ANECDOTES
Author: A.M. van Rensburg (b4 c2 d1 e6 f5 g5 h3 i2)
Web master: M.A. van Rensburg (b4 c2 d1 e6 f5 g5 h3 i2 j1)
Doing research can have all kinds of different experiences. Here are a few of mine.
BUREAUCRACY AND GETTING AROUND IT
When I first started doing genealogical research, I would write to the Cape Archives and ask them for a document. They would then write back to me and tell me the reference for document and that it would cost 15 cents per page, and there are so many pages. Then you have to send them the amount as a money order. They in turn will send you the required material. As you could imagine it would takes weeks with the South African Post, corresponding back and forth. Being a person who did not like to wait, and can't be bothered with red tape, I would write and place a request and at the same time would send, say a money order of R2 to cover the expected cost of the request. I received back a letter from the Cape Archives stating that the request amounted to 10 pages and thus it was going to cost R1.50. They apologized that they could not accept the R2 since they could not send any money back to me and I would need to send the exact amount. Thus they returned the money order with the letter. I took the money order with the letter to the Post Office and spoke to one of the staff, they explained that they could not refund the R2 since it was made out to the Cape Archives, I insisted and showed the letter from the Cape Archives that they have returned it to me. It was of no avail. Finally I insisted on seeing the Post Master. I went explained the whole story to him with all the evidence and all he could do was tell me that I would need to go into the Central Post Office in Johannesburg and fill in an application, and eventually they will then return me the R2. As you could imagine I explained to them my views of their incompetence, and why should I travel that far just to recover R2. My real dilemma was not yet resolved since I wanted to speed up the system between the Cape Archives and myself. In the future I put in a request and send a money order to the Archives and in my letter would state that this is to cover the cost of the request, the exact amount being as yet unknown but if there are any money left over, I would like to make that as a donation towards the Archives. It worked and saved me a lot of time.
CONSULTING THE EXPERT
There has been a number of times that I would correspond with folks regarding the stamvader van Rensburg. They would then reply and tell me that I need to contact A.M. van Rensburg who has written an article in Familia regarding the stamvader. Humbly I would need to explain that they are referring me to myself.
POLICE IN HOT PURSUIT
Back in 1988 I decided to travel down to Carnarvon, Cape to visit some of my ancestors farms and also to visit the cemetery to see what information I could find. Well I traveled from the Transvaal and slept in my car, and about 8 am I stopped outside Carnarvon. I noticed a police van travelling the other direction and then it u turned, they stopped and asked me what I was doing, I explained that I have come to Carnarvon and am going to the cemetery looking for some gravestones etc. Well I drove into Carnarvon and went to the cemetery and there I started to search for any gravestones which may be a relative. I noticed that the police van had followed me and was observing this "nut" walking around the cemetery. Later I went to the police station to ask them the directions to some of the farms I wanted to visit, they told me, O! you are the fellow who we have been informed is wandering around the cemetery. I explained to them what I was doing and we all had a good laugh. (The same day was also the local municipal elections, which was restricted to whites only and they were rather weary of any strangers in their little "dorpie". I went to the local museum the same day and the police had cordoned off the road in front of the municipality in case of bombs)
JOHANNESBURG LIBRARY
There was an occasion when I was doing some research at the Johannesburg Library. This was during the days when bombs were planted by the ANC and comrades. There were a number of occasions that the alarms would sound. Everyone in the library would run for their lives in case we became part of history and had our last date recorded in our own personal genealogy. I love genealogy but was not prepared for my last entry as yet.
ALL PRECAUTIONS
When doing research at the HSRC at Pretoria or at the State Archives under the Union Buildings. The security was so tight it was like going to visit the USA president. You had to produce ID book, or Passport, then you had to fill in a book, they would issue you with a visitors card. Then you had to read out the number of the visiting card while a video camera was recording you. I wonder whether these recordings still exist. One then would go through security doors, and ultimately come to the repository. Lets pretend that this was done to preserve our valuable genealogical records. When travelling to the Union buildings they would also stop the vehicle and search with mirrors on extended poles to see whether there were any bombs under the car. Once I had to go and obtain a birth certificate in Pretoria, when one entered the ground floor one would go through security and then had to walk down stairs where there was a bigger security blitz and then one was able to get a lift to a particular floor. Those were the days.
UNEXPECTED RELATIONS
I was in a public telephone box in Ceres looking up our surname van Rensburg, since I knew my family came from there about 150 years ago. I looked up the phone book for van Rensburg's in that town, to try and make contact with some of the older people who could share with me, regarding our family. As I spoke to one man with a typical Cape accent, he said "Sorry Baas, but I don't think we are related". That night I booked into a hotel in Ceres and to my surprise the lady of the house was a nee van Rensburg. I shared with her my interest in our family heritage and then told her regarding my telephone conversation. She was rather annoyed with me since I suggested that the gentleman on the phone was most likely related to her and me.
VAN RENSBURG'S EVERYWHERE
In 1997 I was travelling by plane and had to go through customs at LA airport. The lady who was processing my passport looked up at me and asked me with an American accent whether I was born in South Africa. I said yes and then my eyes noticed her name tag being van Rensburg, she was married to a van Rensburg. The world is becoming so much smaller or are the van Rensburg's populating the world.
CONTACT WITH SOUTH AFRICANS
We were living in Adelaide, Australia when I received a phone call from someone I have never met before. She was an English speaking South African who was very home sick. She just wanted to speak with a South African, so she looked up the telephone directory first under "van der Merwe" and found none, so she then looked up "van Rensburg" in order to make contact. Van Rensburg is such a well known Afrikaans family name. My wife who is a New Zealander has had numerous incidents when we were in South Africa that people seeing her married surname would then automatically speak to her in Afrikaans, and she then had to explain that she was from New Zealand.