Mandela Statue

The statue of Nelson Mandela in Mandela Square Sandton.

Waiters

At a quick glance this looks like a group of devotees preparing for a church service. The dish cloths tucked under their belts gives it away as a group of waiters listening to a pep talk before the start of the evening shift. Photographed at the Sandton Shopping Mall.

Sic Blesbuck

We came across this apparently sic Blesbuck in the Rietvlei nature reserve. Living in a reserve with almost no predators has its benefits. But it also has its harsh side. In a reserve with predators sick or slow antelope tend to be the first to be taken out. It must be hard to be taken by a predator but it must be quicker than just lying there waiting for death. It barely managed to lift its head when we approach. A hard way to go.

Young Rhino

We were privileged to witness this interaction between a mother rhino and her calf at the Rietvlei Nature Reserve near Pretoria. The mother was sleeping in the sun, lying on her stomach. Her calf wanted to drink and tried to roll her over. It tried from various angles until she rolled over far enough to allow him to drink. She rolled over but the calf probably thought it managed to push her over.

Sadly, the mother has no horn as it had to be removed to protect her from being poached. A bunch of these poachers has recently been arrested.

Home sweet home

I came across this house on a pavement in Benoni early one morning while waiting for my daughter to complete her exam. The owner agreed to be photographed wile reading his morning paper. On the one hand we cannot allow people to erect houses on pavements everywhere. On the other hand I have to respect the owner for what he is doing. Behind him is a flat trolley typically used to collect recyclable material like paper and plastic. Instead of doing crime or begging he is making a living for him self. His dwelling seems fairly comfortable given where and what it is. Much like the owner of a much bigger business, he is reading his morning newspaper in the early morning sun.

Old mine house

Some more pictures of the old mining house near Etwatwa. One of the pictures shows three round openings in the concrete slab between the ground and first floor. They are right above the fire place. I presume they were created to allow heat from the fire place to circulate to the first floor. The other two photos show the corridor and window of one of the living units.

Old mine house

I drove past this old house on my way to Etwatwa on the East Rand. It is on farm land but I presume it used to belong to one of the old mines that were active in the area many years ago as it is located near an old mine shaft. It consists of two or four residential units. I could not confirm as I could not get to the top story. The stairs were on the outside and are not there any more. None of the downstairs units has a bathroom. Outside is a small square building, +/- 1,5m x 1,5m that used to be an outside toilet. In Afrikaans it used to be called a “kleinhuisie”, literally translated as “small house”. I took some more pictures of the inside of the house. I will publish these in my next post.