Horries — psychological condition, being ‘strung out’, derived from the word ‘horrible’.
Hotnot — pejorative, racist label for Coloured person. Derived from ‘Hottentot’ (Khoikhoi), indigenous tribes found at the Cape by the first colonists.
Ik heb gezegd — old Dutch expression used in Afrikaans to lend emphasis; ‘I have said it’.
Inkatha — nationalist Zulu cultural and political organisation and political party.
Ja — yes.
J.B.M. Hertzog — leader of the National Party in coalition with the Labour Party, 1924–39.
J.C. Smuts — leader of the South African Party, supporter of the allied war effort during World War II. Periods in office 1919–24 and 1939–48.
Johanna van der Merwe — (hist.) Boer folk heroine who is reputed to have been stabbed nineteen times, and survived, during one of the famous Blauwkrantz ‘massacres’ in the conflict between the Zulus and the Voortrekkers (see below).
Jopie Fourie — Boer folk hero of the Anglo — Boer war.
Knobkierie — a stick with a round, carved head, used in sparring rituals by the indigenous people of South Africa and as a walking stick by the whites.
Koevoets — name given to a notorious South African reconnaissance battalion during the war in Angola against SWAPO in the eighties.
Kofifi — black vernacular for Sophiatown.
Kombi — a South African word for a Volkswagen eight-or twelve-seater minibus.
Koppie — rocky hill. Afrikaans word generally used in South African English for low stony outcrop.
Larnies — South African slang for people from the upper classes who behave in snobbish ways.
Lekker — ‘nice’, ‘delicious’.
Lost City — a luxurious theme park based on a kitsch African legend of an ancient kingdom situated in the former homeland of Bophuthatswana. Magnus Mauser — pejorative name for Magnus Malan, former minister of defence in the repressive Apartheid cabinet of former president P.W. Botha.
Mielies — corn (maize) on the cob.
Muti — African term for medicine or magic potion dispensed by a traditional healer.
NG Church — short for ‘Nederduits-Gereformeerde kerk’, Dutch Reformed Church. This is the most important church of the Africaans-speaking community. During the Apartheid years it supported the National Party leadership and gave legitimacy on religious grounds to all aspects of state ideology regarding race, gender, nationhood and political authority.
NP — National Party. White Afrikaner political party in power from 1948–94.
Oranje-blanje-blou — colours of the old South African flag: orange, white and blue.
Paardekraal — a historical site where there is a monument to commemorate the Boer War.
Pap — stiff porridge made from maize meal and sometimes eaten with sauce.
Parktown Prawn — AKA the King Cricket; a common insect in South Africa, notoriously tough and difficult to kill.
Pik Botha — long-time minister of foreign affairs in various Apartheid cabinets. ‘Pik’ is Afrikaans for ‘peck’.
Racheltjie de Beer — (hist.) Boer folk heroine known for protecting her siblings during the Anglo — Boer war.
Reddingsdaadbond — exclusive white nationalist charity organisation founded in 1940.
Sjambok — a whip with a wooden handle and a plaited flail made from thin strips of leather.
Slang van Zyl — former Apartheid security operative. ‘Slang’: ‘snake’.
Stoep — veranda.
Tsotsi — pejorative, vernacular for urban black male person of a criminal bent.
Tuisgebak — an old-fashioned bourgeois word for home-made biscuits, tarts and cakes.
Vaderland — ‘fatherland’.
Vierkleur — old Transvaal flag.
Vleis Visagie — former Apartheid security operative. ‘Vleis’: ‘meat’.
Voetsek — ‘bugger off!’ Slang used to chase away dogs and people.
Volk — nation; carries particular weight of feeling with reference to pseudofascist Afrikaner nationalism.
Volksie, Volla — Volkswagen Beetle.
Volksmoeders — ‘mothers of the nation’.
Voortrekkers — denotation for the first Dutch colonists who pioneered the land of South Africa in their characteristic ox-wagons, purportedly to escape from the unfair and interfering practices of the British government during the British rule at the Cape.
Vroue-Landbou-Unie — women’s agricultural union.