Dutch family visits Springs
Nico Verdijsseldonk (42) and his mother Nellie de Kort (63) visited Springs from the Netherlands on Friday.
Soon after they landed at the OR Tambo International Airport they left to visit Nico’s late grandfather, Nico de Kort’s, grave at the Geduld Cemetery.
Nico’s grandfather was buried there in 1955 after a freak accident.
His grandfather was sitting on top of steel bars at the back of a bakkie when he accidently fell off the bakkie and the steel fell on top of him, killing him.
When they arrived at the cemetery at 9.30am, they had to look for Nico’s grave as they only had a picture of Nellie’s mother, Pietje de Kort, standing next to the tombstone.
Nico called the Addie and asked if they could meet at the cemetery due to a previous article on vandalism at the cemetery and to get an update on the situation.
When they arrived at the cemetery they found that the tombstone had been vandalised.”We asked for assistance from some municipal workers cleaning the cemetery, to assist us with repositioning the tombstone,” says Nellie.
According to Nellie her late father moved to South Africa from Eindhoven in 1953 and soon opened a welding business in Geduld.
“Six months after he arrived in SA the family joined him and moved into a house in Geduld,” says Nellie,
Shortly after Nellie’s father’s funeral her mother had to return to the Netherlands.
Nellie says according to the Department of Home Affairs it was allegedly ‘inappropriate for a widow and her children to stay alone in South Africa’.
Although Nellie lived in the country before, it is Nico’s first trip to SA.
The two joined a tour group on Saturday to complete their journey of 15 travelling days.
