June 2008. George Goussard dispatch: "The xenophobic violence in SA has been very bad. There's been a lot of rubbish written in newspapers, especially by government apologists. This violence can trace back 100% to the government's unwillingness / incompetence / stupidity in not controlling the flood of millions (not hundreds of thousands) of illegal immigrants into SA.
Large numbers of criminals from all over Africa (especially Nigerians) have resettled in SA, and run illegal drug and prostitution trades.
The government has allowed the Zim situation to spiral out of control, forcing millions of hungry people over the border. These people are willing to work for peanuts, especially in the booming construction industry. Unscrupulous builders have been laying off thousands and replacing them with cheap labour foreigners. So why would South Africans not hate these people? Unemployment is horrifically high in SA, and it is poor black people who carry the burden.
Another bit of news you wont find in the newspapers is that these foreigners, now in refugee camps in SA, sometimes (often?) refuse to allow black police into the camps. They only want to deal with white policemen, because of corruption amongst black police."
I was no longer "like minded" with SINZASA (South Island NZ Association of Southern Africans). After SINZASA's 1997 Christchurch inauguration, our sons grew out of Father Christmas functions. Noisy socials didn't appeal to me anymore, as my deafness and background noise in pubs, socials, casino, dances, etc, made it impossible for me to hear properly. During early SINZASA years, I enjoyed talks by businessmen, SA Hon. Consul Gregory Fortuin, National MP Gerry Brownlee, Boer War historian...
Since our 1995 arrival, the number of black faces increased in Christchurch, including Zimbabwians and South Africans. Afrikaners also increased. Some run-ins with SINZASA committee members put me off SINZASA:
2004. Afrikaner editor of Indaba journal botched my "No to racism, yes to harmony" Asian protest article, by censoring it and editing with appalling English grammar and spelling. The editor took a year to return my Asian protest snaps to me.
2005. When I emailed an Afrikaner committee member about the "volk, taal, kerk, kultuur" stuff in Indaba, the member was touchy about it, and said he'd emigrated due to increased crime in SA. Never mind over 40 years of brutal white apartheid generating post apartheid black crime in SA.
2006/7. When I repeatedly email inquired about the appointment of Afrikaners to SINZASA committee, an Afrikaner lawyer threatened me with defamation.
Christchurch libraries had Afrikaans books, and good on Afrikaners for motivating them. Afrikaans was useful to me when I travelled overseas, but in SA apartheid state schools and Dokkies I never had the choice of not learning Afrikaans. It was forced on me, like conscription was forced on me as a formative youth. As an adult, I objected to Afrikaans and Afrikaner kultuur being foisted on me. Afrikaans and Afrikaner kultuur was forced on me for many years in SA state white schools, state controlled white conscripted army and state controlled media during apartheid. For some years I taught second language Afrikaans in KwaZulu-Natal and Cape schools. My half English, half Afrikaner mom taught English and Afrikaans in Durban schools for many years. Mom said, "Afrikaners have a national inferiority complex after losing the Boer War." She got over it.
"The Press" 28.06.08 article "South Africans head to safer shores in NZ" said, "...The number of South Africans granted residency in New Zealand has remained reasonably stable over the past eight years at about 3700 a year.
However, the number granted work permits has jumped from 1758 in 1999/2000 to 6547 in 2007/8."
Work permit holders tried to secure work for NZ permanent residence visa points.
The way SA and Zimbabwe were going, with mouse Mbeki squeaking around clown Mugabe, while Matabele mass murderer Mugabe stole the Zim presidential election from Tsvangirai, in future I expected more Southern Africans would arrive in Christchurch. If 7 degreed Mugabe messed up Zimbabwe so quickly, what would standard 3 Zuma do with SA?
While mass murderer Mugabe cocked his serial president snoot amongst Sharm-el-Sheikh African Union "freedom fighters," I'd be surprised if African and Arab "freedom fighters" had the courage to arrest Mugabe snoot cocker and send him to The Hague to be tried for crimes against humanity, like Matabele massacres during the early 80s; white commercial farmer murders and dispossession without redress; impoverishment and starvation of Zimbabwe citizens; making millions of Zim citizens homeless, stateless refugees; making a mockery of free and fair democratic elections, by state murders, violence and intimidation of Zim citizens.
The good news: Springbok Radio had restarted - on the internet.
Copyright Mark JS Esslemont.
Monday, June 16, 2008
Thursday, April 17, 2008
2008. Post Apartheid - NZ: George Goussard, April 2008 SA Dispatch and May 2008 Unrest
2008. Fraser Esslemont & Zulu nurses, Sunnyside Farm, KwaZulu-Natal. (Pietermaritzburg Mental Health Society). "Nor th' exterior nor the inward man resembles that it was."
April 2008. George Goussard dispatch: "Koffiefontein Mine was sold to a company consisting of ex De Beers and Koffiefontein people. Seems to be doing well. The town however is financially depressed with little activity (no chemist shop anymore, etc). Things are changing for the worse. More and more people are talking about leaving SA. You cannot talk to an elderly person without hearing the latest news from children in London / USA / Dubai etc. Today a Big Bug in the education department (with 20+ years service) told us that he's had enough, and has landed a good job in Dubai.
My recent holiday trip to Sun City (near Pretoria) was sponsored by my father-in-law, and our petrol alone cost over R2000. Prices of everything have risen in the last year. Unions are becoming restless and talking about nationalization. Government is talking about expropriation of property. The Zimbabwe crisis is dragging along with no solution in sight. Our power is off Thursday mornings. Then you cannot get money from banks, shop in shops, no traffic lights and chaos on the roads.
I recently travelled through the Northern Cape, Upington to Kuruman... On the platteland there are large areas where speed limits are reduced from 120 kph to 60 kph because of many potholes. Platteland hospitals have been degraded to clinics which cannot function properly because of lack of staff. At Koffiefontein, one electrician must keep the infrastructure of five towns operational. You cannot drink local water in towns, while sewerage works in many are also not functioning properly.
Education in SA is heading for a huge bust up. Schools are producing huge numbers of dropouts and matriculants who can neither read nor calculate properly. I saw an article that calculates that only 3.?% of all school kids that enter the system finish with a 'good' matric (and we are one of the countries which spends the biggest portion of national budget on education). Everywhere you hear things that worry you, because things look 'normal' on the surface. Spoke to a bloke last week about a legal dispute: Both parties are doing everything possible to keep the case out of the Supreme Court, because judgements 'are becoming unpredictable,' (because of poorly qualified people appointed as judges. Todays news: East Rand Chief of Police, MacBride, (Durban Magoos bar bomber) in court for intimidation... Someone broke into two court buildings and stole the prosecution documents. Who's next?
Gwede Mantashe (used to clerk in the mine office next to me for four years, probably the third most powerful man in SA) had a meeting with the SA leader of the opposition, Helen Zille, about disbanding the Scorpions, who wanted to prosecute some ANC Bigwigs for struggle atrocities. He basically told her: 'I refuse to listen to you, because you hate the ANC...'" Gwede Mantashe: Secretary General, ANC; National Chairperson, SACP; Executive Director, Development Bank of SA; Director, Samancor; Head of Technical Task Team, Joint Initiative for Priority Skills Acquisition (JIPSA); Zuma acolyte; former General Secretary of NUM.
After two decades of professional life in SA, I was left with a youngish wife, young sons, a mad brother, a container full of stuff, four suitcases, some useless suits, ties, closed shoes and academic gown, athletes foot, smoothness, deafness and dissonance. After thirteen years of a little labouring life in NZ, I was left with an older wife, older sons, an older mad brother, no money, a garage full of stuff, four suitcases, some useful tracksuits and flip-flops, useless academic gown, dhobies itch, a beard, deafness and dissonance.
The proposed communist / terrorist name changes to many Durban city streets were quite mad. Name changers were thieves, stealing others' history. Like apartheid Afrikaners intended destroying English and Indian heritage in Durban North, the post apartheid ANC / SACP intended destroying English heritage in Durban North. Examples: Northway to "Kenneth Kaunda;" Kensington Drive to "Adelaide Tambo;" Broadway to "Swapo." Afro culture vultures forgot that 1976 Soweto Riots were caused by Afrikaners forcing Afrikaans on Afro school cultures.
Chelsea Drive, where I'd lived for 26 apartheid years, ran parallel for some distance between Northway and Kensington Drive, and was walking distance to Broadway, running at right angles to the Drives. "Adelaide Tambo" name change to Kensington Drive made no sense and was irrelevant to Kensington Drive, as all Durban North roads were named after places in Britain. Durban North had been an Anglo-Indian suburb before the apartheid Group Areas Act had forced "black spot" slum Indians to move to separate Indian townships. Apartheid Broederbonders built an Afrikaner hoerskool in Durban North's bulldozed Indian slum to increase the Afrikaner Nationalist vote and stymie English opposition votes. Apartheid Job Reservation reserved Durban North streetsweeper, waiter, postman, rubbish collector jobs for Indian men, so an Indian name like "Sivilingham Naidoo" would be a far better name for Kensington Drive than "Adelaide Tambo".
"Swapo" terrorists came nowhere near Broadway, and would've died laughing should they have contacted Durban North Commandos on South West Africa border. Zambian president "Kenneth Kaunda" came nowhere near Northway. And Ruth First (N2 Freeway) had zilch to do with north Durban suburbs, but got herself blown up about 600 kays northwards in Maputo for having married SACP/ANC commie Joe Slovo. If name changing madness prevailed, why not change Durban Berea's Esselmont Avenue to "Wozamark Avenue?"
Unrest. May 2008: Black on black killings of black foreigners in townships and squatter camps in Gauteng, North West, Limpopo, Mpumalanga, Western Cape, Durban. Officials blamed ANC, xenophobia (black racism), Zimbabwe, illegal immigrants, third force, unemployment, poverty, food prices, criminals, tribalism, Inkatha, and any other excuses for depravity they could concoct. (NZTV, The Mercury, Daily Dispatch, Cape Times, BBC online, South African Hell blog). Of about five million immigrants in SA, by letting three million Zimbabwean black refugees and other black foreigners like Somalis, Nigerians, Congolese, Malawians, Mozambicans invade SA since 1994, the ANC / SACP had lost control of mad ethnic cleansing in townships and squatter camps.
2008. Fraser Esslemont, Gardener, Sunnyside Farm, KZN. (Pmb Mental Health Soc.) "With a look so piteous in purport as if he had been loosed out of hell."
Once again my "madman" brother was safer in an asylum than shambling streets with real madmen, and mad women, who were a danger to themselves and others, who were forcing displaced blacks to flee to local shelters and Mozambique and Zambia. Zimbabwean displaced blacks were caught between the SA dragon and the Zimbabwe bird: "Kaaa! Ka-ka-ka-ka-kaaa!" Strange that SA black on black violence against black foreigners began between Zimbabwe's repeated elections between Mugabe and Tsvirangai. As a characteristic of madness was an inability to manage one's own affairs, where did that leave the ANC / SACP?
25.05.08. Information Online Limited (IOL) reported: In Gauteng - 50 dead, 500 arrested, 17000 displaced.
26.05.08. IOL reported about 20 000 blacks displaced in the Cape Town region.
28.05.08. IOL reported "at least 56 people died and up to 100 000 were displaced... at least 50 000 Mozambicans and Zimbabweans have departed SA after the attacks began on May 11."
Although the scale of migration in SA was bigger than NZ, NZ was a nation of immigrants. In our neighbourhood, Asians, Maori, Pacific Islanders, Europeans lived side by side without aggravation. We were welcomed and made to feel useful. Our permanent resident rights were the same as New Zealanders'. As a deaf person I'd experienced some discrimination, but migrant cultures were celebrated, not despised. Because we were foreigners, no one had threatened to kill us or chase us away during our time in NZ. One stupid Kiwi teacher 13 years before told me to "Go home!" as she had a 1980s apartheid protester mindset.
Copyright Mark JS Esslemont.
Wednesday, March 26, 2008
2008. Post Apartheid: Fraser Esslemont's 2008 Sunnyside Farm Dispatch and Emails
2008. Fraser Esslemont playing snooker, Sunnyside Farm dining hall, KwaZulu-Natal. (Pietermaritzburg Mental Health Society). "Though this be madness, yet there is method in't."
Fraser's March 2008 Sunnyside Farm dispatch: "Im getting very lax with writing. My apologies. Weekends seem the best time for writing. I take it ESOL is european studies and literature [English as a Second Language]. ... SLD I understand.
Both your sons are very musical. Fancy Luke watching drumming videos on internet and composing music. Jake and Luke do p.c. programmes I dont follow. Please explain. It must be beef & sheep biltong you work with. [Beef only]. You still get 30+ (plus) degrees in March. You must leave your 2 cars outside the garage when [you] dry your biltong. How long for? [Hang my biltong from garage rafters for one to two weeks, depending on dry / wet weather, while cars stay garaged].
Bakery deliveries must take up a lot of your time and how is your indaba magazine writing? Would you please send a copy of this indaba magazine? Surely a photostat of one of your articles would give me a clear picture of what you write about. [Fraser had forgotten I'd stopped bakery work a decade before. SINZASA's Indaba journal was moribund and not publishing lately].
Do you still work with compost and sell it? [Yes, but no selling].
My Sunnyside work seems to have got into a rut, at the moment. [Fraser had done gardening at Town Hill and Sunnyside for nearly 20 years]. Perhaps I should find a nice clerical job in town and / or look after watering peoples gardens. People dont spend that much time watering. Maybe I should stick to clerical work, that Ive had experience of, at the [Standard] Bank. Please, I should like to hear your views on how I should spend my time.
Everything of the best to you and your family."
2008. Bird Man Fraser Esslemont, Sunnyside Farm, KZN. (Pmb. Mental Health Soc.) "His liberty is full of threats to all."
I wrote to Fraser, posting him a 2008 diary, and encouraged Fraser to diarize his life, and / or line-sketch his observations around Sunnyside. I enclosed Ian Sinclair's "Field Guide To The Birds Of Southern Africa," and encouraged Fraser to become the Bird Man of Sunnyside, as birdwatching was an honourable passion. I also emailed Maritzburg Mental Health, advising them what I'd encouraged Fraser to do.
My April 2008 email to Maritzburg Mental Health: "Thanks for emailing and my receipt of Fraser's farm pics as follows: 2 of the workshop, 1 dining hall, 1 farm life, 1 farm outing.
I appreciate the snaps very much. I see Fraser looks fit and healthy: fitter than me. He looks like our mom did about the same age: grey, thinning hair. I have our dad's hair, less grey and still there. The dining hall looks pleasant. I reckon Fraser would thrash me at billiards. His Zulu would've improved with all his Zulu mates around. Fraser's mates and pet geese look nice. I wonder if the geese will be eaten? The farm looks very green. And the OT looks like it keeps Fraser well worked with all the washer sorting. Fraser's arms look very strong after all the hard work...
Thanks for the pics. Your digital cam looks like an excellent investment. Our family still uses our old manual Minolta.
I'll send Fraser our biltong recipe in my next letter..." Again!
Another April 2008 email to Maritzburg Mental Health: "Thanks for the second batch of Sunnyside pics. How times have changed. When Fraser and I grew up in Durban North, we were involved with Indians via our servant Rosie Naidoo and her family from May Street, Durban; Gum Tree Road squatter camp, Jacobs; and finally Chatsworth. I see Fraser is now involved with Zulus. It's good to see staff who care for Fraser. They look kind, compassionate people. I appreciate very much what they are doing.
I see from Fraser's clothes and cleanliness, and care for Sunnyside land and buildings, that Fraser and his mates are well cared for. The green soccer team will be great World Cup soccer supporters. Is Fraser manager? Or chief supporter? As a young adult, Fraser was into karate and water-sports (water-skiing, sail-surfing, yachting, fishing), for years before his 1987 Verulam accident.
2008. Mark Esslemont's topside biltong ready for hanging and drying. Christchurch, NZ.
I'm halfway through making a batch of biltong, and taking snaps as I progress, to send to Fraser with my biltong recipe, so Fraser has pics to see my biltong-making progress. We've had lots of autumn rain lately, so I'm wondering weather damp will rot my biltong, which I usually make during Christchurch's dry summers. (Unless one has an all-year drying-room with heaters / fans). Better get my old Durbs fan fanning my biltong in the garage."
Copyright Mark JS Esslemont.
Thursday, February 7, 2008
2008. Post Apartheid: Fraser Esslemont and Curator Letters 2006-2008
< 2008. Fraser Esslemont sorting washers, Sunnyside Farm Workshop, KwaZulu-Natal. (Pietermaritzburg Mental Health Society). "More than fantasy."
Fraser's May 2006 Sunnyside Farm dispatch: "Please forgive me for not writing sooner. It dawned on me you and your family have gone from SA for 11 years. Didn't you arrive in NZ in June 1995! Congratulations, you must have settled down well. It must have been difficult sometimes in a new land. [Yes].
This photograph was taken of me on 10.5.2006. Developing in Underberg took 1 day and I write on 11.5.2006. Im a bit surprised myself. I hope this photo reaches you in may 2006 before your 11th year anniversary. Do you still drink wine?... [Yes].
I hope to meet you in 2010 in Mauritius. I think you select a date when you can get away in 2010. Luke would have finished schooling by then. How will you spend your time? I suggest island hopping in the indian ocean. Until then..."
My July 2006 letter to Fraser's curator / administrator. "Thanks for Fraser's financial statement. I see accommodation costs have risen and interest rates have remained low. Ouch!...
ABs donnered Wallabies recently and Wallabies donnered the Boks last weekend. Looking forward to this weekend's ABs vs Boks clash."
Fraser's December 2006 Sunnyside Farm dispatch: "I have not written on your birthday card. I would have spoilt the card. [Over the years Fraser had posted me beautiful, home-made birthday and Xmas cards]. Please send it back to me next year. [Done]. You wrote of the big snow in August 2006. It would have been the worst in 30 years. Many thanks for the book on the snow. I appretiate very much the photos you send. Thank you.
You & your family will have a lot to talk about when we meet in 2010. The years have certainly passed quickly. I'm still undecided where the best place we can meet. Its either Durban or the NZ islands. Im sure I can get on board a ship to NZ. Rather than you & your family coming here to SA. I dont fancy the idea of flying over the seas. Do you agree on 2010? & which season is best?
We will meet again before we retire. Perhaps we can take the same world sea cruise together. Ill get the brochures all about it..."
In 2007, I received no dispatches from Fraser, who'd lived in KwaZulu-Natal madhouses for twenty years.
During the first 26 years of my life, I'd lived in mom's home at 22 Chelsea Drive, Durban North. During my conscript Commando service, I'd slept in barracks, tents and veld in the Cape and KwaZulu -Natal. During my trekking through Southern Africa and overseas, I slept in cars, trains, planes, ships, hostels, hotels, B&B's, motels and tents. During my married life in SA and overseas, our 10 houses, 9 flats, 2 barracks and 1 duplex were all empty when we arrived. We filled the empty houses with our belongings and lives, for short and long stays, then trekked onwards, leaving empty houses.
Our workplaces backdropped our houses. As migrants we left empty houses behind, and didn't return. Post-apartheid white teachers, living in empty houses, feared failure elsewhere, so didn't leave their white affirmative-action jobs, as the blackdrop of black affirmative- action jobs and black competition was too ghastly. Twelve years after I left Selborne College, SA teacher trainers weren't producing enough qualified teachers, so my chicken-white colleagues who'd stayed at Selborne had to train black "assistant teachers" on-the-job.
In 2001, a silly Indian social worker had encouraged Fraser's fantasy about travelling overseas to visit us. She naively suggested if Fraser's funds expired, he could apply for a state disability grant (hard to get and poorly administered). Nicole Itano's "No Place Left To Bury The Dead," Atria Books, New York, 2007, described SA corruption regarding state child support grants and state disability grants.
Years later, Fraser still mind-fixed about cruising to Mauritius, or Australia, or NZ, or the world to see us, never mind the costs. The silly Indian social worker was long gone, but her encouraging Fraser's poor financial judgement, and her sniffing out Fraser's estate from his lawyers still affected Fraser and me. The silly social worker had seeded an idea in Fraser which could harm Fraser and his family, and our relationships with the lawyer firm. In short, post apartheid social workers paid by the state to help patients and their families, by liaising with state Social Welfare offices, could do huge financial damage to patients and their families, by interfering in family dynamics, and touting bad financial advice.
During twelve years' apartheid and post apartheid, while brother Fraser was severely affected by the Mental Health Act 1973, I never heard any doctors, lawyers, medical and mental health care workers in SA objecting to the ravages of the Act on mad patients and their families. It would be nice to hear some doctors, lawyers, medical and mental health care workers speaking out against iniquities of the Mental Health Care Act 2001, as patients were still abused in institutions despite the "new" Act. After all, SA in 2008 did have freedom of speech and expression. Didn't it?
My experiences over 21 years of dealing with apartheid and post apartheid doctors, lawyers, medical and mental health care workers were that professionals rode the donkey wagon, led by donkeys, with few public comments or protests. After 21 years, I still waited to see or hear about decent rehabilitation for mental health patients like Fraser. It would've been nice to see computer and internet access for patients, and rehabilitated use of old literacy and numeracy skills, which Fraser still had. Not just "voluntary" Occupational Therapy, whereby businesses benefitted from free, captive labour by mental health patients.
If a mental health patient like Fraser had for years provided free Occupational Therapy or Industrial Therapy labour like gardening, sorting screws, washers, etc, for contracted business beneficiaries, then when the patient turned 65 years old, the patient should automatically get a state pension for the rest of his / her life, without means testing.
After all, Fraser paid taxes during the years he worked as a Standard Bank teller before brain damage, and was conscripted by the SADF which wasted two years of his life. In 1973, he'd volunteered a year of his life as a hospital orderly at Holy Cross Mission Hospital, Pondoland. Fraser was brain damaged by a Zulu sugarcane trucker in 1987 during a State-of -Terror, and suffered for years afterwards. He freely gave his labour, while certified and decertified, for years to state and NGO Occupational Therapy / Industrial Therapy schemes, so his retirement after age 65 should be rewarded with a state pension, without means testing. That's fair.
Even fairer, those businesses which for years had benefitted from Fraser's and other patients' free labour should front up and contribute to the state pension fund.
Carers loved reporting that Fraser was "stable" or "stabilized," meaning toxic neuroleptics, controlling Fraser's seizures, had stopped him being a danger to himself and others. Not once in 21 years did Fraser's carers ever say they were taking him off drugs. Over 10 years, Fraser paid over R100 000 resident fees to Maritzburg Mental Health, and Fraser's "rehabilitation" was rural institutionalization and anti-psychotic drug dependence, which dumbed him down and isolated Fraser from normal people. Never mind the stigma normal people attached to brain damaged Fraser.
Thirteen years after emigrating to NZ, I didn't have money to visit Fraser in SA. But the donkey wagon wheels slowly turned, and mom's old Maritzburg varsity song showed the way: "O Maritzburg, happy land, happy land, I'm going back to Maritzburg if I can..."
< 2008. Arabs dancing, Culture Galore, Ray Blank Park, Christchurch, NZ.
In early 2008, I wrote to Fraser's curator and Maritzburg Mental Health, inquiring about Fraser's health and poor correspondence. I posted Fraser batches of Xmas and family photos, and snaps of the annual Christchurch, Ray Blank Park, Culture Galore festival. At Culture Galore expats proudly showed their heritage. In 2008, there was singing, music and dancing, food and craft stalls, jumping castle, "rock climbing," and Beijing Olympics costumes. Some of the United Nations tribes I saw: Southern African, English, Scottish, Scandinavians, Indians, Russians, Chinese, Taiwanese, Koreans, Japanese, Niueans, Samoans, Fijians, Maori, French, Dutch, Hungarians, Greeks, Balkans, Serbs, Macedonians, Indonesians, Filipinos, Latin Americans, Nepalese, Afrikaners, Arabs, cops, security, garbage collectors, journalists.
Copyright Mark JS Esslemont.
< 2008 Arab man with incense, Culture Galore, Ray Blank Park, Christchurch, NZ.
2008. Post Apartheid: Fraser Esslemont and Carer Letters 2005
My June 2005 letter to Fraser's Durban curator / administrator: "Thanks for the copy of Fraser's 17th Curatorship Estate Account received recently.
I appreciate what you have done for Fraser. It gives me peace of mind, as I am unable to help Fraser financially, nor even visit him, as our finances after ten years' residence in NZ are still precarious.
I'm alarmed by the negative balance in Fraser's account. As Fraser is a survivor, and as he has longevity history on both maternal and paternal sides of his family - relatives have lived to over 90 years old - I would appreciate your projections / planning of Fraser's finances to include Fraser outliving us all. Fraser could easily live to be 90 years old.
If you have not already done so, I would appreciate it very much if you would consider and expedite future higher rates of interest of Fraser's investments. The more interest earned on Fraser's investments the best for everyone concerned...
PS. Last Saturday the All Blacks gave the Lions a hiding in Christchurch. Foul weather helped."
Fraser Esslemont's September 2005 Sunnyside Farm dispatch: "Please forgive me for not writing sooner. I procrastinate with letter writing for months on end. Your birthday card I sent I dont want to deface with writing on it. From me a belated happy birthday and a voorspoedige nuwe jaar. You will have many more birthdays. [Et tu bro].
I received the photos you kindly sent on 20 March 2005. The 5 principals at Burnside High must have a big job controlling 2500 pupils. [Luke's new school]. Northlands High battled with 1000 pupils in 1972. Does Luke have a troublesome class? [No]. Jake's graphic design course would have been finished at varsity. Which Varsity? [Natcoll, local graphic design college]. Jake plays guitar and Luke plays piano. You and Leah must suffer with them practising, when they do practise. [Leah maybe. Me no: deaf].
Please inform me exactly how your pc works. It must help Jake and Luke with their graphic design course and high school studies. Congratulations on having lived 10 years in a new land. There must have been many ups and downs. [Yes].
Thank you for the jade pebble. [From Birdling Flats beach]. This will be a treasure on this farm. Ill handle it as a family heirloom. You will see it again. I wont have the jade carved. Possibly two rings made of it later. Could one make two earings from this pebble? [Yes, hard stone].
I did receive old photos and slides of my overseas trips. Thank you. Receiving your letters is a pleasure because I am somewhat isolated doing farming. Please let me know what happens with Jake's graphic design. It will be a difficult field to enter." True.
Fraser's Zulu social worker's letter September 2005: "Fraser Esslement [sic] is doing fine at Sunnyside Farm. He is a very responsible client [Client!] in the Workshop, he helps to pack the boxes of washers that are delivered to contract companies and he also works in the garden.
Mentally he is stable and he is taking medication properly. Fraser's behaviour is good, as I never received any incident report since I started in March this year. [So what? He's decertified]. He is getting on well with residents and also respects the Staff members. [Fraser was always sociable. Why couldn't Town Hill work that out over 9.5 years?]
We will inform you of any changes or new things that is happening. He posted a letter to you about two weeks ago. I hope you received that now. Sr... often encourages him to write, but I don't think it is something he likes to do!!!"
The Zulu social worker didn't last long.
Copyright Mark JS Esslemont.
See The Great South African Land Scandal by Dr. Philip du Toit.
I appreciate what you have done for Fraser. It gives me peace of mind, as I am unable to help Fraser financially, nor even visit him, as our finances after ten years' residence in NZ are still precarious.
I'm alarmed by the negative balance in Fraser's account. As Fraser is a survivor, and as he has longevity history on both maternal and paternal sides of his family - relatives have lived to over 90 years old - I would appreciate your projections / planning of Fraser's finances to include Fraser outliving us all. Fraser could easily live to be 90 years old.
If you have not already done so, I would appreciate it very much if you would consider and expedite future higher rates of interest of Fraser's investments. The more interest earned on Fraser's investments the best for everyone concerned...
PS. Last Saturday the All Blacks gave the Lions a hiding in Christchurch. Foul weather helped."
Fraser Esslemont's September 2005 Sunnyside Farm dispatch: "Please forgive me for not writing sooner. I procrastinate with letter writing for months on end. Your birthday card I sent I dont want to deface with writing on it. From me a belated happy birthday and a voorspoedige nuwe jaar. You will have many more birthdays. [Et tu bro].
I received the photos you kindly sent on 20 March 2005. The 5 principals at Burnside High must have a big job controlling 2500 pupils. [Luke's new school]. Northlands High battled with 1000 pupils in 1972. Does Luke have a troublesome class? [No]. Jake's graphic design course would have been finished at varsity. Which Varsity? [Natcoll, local graphic design college]. Jake plays guitar and Luke plays piano. You and Leah must suffer with them practising, when they do practise. [Leah maybe. Me no: deaf].
Please inform me exactly how your pc works. It must help Jake and Luke with their graphic design course and high school studies. Congratulations on having lived 10 years in a new land. There must have been many ups and downs. [Yes].
Thank you for the jade pebble. [From Birdling Flats beach]. This will be a treasure on this farm. Ill handle it as a family heirloom. You will see it again. I wont have the jade carved. Possibly two rings made of it later. Could one make two earings from this pebble? [Yes, hard stone].
I did receive old photos and slides of my overseas trips. Thank you. Receiving your letters is a pleasure because I am somewhat isolated doing farming. Please let me know what happens with Jake's graphic design. It will be a difficult field to enter." True.
Fraser's Zulu social worker's letter September 2005: "Fraser Esslement [sic] is doing fine at Sunnyside Farm. He is a very responsible client [Client!] in the Workshop, he helps to pack the boxes of washers that are delivered to contract companies and he also works in the garden.
Mentally he is stable and he is taking medication properly. Fraser's behaviour is good, as I never received any incident report since I started in March this year. [So what? He's decertified]. He is getting on well with residents and also respects the Staff members. [Fraser was always sociable. Why couldn't Town Hill work that out over 9.5 years?]
We will inform you of any changes or new things that is happening. He posted a letter to you about two weeks ago. I hope you received that now. Sr... often encourages him to write, but I don't think it is something he likes to do!!!"
The Zulu social worker didn't last long.
Copyright Mark JS Esslemont.
See The Great South African Land Scandal by Dr. Philip du Toit.
2008. Post Apartheid: Fraser Esslemont's 2003-2004 Sunnyside Farm Dispatches
During the following years, I kept up with Fraser's carers by letters and emails. Fraser's curator / administrator paid Fraser's monthly accommodation fees to Maritzburg Mental Health. The fees slowly eroded Fraser's estate which Fraser's curator had built up over the years, derived from the sale of Fraser's (mom's) 22 Chelsea Drive, Durban North, three bedroom home. Although Fraser's curator had invested Fraser's estate for two decades, inflation and Sunnyside Farm fees caused Fraser to become poorer. By 2008, no way could Fraser's estate buy a three bedroom house again, or even a small flat in Durban North.
It was unfair that although Fraser was no longer certified, he paid accommodation fees, yet Maritzburg Mental Health carers used his free labour as a gardener, and his labour was also freely used in Occupational Therapy, which financially benefitted outside contractors. I doubt whether Fraser ever signed an employment contract for free or voluntary work he did at Durban's Addington Hospital, or Maritzburg's Town Hill Hospital, or Maritzburg Mental Health's Sunnyside.
Fraser's October 2003 Sunnyside Farm dispatch: "My apologies for the delay in writing. Tell me more of Jake's art design. I dont know much about it. Luke is really musically minded. Piano & drums. You must be proud of your sons. Things have changed a lot, since we were at school. My congratulations to Leah on lecturing teachers. I think she is doing very well now.
Do you and your family snow ski in the Alps? July must be the right time for skiing. You and Leah will be celebrating 50 years of marriage soon in 2018. Congratulations. [Fraser's time concept was elastic]. What type of camera do you take photos with. It takes very clear snaps. [Minolta SRT 100x].
I've got dad's silver ciggy case, book markers & photos you sent me. Thank you. How many Koreans does Leah teach? They must have dyslexia as well? [No, just holiday ESOL students from Seoul].
Your writing must be getting good for you to win awards. The magazine editor is letting you know. Keep on writing for Indaba. [It didn't last, as Afrikaner editors censored my articles]. Was it the "Blood on the Vine" article?
The gardening book you posted me was probably written by someone with a BSc. He is very well informed. I needed some form of inspiration at this stage, in my gardening career. The book is more than useful.
I think Jake should specialize in subjects in chch tech. Public Relations and advertising & performing arts seem enough to choose from. Not that I know that much about it. Technicon must be better than Varsity. [After school, Jake studied at a local computer graphic design college].
When did you get involved in grape harvesting and winerys? [Raised pocket-money to send Luke on a school exchange trip to Adelaide].
There must be ways of E mailing you. Durban post office would be able to do it for me. Soon Ill be taking leave in Durban. We could make plans for our meeting together in 2010. Its something im looking forward to."
Fraser's undated 2003 Xmas dispatch: "I thought you would like christmas greetings from me. Happy christmas and new year (2004). Ill be thinking of you 4.
Soon Ill be seeing my lawyer in Durban and wishing him merry christmas for 2004. This will be my first major attempt to see how things have changed in this democratic SA. They would have changed from apartheid days. [Fraser seemed to have forgotten his many post apartheid ramblings around Maritzburg and Durban, while certified at Maritzburg's Town Hill Hospital.]
Does the idea of a Mauritian holiday in 2010 appeal to you 4? Ive only [just] heard of the place. It might be the place to meet."
Fraser's mind was fixed on seeing me and my family overseas, without realizing the costs on his small invested estate.
Fraser's March 2003 Sunnyside Farm dispatch: "Im sorry about the subaru van 850cc dieing. You had the van a long time. I hope the Honda 1500cc lasts longer. Bryndwyr is the new district you live in, yet you write of Burnside? [Close suburbs]. Was the side of the hill burnt because of the building of the airport? I notice you had snow on the alps on 20/02/04. The drought must have been very bad.
Thank you for the snaps. You've kept me up to date with your stay in NZ with these photos. I appretaite them. Does Gee still work in a jewellery business in Joburg? If Luke is in std 6, why is he in primary school still?... [Many NZ primary schools include standard 6, year 8].
I hope Leah gets the permanent teaching post at Seabrook in her teaching dyslexic children. She has worked hard enough. [She did].
We must plan a trip to Mauritius as soon as possible. Perhaps 1.1.2010. I would travel by ship from SA. You would have to go to Australia first. Which connecting flight to Mauritius would you have to catch? I really dont know. Ask Al when you see him again. How many children has Al got?
You must use venison (buck meat) for your biltong. What kind of buck? [Red deer in NZ]. Did you work with Springbok, gemsbok & kudu here in SA? I suppose you work with beef also. Let me know your recipe for beef biltong. Here on this Sunnyside Farm, we dont make any biltong at all. When we meet in Mauritius in 1.1.2010 Id like to sample some of your biltong."
Fraser's August 2004 Sunnyside Farm dispatch: "Happy birthday on 8 September. Im sure this letter & birthday card [will] reach you in time, but I did cut it (time) too fine. I think speak to Jake about hotel management. [Jake was working part-time as a kitchen-hand at a Scenic Circles hotel, while studying computer graphic design]. You must be pleased you wont be dads taxi for Luke so much next year. [While living in Burnside, I was driving Luke across town to Oaklands School for Luke to finish primary school there].
2004 Protestors marching down Worcester Boulevard, Christchurch: "No To Racism Yes To Harmony" Rally
I think be careful of taking photos & writing articles on anti asian demonstrators. [Christchurch Asians' 'no to racism yes to harmony' protest along Worcester Boulevard to Christchurch Cathedral Square]. The whole situation in controlling demonstrators can get heated up. Police would have asked to be there. [True: keeping rednecks apart from others].
2004 Cops & Protestors, "No To Racism Yes To Harmony," Christchurch Cathedral Square
Please send me a photo of Seabrook Mckensie centre. The renovations would have been completed by now. [Leah's new classroom]. Leah must be happier about the place. She would have struggled to begin with.
Mark, what have you decided on Maurituous [sic] on 1.1.2010? Can you get away on that date? You live on a island. But Maurituous will be different. You and I will have a lot to talk about. I hope you can do windsurfing. I think I would have to practice windsurfing again."
Copyright Mark JS Esslemont.
It was unfair that although Fraser was no longer certified, he paid accommodation fees, yet Maritzburg Mental Health carers used his free labour as a gardener, and his labour was also freely used in Occupational Therapy, which financially benefitted outside contractors. I doubt whether Fraser ever signed an employment contract for free or voluntary work he did at Durban's Addington Hospital, or Maritzburg's Town Hill Hospital, or Maritzburg Mental Health's Sunnyside.
Fraser's October 2003 Sunnyside Farm dispatch: "My apologies for the delay in writing. Tell me more of Jake's art design. I dont know much about it. Luke is really musically minded. Piano & drums. You must be proud of your sons. Things have changed a lot, since we were at school. My congratulations to Leah on lecturing teachers. I think she is doing very well now.
Do you and your family snow ski in the Alps? July must be the right time for skiing. You and Leah will be celebrating 50 years of marriage soon in 2018. Congratulations. [Fraser's time concept was elastic]. What type of camera do you take photos with. It takes very clear snaps. [Minolta SRT 100x].
I've got dad's silver ciggy case, book markers & photos you sent me. Thank you. How many Koreans does Leah teach? They must have dyslexia as well? [No, just holiday ESOL students from Seoul].
Your writing must be getting good for you to win awards. The magazine editor is letting you know. Keep on writing for Indaba. [It didn't last, as Afrikaner editors censored my articles]. Was it the "Blood on the Vine" article?
The gardening book you posted me was probably written by someone with a BSc. He is very well informed. I needed some form of inspiration at this stage, in my gardening career. The book is more than useful.
I think Jake should specialize in subjects in chch tech. Public Relations and advertising & performing arts seem enough to choose from. Not that I know that much about it. Technicon must be better than Varsity. [After school, Jake studied at a local computer graphic design college].
When did you get involved in grape harvesting and winerys? [Raised pocket-money to send Luke on a school exchange trip to Adelaide].
There must be ways of E mailing you. Durban post office would be able to do it for me. Soon Ill be taking leave in Durban. We could make plans for our meeting together in 2010. Its something im looking forward to."
Fraser's undated 2003 Xmas dispatch: "I thought you would like christmas greetings from me. Happy christmas and new year (2004). Ill be thinking of you 4.
Soon Ill be seeing my lawyer in Durban and wishing him merry christmas for 2004. This will be my first major attempt to see how things have changed in this democratic SA. They would have changed from apartheid days. [Fraser seemed to have forgotten his many post apartheid ramblings around Maritzburg and Durban, while certified at Maritzburg's Town Hill Hospital.]
Does the idea of a Mauritian holiday in 2010 appeal to you 4? Ive only [just] heard of the place. It might be the place to meet."
Fraser's mind was fixed on seeing me and my family overseas, without realizing the costs on his small invested estate.
Fraser's March 2003 Sunnyside Farm dispatch: "Im sorry about the subaru van 850cc dieing. You had the van a long time. I hope the Honda 1500cc lasts longer. Bryndwyr is the new district you live in, yet you write of Burnside? [Close suburbs]. Was the side of the hill burnt because of the building of the airport? I notice you had snow on the alps on 20/02/04. The drought must have been very bad.
Thank you for the snaps. You've kept me up to date with your stay in NZ with these photos. I appretaite them. Does Gee still work in a jewellery business in Joburg? If Luke is in std 6, why is he in primary school still?... [Many NZ primary schools include standard 6, year 8].
I hope Leah gets the permanent teaching post at Seabrook in her teaching dyslexic children. She has worked hard enough. [She did].
We must plan a trip to Mauritius as soon as possible. Perhaps 1.1.2010. I would travel by ship from SA. You would have to go to Australia first. Which connecting flight to Mauritius would you have to catch? I really dont know. Ask Al when you see him again. How many children has Al got?
You must use venison (buck meat) for your biltong. What kind of buck? [Red deer in NZ]. Did you work with Springbok, gemsbok & kudu here in SA? I suppose you work with beef also. Let me know your recipe for beef biltong. Here on this Sunnyside Farm, we dont make any biltong at all. When we meet in Mauritius in 1.1.2010 Id like to sample some of your biltong."
Fraser's August 2004 Sunnyside Farm dispatch: "Happy birthday on 8 September. Im sure this letter & birthday card [will] reach you in time, but I did cut it (time) too fine. I think speak to Jake about hotel management. [Jake was working part-time as a kitchen-hand at a Scenic Circles hotel, while studying computer graphic design]. You must be pleased you wont be dads taxi for Luke so much next year. [While living in Burnside, I was driving Luke across town to Oaklands School for Luke to finish primary school there].
2004 Protestors marching down Worcester Boulevard, Christchurch: "No To Racism Yes To Harmony" Rally
I think be careful of taking photos & writing articles on anti asian demonstrators. [Christchurch Asians' 'no to racism yes to harmony' protest along Worcester Boulevard to Christchurch Cathedral Square]. The whole situation in controlling demonstrators can get heated up. Police would have asked to be there. [True: keeping rednecks apart from others].
2004 Cops & Protestors, "No To Racism Yes To Harmony," Christchurch Cathedral Square
Please send me a photo of Seabrook Mckensie centre. The renovations would have been completed by now. [Leah's new classroom]. Leah must be happier about the place. She would have struggled to begin with.
Mark, what have you decided on Maurituous [sic] on 1.1.2010? Can you get away on that date? You live on a island. But Maurituous will be different. You and I will have a lot to talk about. I hope you can do windsurfing. I think I would have to practice windsurfing again."
Copyright Mark JS Esslemont.
Wednesday, February 6, 2008
2008. Post Apartheid: Fifty Up, Town Hill Decertification
As Fraser's curator had sent me copies of Fraser's annual curatorship financial statements for the last fifteen years, I wrote to the curator: "Town Hill's Dr. Walker and Dr. King passed the buck to Maritzburg Mental Health, and washed their hands of Fraser. (Although 3 years ago, Sunnyside Farm management informed me that a Town Hill psychiatrist and nurses visited Sunnyside Farm monthly, to see patients and prescribe medicines).
This year, 2003, I've written several letters to Maritzburg Mental Health. (All unanswered). Judging from past experience, Sunnyside and Maritzburg Mental Health management seem to work on the principal that if my correspondence is ignored, or tardily answered after my promptings, then perhaps problems and my queries will vanish, or resolve miraculously. For months, both Town Hill doctors stonewalled my latest questions. Positively, some questions were eventually answered, with some reciprocity, better than the former superintendent Dr. Ross's refusal to communicate.
Upshot: Town Hill's Dr. Walker says Fraser is not certified.
I don't know how long Fraser has been decertified, where you fit in legally, and whether Town Hill has wasted your resources with you sending annual financial statements to the Supreme Court since Fraser's decertification.
Whatever happens, I'm still happy for you and your legal firm to continue administering Fraser's estate. [According to the Mental Health Act 2001, 'curator bonis' was called 'administrator.'] We are grateful for your interventions over the last 15 years, providing some stability for Fraser's precarious, unpredictable existence.
Let us know your decision regarding continued administration of Fraser's estate."
My September 2003 letter to the director, Maritzburg Mental Health:
"Please answer this letter and my four other 2003 letters. Please see the copy of Dr. Walker's recent letter, informing me my brother Fraser isn't certifed, and it's my responsibility together with Martitzburg Mental Health's to rehabilitate Fraser.
In the 9.5 years that Fraser was at Town Hill, Town Hill never formally asked me to rehabilitate Fraser. In the 5.5 years, so far, that Fraser has been at Sunnyside, Maritzburg / Sunnyside have never formally asked me to rehabilitate Fraser. In 1998, Town Hill didn't consult me when Town Hill secretly sent Fraser to Sunnyside. Nor had Maritzburg / Sunnyside ever told me of Fraser's decertification.
As Fraser recently had his fiftieth birthday, and as Fraser has been in Addington / Town Hill hospitals / Maritzburg MH care since 01.04.87, and as I'm older than Fraser, I'm concerned about his future. Fraser might outlive me, so I need to know his future is secure:
1. FINANCES
* Administered by his curator.
* Five year's excess pocket-money held by Maritzburg MH. What's Maritzburg MH doing to rectify the matter? (e.g. returning excess pocket-money to the curator for reinvestment in Fraser's estate).
2. COMMUNICATIONS
* Policy / procedures re. Fraser communicating with me more. (e.g. letters, email, etc.)?
* Policy / procedures re. Maritzburg MH / Sunnyside timeously communicating with me when Fraser gets sick, destabilizes, absconds, side effects of neuroleptics, goes on holiday, dies, etc.? (Most of which has happened during Fraser's hospitalizations over the years).
3. REHABILITATION
* What rehabilitation is Fraser doing, and what is Maritzburg MH's rehabilitation plan for Fraser?
* Where do I as Fraser's nearest and only interested kin fit into Fraser's rehabilitation?
4. FUTURE
* As Fraser is decertified, and paying Maritzburg MH accommodation fees, and working in Sunnyside's gardens, will Fraser ultimately get a state pension (or other pension) for his years of labour and service to Maritzburg MH / Sunnyside?
* Please advise: e.g. projected number of year's service, pension amount, etc.
* If Fraser remains stable, will Fraser remain at Sunnyside / Maritzburg MH for the rest of his life?
* If Fraser destabilizes, will he be certified and returned to Town Hill again?...
PS. I knew Bulwer area reasonably well, as I lived in Durban for over 30 years. As a kid, I holidayed near Underberg. I once hiked up Sani Pass. Once, my wife and I holidayed in the hotel at the top of Sani Pass. It snowed, and the next morning our 4x4 Jeep slithered a long way down the pass.
Friends lived at Himeville. I once climbed Rhino Peak 'pass,' sprained my ankle, then staggered down another 'pass' to safety. As a teacher, I hiked with Glenwood HS boys in the Rhino Peak area. We camped in a cave.
Years later, I often filled my car with petrol at a Kokstad garage on our East London - Durban treks. My wife's family had many holidays near Bulwer."
October 2003. Maritzburg Mental Health director replied that Fraser spent all his pocket-money on cigarettes, tuck and toiletries; that Maritzburg Mental Health kept no excess funds; and that Fraser's curator sent Fraser's fees and pocket-money months in arrears. I was left wondering who to believe, Fraser or the director? The director enclosed a cost report itemizing Fraser's last five month's fees and pocket-money. The director ignored my contention that Maritzburg MH had saved five years' worth of Fraser's pocket-money. It was brain damaged Fraser's word against Maritzburg MH director's word. I let it pass and posted a copy of the directors' letter to Fraser's curator. I suspected the Indian social worker was remiss in enquiring about Fraser's funds from Fraser's curator, and that the Indian social worker needed a kick in the bum.
Regarding communications, the director said I could email Fraser via her email address. She'd send my emails to Fraser. The director said Sunnyside staff encouraged Fraser to write to me, but Fraser showed little interest in writing.
Fraser's "rehabilitation" was vague: including reading magazines, doing unpaid work in farm gardens, and walking around the farm, which was recently laagered by a security fence, preventing people like Fraser getting lost in the Berg.
Fraser was responding well to medications, and would only leave Sunnyside should he require frail-care at another institution. Should that happen I'd be timeously contacted. Should Fraser's funds run out, Maritzburg MH would help him apply for a state pension or grant.
Copyright Mark JS Esslemont.
This year, 2003, I've written several letters to Maritzburg Mental Health. (All unanswered). Judging from past experience, Sunnyside and Maritzburg Mental Health management seem to work on the principal that if my correspondence is ignored, or tardily answered after my promptings, then perhaps problems and my queries will vanish, or resolve miraculously. For months, both Town Hill doctors stonewalled my latest questions. Positively, some questions were eventually answered, with some reciprocity, better than the former superintendent Dr. Ross's refusal to communicate.
Upshot: Town Hill's Dr. Walker says Fraser is not certified.
I don't know how long Fraser has been decertified, where you fit in legally, and whether Town Hill has wasted your resources with you sending annual financial statements to the Supreme Court since Fraser's decertification.
Whatever happens, I'm still happy for you and your legal firm to continue administering Fraser's estate. [According to the Mental Health Act 2001, 'curator bonis' was called 'administrator.'] We are grateful for your interventions over the last 15 years, providing some stability for Fraser's precarious, unpredictable existence.
Let us know your decision regarding continued administration of Fraser's estate."
My September 2003 letter to the director, Maritzburg Mental Health:
"Please answer this letter and my four other 2003 letters. Please see the copy of Dr. Walker's recent letter, informing me my brother Fraser isn't certifed, and it's my responsibility together with Martitzburg Mental Health's to rehabilitate Fraser.
In the 9.5 years that Fraser was at Town Hill, Town Hill never formally asked me to rehabilitate Fraser. In the 5.5 years, so far, that Fraser has been at Sunnyside, Maritzburg / Sunnyside have never formally asked me to rehabilitate Fraser. In 1998, Town Hill didn't consult me when Town Hill secretly sent Fraser to Sunnyside. Nor had Maritzburg / Sunnyside ever told me of Fraser's decertification.
As Fraser recently had his fiftieth birthday, and as Fraser has been in Addington / Town Hill hospitals / Maritzburg MH care since 01.04.87, and as I'm older than Fraser, I'm concerned about his future. Fraser might outlive me, so I need to know his future is secure:
1. FINANCES
* Administered by his curator.
* Five year's excess pocket-money held by Maritzburg MH. What's Maritzburg MH doing to rectify the matter? (e.g. returning excess pocket-money to the curator for reinvestment in Fraser's estate).
2. COMMUNICATIONS
* Policy / procedures re. Fraser communicating with me more. (e.g. letters, email, etc.)?
* Policy / procedures re. Maritzburg MH / Sunnyside timeously communicating with me when Fraser gets sick, destabilizes, absconds, side effects of neuroleptics, goes on holiday, dies, etc.? (Most of which has happened during Fraser's hospitalizations over the years).
3. REHABILITATION
* What rehabilitation is Fraser doing, and what is Maritzburg MH's rehabilitation plan for Fraser?
* Where do I as Fraser's nearest and only interested kin fit into Fraser's rehabilitation?
4. FUTURE
* As Fraser is decertified, and paying Maritzburg MH accommodation fees, and working in Sunnyside's gardens, will Fraser ultimately get a state pension (or other pension) for his years of labour and service to Maritzburg MH / Sunnyside?
* Please advise: e.g. projected number of year's service, pension amount, etc.
* If Fraser remains stable, will Fraser remain at Sunnyside / Maritzburg MH for the rest of his life?
* If Fraser destabilizes, will he be certified and returned to Town Hill again?...
PS. I knew Bulwer area reasonably well, as I lived in Durban for over 30 years. As a kid, I holidayed near Underberg. I once hiked up Sani Pass. Once, my wife and I holidayed in the hotel at the top of Sani Pass. It snowed, and the next morning our 4x4 Jeep slithered a long way down the pass.
Friends lived at Himeville. I once climbed Rhino Peak 'pass,' sprained my ankle, then staggered down another 'pass' to safety. As a teacher, I hiked with Glenwood HS boys in the Rhino Peak area. We camped in a cave.
Years later, I often filled my car with petrol at a Kokstad garage on our East London - Durban treks. My wife's family had many holidays near Bulwer."
October 2003. Maritzburg Mental Health director replied that Fraser spent all his pocket-money on cigarettes, tuck and toiletries; that Maritzburg Mental Health kept no excess funds; and that Fraser's curator sent Fraser's fees and pocket-money months in arrears. I was left wondering who to believe, Fraser or the director? The director enclosed a cost report itemizing Fraser's last five month's fees and pocket-money. The director ignored my contention that Maritzburg MH had saved five years' worth of Fraser's pocket-money. It was brain damaged Fraser's word against Maritzburg MH director's word. I let it pass and posted a copy of the directors' letter to Fraser's curator. I suspected the Indian social worker was remiss in enquiring about Fraser's funds from Fraser's curator, and that the Indian social worker needed a kick in the bum.
Regarding communications, the director said I could email Fraser via her email address. She'd send my emails to Fraser. The director said Sunnyside staff encouraged Fraser to write to me, but Fraser showed little interest in writing.
Fraser's "rehabilitation" was vague: including reading magazines, doing unpaid work in farm gardens, and walking around the farm, which was recently laagered by a security fence, preventing people like Fraser getting lost in the Berg.
Fraser was responding well to medications, and would only leave Sunnyside should he require frail-care at another institution. Should that happen I'd be timeously contacted. Should Fraser's funds run out, Maritzburg MH would help him apply for a state pension or grant.
Copyright Mark JS Esslemont.
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