The Colour of Gold (7 page)

“Baas Moore’s
office is in there.” the driver said pointing to the entrance to
the building. “Just ask the receptionist to tell him that you’re
here.”

It was cool and
dry in the reception area and the outside hum was replaced inside
by the gentle purr of air conditioners. A young white woman sat
busily typing behind a long, highly polished wooden counter with
the legend “Reception” above it. She looked up and raised her
eyebrows inquisitively as Bogdan approached.

“Can I help
you?” she asked.

“I’m Bogdan
Vodnik. I’m here to see the mine manager, Mister Moore.” Bogdan
said. “I’m going to be working here in the buying department.”

“Oh, yes.” the
receptionist said. “Mister Moore’s expecting you. His office is
that one over there.”

Bogdan walked
to the office that the receptionist had indicated, knocked on the
half-open door and walked in.

The man seated
behind the large wooden desk that had piles of documents scattered
about its top, was dressed in a grey safari suit. His long face was
smoothly shaven and the few strands of grey hair on the top of his
head had been carefully combed across his gleaming pate as if to
try and hide the fact that he was actually bald. He looked up from
the document he had been reading and smiled.

“Hello Mister
Vodnik.” he said. “I heard you talking to Sally. Welcome to Deep
Reef Gold Mine. I hope you’ll be happy here. I’m Gavin Moore.”

The manager
stood up and walked around the desk. The two men shook hands.

“I’m sure that
you are eager to get settled in so I won’t offer you tea or
coffee.” Gavin Moore said. “Please call me Gavin. I don’t like to
be too formal with my office staff. It’s different with the mining
staff though. Let’s go and look at the house that you and your wife
will be staying in.”

The two men
walked out to the waiting car and got into the back seat. Bogdan
introduced Gavin Moore to Julia.

“Go to house
number twelve in Percy Murdock street.” Moore instructed the
driver.

The house was a
typical mine house with plastered brick walls painted white and a
sloping red corrugated iron roof. A wide veranda stretched across
the front of the structure and on the left hand side was a garage
with rickety wooden doors painted a dark brown. A large grey
corrugated iron water tank on a concrete base stood on the other
side of the house, its purpose being to collect rainwater as it
drained off the roof of the house during the summer afternoon
thunderstorms that were so typical on the Reef. The gutters, down
pipes and window frames were painted white and the front door was
the same colour as the garage doors. Bogdan guessed that the house
must be at least fifty years old. Probably built in the early
nineteen twenties, he thought.

“It’s an old
house,” Moore said, “but you’ll find it very comfortable. The
furniture is also old but solid and practical. You’ll need to get
yourselves cutlery, crockery and linen though. Open an account at
the concession store near the compound. The electricity and water
come from the mine so it’s free.”

The three
people climbed out of the car and entered the small house through
the front door. The entrance passage ran straight through the house
to the back door in the kitchen and all the other rooms led off
from the passage. It was very dim inside the abode and Moore
switched on the lights in the passage. The wooden floor creaked as
they walked further down the passage. The wallpaper that covered
the walls was decorated with a fine floral design and a pleasant
mustiness filled the place. The lights hung in the centre of the
rooms from intricate pressed metal ceilings.

“Well, I’ll
leave you to settle in.” the mine manager said. “I’ve got a meeting
in a few minutes time. You’ll start work on Monday?”

“Yes.” Bogdan
replied. “Where is the buying office?”

“It’s in the
same building as my office.” Moore said. “See you on Monday
then.”

Bogdan and
Julia began to inspect the house. As one entered the house through
the front door, there was a large lounge on the right with the main
bedroom on the left. Next to this bedroom was a smaller one and
then came the bathroom followed by the kitchen. Next to the lounge
was the dining room followed by a large scullery. The back yard was
enclosed by corrugated iron fencing with a washing line and a small
storage shed.

The furniture
in the house was all about the same age as the house – heavy wooden
tables and chairs with ball-and-claw feet in the dining room, large
overstuffed chairs and a settee in the lounge and a wooden double
bed in the main bedroom. The bathroom contained an old
free-standing enamel tub and two basins with mirrors attached to
the wall. In the kitchen, a magnificent iron and brass coal stove
with a black chimney running up through the ceiling stood in one
corner. A more modern electric stove stood beside it. A large white
fridge and a chest freezer stood against one wall. A white marble
shelf with varnished wooden cupboards below it ran along the
opposite wall. Despite its age the little house had a comfortable
homely quaintness about it.

“I’m going to
love staying here.” Julia said. “We need cutlery, crockery and
linen and food. Let’s make up a list of all the things that we
need. But where are we going to buy them and with what?”

“Mister Moore
said that we can open an account at the concession store near the
black miner’s quarters.” Bogdan said.

“Concession
store?” Julia asked.

“Yes. It’s a
shop on the mine premises that keeps just about everything.” Bogdan
said. “Food, bicycles, furniture, radios, cutlery, crockery – you
name it, they’ve got it. The owner of the store has to bid for the
right to use the building and sell his goods. That’s why it’s
called a ‘concession’ store. Anyway, let’s get the list drawn up so
that we can buy what we need and start living properly. I’ve got a
feeling that we're going to do very well here.”

"What about a
domestic servant?" Julia asked. "After all, most white households
in South Africa have a domestic maid to do the washing and ironing,
clean the house and sometimes even do the cooking of meals."

"Yes." Bogdan
said. "From what I've heard most of the domestic maids up here on
the Reef don't have permission to live and work here so they are
prepared to work for very low wages. They're also very honest and
reliable and don't cause any trouble. They know that their
employers can very easily have them sent back to the homelands
where there's no work if they cause trouble. Apparently a lot of
them do indulge in petty theft though, stealing small amounts of
sugar, tea, coffee and that sort of thing but they very seldom
steal anything of value like jewellery or money. Not having a
"pass" for this area makes them very vulnerable and most homeowners
take advantage of this."

"How do we find
one?" Julia asked.

"I don't think
we'll have to find one." Bogdan said. "As soon as the word spreads
that we are new in the area the women will come to us looking for
work."

"Can we choose
one together?" Julia asked. "I wouldn't know which one to
choose."

"From what I've
heard there are certain things that we need to take into account
when choosing a domestic." Bogdan said. "Obviously, they must know
how to do the washing and ironing and keep the house clean. Then
they should not have permission to live and work here. That's very
important. As long as they know that we can have them sent back to
the homelands if they give us any trouble they'll work hard. And
finally, they must be clean and have a good knowledge of what
cleanliness and neatness is. As they'll be spending a lot of time
in our house and possibly even doing some cooking for us this is
very important. We must also make sure they know how to work the
machines like the vacuum cleaner, the washing machine and the stove
properly."

"If they show
up here what should I tell them?" Julia asked.

"Tell them to
come back at five o'clock in the afternoon." Bogdan said. "I'll
come home straight from work and we can interview them
together."

The following
day, while Julia was unpacking the items that she and Bogdan had
bought at the concession store, she glanced out of the lounge
window and noticed three black women sitting patiently on the
pavement in front of the house. She went outside.

"Why are you
sitting here?" she asked.

"We are looking
for work, madam." one of the women, a tall well-dressed woman in
her early twenties replied. "We heard that you and the baas were
new here and might want a domestic maid. We all have experience in
housework."

"You must come
back at five o'clock this afternoon when my husband is here." Julia
said. "Then we will interview you."

"Thank you,
madam." the tall woman said. "We will come back at five
o'clock."

When Bogdan
arrived at the house just after five that afternoon there were four
black women waiting on the pavement. He went into the house.

"You were
right." Julia said, pointing the women on the pavement. "Those are
all women looking for work."

"Let's go and
talk to them." Bogdan said.

As Bogdan and
Julia walked out to the pavement the four women stood up.

"Do all of you
know how to wash and iron clothes and keep the house clean?" Bogdan
asked.

"Yes, baas."
the women replied.

Bogdan studies
the four women. The young well-dressed woman who had earlier spoken
to Julia attracted his attention. Apart from being well dressed she
also looked clean and neat and appeared to be well educated. Two of
the other women were older than the first woman and had their faces
smeared with ash, a tradition followed by some African tribes in
the country, and this put both Bogdan and Julia off. The fourth
woman was also neatly dressed but Bogdan could see that she had a
slightly surly attitude that was likely to create problems. He
motioned to the younger woman.

"Come with us."
he said. "We want to talk to you in private."

The woman
followed the two white people through the house into the
kitchen.

"What's your
name?" Bogdan asked.

"Catherine."
the woman replied.

"Do you have
any references?"

"No. Employers
don't like to give us references because if the police find them
they can charge the employer with hiring an illegal person."
Catherine replied.

"So you don't
have a "pass" to work here." Bogdan said.

"No." Catherine
replied. "But I'm a good and neat worker and because I don't have a
pass I won't give you any trouble."

"Why did you
leave your last job?" Julia asked.

"The people
that I was working for moved away." Catherine replied.

Bogdan studied
the woman. She was very attractive with large brown eyes, a slim
delicate nose and lips that turned up slightly at the corners. When
she smiled she showed small clean white teeth. Her hair was covered
with a colourful scarf and she wore a white blouse and a dark blue
skirt, her breasts pushed enticingly against her blouse and the
rest of her body was slim and well proportioned. Her voice had an
attractive husky tone.

"Where do you
come from?" Julia asked.

"Rustenburg."
Catherine said "I left because there is no work there."

"Are you
married?" Bogdan asked, knowing that married domestic workers often
created problems when their husband's, who usually lived far away,
came to visit them.

"No, baas."
Catherine replied. "But I do have a child, a little boy who lives
with my mother in Rustenburg."

"I understand
that the going rate for full-time domestic workers is fifteen Rand
a week plus tea or coffee, sugar and milk and a meal at midday."
Bogdan said. "And the hours are from eight o'clock in the morning
to three o'clock in the afternoon from Monday to Friday. Is that
okay?"

"Yes, baas."
Catherine said.

"Okay." Bogdan
said. "Wait outside. The madam and I want to talk."

Catherine left
the house and waited on the veranda in front of the house.

"I don't like
the two with the ash on their faces." Bogdan said to Julia. "They
looked clean enough but they obviously still have some of the bush
in them. The other woman looks surly to me and this could be a
problem. What do you think?"

"Yes, I agree
with you." Julia replied. "Catherine seems to be just what we're
looking for. She's clean and neat, seems pleasant and courteous and
obviously has had some schooling as she speaks quite well. But
perhaps we should employ her on a trial basis."

"Yes, that's a
good idea." Bogdan said. "But, as she's not allowed to live and
work on the Reef we can fire her at any time if we're not happy
with her work. Basically she's just a casual worker. We don't have
a contract with her and if she causes any trouble we can always
threaten to call the police."

Bogdan walked
to the veranda.

"Okay,
Catherine." he said. "We've decided to employ you. You can start
tomorrow."

***

The white
Toyota drove through the gateway of the alley leading from the
courtyard at the back of the bank as it did every Friday morning at
this time. It paused until there was a gap in the chain of passing
vehicles and then accelerated into the bustle of the mid-town
traffic. The driver, a white middle-aged man wearing a cream safari
suit drove defensively, taking care not to get too close to the
cars in front of him and constantly watching the vehicles ahead and
behind him. In the front passenger’s seat sat a young white woman
with short, blonde hair and wearing a dark blue bank security guard
uniform. Alone in the back seat, another middle-aged white man,
also wearing a safari suit idly watched the surrounding traffic. In
the boot of the car lay a small steel trunk containing fifteen
thousand Rand in cash that was destined for the small bank branch
in the black township of Dobsonville, seven kilometres away to the
South-west. The branch had no safe as it was considered to be a
real risk to keep cash anywhere in a township where not even the
bank’s security personnel could be trusted.