Australasia In Africa

Press, Volume CIII, Issue 30413, 11 April 1964, Page 5

Australasia In Africa

[Specially written tor "The Press" by ROBIN CLULEE]

r pUCKED away in a corner of South Africa is a small group of enthusiasts with a common interest: they call New Zealand or Australia “home.” There are 150 of them, Australian or New Zealand-born, or the wives or husbands of Australians or New Zealanders. They have all joined to form the Australia and New Zealand Association (Natal). Their headquarters is in Durban and they are one of the few associations left in the Republic of South Africa which still observes Commonwealth ceremonies. Some of the members wear A.N.Z.A. blazers with a motif or a kangaroo sitting on a boomering in front of a fernleaf. Others wear A.N.Z.A. badges, or have club monograms pinned to their livingroom walls.

The club secretary, Mr C. A. R. Levick, a typical member, was born in Sydney and spent several years in Britain, Kenya and the Seychelles before settling in South Africa in 1947. He now has a succesful practice as an architect and town-planning consultant, but he is “still proud to be an Aussie.”

Association members pay an annual subscription of a guinea, and club funds are supplemented by dances, stalls and special campaigns. Regular functions include observances on New Zealand and Australia’s anniversaries, Anzac Day, and at least one

monthly gathering for cocktails, dancing or a film show. Every year the association gives about £3OO to charities, and offers a bursary of £25 a year to a deserving pupil at one of Durban’s largest secondary schools. The association was started sometime in the 1930’s—“Nobody knows exactly when,” said Mr Levick—by the late Mr Roy Faulks, an Australian who became a highly successful company director in South Africa. But it was not till after the war that the association was put on a firm footing and given a written constitution.

“We are a social organisation,” said Mr Levick. “The main idea is to get people of a common interest together. Constitution The constitution says the association’s aims are to keep alive and uphold the traditions of New Zealand and Australia; to maintain social contact between New Zealanders and Australians living in South Africa; and to engage in, and support, charitable work. Touring New Zealand and Australian sporting teams are occasionally entertained, and members who fall ill are given comfort while in hospital. Of the 150 members, only 10 are from New Zealand. “The Kiwis don’t seem to come here so much as the Aussies,” said Mr Levick. He said the club was active, but it needed “new blood.” “We would like to see a few

adventurous young people from Australasia coming to join us here.”

The association exchanges news letters from time to time with similar clubs in Cape Town and Vancouver. An Australian and New Zealand Society was formed in Johannesburg a few years ago, but it has gone into recess.