Golden oldies still clocking in
AT 95 years old, George Nicholas is convinced he is the oldest working journalist in the world, but he is not the only Eastern Cape senior citizen who believes working throughout one’s golden years is a flop-proof recipe for excellent mental and physical health.
Nicholas, who lives in Stutterheim, may be five years away from turning 100, but that doesn’t stop him from writing two columns for Farmer’s Weekly every week.
"I believe in old age it is essential to have constructive work to do. It keeps me mentally sharp and, when combined with physical exercise – in my case golf – it is the greatest recipe for a long life,” said Nicholas, who started out as a cadet reporter at Bloemfontein’s Friend newspaper at a salary of £12 a month.
Two years later, he was offered a job by the editor of Farmer’s Weekly for the "princely sum” of £20.
After a career in which he opened the magazine’s Western Cape office, worked in what was then Salisbury, Rhodesia for 20 years and accompanied a group of African chiefs to the Far East and Europe, Nicholas retired in 1988, but continues to submit copy every week. Also showing little sign of slowing down is Freda van Heerden, 82, of Port Elizabeth, who not only owns a guesthouse, but takes care of much of the cleaning, ironing and gardening herself.
Widowed 26 years ago, Van Heerden, who runs her selfcatering guesthouse, said she "loves to keep busy and be useful. I grew up on a farm and thrive on hard work”. The octogenarian retired from teaching 22 years ago.
And, while her grand-daughter Rae Beyers helps her out every morning, Van Heerden, who survived cancer 12 years ago, has no domestic workers and does all the guesthouse chores herself.
Port Elizabeth Iyengar yoga teacher Angela Harvey, 79, said teaching three sessions a week kept her flexible and fit.
"I have osteoporosis and scoliosis, but I can still do yoga and really enjoy it.”
Harvey started practising yoga when she was 28.
At 88, Ismail "Mac” Cummings pulls on his blue mechanic pants every day and heads outside to his garage where he goes about fixing his clients’ cars.
"I do small jobs now, like services, tune-ups, fixing brakes and disc pads – I can’t take an engine out anymore,” said Cummings, who started working for the Ford Motor Company when he was 20. But following his retirement 20 years ago, he decided he needed an income "to put bread on the table”, and wanted to continue keeping busy.
Yellow Lizard viral marketing and web design studio managing director Bryan Mayhew, 73, tried retirement in 1995, but lasted just five months.
"I got on my wife’s nerves and I got bored to bits,” said Mayhew, who continues to work despite currently undergoing chemotherapy for prostate cancer.
Port Elizabeth clinical psychologist Chris Breedt said many people who were passionate about their careers were prone to feeling "a terrible loss” once they retired.
"If they can carry on working they feel as if their life is not over,” Breedt said. TOURING the Volkswagen factory in Uitenhage to see where body and engine meet to form a Polo Vivo has become a lot more fun thanks to a new vehicle designed to navigate the factory floor with greater ease.
VWSA had investigated the option of getting a transport vehicle to avoid the long walks of previous factory tours, which excluded children under the age of 12 because of the danger of them disappearing into the factory unattended.
And the manufacturer found a designer for their new "FactoryTour” vehicle in their own midst in Cobus Barnard, an employee of VWSA Motorsport.
Following a meeting with one of the potential suppliers of the vehicle, which Barnard sat in on, he asked his managers to give him a bit of time – and access to factory reject parts. Then he put it together with the help of colleague Johnny Allen.
"I realised we could make it a lot better on-site ourselves,” he said. The two did all the work in their spare time. Their managers were especially impressed by the use of recycled components, as this suited the brand’s environmentally friendly marketing strategy.
Interest has now been shown by other VW factories across the world that are looking at new factory vehicles. The three connected cars, each able to carry seven people in comfortable, modified seats, are pulled by a battery-operated tow-motor. They move swiftly in and out of the factory aisles among the robotics, workers and assembly lines.
"We welded it for rally conditions and it took about one month to finish per car,” said Barnard, whose nickname is the Prof.
Factory tours are free of charge and offered four times a day on weekdays from the AutoPavillion, where some of VWSA classic cars are on display.
