by Deon Meyer
I acknowledge with much gratitude and appreciation the many people who shared their valuable time, help, advice, knowledge, insight, goodwill, support and encouragement during the research and writing of this book.
Many thanks to:
• Neil Pendock, for his time, his encyclopaedic knowledge and his insightful books: Biography of a Vintage, Cuspidor Press (Mayfair, 2010), and Sour Grapes (Tafelberg, Kaapstad, 2008).
• Hannes Myburgh of Meerlust, for his story of growing up – and farming – on one of the oldest and most respected wine estates in South Africa.
• Jacques du Preez, whose memories as quota inspector at the KWV were shared so entertainingly.
• Roy Peires, who contributed so generously to the Loxton I Am Living Trust, so that the name of his wife Susan Peires could be used in the book. And thank you to Jerry Graber who mediated it.
• Professor Dap Louw, Catherine du Toit, Dr J.D. Nel, Rudie van Rensburg, Danie Small, Francois Erasmus, Leslie Watson, Etienette Benadé, Eamon McCloughlin, Nadia Engelbrecht, Martin Smith and Sophia Hawkins.
• My translator Laura Seegers, editor Nick Sayers, and agent Isobel Dixon, for their brilliance, immeasurable loyalty, wisdom, patience and insight. Thank you too to Sharan Matharu for going the extra mile.
• Marianne Vorster, Diony Kempen, Lida Meyer and Johan Meyer, for their patience and support. A big thank you.
• The people whose names were lost among notes, digital notes and cut-off phone calls.
• The wine estates Dornier, Rustenberg, Vilafonté and Tokara, where I went to steal with my eyes – and could taste your excellent products. All in the name of research, of course.
• My translator Laura Seegers, editor Nick Sayers.
BIBLIOGRAPHY
This book began in two places. The first was the documentary film Red Obsession by David Roach and Warwick Ross (2013). The second was: http://fortune.com/2014/04/17/with-technology-an-easier-path-to-infidelity-in-france.
I also wish to acknowledge the following references:
• Tim James, Wines of the New South Africa, University of California Press (Berkeley, 2013)
• Jan-Bart Gewald, Andre Leliveld, Iva Pesa, Transforming Innovations in Africa: Explorative Studies on Appropriation in African Societies (African Dynamics), Brill Academic Pub (November 2012)
• Lynn E. O’Connor, Jack W. Berry, Joseph Weiss, Paul Gilbert, ‘Guilt, fear, submission, and empathy in depression’, Journal of Affective Disorders 71 (2002) 19–27
• Jessica H. Lee, ‘The Treatment of Psychopathic and Antisocial Personality Disorders: A Review’, Risk Assessment Management and Audit Systems (London, 1999)
• Franklin R.W. van de Goot, Mark P.V. Begieneman, Mike W.J. Groen, Reza R.R. Gerretsen, Maud A.J.J. van Erp & Hans W.M. Niessen, ‘Moisture Inhibits the Decomposition Process of Tissue Buried in Sea Sand: A Forensic Case Related Study’, Journal of Forensic Research (2012), 3:10
• Classic Wine, Classic FM (May/June 2014)
• The Big Issue, South Africa (25 June–24 July, 2014)
• http://blogs.psychcentral.com/childhood-neglect/2014/11/4-things-psychologists-know-that-you-should-know-too
• www.sahistory.org.za/1900s/1970s
• www.gov.za/documents/constitution/1996/a108-96.pdf
• www.citypress.co.za/news/csi-plattekloof-style
• www.cityam.com/1418155740/desert-island-wines-bordeaux-index-foundergary-boom
• www.dieburger.com
• www.farmersweekly.co.za
• www.osxdaily.com
• www.justice.gov.za/legislation/acts/1977-051.pdf
• http://mg.co.za
• http://forensicjournals.com/2010/02/02/late-postmortem-changesdecomposition
• http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Neuroscience_of_free_will
• www.forensicpathologyonline.com/e-book/post-mortem-changes/postmortem-hypostasis
• www.capl.sci.eg/ActiveIngredient/Penconazole.html
• http://wynboer.co.za/technical/a-south-african-perspective-of-powderymildew-in-grapevines
• https://bonesdontlie.wordpress.com/2013/04/11/preservation-when-bodies-dont-decompose
• http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Château_Lafite_Rothschild
• www.exploreforensics.co.uk/rigor-mortis-and-lividity.html
• www.capewineacademy.co.za/dissertations/Rise-of-the-Dragon-The-Chinese-Wine-Market-Raymond-Paul-Noppe.pdf
• www.fin24.com/Tech/News/SA-hackers-as-good-as-international-cybercriminals-20141020
• www.saps.gov.za/faqdetail.php?fid=273
• www.markwynn.com/wp-content/uploads/death-by-strangulation.pdf
• http://bandbacktogether.com/survivor-guilt-resources
• www.fin24.com/Tech/News/Technology-vital-in-fight-against-crime-20141020
• www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2014/oct/14/age-of-loneliness-killing-us
• http://mg.co.za/article/2014-04-23-the-capes-top-20-wineries-of-2014
• http://time.com/2909847/facebook-twitter-job-hunting-social-sweepster
• www.winemag.co.za
• www.enca.com/opinion/blog/weather
• www.health24.com/Lifestyle/Healthy-you/What-happens-when-you-die-20130916
• www.thinkmoney.co.za/insurance/life-insurance/life-insurance-and-suicide
GLOSSARY
Ag – Ah!, oh!; alas, pooh!, mostly used with resignation. (Ag, man = Oh, man!)
Ai – Ah, oh; ow, ouch, mostly used a little despairingly. (Expression of frustration or resignation.)
Baie dankie – Thank you very much. (Baie = much; dankie = thank you).
Bakkie – Afrikaans popular term for a pick-up truck.
Ballies – Slang, meaning ‘old farts’, referring to older or old men.
Boekevat – Literally meaning ‘to take the books’, it is a term used in Afrikaans to indicate a small religious gathering.
Berg en Toerklub – ‘Mountain and Touring Club’, a student club at Stellenbosch University.
Bergie – Cape Flats Afrikaans for a homeless person, often a vagrant, living on the side of Table Mountain (berg = mountain).
Biltong – Very similar to beef jerky, but the recipe is different, using more spices. South Africa’s signature (and most popular) snack.
Bliksem – Mild profanity, used as an exclamation or adjective (‘Damn!’ or ‘damned’), a verb (I will ‘bliksem’ you = I will hit you hard).
Bo blink en onder stink – Shiny on top, but stinking underneath. An Afrikaans saying to imply that beneath someone’s flashy lifestyle is but an illusion.
Bobotie – Very traditional South African mild curry and mince meat dish, of Malaysian origin.
Boerewors – ‘Farmer’s sausage’, a very South African recipe of mainly beef, some pork, and lots of spices. Often prepared over the coals.
Boetie – Diminutive of ‘broer’, which means ‘brother’.
Boy’tjie – Slang term, diminutive of ‘boy’, referring endearingly to a man, or young man.
Braai – South Africa’s national pastime, to barbecue meat over the coals, mostly outdoors.
Cape Afrikaans – or Cape Flats Afrikaans refers to the Afrikaans spoken on the Cape Flats, a vast area east of Cape Town, where the majority of ‘Cape Coloured’ people reside. ‘Coloured people’ refer to the descendants of Malaysian slaves in South Africa (forced migration by the Dutch East India Company), who intermarried with white farmers and local Khoi people – as opposed to Blacks (descendants of the Bantu people) and Whites (descendants of European settlers).
Chaffing – To woo, to flirt with someone, to get their romantic attention.
Chlora – Cape Flats slang for a coloured woman.
Daai moet jy mooi verstaan – ‘You have to really understand this’.
D
aai’s niks – ‘That’s nothing / That’s trivial’.
Dagga – Afrikaans for marijuana
Dewani – Shrien Dewani, a British businessman accused – and acquitted on 8 December 2014 – of conspiring to murder his wife Anni in South Africa.
Die een se dood is die ander se brood – One man’s death is another man’s bread.
Donner – Mild Afrikaans expletive, literally meaning ‘thunder’. Often used as ‘damn!’, or in the sense of ‘I am going to donner you’ – I am going to hurt / hit you.
Doos – Literally the Afrikaans translation for ‘box’. Slang expletive, comparing someone to female genitalia. Closest English translation would be ‘cunt’.
Dop – A drink, a shot of booze.
Dorp – A town, or referring to midtown.
Drol – A turd.
Dronkgat – A drunkard.
Een dag sal jy versta – Cape Flats Afrikaans vernacular: ‘One day you will understand.’
Ek sê dit – ‘I say it.’
Ek soen jou sommer! – I could kiss you!
Essies and rulle – Traditional Cape Malay sweet treats. Essies are baked biscuits with nutmeg and ginger. Rulle are deep-fried with cinnamon, cardamom, ginger and mandarin peel.
Finish and klaar – Tautology: ‘Klaar’ is a synonym of ‘finished; denoting that something is truly finished.
FNB, ABSA – FNB = First National Bank. ABSA = Amalgamated Banks of South Africa. Both are major banks in South Africa.
Fok – Fuck.
Fokken – Fucking.
Fokkit – Fuck it.
Fokkol – Fuck all.
Fokkops – Fuck-ups.
Fyn brag – Bragging in such a way that it seems humble, but bragging nonetheless.
Fyndraai – Sexual climax.
Gat – Arse.
Gautrain – The Gautrain is a high speed train service (South Africa’s first) between Johannesburg and Pretoria. The name is derived from the province Gauteng, and the word ‘train’, of course.
Makro – A chain of South African box retailers, partly owned by the American Walmart company.
Gooi – Literally, Afrikaans for ‘throw’, but used as a slang verb substitute for, inter alia, ‘sing for us’, or ‘tell me’.
Haai – Hi (informal greeting). But also as an exclamation of surprise, similar to ‘oh!’
Haai nee, boetie – ‘Oh, no, little brother.’
Haas – Direct translation: rabbit. Police term for a member of the public.
Hardegat – Literal translation: Hard arse. Meaning, cocky, full of it.
Hase – Plural of Haas (see above).
Hoeka – ‘All along’, long since, long ago.
Hoog en lag – High and low.
Hotnots – Racist, derogatory term referring to coloured people.
Hyahi – IsiZulu for ‘No!’ (South Africa has 11 official languages: Afrikaans, English, IsiNdebele, IsiXhosa, IsiZulu, Sepedi, Sesotho, Setswana, SiSwati, Tshivenda, Xitsonga. Township slang transcends all 11).
Hy skrik sy gat af – Literal translation: ‘He was so startled, his arse fell off’. To be very startled.
Ja, gooi – Yes, throw.
Jip – Yup.
Jirre – Cape Flats slang for God, approximates ‘Gawd’. (Afrikaans.)
Jis/Jissis – Jeez (as in harsher version of the exclamation Jesus!) (Afrikaans.)
Jong, ja – Well, yes/ The ‘jong’ literally means ‘young’, but is often used as an address, such as ‘Yea, man’.
Jonkershoek – A nature reserve outside the town of Stellenbosch.
Jonkmanskas – Single cupboard (usually antique), often with two drawers. Literal translation: A young man’s cupboard.
Kak – Shit.
Kat se gat – Cat’s arse.
Katvoet – Cautious.
Kêrel – Boy/friend.
Kêrels – Plural of kêrel, often used to informally address a group of men – ‘guys’.
Kêreltjie – Youngster.
Klippie – Pebble.
Klong – Person.
Kwaai – Mostly used in slang form to indicate coolness, it is an Afrikaans word with a very wide application. Literally meaning someone who is hot-tempered, bad-tempered, ill-natured, harsh or severe, it is also often used as an exclamation: ‘Kwaai!’ = ‘Cool!’ (or ‘Heavy!’)
Laaitie – (Boy.) Slang for ‘lighty’, a young man, inexperienced.
Lekka, lekker – Afrikaans word widely used for anything that is ‘good’, ‘delicious’, ‘tasty’. (‘Lekka’ is Cape Flats vernacular, ‘lekker’ is formal Afrikaans.)
Lig en lekker – Happy-go-lucky.
Lobola – (Or Labola, an isiZulu or isiXhosa word, sometimes translated as ‘bride price’.) A traditional Southern African custom whereby the man pays the family of his fiancée for her hand in marriage. The custom is aimed at bringing the two families together, fostering mutual respect, and indicating that the man is capable of supporting his wife financially and emotionally. Traditionally paid in heads of cattle, but cash is now widely accepted. (Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lobolo).
Los en lekker – Another variation of happy-go-lucky. Literal translation: Loose and good.
Magtig – Good grief.
Malherbe – Afrikaans surname.
Matric – Final year of high school.
Meneer – Mister.
Moer – ‘Moer’ is a wonderful, mildly vulgar Afrikaans expletive, and could be used in any conceivable way. Its origins lie in the Dutch word ‘Moeder’, meaning ‘Mother’. ‘Moer in’ means ‘to be very angry’, but you can also ‘moer someone’ (to hit somebody), use it as an angry exclamation (Moer!, which approximates ‘Damn!’), call something or someone ‘moerse’ (approximates ‘great’ or ‘cool’), or use it as an adjective: I have a ‘moerse’ headache – I have a huge headache. ‘Moer toe’ means ‘fucked up’, or even ‘dead’.
Moerse – See ‘moer’.
Moleste – Commotion.
Mooi – Pretty, beautiful.
Mos – Surely/evidently.
Mosbolletjie buns – A South African sweet bun.
My China – Slang, similar to my brother, my bro’, my friend.
Nè – Hey.
Net mooi fokkol – Just fuck-all.
Njaps, njapsed – Mild synonym for sexual intercourse.
Nogal – Sufficiently, enough, plenty, quite.
Nogal lekker – Quite good.
Nou ja – Well.
Oom – Oom: Respectful Afrikaans form of address to a male ten or more years older than yourself. Means ‘uncle’.
Ou – Old.
Ouens – Guys.
Oupa – Grandfather.
Outjie – Guy, diminutive form.
Pappie – Pappy.
Pedi – One of the ethnic groups in South Africa, bantu people, also known as Northern Sotho.
Pêllie – Buddy.
Poepdronk – Shitfaced.
Poppie – A little doll, a pretty girl, or a bimbo.
Rand – South African currency. The Rand value – over the past two years, the value of the South African currency (Rand, or R) has fluctuated between 7 and 12 to the US $, 9 and 15 to the Euro, and 14 to 18 to the British pound.
RDP House – A house built as part of the Reconstruction and Development Programme, usually Spatan, one of two bedrooms.
Regmakertjie – The shot of alcohol you take the morning after, hair of the dog.
Rof – Rough.
Roker – Smoker.
SARS – The South African Revenue Services, the tax authority.
Schuster – Leon Schuster, South African comedian and performer, best known for his Candid Camera jokes.
Se gat – ‘Bullshit’.
Sjoe �
�� ‘Wow’. (Afrikaans.) With wide, broad application.
Skedonk – A really beaten up old car.
skelmpie – Extra-marital lover, male or female, derived from ‘skelm’, which means illicit.
Snotkop – Literally, snot head. Refers to a young, inexperienced person. Derogatory.
Snot snoek – Snoek = Snook, a delicious fish found in South African waters. Snot snoek is a snook gone bad.
Sommer – Just.
Stank vir dank – Literal tanslation – stink for gratitude. (It stinks.)
Stoksielalleen – Utterly on your own.
Suip – Drink/drinking.
Takkies – Running shoes.
Tik – Crystal meth.
Tjaila – Go home.
Tjoekie – Jail.
Tommy Gentles – A real person, who played for the South African national rugby team.
Versta’ jy? – Do you understand?
Vreeslik – Beastly.
Wat maak jy hier? – What are you doing here?
Windgat, maar bang-gat – Cocky scaredy-cat.
Windgatgeit – To be cocky.
Wraggies – Really!
Wyd en syd – Widely.
Zol – Joint.
Zuma – Pres. Jacob Zuma, South Africa’s head of state.