Drive-In Cinemas in South Africa

List of Drive-In cinemas :  South Africa

Bluff Drive-In

Cactus Drive-In, Empangeni, or Heatonville, Kwazulu-Natal

Durban Drive-In, Durban

Menlyn Park Drine-In, Pretoria.  Nu Metro.  Open for 13 years

Queensburgh Drive-In, Main Road, Queensburgh

Top Star Drive-In, Johannesburg

Umbilo Drive-in, Oliver Lea Drive, Umbilo, Durban

Velkskoen Drive-In AKA Randburg Drive-In, Hans Strydom Drive, Randburg, Ster-Kinekor, open 60 years,  Closed 2012  From randburgdirectory.co.za ..........
"Two movies are shown each evening, starting from 8pm.  Ensure your car has a radio so you can tune into the movie audio.Unlike normal cinemas, you can bring your own food and refreshments to enjoy during the movies"
http://www.randburgdirectory.co.za/home/entertainment/movies/randburg-drive-in
Last Show, Men in Black 111

Reasons for the closing of drive-ins are:

Social : Lack of support due to other forms of entertainment becoming more widely available

Crime: Some sources say that the crime wave played a part.  Drive-Ins were often situated out of town because of noise, and driving around late at night is less safe than it used to be.  In house mall cinemas are more secure.

Technology: The drive-ins operated on a film projection system, and films on 35mm reels became increasingly hard to source.  Changing to digital was not viable at the time due to cost, and scale. The area was too big & the screens were simply too big.

Perhaps the tightening up of drinking and driving laws are also a factor?  People used to enjoy a beer or a glass of wine but now prefer not to drink at all.




Please feel free to add or correct by contacting me.

South African Army Film - At Thy Call

South African Bush War or Border War Short film

A short film has been made, based in the days of the "Old" South Africa, and about the experiences of two troopies through the basic training and into the Bush War, or the Border War.  It can be reached via the link at the bottom of this review, it is free of charge.

http://www.greatwhitetribe.com/?page_id=47

In Full Fight - Racehorse

This beautiful horse captured the hearts & minds, & was sadly mourned by the nation after his untimely death from a lung infection.  Here are his stats as recorded by racehorsetrainer.com

IN FULL FLIGHT'S TRACK RECORD

Raced in South Africa from 2 to 4 years (1971 - 73).
Won 16 races (1000 - 2200m.), R123 620.

2-Y-O: 6 starts; 4 wins; R6 580.

Won JUVENILE MAIDEN PLATE (1000m. Greyville)
Won STEWARDS PLATE (1000m. Greyville)
Won EASTER BONNES NURSERY (1200m. Clairwood).
Won C DIVISION HCP. (1200m. Clairwood)

3-Y-O: 11 starts; 10 wins; 1 third; R100 790.

Won SUMMERVELD FREE HCP. GR. III (1400m. Greyville)
Won B DIVISION HCP (1400m. Scottsville)
Won BULL BRAND JOCKEYS INTERNATIONAL GR. II
Won SWAZI SPA STAKES (1400m. Kenilworth)
Won CAPE OF GOOD HOPE GUINEAS GR. I (1600m. Milnerton)
Won QUEENS PLATE GR. I (1600m. Kenilworth)
Won CONCORD STAKES GR. II (1000m. Greyville
Won NEWBURY STAKES WFA GR. II (1200m. Greyville)
3rd S.A. GUINEAS GR. I (1600m. Greyville) .
Won ROTHMANS JULY GR. I (2200m. Greyville)
Won WOOLAVINGTON CUP WFA GR. I (1400m. Clairwood)

4-Y-O: 3 starts; 2 wins; 1 third; R16 250.

Won CHAMPION STAKES GR. I (2000m. Greyville)
Won SOMERSET PLATE WFA GR. I (1400m. Kenilworth)
3rd METROPOLITAN STAKES GR. I (2000m. Kenilworth)

Are you missing biltong, or STILL buying it?

Make it yourself.  No fuss, no bother.  Follow the link below.

Make biltong in your wardrobe

Good things about Apartheid South Africa - You could always find a policeman ....

They seemed to be everywhere, & I do mean EVERYWHERE!

It was almost impossible to go shopping without seeing a member of the South African Police in the shopping centre, the parking lots, on the roads in their vans, & parked on the side of the road just, "keeping an eye".

I am sure there were more policeman than lamp posts, especially in Zululand.  Twilight turns into night very quickly, but if dallying & dithering led to you walking home in the dark, you could be sure that that an SAP van would drive past you every 15 minutes or so.  They sometimes even pulled over to ask why you were out at night .... & if you were a girl, sometimes offered you a chocolate ....  or a lift home.

Road blocks were common place.  During & after one of the regular road block stops, our chatter was more around the looks & grace of the very young, very armed policemen than wondering WHY motorists were pulled over so regularly.

Caspir : Armoured Personnel Carrier - Used by the SAP (urban use)

Good things about Apartheid South Africa : THE RANGER : "SOUTH AFRICA'S OWN CAR"

The Ranger was marketed as "South Africa's own Car"

My Dad was orphaned and raised with the surname Ranger - A family name. After emigrating to South Africa, he immediately took to the car, which many locals did not. 

It was was built  in the GM factory in Port Elizabeth, South Africa -  between 1968 and 1973.   Powered by Chevrolet, and based on the Opel Rekord.

People either loved or hated them.  Personally, I loved the Ranger, and spent many happy miles in the passenger seat of a Red 153S Fastback with a black vinyl roof.

GM invested heavily in the old South Africa, and had a second plant in Uitenhage.   In 1970, GM sold 33000 vehicles locally, which was 15% of the total SA vehicle market share (in cars and trucks)

Good things about Apartheid South Africa - YOU THOUGHT YOUR LANGUAGE WOULD LAST FOREVER

Some social activities cross cultures easier than others, and "wetting the babies head" must be in the top ten ten of this list, if not the top three.

This topic came up while celebrating the birth of Nathi's 8th grandchild.  We were about four rounds in, and after telling me all the detail around the birth of little Bongi, and lots of chatter, laughter and some bad jokes that had us all giggling, the proud grandad grew quiet. 

He told me that his mother had been unhappy following a family gathering in Nkandla.  Kin had come from all over the country to celebrate a wedding, and the event was a great success.  One evening, his mother was sitting with the grandchildren and great grandchildren telling them stories, and she had realised that two of the little ones were not laughing as hard as they should have been. 

She kept an close eye on these two over the next few days, wondering whether they were either deaf, or perhaps a bit slow.  Slowly, the truth became obvious.  They could not fully understand what she was saying.  Their parents had moved and were living in Mpumalanga, and were doing well for themselves.  Their Mum was a nursing sister at a private hospital, and their Dad was a sales rep for a large corporate.  The children attended a semi private school, and were both achieving good results.  Because the children were learning in English, the parents had taken to speaking English more and more often at home to support this.  English had, in fact,  become their first language.

Nathi spoke fluent English at work, but proudly regarded isiZulu as his first language.  His mother speaks very little English at all, and in her everyday life, she has little reason to learn it.  Nathi had, until then, assumed that isiZulu would be the first language of his descendants for generations to come, and the expression on his face as he told me his concerns is hard to describe.  It was an expression of confusion, sadness, anger, and fear.

I include this here because somewhere in that animated discussion he did mention that this would never have happened in the old South Africa.  I smiled, and nodded, and said,
 "That may be true, Nathi, but then they never encouraged people to talk to each other much back then." 

For an moment, around that fire and with the beer in his hand and a tear in his eye - Just for that one moment, I think he would have traded a conversation with me, for the certainty that all members of his family would retain his language as a first language for at least the duration of his lifetime.