i.1. Patricia Paddy Rose, geb. 17/10/1923,
Germiston, oorl. 20/06/1999, Durban x 30/06/1945 met Augustus Tiberius Nezer
(Tiber) JOHNSTON, geb. 18/01/1917, Wakkerstroom, Tvl, oorl. 25/09/2002,
Swellendam, s.v. Francois Johannes Roos Johnston en Maria Elizabeth Nezer.
Patricia Rose was die dogter van Joseph Theodore Rose Nel en Florence Mary Henman.
Francois
Johannes Roos Johnstone (Frank) farmed near Wakkerstroom after his father died.
Maria Elizabeth Nezer and Frank Johannes Roos Johnson married 13 April 1908.
The farm was called ‘Forrest’ and this is where Tiber was born 18th January
1917. As Tiber’s parents were preoccupied with trying to make the farm work,
the family employed a nursemaid from a local Zulu village who had recently lost
her own child to look after him. As a toddler, Tiber was a fast learner and
soon spoke fluent Zulu. Zulu was the first language he learned to speak,
followed by Afrikaans and later in his life, English. Tiber developed an
appreciation and love of the Zulu language which was to have a major impact on
his life. He marveled at the subtleties of the language and its capacity to
describe changes and differences in the environment in a way that you can’t in
English. Later in life Tiber became a skilled translator, interpreter and
linguist in local customs and dialects.
Tiber
had a number of brothers: Edmund Wilhelm (wife Mimi?), Johannes Adrian Neser
(wife Nancy), Francis Augustus Rose (Frank) and Granger Joseph (Chick) born
30th March 1920. The family then moved
to a farm near Platrand. Frank sold this
farm in 1927 and the family trekked by mule wagon to Swaziland where the family
settled at a place called Hlatikulu.
Tiber’s parents, ‘Moms’ and ‘Frank’ opened a ‘native trading store and
butcher shop as well as a ‘native’ eating-house. He then expanded and opened another store at
Mooihoek and also started a hawkers business by ‘Chev’ lorry following behind
the government tax collector. Business
was booming and Tiber’s brothers Edmund and Neser assisted in the business. He and his other brothers (Frank and Chick)
were at school.
Things
fell apart when Tiber’s father had an affair with a young girl, Johanna
Elizabeth Gadd, who became pregnant. Then came the depression and both shops,
the butcher, the eating-house and hawkers business collapsed (1930s). ‘Moms’
took out a divorce from Frank and Chick and Tiber were sent to live with
Grandma Neser (Kitty) who was then living on her son August’s farm near
Amersfoort, where Tiber went to school.
While Tiber performed extremely well at school, he suddenly abandoned
his school books at the age of fifteen to look for work. He was ashamed to be
sent to school without shoes – the family couldn’t afford to buy him a pair.
Tiber began working as a cabinet makers apprentice with a ‘tyrant’ as a boss.
He abandoned this work when the Second World War broke out and afterwards vowed
he would never work for a boss again.
Meanwhile
‘Moms’ applied and was accepted for training as a midwife with the Moedersbond
in Pretoria. While in Pretoria she met and married Allan Haigh Exton shortly
after qualifying as a midwife. Tiber’s stepfather Exton was the manager of a
small goldmine near Greylingstad. From
there they moved to Dominion Reefs near Klerksdorp where he was employed as
Reduction Officer. Moving again, they
went to New Union Goldfields beyond Sibasa in the Northern Transvaal, again as
a Reduction Officer. This was their
happiest time having a comfortable thatched cottage with a nice big flower and
vegetable garden. Moms also had a job as
a nursing sister in charge of the mine sick bay. They stayed there through the war years 1939
– 1945. When the mine closed down,
stepfather Exton decided to retire and live on a small holding (‘plot’) near
Benoni. This came to a sudden end when
he had a heart attack and survived.
Paddy
and Tiber met during World War Two. They
were married in Germiston 30th June 1945.
Soon after they were married, Tiber built his own caravan, learned to
drive and bought a car. Both Paddy and
Tiber gave up their respective jobs and travelled through the Transvaal and
Swaziland. They intended to travel to
Cairo. Many of the roads were dirt
tracks and there were no such things as caravan parks. Paddy and Tiber had to look out for places
where the road workers had stayed.
Usually these places were near rivers and streams and on level ground.
They travelled through the game reserve but had to leave the caravan outside
the reserve because caravans were not allowed in Kruger National Park at the
time. After the trip, they bought a shop
(small trading store) at Petit, near Benoni.
Tiber
was always a dreamer – there was always something better or more money to be
made on the horizon. He was a supreme optimist about the opportunities
presenting in the near future. He was restless and often had to be talked out
of moving on to ‘better pastures’. After
a few years the Petit Stores business was sold (the building remained in
Tiber’s ownership) and they tried their hand farming at Wilge Valley near
Bronkhorstspruit for a few years. There
was a memorable occasion where Tiber had rigged up a system to convey sacks of
grain across the Wilge River. When all were assembled to witness the first sack
to cross the river, the whole structure collapsed, Zorba-like plunging the
precious grain in mid stream. Following
a back injury and illness, Paddy and Tiber decided to move to Natal and Tiber
worked for the Illovo Sugar Estates.
After a short time living in Amanzimtoti, Paddy and Tiber returned to
Petit and built up the business again. Stepfather
Exton and Moms spent a little while living with Tiber and family (Patricia and
their children Peter, Gladwin and Basil) who were then living on a farm in
Wilge Valley near Bronkhorstspruit.
While on holiday on the north coast of Natal, Allan Haigh Exton became
ill again and died in hospital at Eshowe (6th January 1955). Moms died in Witbank on 13 September 1958 and
is buried there.
Tiber
was something of an ‘environmentalist’ long before others took up the cause.
When a large tree was felled nearby he was quite angry exclaiming: “It took
sixty years for nature to grow that tree and here we are mankind destroys it in
six minutes!” In the late 50’s and early
60’s he began warning about the excessive use of insecticides. He was concerned
about the link between insecticides and respiratory difficulties. (Tiber
suffered a severe bout of Asthma while in Wilge Valley). He also became influenced by the book ‘Silent
Spring’ by Rachel Carson, encouraging anyone he could persuade to read it. Tiber loved nothing better than his vegetable
garden and was legendary at growing tomatoes. He was known for always giving
away basket loads of vegetables with pride.
Tiber
was also a bit of an inventor. His inventions ranged from cement fencing mould,
grain mixer for cattle feed, a form of hydroponic gardening, burglar alarms,
garden tools, rat exterminator and his infamous fly trap. In 1963 the shop was sold (this was after a
long drought and having to cart water in 44 gallon drums for seven miles to
fulfill basic household needs). After
initially staying in Sea Park (near Port Shepstone) with Grandpa White (Kay’s
father) Paddy and Tiber bought Stanmore Poultry Farm in Howick near
Pietermaritzburg. The following 8 years
were probably the most stable time that Paddy, Tiber and the family had together. Being fluent in any African language and in
Afrikaans and English, Tiber enjoyed communicating and joking with anyone in
his immediate environment. He had a wicked sense of humour and took delight in
thwarting anyone who was arrogant or assumed an air of superiority. In the early 70’s the profit margin from the
poultry farm was declining and Tiber became restless. Paddy had established a comfortable circle of
friends through the local church, bowling club and refused to pull up her
roots, go somewhere else and start all over again. Their relationship began
experiencing difficulties. Tiber took
all his ‘possessions’, sold Stanmore Poultry farm and moved to Richards Bay
where he was engaged as a building Supervisor by the Buthelezi led Zulu
Government. He filed for a divorce. He then led a solitary life in a caravan in
Zululand. His health deteriorated and he became lonely. He sought companionship by advertising
through the ‘Farmers Weekly’ Magazine.
Elizabeth
(Liz) and her small son appeared on the scene.
Tiber’s contract work building hospitals, schools, roads as well as
negotiating with local villagers about their ancestral burial grounds began
improving their financial situation.
Tiber bought shares and commenced building a large house opposite Eshowe
Hospital. As he was often away on contract work, he placed the house in Liz’s
name so that there were no problems over the supervision of the building work.
Over the next twenty years there were a number of financial setbacks. Liz was
keen to establish some businesses (Florist, “Revere Foods”) and these failed
dismally. Liz found herself in debt and Tiber had to bail her out financially
on several occasions. In the 90’s Liz and Tiber decided to build a
preschool/crèche on vacant land opposite the Hospital. The crèche was another
dismal failure. The change in government in South Africa meant that further
contracts in Zululand were non-existent for Tiber. In 2000/2001 they decided to move to
Swellendam in the Cape. Tiber had a
stroke on New Years Day 2002 and his health deteriorated over the following 9
months. He died on 24th September 2002.
By Peter Johnstone
Adelaide,
Australia
(https://www.myheritage.com/person-5017925_148888701_148888701/augustus-tiberius-neser-johnstone)
Kinders:
j.1. Peter JOHNSTONE, geb. 06/07/1948, Willowmore
Nursing Home, Benoni.
j.2. Gladwin JOHNSTONE, geb. 19/12/1949, Glynnwood
Nursing home, Benoni
j.3. Basil JOHNSTONE, geb. 26/08/1952, Glynnwood
Nursing home, Benoni
j.4. Jean JOHNSTONE, geb. 16/02/1954, Glynnwood
Nursing home, Benoni
