LIFE IN PORT ELIZABETH

Press, Volume XCVIII, Issue 28800, 22 January 1959, Page 2

LIFE IN PORT ELIZABETH

Racial Tension And Climate

“The outstanding thing I noticed in New Zealand compared with South Africa ia the peaceful atmosphere,” zaid Mr* R, B. Fawcett on the eve of her return to Port Elizabeth where she and her husband and four children have lived for a year. Mr Fawcett is employed by an international motor firm which sends him and his family home to New Zealand on leave every two yean and a half. They have been in New Zealand six weeks, visiting Mr Fawcett’s brother in Christchurch and Mr* Fawcett’s parents in Wellington. Although she enjoys Hying in Port Elizabeth very much, Mrs Fawcett finds the ever-present feeling of racial tension trying. Her home has burglar-proof windows and doors.

At first the house made her feel that she was “living in a prison” but now that their home has unobtrusive protection built into window panes and frames, it. was no longer unpleasant, she said. If it were not for the tense racial situation, life would be ideal with the mild climate and plentiful domestic help available in Port Elizabeth. Educational facilities were good. . Toronto Post

Her husband's previous post was in Toronto where they lived for two years. Her eldest daughter, of 141, found it strange to switch back to an all-girls’ school and wear a uniform after having been a pupil at a coeducational school in Toronto where she wore crinoline petticoats under her dresses, and make-up. Canadian schoolgirls were perhaps a little too grown up, Mrs Fawcett said. Winter in Port Elizabeth was most agreeable with the temperature about 70 degrees. Homes were larger than in New Zealand for there was not the pressure of domestic work on housewives. Polished parquet floors with mats were used and there were no wall-to-wall carpets. The residents in Port Elizabeth were proud of their fine gardens, and beautiful shrubs, such as hibiscus, bougainvillea, frangipani, and jacaranda flourished there.