Ooh, the ghost of apartheid! Still makes the spine tingle.

Plettenberg Bay is a pretty place. See for yourself. (Turn eyes to left, examine image. Sigh. Then realize that that sort of view will set you back a minimum of about R6 Million. Sigh again.)

The impression that Sandtonites just covered the whole place in razor wire to keep the undesirables out from November to January, is however not all that far off. During those times, the place is pretty much an SUV bunfight - grab your iPod and head for Woolies, it's every St. John's boy for himself!

So not everyone's idea of paradise. But what if (South Africa being a liberal, democratic, rainbow-coloured, constitution-governed nation) you decided that this was a place you would like to own property - this is a view you would like to sip single malt to. You would imagine that you could then splurge the GDP of Eritrea, and purchase your own bit of yup heaven. (Incidentally it's actually no longer the thing in Jo'burg to go to Plett in December. Now the ultimate in cool is to have a mansion in Plett, and NOT go.)

Ok, so I'm getting sidetracked. But the point is this: I have here an excerpt from a title deed of a Plettenberg Bay property:



You will note how the relevant clause sixteen bans all darkies, coloureds, brownies, honkies and anything vaguely related to Africa or Asia from owning, renting, or generally coming within a ten kilometer range of the property. The ghost of apartheid, rearing a distinctly black-and-white head...

Wow. What a strange place that world was.

Posted by the yak on Saturday, September 16, 2006 at 5:08 AM | Permalink | Comments

>>>