Ballito local Johnny scores a century!

From the Great Depression to Covid-19 lockdown, Ballito resident Johnny Baiocchi has seen it all.

Baiocchi turns 100 on April 30, the last day of the nationwide lockdown (at Level 5 at least).

Johnny, who has lived in Ballito for the past 26 years, was born in 1920 in Durban then moved to Johannesburg where his family owned a smallholding near Orange Grove.

A teenager during the Great Depression, he was was forced to leave Marist Brothers College at the age of 15 to pursue a career as an apprentice plumber at the Modderfontein factory of African Explosives and Chemical Industries (AECI).

He worked at the factory for 50 years and during this time occupied a number of positions, including mechanical engineering and as safety explosives officer.

Johnny was later recognised for his proficiency at lead burning (welding) which saw him commissioned to repair an antique lead swan statue owned by mining mogul Harry Oppenheimer.

The statue had been damaged on the way from Italy en-route to Oppenheimer, who was then chairman of AECI.

Insurers consulted with two master lead burners, one of whom was Johnny, on the feasibility of repairing the sculpture – the feet, wings and body of which had been badly damaged.

Although Johnny knew little to nothing about swans, he spent hours on the banks of a dam at Modderfontein watching and sketching the swans.

“Without the knowledge I gained there, I could well have made a hash of the job and, according to the insurers, nothing short of perfect would be tolerated.”

Owing to the statue being hollow, and in order to beat out the dents, Johnny had to cut a large hole into the breast.

Further, the feet of the statue were reconstructed and the wings beaten and straightened.

Countless hours of painstaking and meticulous work were put into restoring the statue, which met the satisfaction of all, including Oppenheimer and the insurers.

At a retirement dinner in 1966, Johnny and Sir Harry took a stroll through the gardens of Oppenheimer’s home, Brenthurst, where the duo reminisced over the statue that was still in good condition.

Johnny had developed a love for golf in his 20s and competed in the Transvaal Open at Glendower, a significant tournament on the golfing calendar.

Come 1985, he became manager of the Modderfontein Golf Club. Nine years later, aged 74, he left the club to travel while caddying for and coaching his son Hugh, a rising star golfer.

Johnny also enjoyed small bore positional Bisley (.22) rifle shooting and was awarded his Springbok colours in the early 1950s.

Hugh remembers, when he was five or six years old, watching Johnny lie on the lounge floor aiming at a match stick placed at the end of the room as practice.

In 1994, Hugh took up the position of golf director at the then new Prince’s Grant golf club, where Johnny later joined him to continue aiding with coaching in preparation for Hugh joining the USA Senior PGA Golf Tour.

Johnny later took over as manager of the Prince’s Grant hotel and golf course, a job he held until the age of 85.

When he left Prince’s Grant, he continued to play regularly at Umhlali Country Club until the grand aged of 90, still pulling his own golf cart.

His family say that Johnny is completely technically-minded and can fix anything from a toaster to a car.

In 1965 he designed and built his own light-weight, aerodynamic caravan which the family often used on holidays to Salt Rock.

More recently, aged 99, with his keen eye as a golf coach, he continued to coach his other son, Brendan, during a holiday in Plettenberg Bay.

But the magic and talent of Johnny extends much further with Hugh even involving Johnny in the redesign of the Champagne Sports Resort’s nine-hole into an 18-hole course – a course which has received many accolades.

Recently Johnny’s doctor asked him how he was feeling in general. The conversation is said to have gone along the lines of:

“How should I be feeling?”

To which the doctor replied: “I don’t know. I don’t have any other 100-year-old patients for reference.”

Brendan said his father has a phenomenal ability to recall anecdotes and relate experiences of long ago, leaving people in stitches of laughter.

Today, Johnny enjoys Formula One racing on TV, is an avid reader and works on two crossword puzzles a day with his care-giver Nancy, who also ensures that he gets his regular exercise two to three times a day in his Ballito flat.

“Despite having worked in a hazardous explosives environment for many years, smoking 60 plain Springbok cigarettes a day when he was young, having a “couple” of drinks after golf, what does he put his longevity down to? Healthy eating habits, staying mentally and physically active and his strong Christian beliefs,” agree Brendan and Hugh, adding that they are truly blessed to have an exceptional father and are still amazed at his abilities at this age.

One person wishing Johnny ‘Happy Birthday’ this week is local lady, Jenny Muller, wife of the late Jimmy, who was one of his regular golf partners.

“Wishing you all the best on the auspicious occasion of your hundredth birthday,” she said, echoing the sentiments of friends and family both locally and around the world.

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