The Sunday Times' David Walsh pays a visit to the Du Plessis family home in the Eastern Free State.
"Bismarck du Plessis had called back with his mother’s offer of lunch and now we are in the dining room of the Du Plessis family home near Bethlehem in Eastern Free State. Eleven in all, seated at a long, rectangular table; Francois and Jo-Helene, two of their sons, Jannie and Bismarck, their daughter Inez, five family friends and a journalist. There is ham, beef, lamb, chicken, potatoes, vegetables, sauces and so much effort that lunch has become the grandest occasion.
We share stories of backgrounds. They have been farmers in this area for generations, counting their blessings when the rains came, surviving when they didn’t. Afrikaner people who worked the land for food, hunted, fished and played rugby. They didn’t have much but they had enough."
RSS feed
