Today in the coach I managed to ask our guide, Booysie, a few questions about his life. First of all as a tour guide he is fantastic, he knows everybody! Also you can just tell that he has seen it all in South Africa, growing up through the apartheid, meaning that you just automatically give him that respect and listen carefully to whatever he has to say. It just shows the measure of the man with the fact that he has met Nelson Mandela and was also able to have a conversation with the great man. When asked about life growing up in the apartheid, he obviously said about the difference in lifestyle between whites and blacks. And how for him and his family there was no electricity like today , and he had a short supply of cold running water. However he simply said he was used to it , he mentioned how he was just born into the process, he knew nothing different apart from that. He also highlighted the fact that the government were extremely strict , for example if you were in an area or town where you weren't meant to be you would certainly be arrested. He went on to say that the only time he personally had a problem with the police was when he was caught without his passbook on him, but thankfully no serious punishments were handed out. However this wasn't the case for Booysie’s older brother who was physically assaulted by a group of whites just for the colour of his skin. And to this day still has issues seeing with his left eye because of that attack. Overall Booysie is a man with great experience, great knowledge and most importantly he is a great person- everybody wants to be on the Booysie-bus!
Ben
Ben