From humble beginnings to a Malalane favourite

MALALANE – “I was the last of four children, a late child. I had three older brothers. Apparently, my mother really wanted a girl and tried once more.

When I was born she was so happy so she named me Joy. I was very close to her; I excelled at school and was fortunate enough to be chosen for grammar school.

“However, my mother suddenly passed away from a heart attack when I was 12 years old, and my whole world crumbled.

My schoolwork suffered and I left school and went to work in a factory, sewing jackets for Marks & Spencer’s. My first son was born in July 1978, and my second son in December 1980. We moved to South Africa in February 1982 with three suitcases.

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I worked hard and long hours, but I was able to put a roof over their heads and put food on the table. I was able to put the boys in a crèche, which was not possible in the UK unless you were wealthy.

“I worked for 12 years in the cafes for the same employer and then took a year off to study. I took every course that was available at the Academy of Learning and obtained distinctions in all of them.

With these diplomas in my hand I secured a job with Sasol in Secunda as a personal assistant and worked there for many years. I bought my first house, and my first brand-new car.

“I met Allan Hillier through a mutual friend in 2000. Allan and I visited Marloth Park in July 2004 and decided to buy a holiday/retirement home there.

We started to visit regularly and eventually in December 2004 we decided to resign and take our chances. We believed that something would come up and decided to be frugal with our finances.

“In December 2004 we were told about a pub that was for sale in Malalane which Allan went to look at. He believed it was worth looking into so after discussions with the owner we entered into, an agreement and sent in our resignations.

“We took over on February 1, 2005. At that stage we had three employees and ourselves. The pub’s name at the time was Baldies. A week into, being the new owners we realised we were buying nothing but debt.

The letters of demand started to pour in, and so we decided to just register a new business and after discussions with the landlord we came up with a plan.

“The name was a difficult choice because it seemed everything we thought of had been taken. One day we were standing behind the bar and people would come and go, some stayed a few hours, but you never saw any cars parked outside the pub.

I turned to Allan and said, ‘You know, it seems to me that everyone is ducking and diving in this town’ and voila! That was the name we came up with, Duck ‘n Dive Saloon.

“It was hard work and we were extremely tired at times, to the point where we would sleep on the floor on a mattress under the air conditioner just so that we could get a couple of extra hours’ sleep instead of travelling to and from Marloth.

The first three months were the hardest, it was a total change of lifestyle and we hardly saw our house in Marloth Park. We managed to hold it together, as neither of us could contemplate going back to the city so we had no alternative but to persevere.

“When we took over we sat and made a list of rules. This was a list of what we wanted and didn’t want to experience when we visited a pub and these seemed to work for most people.

It took a number of years before we could take on additional employees, and the rest is history. Allan has become my rock. He is extremely calming, and this has made me a better person.

“Eventually my son, Gavin, who was living and working in the UK at the time, was getting itchy feet to get back to SA and we decided to offer him the management position.

Both Gavin and his wife, Shireen, have become an integral part of our business, and the plan was to retire at the end of this year and let them take over the running of the business, but of course, that all recently changed.

“No one could have foreseen the onslaught that the Covid-19 coronavirus would have on businesses, especially small businesses such as ours.

The restaurant and bar sector has been one of the hardest hit, and there were times when I cried and begged for divine intervention. I suffer from depression.

We thought we may have to close the doors and have lost many nights oversleep. But we have discussed the way forward with our landlord and utility company, and we will battle through.

“We have had fantastic support from numerous customers, some anonymous. Some have kindly donated money and others have purchased virtual vouchers to spend later once we can open for a sit-down.

We again have juggled Peter and Paul and we really believe we can survive this, not only survive, but emerge stronger and better.

“On the move to level 4 we have at least been able to make pizzas for delivery, which has gone extremely well. With the move to level 3 on June 1, we hope to move to three or even four days a week with around 10 to 15 items available from our menu, as well as our pizzas, available for collection.”So, as the saying goes – watch this space – we will be back!”

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