We stayed with a young couple at their farm in Franschhoek, S.A.—
wine country. They have three small children and live in a rural area. The farm has been in her family since the 1600's. For the first time in South Africa there were no security fences around the house, no bars on windows, and no alarm system. We made sure to lock the door and also close the blinds! We are not sure if they are being careless, or maybe they feel that they are in a more secure area.
The harvest of apples was the job of the day with about twenty black men and women workers climbing ladders, crawling under trees, filling bags, and generally laboring to fill crates on a trailer.
They appeared to be enjoying the camaraderie of working together.
Christeli told us about one of their workers who recently came to her very upset and crying. There was not enough money
(about $50 U.S.) to pay the school fees so her child could not go. Christeli assured us that she and her husband had "sorted it out" so the crisis was averted. She went on to say that "they" just don't have the ability to plan for future expenses. She told us that South Africa has two distinct socio-economic groups (seems black and white to me!).
It is clear that those two groups have far different expectations for the way they will live and the work they will do.
