Randburg resident Andre Bruinenberg (82) has witnessed the area change over the past five decades.
He came to South Africa from the Netherlands in 1955 through George Kent Limited, a company from England for which he helped manufacture the first water meters in South Africa.
He then moved to Golden Harvest Agricultural Holdings in 1966.
“I remember when Randburg was called a peri-urban area,” he recalled in a thick Dutch accent. “Bush Hill and Boskop was one farm, Kelly farm. They separated because the one daughter married an Englishman and another married an Afrikaans man.
“Bromhof was also a farm in those days and I knew the owners of the farm that was named after them. Bryanston had mines in those days.”
Since 1966 Bruinenberg has lived in three places, all in Randburg and all visible from his current residence in the Village of Golden Harvest no 1, Bromhof.
For Bruinenberg the greatest changes in Randburg are not positive. “I love Randburg to bits but the biggest change is now authorities give jobs to friends and relatives, and municipalities do not fix problems.”
Bruinenberg has resorted to filling potholes outside the village by himself, using grass cuttings.
He said the potholes had been there for a year and a half and he wanted to fix them like the community did in the past.
Bruinenberg said he lived with his wife, but all four of their children moved overseas because Randburg had deteriorated.
He has seven grandchildren and one great grandson.
Details: Village of Golden Harvest no 1 011 791 0013.
