At Goodwood the train overshoots its stop at the station with a few carriages ending up beyond the end of the platform.

Commuters waiting on the platform have a confused expression, not knowing whether to run forwards or backwards.

“Die’s wee’ a learner-driver die,” a guy comments.

“I never saw the ‘L’ sign,” another adds with a wry smile and continues to say whilst peeping out the door.

“The train runs on time but stops too late”.

The train slowly reverses allowing passengers to exit and board the carriages which overshoot the platform.

Slowly and without much drama we leave again.

Passengers are suspiciously looking at each other having expected a different experience.

“Daai’s nourrie clutch mooi los. Soe ja,” the guy who passed the learner driver remark says.

“She took off her high-heels now,” the I-never-saw-the-L-sign guy adds.

“Auw… a lady driver nogal. Sy moet nettie pad gie virre hond ‘ie,” the guy who made the learner-driver comment says amidst a flurry of laughter from fellow commuters.

“She was fixing her lipstick when we overshot the platform bra. Grant her to be feminine ouens,” the L-sign guy remarks.

“Naai… sy moet ’ie wa innie pad hou. My kinnes is nog klein en my vrou is nog jonk. My skoonma wil my dood bid.”

“Sy praat niks van ’n trein driver in high heels nie, soe die Here ignore haa’. Sy bid vikeed,” a third guy says as fellow passengers shake with laughter.

“Maa’ daai driver is ’n man. I saw him when the train pulled into Bellville station. He lives in our area,” a man in his early forties suddenly joins their conversation.

“Plus women drivers aren’t automatically bad drivers because they are women drivers. I know some women who are far better than most men.”

“Daai is oek waa’ ja,” L-sign guy says in agreement.

“Ja my nief se motjie ry oppie track en sy kan peddle,” says the Mr learner-driver comment and they all chuckle as the train slows down into the station.

As they leave they get off the train someone sinisterly asks, “Is djy visieke is ’n man wat ry?”

Salt River station came too quick for this bunch of jokers in our Metro carriage this morning.

Many a commuter will be going to work facing the day in a jovial mood because of strangers connecting and communicating in a fun and pleasant manner.

That’s life on the Cape Flats.

***

Urban Dictionary

nourrie – The Afrikaaps version of “nou die” which is an
Afrikaans for “now the”.

nettie – The Afrikaaps version of “net nie” which is Afrikaans for
“just not”.

virre The Afrikaaps version of “vir ’n” which is the
Afrikaans word for “for a/an”.

naai – The elongated Afrikaaps version of “nai” meaning “no” possibly from Cape Malay use of the Indo/Urdu “nahin”.
Not to be confused with Afrikaans word “naai” which
means “sewing”, or the vulgar version which refers to
sexual intercourse.

vikeed – The Afrikaaps version of “verkeerd” which is the
Afrikaans word for “wrong/wrongly/incorrect”.

nief – The Afrikaaps version of “neef” which is the Afrikaans word for a “male cousin”.

motjie – An Afrikaaps word for “wife” originating from the Cape Malays.

visieke – The Afrikaaps version of “verseker” which is the
Afrikaans word for “for sure”.

“Die’s wee’ a learner-driver die.”
“This is again a learner-driver [this].”

“Daai’s nourrie clutch mooi los. Soe ja…”
“That was disengaging the clutch nicely. Like that yes…”

“Auw… a lady driver nogal. Sy moet nettie pad gie virre hond ‘ie.”
“Auw… a lady driver actually. She should just not give way for a dog.”

“Naai… sy moet ’ie wa innie pad hou. My kinnes is nog klein en my vrou is nog jonk. My skoonma wil my dood bid.”
“No… she must keep the wagon on the road. My children are still small and my wife is still young. My mother-in-law wants to pray me to death.”

“Sy praat niks van ‘n trein driver in high heels nie, soe die Here ignore haa’. Sy bid vikeed.”
“She speaks nothing about a train driver in high heels, so the Lord is ignoring her. She’s praying wrong.”

“Daai is oek waa’ ja.”
“That’s also true yes.”

“Ja my nief se motjie ry oppie track en sy ken peddle.”
“Yes my cousin’s wife drives on the race track and she can peddle.”

“Is djy visieke is ‘n man wat ry?”
“Are you sure that it is a man driving?”