"Kat” in my Lunchblik

Op 1 Oktober is ek ‘n majoor. Ek kan vir een maand in Port Elizabeth aanbly om al my sake in orde te kry. Daardie tyd gebruik ons om goed wat nie elke dag gebruik word nie in te pak, te reël vir ‘n moontlike huurder vir ons huis en vriende en familie te gaan groet.

Ons dink daaraan om in Oos-London weer ‘n huis te koop maar omdat ons die plek nie ken nie kan ons nie eintlik beplan nie. Hannie en Baas is in hulle noppies dat ons daarheen kom en beloof om uit te kyk vir n geskikte huis.

Einde Oktober neem ek afskeid van die personeel in Port Elizabeth en ek vertrek na Oos-London.

REMINISCES OF A RAILWAY POLICEMAN Keith Alfred Adolf Blake

• Body Builders We received complaints from ship agents, Railway quay-foreman and ship captains that on the quaysides while ships were offloading, boxes of calamari that thieves were stealing during the offload process. I and my colleagues were given the task of catching these thieves.

I first arranged for Railway overalls and my colleagues were sent in undercover on the quayside at J berth, Table Bay Harbour, while I went out of the harbour to the Customs House and there on the vehicle parking balcony, I watched J berth with a pair of binoculars. There were lots of stevedores, Railway workers and foreign seamen and they were loading the 10kg boxes from the ship onto the quayside. I could also see my colleagues standing at different places and remember those days we all carried radios not like today cell phones.

While watching through my binoculars I saw three suspects walking away from the quayside and they were wearing overalls. What caught my eye was that these three gents were very broad chested and their backs were also unusually broad but the legs were thin and I still thought that hard work must have developed those broad very broad chest and back muscles. They walked towards the undercover colleagues but then to my amazement the one suspect moved his chest to the left and right and then I REALISED what was happening.

I GRABBED my radio and told my colleagues to stop the three suspects which they did and they said: 'Hulle het niks by hulle nie sersant hoor". I responded that that must see on their chests and backs which they did and lo and behold the suspects had on their backs and chest tied by two thin ropes not home-grown muscles but 2 boxes one in front the other on their backs weighing 10 kg each of pure frozen calamari. The "body builders" were arrested for theft.

• "Kat” in my Lunchblik

One morning I heard on my handradio in my office that Willemse needed the patrol van to pick him up at KL berth. A short while later Willempie walked into my office and in his hands, he had a fat huge tunny fish. He told me he was given this fish by a fisherman. Willempie who is a very big person, was sweating and his cheeks was blood red and he sat down on a chair and uttered the following words: "Sersant hierdie tunny was swaar om te dra maar ek gaan lekker van hom eet maar my vrou kan nie pickle-vis maak en die tunny is net reg vir pickle-vis".

As we were talking one of the female constables came in that worked at the admin. Willempie asked her if she could make pickle-fish and she responded that she cannot but her mother was an expert. The two came to a deal that he would give her the tuna but he wanted a large bowl of the end product, pickle-fish.

A few days later the female constable came with a big size Tupperware container and handed it to Willempie. His eyes lighted up like two headlamps as he opened up the container and smelt the pickle-fish. Where I was sitting as a spectator could also smell the goodness and the smell alone told me a true master in the kitchen had prepared this magnificent dish. Being well mannered I said nothing but I was hoping that I was to be a participant of the meal and my lips watered at the idea. All my hopes were dashed in a second when Willempie made the following crude statement: "Sersant ek gaan gou uit op patrollie en ek los die bak pickle-vis op die tafel agter jou en wanneer EK terug kom gaan EK lekker eet aan die bak pickle-vis". With that statement he left my office but I was sad as he had used the word "EK" and not "ONS".

About ten minutes later my colleague Sgt. Engels walked in with a book in his hand and he said he was hungry and at the same time he saw the Tupperware container and asked me to whom does it belong. I replied that I did not know. He opened the lid and saw the pickle-fish. Again, he asked me who does it belong to and I again because of that word "EK" that I did not know. Engels then proceeded to eat the pickle-fish and I could see he was really enjoying it. Onions, gravy, fish and sous was consumed and the bones placed back unceremoniously back into the Tupperware dish. There was about just more than three quarters left and after his hunger was satisfied the lid was neatly placed back in its original place. Sgt. Engels contented, took up his book and departed back to the Charge Office.

Well, an hour later Willempie made his appearance and once again sweating and cheeks as red as two very large cherries fell down on the chair and grabbed the container with the pickle-fish. He uttered the following words which made me feel less guilty: "Sersant Blake nou moet jy my verskoon maar EK gaan nou lekker eet."

What made me feel now even more less guilty was that no prayers of thanks giving were uttered upward. Willempie took off the lid and all his movements froze like a large ice-block. His words I will never forget: "Nee o donner, watse kat was in my blik en kyk hier is kaal vis-bene nog binne in die blik ek kan mos nie die vis nou eet nie".

He in anger jumped up and threw the container with the pickle-fish into a bin. I shouted, 'Willempie daai is mos nie jou blik nie". He retrieved the container and asked me again who had eaten his pickle-fish. I responded,"Willempie dit was nie ‘n kat maar ‘n leeu en hy sit daar in die Aanklagkantoor met ‘n storieboek."

Kroonstad Railway Training College, September 1953. Presentation of medals to railway police by Mr McDonald.

c1950’s SAR Police Medal Parade: Hoy Park: Durban.