock acts (Seisoen Na Somer en Cavalry Calls) sal op Saterdagaand 6 Oktober die Durbanville Kunskafee binneval.

Hier is die Line-Up vir die aand.

21:00 - Cavalry Calls
22:00 - Seisoen Na Somer
23:00 - Teerpad

R30 sal jou inkry.

Teerpad CD's sal beskikbaar wees teen R80

Joan Hambidge resenseer Riana Scheepers se Katvoet

Submitted by Riette on Sun, 2009-09-20 11:46

"Riana Scheepers gebruik die kat-tema in haar nuwe bundel kortverhale, getiteld Katvoet, om na die “bo-natuurlike en onsienlike” te verwys.

Joan Hambidge skryf in ‘n resensie in Die Burger dat Scheepers se verhale ook uit ‘n meer feministiese oogpunt “fassinerende perspektiewe” aktiveer. Vrouens kom dikwels in die verhale voor as die beskermer en raadgewer, die erotiese, die psigiese, die vrou-in-Afrika en die geneser.

Hambidge bewonder Scheepers se vermoë om diep betekenisse oor te dra met die beskrywing van klein besonderhede en gee haar dus ‘n wortel!"

Die volledige resensie het in Die Burger verskyn.

Meer oor die skryfster, Riana Scheepers.

The 2010 FIFA World Cup South Africa mascot, Zakumi

October 5, 2008 by clyde

So last night the new SA mascot called Zakumi was unveiled in a badly lit TV broadcast. [caption id="attachment_14776"; align="alignright" width="283" caption="ZAkumi - The South African 2010 Mascot"][/caption] 2010 World Cup Soccer hosted in South Africa brings the worlds eyes to South Africa once again, but at least this time its in the view of a 14 year old kid inside a Leopard Suit, called Zakumi, the new face of 2010 South Africa. The mascot entered through a beaded curtain Monday in Johannesburg. But what the heck does that mean? Well the first two letters of Zakumi are the country's initials in Afrikaans (one of South Africa's 11 official languages) and "Kumi" means 10 in many African languages representing the year of the tournament. Tim Modise, spokesman for the South African organizing committee, said zakumi can also be understood as "come here" in southern African languages. SO WHATS THE BIG DEAL? Zakumi was created by Cape Town-based artist Andries Odendaal. The predominantly gold colours - subtly incorporated with green and white, with the letters "South Africa 2010" across his chest apparently represent the country's wealth and hopes for 2010 and the prickly dreadlocks are meant to give him the edge over his fellow cats. [caption id="attachment_14777"; align="alignleft" width="307" caption="Zakumi bouncing around on the badly lit sound stage for the camera."][/caption] Zakumi's costume was produced by Cora Simpson who produced Simba the Lion and Dazzler, the official Mascot for the 2003 Cricket World Cup. Zakumi also joined the ranks of SA's born-free generation as he was accorded with the birth date of June 16 1994, meaning he will turn 16 in 2010.

Two best views in Helderberg, Cape Town

July 25, 2008 by evl

These two photographs according to me is the two best views of the sea and the two best places to watch the sunset in Helderberg, Cape Town.

The first one is in the Strand almost as the view of the beach from the road ends and you get the Strand lifeguards just after that. I threw in a bit of photography here trying to get the tree in as well.

The second photo is in Gordons Bay. The chair close to Gordons Bay harbour and Bikini Beach as the road ends leading to the Nun pool. Nonne poel in Afrikaans.

From that bench you can see right from Gordons Bay to Stellenbosch and Cape Town. You can also see the backside of Table Mountain and the other side of Clifton and Camps Bay.

If you look closely and on a clear day you can also see fish hoek and kommetjie.