Interviews
Rammolutsi
The community of Rammolutsi is located adjacent to the small farming town of Viljoenskroon in the Northern Free State. Rammolutsi was established many decades ago as a small 'black township' to service the needs of white Viljoenskroon. Prior to 1994, the majority of residents, most all of whom were either farm workers or workers in a local manufacturing plant (producing peanut butter and sunflower oil), lived in 'normal' township houses built by the apartheid state and/or certain farmers. Since 1994 however, there has been a huge influx of people into Rammolutsi, mostly as a result of the mass evictions/retrenchments of workers from surrounding farms in the region as well as the local manufacturing plant. From a pre-1994 population of no more than 3,000-4,000, Rammolutsi now has an estimated population of close to 30,000, a sizeable portion of which are pensioners (retirees), women and children. There is very little productive/job-creating activity happening in Rammolutsi/Viljoenskroon resulting in the vast majority of residents being without formal employment. A few residents are full-time farm workers, some pick up occasional (and extremely low-paid) 'piece jobs' on surrounding farms but most survive predominately on state welfare/pension/social grants and remunerations from relatives working outside the community. The majority of employed residents work for the municipality, provincial government departments, and in the few small businesses in Viljoenskroon. While the 'old' township of well-built brick houses remains at the heart of the community, the vast majority of housing in the community is in the form of shacks that have been built since 1994, with a few Reconstruction and Development Programme (RDP) houses spread around here and there. Most houses and shacks have pre-paid electricity meters and yard water taps. A roll-out of proper sanitation is proceeding slowly although the bucket system remains in use for sizeable numbers of shack dwellers. The community falls under a district municipality situated in Kroonstad (70 kilometres away) and the politics of Rammolutsi has long been dominated by the African National Congress (ANC).An interview with unemployed worker and lifelong Rammolutsi resident Mokete Tsolotlo by Dale McKinley and Ahmed Veriava.
Date: July 23, 2007First interview with Malome Serame Isaac Masike, a semi-retired small business man from Rammolutsi, by Dale McKinley and Ahmed Veriava.
Date: July 23, 2007An interview with pensioner Molefi John Phasha of Rammolutsi by Dale McKinley and Ahmed Veriava.
Date: July 24, 2007Part one of the interview with Gabriel Mashakhale, pastor of the local branch of the Apostolic Church and ex-ward councillor in Rammolutsi, by Dale McKinley and Ahmed Veriava.
Date: July 24, 2007Part two of the interview with Gabriel Mashakhale, pastor of the local branch of the Apostolic Church and ex-ward councillor in Rammolutsi, by Dale McKinley and Ahmed Veriava.
Date: July 24, 2007This interview with Ouma Ngelele, who runs a home for 18 orphans and abused children in her 5-room shack and is wholly supported by sympathetic local businesses and a white church in town, along with a few child grants, was conducted by Dale McKinley and Ahmed Veriava in Rammolutsi in 2007 as part of the South African History Archive's Alternative History Project, titled 'Forgotten Voices in the Present'.
First interview with farm labourer Samuel Mahoko of Rammolutsi by Dale McKinley and Ahmed Veriava.
Date: July 25, 2007This interview with Rabase Lehlohonolo, a Grade 10 high school student and a member of the Congress of South African Students (COSAS), was conducted by Dale McKinley and Ahmed Veriava in Rammolutsi in 2007 as part of the South African History Archive's Alternative History Project, titled 'Forgotten Voices in the Present'.
