The University of the Western Cape (UWC) is commemorating its ties and special relationship with the late Afrikaans author, Elsa Joubert, best known for her work as the author of Die Swerfjare van Poppie Nongena.
This book was published during the height of apartheid when very little was ever written about the life of the black sector of society by a white Afrikaans author.
UWC is remembering and celebrating the author on her birthday today, 19 October, who passed away during the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020. This year, she would’ve celebrated her 101st birthday.
Joubert’s son, Nico Steytler, professor emeritus at UWC, has been a staff member for the past 33 years, fulfilling several roles in UWC’s Faculty of Law and at the Dullah Omar Institute.
“She respected UWC and what it stood for,” said Prof Steytler, the only son among two siblings.
In demonstrating her commitment to the institution, Joubert, after her death, left a substantial amount in her will for students at UWC who excel and want to pursue an honours degree in Afrikaans.
She has had a long relationship with the University, in the seventies, she gave guest lectures in the Department of Afrikaans and Nederlands at the invitation of her friend, Jakes Gerwel, who was then a lecturer in the Department. The two met when they were members of the Afrikaanse Skrywersgulde.
Prof Steytler said, “My mother was a great patriot for Afrikaans. She was a warm, engaging person and a good listener who was always interested in other people. She had the idea of never living in a closed-off world.
“Her book, Spertyd, was the last book she wrote. The book centred around her life in the old age home where she lived. Across the road was a hospital where residents would go when they become extremely sick and frail. The book ends with her crossing over to the hospital and her thoughts of never returning.”
Prof Steytler said that with her novel, Die Swerfjare van Poppie Nongena, his mom sought to open the eyes of her community in a way that said, “Now you know what you’re doing.”
“It was a political book that could potentially exclude her from her community, and I remember her being criticised for her writing with comments like, ‘Hoekom het jy jou volk verraai?’, from the local dominee at the time”.
“She created a home open to all, and I was fortunate that my father, who was also a writer, wasn’t too bothered with Afrikaner politics either. So, despite the political climate, this was a very positive environment to grow up in.
“I remember how the dominee would have separate prayer sessions for domestic workers in his garage. My mother wasn’t happy with this arrangement, so our lounge became the place of assembly.
“She believed she was a mother first. She would move the writing aside and be a fully present mother as soon as we walked through the door after school.
“My mom was never referred to as a Sestiger. The Sestigers represented the literary movement of Afrikaans-language poets and writers in South Africa who wouldn’t necessarily subscribe to conventional norms and values. The movement included other free thinkers like Jan Rabie, Marjorie Wallace and Breyten Breytenbach.” She was much too much a mother first.
