My Dad - Education, graduation and childhood

Charles, including all his brothers, received their primary/secondary schooling at the Louw Geldenhuys School in Linden Johannesburg. This School was named in honour of Lourens Geldenhuys who was born on the farm Eikenhof in the District of Heidelburg, Transvaal in 1864. He bought the farm Emmarentia on the 13 October 1909 and was also one of the owners of the farm Braamfontein.

Lourens (Louw) Geldenhuys was a member of the Second Volksraad of the Transvaal (1896/1899); the Legislative Assembly of the Union of South Africa, and the Johannesburg Municipal Council. In the ‘June 1929’ elections for the Legislative Assembly, Lourens Geldenhuys achieved the very rare (if not unique) distinction in South African political history, by defeating his opposing candidate for the Johannesburg North constituency by a margin of only one vote. He was also a very active supporter of the missionary work carried out amongst the black mineworkers who were housed in the compounds established by the mining house companies in Johannesburg. Louw was against the continuance of the guerrilla warfare during the Anglo-Boer War and was a member of the South African Party (later - United Party) and represented the Johannesburg North Constituency until his death in 1939.

The Louw Geldenhuys school in Linden (established in 1902) was what was then known as a ‘double-medium school’ i.e. it catered for instruction in the home language of children from both English and Afrikaans family.

The De Wet children’s mother had decided that her children were to be brought up in an institution that was more tolerant of her circumstances at that time. As a consequence she chose the Salvation Army whose senior officials at that time were mainly drawn from Europe -more particularly from England where it had been founded in 1878. These officials had not yet managed to master the Afrikaans language in South Africa and as a natural result, English was the language in which that organisation’s affairs were conducted at their children’s homes. The language generally spoken at the Boys’ Home in Linden was English. The reason for this language-medium was two-fold. Firstly, at that time, most of the children taken up in these ‘homes’ were from English-speaking families and secondly, Afrikaners in South Africa were also in general not attracted to the Salvation Army’s style of religious worship. Consequently, all the De Wet boys had also received their tuition (1922/38), in the English medium.

Charles however, when entering into the first grade at school, was placed in the Afrikaans-language stream, through the intervention of his eldest brother Jacobus (Jack). Jack had had misgivings in regard to the person who was responsible for the teaching of the little children through the medium of English in their second Grade of the English-language stream. It was Jack’s perception that this particular teacher had taken a dislike to the succession of De Wet boys that passed through her hands and (although, personally, being of a tough and dauntless disposition) he was not anxious to see his youngest sibling (a very small baby when they had earlier been separated) also being exposed to this particular teacher when only entering his second year at school.

When he reached the higher Grades/Standards at the school, Charles was ‘uncomfortable’ in the Afrikaans-stream because the thoughts and the reasoning of his mind were predominantly in English. He believed that he had been particularly disadvantaged by the decision taken on his behalf when he had barely reached the age of six. It was his considered opinion that he would have done a great deal better at school had he received his instruction in the English language.

At the cessation of the 1939/1945 World war and on his return to civilian life, Charles took a serious interest in the public debates that were taking place at that time in the ‘Mother-tongue/Home language’ medium of education. Regrettably, in his view, these debates were mainly attended and dominated by prejudiced persons (which included learned educationalists) with a distinct ‘nationalist Afrikaner’ political agenda – at the ‘expense’ of the genuine interests of the South African youth.

In a less serious vein; another reason of personal regret for Charles was that, in the Afrikaans stream, he had been denied the important primary (Grade 1) learning, in the class of the very popular and intensely devoted Miss Honey; a person with an abundance of empathy for the very young children placed under her care, and more particularly, the children from the Salvation Army Home. Ironically, when the time came for Charles to be moved to Grade 2, the English and Afrikaans teachers in that grade were interchanged; resulting in Charles ending up under the very teacher that his brother Jack had wanted him to avoid.

In 1938 Charles was elected the captain of his schools', very successful, first rugby team. The attached team-photo reflects the absense of two members from the team - one of them of note being their quality wing-three-quarter (Andrew ‘Tony’ Harris); and the inclusion of their two sportsmasters, viz. A P Minnaar and D J (Mannetjies) Viljoen. Sorry, I need to look for this Photo

Charles always held his schoolteachers in very high esteem. He had however a particularly high regard for Mr Viljoen and is on record for having said that he believed that Mr Viljoen played a very significant part in his upbringing and that he also believed Mr Vijoen to have been one of the most important role-models in his life.

Charles remembered Mr Viljoen once telling his class (which comprised ‘home-boys’ as well as a majority of ‘outside’ children) that, if he ever were to decide to open a business of his own, he would recruit home-boys because these boys had been brought up to do work - regardless of whether or not the ‘jobs’ were in the normal course considered to be ‘dirty’ work.

By way of examples, it must be mentioned that:

In the time prior to the introduction of water-borne sewerage disposal, teams of ‘big boys’ were required to empty and wash out the lavatory buckets at the end of each week. The contents of the buckets were collected into other larger buckets and thereafter disposed of into shallow pits that had been dug out in the large fruit orchard.

The waste water from the communal shower and wash rooms which had accumulated in the large cement ‘sump’ during each week, were emptied over the weekends by teams of boys working in pairs, carrying the water in four-gallon tins and emptying it onto the fruit trees in the orchard. Some water would inevitably splash onto the hands and feet of the boys. In the winter months this invariably resulted  in painful ‘chapped’ skin which had to be treated by the application of a home-remedy mixture of candle wax and paraffin.

The washing and ironing of the school and play clothes was done by the boys at some of their development and stay at the home.

Incidental ‘jobs’ Charles remembered having done were:

• Intermittently, looking after the cows. This job involved being released from school for a day and an opportunity to look for snakes and lizards - he could not remember ever having milked the cows or cleaning the fresh manure from the cowsheds;
• Cooking in the big copper pot – Breakfast porridge and lunch stew;
• Sweeping the ungrassed areas of the yard;
• Polishing the stoep areas;
• Sweeping, dusting and tidying the dormitory areas;
• Making up the beds of the ‘small’ children;
• Sickle the long grass;
• Hoeing the weeds from between the fruit trees;
• Making Apricot and Plum jam from the abundant harvest of fruit from the orchard, from which other homes and institutions of the Salvation Army were sometimes supplied;
• Doing the duties of the ‘big boys’ e.g. checking, among other things, that the smaller boys’ hands, necks, elbows, ears, feet and legs had been properly washed, including the inspection for slow-healing sores or boils needing the attention of the Matron;
• Etc…. Etc….

Another not to be forgotten incident relating to this particular teacher was when Charles had been chosen as scrumhalf for the trials of the Johannesburg school team to play in schools’ rugby match against their counterparts from Pretoria.

Mr Viljoen had arranged to take the pupil in his car to the venue at which the trials were to be held. Unfortunately, at the pre-arranged time Charles was still searching for his ‘illusive’ togs while keeping his teacher waiting in the car. In order to teach his pupil a lesson in courtesy and punctuality, Charles found that the car and its driver had left without him. At school on the following school day the lesson was resumed with a ‘jolly good talking to’. Charles subsequently sensed the disappointment felt by Mr Viljoen, as the Johannesburg teams’ ‘second-choice’ scrumhalf had a very bad game on the day of the match. However, in the following year, the previously ‘disgraced’ Charles was to redeem himself when the Johannesburg schools turned the tables on their Pretoria opponents in the return match. Mr Viljoen was all the more pleased that it was the turn of the opposing scrumhalf (the same person who had played against Johannesburg in the previous year) to experience an ‘off day’.

It was also during the English-period literature-lessons given by Mr Viljoen to the Afrikaans-stream scholars in the advanced Grades, when Charles was introduced to:

• The romantic story by Richard Doddridge Blackmore of ‘Lorna Doone’ which was set in the wild country of Devon in England –a place that Charles had the privilege to visit during one of his overseas business trips;
• The humanity found in the stories of the ‘The Adventures of Tom Sawyer’ by Mark Twain; and ;
• The thrilling adventures of Jim Hawkins in ‘Treasure Island’ by Robert Louis Stevenson;

In addition, the following unforgettable English poems:
The Donkey by Gilbert Keith Chesterton
The Burial of Sir John Moore by Charles Wolfe
The Cloud by Percy Bysshe Shelley
The Charge of the Light Brigade by Alfred (Lord) Tennyson

The brass band of the Linden Boys Home
Charles’ first introduction into the brass band was as a very young child, in the percussion section. Charles has a grandson who today is a an accomplished jazz drummer.

His instrument was the triangle that consisted of a steel rod bent into a triangular form open at the one corner. The two ends at the open corner, each bent outwards into a small semi-circle to enable the player to thread a cord by which the instrument is held. It is ‘played’ by striking the triangle with a small straight steel rod. Although Charles’ place in the band was more that of a ‘band mascot’, he was nevertheless able to correctly strike the triangle to whichever ‘beat’ of the music was being played; - whether it be two beats in a bar; three beats in a bar; or, four beats in a bar. From the triangle, he was eventually promoted to a cornet player in the band.

All the De Wet boys were taught to play an instrument in the brass band at different stages of their life at the Linden Boys’ Home:

The eldest boy Jacobus (Jack), played the Euphonium;

The next eldest Johannes (Johnnie) played the Trombone, then;

The next brother, Benjamin (Ben) played the Tenor Horn, and;

The youngest brother, but one, Walter, played the Bass.

With Charles on the cornet, it could be said that the ‘De Wet boys were able to set up their own brass band.

My Dad's history

I have decided to finally publish my Dad's memoirs, I do regret that I didn't get him to type more while he still could! Please add to these if you know him at all!

Charles Andrew de Wet 

Very shortly after his birth on 31 December 1920 (or possibly even during his mothers’ pregnancy) Charles’ parents marriage broke up. Charles was christened ‘Charles Andrew’ by Ds. L E Brandt in the school hall of May Consolidated Mines Germiston. -P.N. Janse van Rensburg and Aletta Wentzel officiated as witnesses at the ceremony. 

In view of the breakdown of her marriage, Charles’ mother, Hester Catherina de Wet, was forced (after a vain struggle of about 18 months) to safeguard her children by placing all of them into childrens’ homes that were run by an organisation which was acceptable to her.

It should be noted that in those times divorce was severely frowned upon and that women who were caught up in these circumstances, were considered a disgrace to their family and, at most times by others, even as ‘shameful and wicked’. The worshipers in her church were particularly staunch in their views in this regard; and, in truth, it may be said that it is more than likely that she may even have shared these views had she herself not been an unhappy ’victim’ of these circumstances.

The organisation approved by the childrens’ mother was the Salvation Army ‘a world-wide Christian evangelical, social-service, and social-reform organisation, originating in 1865 in London (England). It has military titles for its officials; is renowned for its brass bands; and, at that time, for its weekly journal, the ‘War Cry’. The Salvation Army was (and still is) particularly qualified at caring for children whose parents had fallen on hard times and who were thus unable to provide their offspring with the essential quality fosterage. 

Except for Charles and his third eldest sister Judith, the Salvation Army were able to accommodate all six other children: - the two oldest sisters; in their Driehoek home for girls, and the four remaining boys –at their ‘Driefontein Social Farm’. In 1923 these boys were transferred to ‘Firlands’, the Salvation Army’s newly built Boys’ Home in Linden.

Charles, who had barely been weaned from his mother, was placed in the Louis Botha home for children, in Pretoria until approximately 1926, when he was considered old enough to join his brothers in the Salvation Army home for boys in Linden - his mother having graciously turned down an offer submitted by an influential Pretoria family to adopt her child a year earlier.

Some interesting historic notes on the name of CHARLES:
The name of seven Holy Roman Emperors.

• Charles I Charlemagne -Charles the Great; (c742 - 814), king of the Francs, founder of the Holy Roman Empire and, in legend, hero of the Chansons de Gest. In 771, on the death of his co- ruler, his brother Carleman, Charlemagne became the sole ruler of the Francs and began to extend the kingdom. In response to an appeal by Pope Adrian I, he waged a successful campaign against Lombardy in 773 - 74. Bavaria was annexed in 788, and the Saxons and Avars (on the Danube) were subjugated and Christianised after some 30 years of war. In 800 Charlemagne was crowned emperor by Pope Leo III. From his court at Aachen he not only controlled an efficient administrative system, but also fostered the Carolingian cultural renaissance, which spread through much of present- day France, Germany, Austria, Switzerland, Holland and Belgium.
• Charles II Charles the Bald (823 – 877) reigned as the king of the Francs from 843 and as Holy Roman Emperor from 875. Numerous revolts and invasions troubled his reign. It was the last great reign of his dynasty and culturally the last flowering of the Carolingian renaissance.
• Charles III the Simple ( 879 – 929), grandson of Charles II. 
• Charles IV the Fair (1294 – 1328), king of France, reigned from 1322.
• Charles V the Wise (1337 – 1380), king of France, reigned as regent 1356 – 64 and as king from 1364 –1380. Frail and poor in health, he nevertheless put down th Jacquerie uprising and various plots by his nobles. He regularized taxation and the increased revenue to build up his armies. He declared war upon England in 1369 and before his death his armies, under the great commander du Guesclin,had regained most French territory occupied by the English. 
• Charles VI the Mad (1368 – 1442), reigned as king of France from 1380 to 1422. He began a disastrous reign at the age of 12. Subject to frequent and severe fits of madness, he allowed corrupt advisers to reign in his stead. England overran most of the north of France once more and Charles was forced to name Henry V of England as his heir (1420).
• Charles VII (1403 – 1461), reigned as king of France from 1422 to 1461. The early part of his reign was marked by his unwillingness to challenge the English occupation of France, even to the extent of allowing Joan of Arc to be burned as an heretic. With the influence of new advisers and the end of Burgundian alliance with England, Charles introduced tax reforms, rebuilt his army and regained all occupied territory – except Calais. 
• Charles VIII (1470 - 1498), reigned as king of France from 1483 to 1498. 
• Charles IX (1550 – 1574), who reigned as king of France 1560 – 74 was dominated by his mother Catherine de Medicis, who instigated the St. Bartholomew’s Day massacre*.
  *The killing of French Hugenots which began in Paris on 24^th August, 1572. Jealous of the influence of the Hugenot de Coligny on her son king Charles IX, Catherine de Medicis plotted to assassinate him. When this failed Catherine, fearing Hugenot reaction, persuaded Charles to order the deaths of all leading Hugenots. On the morning St Bartholomew’s Day thousands were slaughtered. Despite Government orders to stop, the murders continued in the provinces until October. 
• Charles X (1757 – 1836), reigned 1824-30. He returned to France from exile after the restoration of the monarchy, becoming king on the death of his brother Louis XVIII. He was exiled again after the 1830 revolution, largely provoked by his autocratic rule. 

The name of an Italian ruler. 

• Charles I (1227 – 1285), king of Naples and Sicily from 1266, first of the Angevin dynasty. His last years were marked by a struggle to retain Sicily. As count of Anjou and brother of the French king, his reign laid the basis for future French claims to Italy.

The names of the Stuart kings of Scotland, England and Ireland.

• Charles I (1660 - 1649), came to the throne in 1625. His absolutist beliefs and Roman Catholic sympathies alienated the Puritan dominated parliaments. Forced to dissolve parliament in 1625, 1626 and 1629, he ruled without one until 1640, when increasing fiscal problems made him call the long parliament, which sought to curtail his powers. This precipitated the Civil War in 1647. Charles was defeated and captured in 1647. His continual duplicity in dealing with his captors led to his trial and execution. 
• Charles II (1630 – 1685), returned from exile to succeed his father in 1660 after the death of Cromwell. His pro–Roman Catholic foreign policy, reflecting his own sympathies, made him distrusted, but he was more tolerant in religeous matters than his parliaments. A shrewder man than Charles I, his political expertise and cynicism kept him much of his power. In the end he retained the Country’s affection, if only for his flamboyant private life.

The names of four kings of Spain .

• Charles I ( see Charles V, of the Holy Roman Empire)
• Charles II (1661 – 1700), last of the Spanish Hepsburgs, reigned from 1665. Feeble and degenerate, he could not produce an heir, and named Philip of Anjou, grandson of Louis XII, his successor, causing the war of the Spanish Succession.
• Charles III (1716 – 1788), reigned from 1759. A strongly abolitionist monarch, his attempts to expand Spanish interests in South America met with defeat at British hands. His enlightened domestic policy reducing the power of the Church and Inquisition and the introduction of administrative reforms, was considerably more successful.
• Charles IV (1748 – 1808), during his reign between the years 1788 – 1808 , Spain was largely ruled by his wife, Marie Luisa of Parma and her lover, Chief Minister Manuel de Godoy. Defeated by France in 1795, Charles allowed Spain to become a satellite of Napoleonic France, and was forced to abdicate in 1808.

The names of fifteen kings of Sweden.

• Charles I to Charles VIII (see kings of the Holy Roman Empire).
• Charles IX (1550 – 1611), reigned from 1607. 
• Charles X Gustavus, (1622 – 1660 ), reigned from 1654. He campaigned in Poland and Denmark, winning Sweden’s provinces from the Danes.
• Charles XI (1655 – 1697), king from 1660; established an absolute monarchy and rebuilt Sweden’s military and economic power.
• Charles XII (1682 – 1718), king from 1697, routed Russian invaders at Navra in 1700 and embarked on a series of expansionist campaigns. His death during a siege ended his autocratic monarchy and Sweden’s hopes of empire.
• Charles XIII (1748 – 1818), reigned from 1809.
• Charles XVI (1818 – 1844), ruled Sweden and Norway under this title. His birth name was Jean Baptiste Jules Bernadotte.
• Charles XV (1826 – 1844), reigned from 1859

NEXT CHAPTER - My Dad - Education, graduation and childhood

I'm still here!

Hi there! I'm still out here plodding along trying to blow some life into the Real Estate market!

I can't believe I have not written in 6 months - time really flies when you turn your back or maybe it is just when you get older and appreciate time.

Well the good news is that things are truly getting better in the market and I have sold a couple of properties since I last wrote on this blog. Unfortunately I have not really earned much money because the fabulous striking municipal workers are not doing their work (since November) and our properties are not being registered.

Fortunately my investment are also starting to look better and I am still surviving out here. For those of you waiting for the conclusion of No good deed will go unpunished, I am waiting for the results of an audit before I write the conclusion. I should have it in about a month's time. Thanks for reading it and the feedback!

On a personal level, my dad has entered a new phase of his life and it has been quite traumatic to witness! My dad will turn 90 on 31 December 2010 and has started aging fast. He has been getting slower and slower over the last couple of years. He became ill in early April and we were quick enough to get him to hospital before it became too serious but he did eventually get pneumonia - luckily in the hospital where they pumped him full of antibiotics and he could recover. He has subsequently come home but was moved to frail care after 1 day at home and has been there since, I don't think he will get strong enough to go home again. He is quite happy being there and he is being treated well by the staff.

Charles is still in South Korea and will come home in October, he says only to renew his visa and work permit to go back again - I really miss him but am very proud at how well he is coping on his own.

No good deed will go unpunished! (part 2)

During this time we  chatted about what we had done during the 10 years of not seeing each other and I told her about my investment properties in Hillbrow and the CBD, this peaked her interest and she told me that she has been toying with the idea of becoming a Managing Agent. Subsequent to this discussion she offered to "help" me manage my units and I thought it would be a good idea because she was an accountant, she worked for Joburg water and had good inner city connections and knowledge and she could be trusted. Good deed number two!

The next thing she got suspended from work because she had unraveled irregularities and had become a threat to her boss and colleagues. I then introduced her to Dave, my principal (at that stage) who is also a city councilor and he was very keen to help her expose the irregularities - she never allowed him near her evidence.


Now I suddenly became her best friend, I think it was more like her only friend! She now insisted on visiting all my flats and meeting with my tenants, I did not think anything about this and was comfortable doing this. I don't know why she did this but I have always been on very good terms with my tenants and I don't think it would have been easy to interfere in these relationships.

Meanwhile she approached both Dave and I about her managing agent idea and we decided that it would be a very good mix of talents, her accounting and workings of the utilities knowledge, my connections, experience and knowledge of property in the inner city and Dave's property and council knowledge. Dave was at this stage managing a couple of buildings and was struggling to implement a good system. At the same time I had realized that one of my investments was being extremely badly managed and as chairman of the Body Corporate was thinking of replacing him. So, Dave and her went into a partnership and I got the managing agent fired and got her in as the new managing agent. Good deed number three! 

This was sort of a good thing because the previous managing agent was killed a couple of months later in a car accident and the story was that he was forced off the road by his Nigerian drug supplier and that a lot of money in his trust fund had disappeared. Fortunately I had saved my building from this but I had now put it on a course for another disaster!

Things went really well for a couple of months. I was working very hard trying to learn my new career and money was very tight on my side. She, however, was still suspended on full pay (this long vacation lasted nearly a year if I remember correctly!) and she worked on the three buildings. She seemed to be knocking on my door everyday to pop in for coffee and a chat, I was quite stressed about making money and I was still very uncomfortable about the drama in America. She arrived one morning just after breakfast, I had an appointment and told her she could come in but I didn't have time for coffee. I asked her to please stop arriving unannounced and to please just check with me that it was convenient and to please understand that although I was at home I was working and could not afford to be interrupted all the time. This was the trigger!

Charles - how will I miss you?

For those of you who don't know yet, my only child, Charles, is going to teach in Korea for a year. He will be leaving Monday 19 October. This is the feared "Leaving the Nest" time for me and I thought I would share some of the emotions with you and hopefully make it easier for some of you when your turn comes.

Dear Charles, our lives will have been wrapped around each other for the last 23 years, 9 months and 4 days on the day you leave and I can't imagine how it will be to wait for so long to have you home again.

What I will miss:
Being your GPS - You phoning me on the way to a strange place asking me the way and then arguing with me about my directions! Why do you phone me if you know where to go??

Being your deadline - How do you always manage to push your deadline to the last second and not only that, you push it onto me and then start nagging and threatening me that I'm not going to make it. Remember paying for your flight to Korea??

Drinking your tea - I need to ask you to make me tea a hundred times before you do, then you make it and leave it to draw while you sit outside smoking and reading a book. By the time I start freaking out about my tea you discover that the drawing tea is now ice cold and beyond strong then all you do is nuke it in the mike and tell me it was made with love!

Smoking - I am happy that you respect the no smoking inside the house rule, but why can't you put your stompies in the ashtrays provided at the front door and at the back door? The dogs will be happy to have ash-free water and it will probably take a year to get rid of all stompies in my garden!

Shoes - I don't know where you got the habit of taking off your shoes when you come into the house at night, I learnt very quickly to expect your shoes anywhere and always managed to avoid falling over them when walking in the dark house at night.

Sleeping - I am so used to waking up at 4am when you come home from playing computer games with Charl. Hopefully my sleeping pattern will eventually go back to normal!

Chatting - I often wonder what it must be like having a daughter to chat to. All I can say is chatting to you is never boring, your theories and opinions are a mixture of naivety, entertainment, frustration and amazement. You've got IT - don't waste IT!!

 All I can say is it's been a pleasure raising you and I hope you have an amazing adventure forwards, you are well prepared and will be able to handle anything that crosses your path. Dink voor jy doen! 

Remember your fanclub at home loves you very much
Woof - Ugly, Lucy, Roxy and Wit Hond
Bye, Bye King - Bongi
Bye Fat - Johanna
Bye my Liefie - Ouma
Bye my boy - Oupa
Bye Asshole - Mom

Property - The beauty contest has started!

Property Trends
There has now been a definite shift in the market in my area! The latest homes that has come to market are really stunning compared to stock on the market three months ago, check my links at the end of this post. The agents, the few that are left, have now also come out of hibernation and are very active again. Three months ago the MLS open hours were attended by 3 to 6 agents, this past week we had an average of 9 agents per viewing and in some cases 20 agents attending. This means the buyers are now serious and the agents' phones have started ringing again.

If you have been thinking of investing in a second property or upgrading - now is the time!

Some tips when buying in a buyers' market

• The timing in and out of the market is crucial for the investor. The homeowner who lives in the home for about 7 years will benefit from his/her patience but a buyers' market creates a golden opportunity to upgrade . If you are down-scaling you have to try and sell at the peak of a sellers' market.
  
• The best homes are withdrawn in a buyers' market and re-appear when the market starts picking up again, I believe we are now entering this phase.
• Location drives value. Buying a rundown property in the best location means that you will benefit from the surrounding area. It is a known fact that suburbs can demand a premium. A good example of is this over capitalised house in the list below, in a better area this house could fetch R890,000. The best example of this in my stock is this Florida home.
  
• The market is ruled by what we term "imperfect communication". Buyers and sellers only see asking prices which are extensively marketed, but seldom see what is really negotiated. Ask your agent to show a CMA (Comparative Market Analysis) for the property you are interested in buying. This will give you a good feel for the "real prices" in the area.

 New Stock on the Market
Under R700,000
An investment property - R360,000
For the first time buyer - R485,000
URGENT SALE - R499,000
Entry level home - R 540,000
An excellent investment both for R1,1m or R590,000 each
Upgrade from a flat to this beauty - R595,000
A fixer upper - R699,000

Under R1 million
A real beauty - R750,000
Stunning! Over-capitalised - R780,000
URGENT SALE - R820,000
Townhouse with private pool - R850,000
Well maintained home in cul de sac - R850,000

Over R1 million
A large home - R1,09 million
My favourite!! - R1,15 million
A large family home - R1,48 million
Large house and 2 bedroom flat - R1,8 million

No good deed will go unpunished! (part 1)

I have had a terrible fortnight! A "friend" from my past is haunting me and for two years I have tried to put the ugly mess behind me but I have now decided that it will not go away unless I do something about it!

What is friendship? Someone who was at school with you then went to the same Varisty and studied the same course and hung out together and became friends. We then lost touch, can't remember why, but she got married and I didn't. Couple of years later we realised we both had babies three months apart, she still married and me still not, skande! We then rekindled the friendship around the struggles of patenting. I actually can't remember if we kept in touch all the time or not but she got divorced along the way and of course I am still single. When the kids were about 9 we decided to take them to Disney World. It was a well planned trip and affordable because we were sharing everything.

Forcing two only children to share was a bit of a challenge and I ended up packing my bags and knocking on my long lost cousin's door in Houston. This was a blessing, they welcomed us with open arms and we had such a good time that we went back a couple of years later and she constantly nags me to come visit again.

Well I don't take kindly to being kicked out in a strange country and the friendship ended here, or so I thought! I sometimes wondered how she was doing because I can't imagine life could be easy if you are aggressive and constantly fighting, but she was involved in an affair with her boss and I imagined that she was happy. And my life was full with a son that was growing up fast and all the challenges of being a single parent, building a career in a very competitive environment and I have a family who are very involved with each other. So life went on.

I have another friend, Mr Cupboard, who was also at school with me and we have a very special friendship, we call each other every now and then meet up for a drink or a meal and generally have a good time in each other's company. For any of you thinking of making a match - he is married to a girl who also went to school with us and she also has a good time with us! Anyway he started nagging me to do a class reunion in 2006, which we did and he invited Angry Friend and I decided to be civil towards her.

At the reunion we were civil towards each other and after a lot of wine flowed she came to chat with me and asked about everyone in my family - it ended up being a one way discussion because by now she had fought with everyone in her family and alienated them all - I kid you not! She only had her daughter, then studying at the same Varsity as my son, Charles. I felt sorry for her, and had consumed way too much wine and so I decided that bygones were bygones and to get over myself.

Shame, after-all she had no one and I had a big family and lots of friends, surely I could open my heart and forget about the past - Good deed Number One.

How innocently we set ourselves up for disaster!