The early morning breeze greets us with a cold hand as it rushes down the platform. A few commuters try to hide, others bravely stand their ground ignoring its attempt to cause discomfort.

A newspaper vendor walks past encouraging potential customers to purchase the daily paper by saying: “Fresh from the press eksê. Good cop love affairs wat flop. Don’t get caught napping on the job. Thank you. Dankie.”

He turns and smiles when he hears: “Hello hiesa,” from a voice behind him.

“Thank you. Dankie,” he says as the newspaper is swiftly exchanged for a silver coin. He continues with his rhyme as he strolls off.

The train appears with a peace sign painted on its face as if to apologise for unexpectedly running on time.

“Die ou mense is geworried oor hulle pension. SASSA wag ees vir ’n court ruling,” a guy says to a friend as we leave the station.

“Ek hoo’ die move,” the friend replies.

He then explains further. “My neighbour het twie laaities op skool. ’n Ou lady van siewentag, Haa’ dogte is dood ennie laaities is by haa’. Hoe gaan sy maak as haai grant nie ytstiek nie?” he asks with a concerned expression.

“Daai is ma een example wat ek van wiet. Daa’s duisende soes daai,” he goes on to say
“Ek wietie ou bra. As ’ie gel nie geroof word ’ie dan, is haa’ ’n problem mettie service provider. Ôs moet ma bid broe,” the friend calmly explains.

“Ek is al blou gebid al. Dit raak net worse man,” the guy says out loud, almost shouting. He pulls up his hoodie as the wind rushes through a broken window.

“Djy moenie pluck veloo’ nie brother. Stay positive and things will change for the better,” the friend encourages him.

The guy with the hoodie looks in silence at his friend for a brief moment.

The friend looks at his cell phone then back at the guy with the hoodie.

“Miesies Jacobs kyk na my laaities na skool. Soe kry sy extra income en ôs gie ha mee as wat sy charge, want die laaities slaap somma daa as ek ennie motjie uitgaan en laat terugkom. Sy’s ’n sweet old lady, maa sy battle to make ends meet. Times are tough.” The guy with the hoodie explains further, shedding more light on the situation.

“Het miesies Jacobs net die een dogte gehet?” the friend asks casually.

“Ja man; haa’ man is voo’ die dogte dood. Dit was net sy ennie dogte ennie twie laaities,” the guy with the hoodie replies.

“Julle is mos nou haa adopted family ou broe. Wiet djy daai?” the friend says looking him straight in the face.

“Of course wiet ek daai. My motjie het haa’ ma jonk veloo’ soe miesies Jacobs is n mother figure vi haa’.”

“Hulle het gebond die moment toe ôs daa intrek,” the guy with the hoodie proudly explains.

The train reduces speed as we enter Mutual station where the bulk of commuters leave the carriage.

A vendor enters and immediately goes on the attack.

“Your one stop mobile refreshment shop; always on time,” he announces his arrival.

He glides down the passage with an eagle eye looking for potential customers giving the slightest indication of reaching for their purses.

“Ek agree met jou dat die ouens in die boenste kantore moet hulle act together kry but ôs communities moet mense soes miesies Jacobs embrace. Ôs is selfish en te self-centered. Ôs willie involved raakie. Daai’s mossie ôs se problem ’ie” the friend tells the guy with the hoodie who in turn listens attentively.

“By the way hoe is haa dogte dood?” he asks.

The guy with the hoodie clears his throat, steadies himself and says: “Baie sad storie. ’n Stray bullet van ’n gang fight while sy in ’n taxi ry. Innocent my broe.”

“Ek blaas somma ’n gasket as ek daaraan dink,” he says looking sad and agitated at the same time.

The friend hides his eyes in his right hand and shakes his head in disbelief.

“Sometimes wish ek ’n lightning bolt wil die no-good jongens doodslat ou bra man,” he continues with his eyes still hidden away in his right hand.

“Djy moet bid broe. Moenie pluck veloo nie,” the guy with the hoodie whispers. His friend glances at him in silence. A smile starts to appear on his face.

“Ôs moet begin saam staan irrespective of colour religion creed or class. Only that way gan ôs die criminals van parlemin tot Parkwood beat. Daai’s hulle biggest fear. Ôs is die majority but die criminals wat die minority is rule vi ôs. Does that make sense?” he asks the guy in the hoodie who shakes his head from side to side indicating ‘no not all’.

“Die bra praat die waarheid. Ôs moet minner depend op politicians. Ôs moet ’ie masses mobilise just like in the old days; a united democratic front,” he quietly thinks to himself.

“But wait…” his thoughts continue. “Lat ek gou die motjie remind miesies Jacobs gaan brood bak en vye jam maak net soes my ou girl back in the day”.

***

Urban Dictionary

ekes – An Afrikaans slang word meaning “I say”

hiesa – The Afrikaaps version of the Afrikaans word “hierso” which means “right here”.

geworried – The Afrikaaps way of saying “worried”.

ees – The Afrikaaps version of the Afrikaans word “eers” which means “first”.

hoo – The Afrikaaps version of the Afrikaans word “hoor” which means “hear”.

twie – The Afrikaaps version of the Afrikaans word “twee” which means “two”.

siewentag – The Afrikaaps version of the Afrikaans word “sewentig” which means “seventy”.

haa (1) – The Afrikaaps version of the Afrikaans word “haar” which means “her”.

haa (2) – The Afrikaaps version of the Afrikaans word “daar” which means “there”.

haai – The Afrikaaps version of the Afrikaans word “daai” which means “that”. (Haai also happens to be the Afrikaans word for shark.)

ytstiek – The Afrikaaps version of the Afrikaans word “uitsteek” which means “to be visible” but in Afrikaaps means to “arrive” or “show up”.

dogte – The Afrikaaps version of the Afrikaans word “dogter” which means “daughter”.

Miesies – The Afrikaaps version of the word “Mrs (missus)”.

laaities – A South African slang word for “children / kids”.

veloo – The Afrikaaps version of the Afrikaans word “verloor” which means “lose”.

motjie – An Afrikaaps word for “wife”.

jongens – An Afrikaaps word for “guys” usually but not always meant to infer that they are “thugs”.

doodslat – The Afrikaaps version of the Afrikaans word “doodslaan” which means “beat to death”.

boenste – The Afrikaaps version of the Afrikaans word “boonste” which means “top / highest / uppermost”.

parlemin – An Afrikaaps way of saiyng“parliament”.

“Die ou mense is geworried oor hulle pension. SASSA wag ees vir ’n court ruling.”
“The old people are worried about their pension. SASSA is first waiting for court ruling”

“Ek hoo’ die move.”
“I hear the move.” (Move meaning the situation/story.)

“My neighbour het twie laaities op skool. ’n Ou lady van siewentag, Haa’ dogte is dood ennie laaities is by haa’.”
“My neighbour has two kids on school; an old lady of seventy. Her daughter is dead and the children are with her. ”

“Hoe gaan sy maak as haai grant nie ytstiek nie.”
“What will she do if that grant does not arrive?”

“Daai is ma een example wat ek van wiet. Daa’s duisende soes daai.”
“That is but one example which I know of. There are thousands like that.”

“Ek wietie ou bra. As ‘ie gel nie geroof word ‘ie, dan is haa’ ’n problem mettie service provider. Ôs moet ma bid broe.”
“I don’t know old friend. If the money isn’t being robbed, then there is a problem with the service provider. We must just pray brother.”

“Ek is al blou gebid al. Dit raak net worse man.”
“I have prayed till I am blue. It only gets worse man.”

“Miesies Jacobs kyk na my laaities na skool. Soe kry sy extra income en ôs gie ha mee as wat sy charge, want die laaities slaap somma daa as ek ennie motjie uitgaan en laat terugkom.”
“Mrs Jacobs looks after my kids after school. That way she gets extra income and we give her more than what she charges, because the kids just sleep there if the wife and I go out and come back late.”

“Het miesies Jacobs net die een dogte gehet.”
“Did Mrs Jacobs only have the one daughter?”

“Ja man; haa’ man is voo’ die dogte dood. Dit was net sy ennie dogte ennie twie laaities.”
“Yes man; her husband passed away before her daughter died. It was just her, the daughter and the children.”

“Julle is mos nou haa adopted family ou broe. Wiet djy daai?”
“You are after all her adopted family old brother. Do you know that?”

“Of course wiet ek daai. My motjie het haa’ ma jonk veloo’ soe miesies Jacobs is ’n mother figure vi haa’.”
“Of course I know that. My wife lost her mother when she was young so Mrs Jacobs was a mother figure for her.”

“Hulle het gebond die moment toe ôs daa intrek.”
“They bonded the moment we moved in there.”

“Ek agree met jou dat die ouens in die boenste kantore moet hulle act together kry but ôs communities moet mense soes miesies Jacobs embrace. Ôs is selfish en te self centered. Ôs willie involved raakie. Daai’s mossie ôs se problem ‘ie.”
“I agree with you that the guys in the highest offices must get their act together but our communities must embrace people like Mrs Jacobs. We are selfish and too self-centered. We don’t want to get involved. That is after all not our problem.”

“Ek blaas somma ’n gasket as ek daaraan dink.”
“I just about blow a gasket when I think about it.”

“Ôs moet begin saam staan irrespective of colour religion creed or class. Only that way gan ôs die criminals van parlemin tot Parkwood beat.”
Daai’s hulle biggest fear. Ôs is die majority but die criminals wat die minority is rule vi ôs.”
“We should start standing together irrespective of colour, religion, creed or class. Only that way are we going to beat the criminals from parliament to Parkwood. That is their biggest fear. We are the majority but the criminals who are the minority rule us.”

“Die bra praat die waarheid. Ôs moet minner depend op politicians. Ôs moet ‘ie masses mobilise just like in the old days.”
“The brother speakes the truth. We should depend less on politicians. We should mobilise the masses just like in the old days.”

“Lat ek gou die motjie remind miesies Jacobs gaan brood bak en vye jam maak net soes my ou girl back in the day.”
“Let me quickly remind the wife that Mrs Jacobs will be baking bread and making fig jam just like my old girl (my mom) back in the day.”