Copyright 2009
After matric I together with a whole bunch of KDS boys did our national service at Walvis Bay. I also did 3 border camps the last being in 1979. In those days the SA Army was as war with SWAPO and the SANDF used to call up the regiments that were manned by ex serviceman to maintain a military presence on the Angolan border with South West Africa.
In 1971 I enrolled at Wits to do engineering but did not get very far. I then realized that accountancy was more suitable for me and opted to do a British Accounting qualification that was on offer in Johannesburg through evening classes. I also found out that a British based college offered correspondence courses. I attended the evening classes and also enrolled for the correspondence. I completed the course and became a Chartered Management Accountant and a member of CIMA, the Chartered Institute of Management Accountants. I have practiced my profession in a number of companies over the years most notably SABMiller where I was the cost accountant for 13 years at their malting plant situated on the Alrode Brewery site in Alberton. In 2004 I was offered a transfer to their Caledon plant near Hermanus but could not accept because my wife refused to move to Hermanus as there was no Yiddishkeit. I took retrenchment and battled to find suitable work for a number of years as the employment equity act made it difficult for companies to employ whites. I eventually found a costing position at a company that manufactures crushers and screens for the mining and asphalt industries. I am still there now but hope to get a position at Adcock Ingram in the very near future.
My life has been one of mixed blessings. On the one hand I struggle financially with 4 lovely kids to support. My wife is an Estate Agent and this helps when she sells property but the market is very tough with banks not that keen to lend.
My father moved to West Park in 1998 and my mom moved to Sydney to join my two sisters and a brother. South Africa is definitely going south and I am very concerned about my kid?s future here.
I go to Shul almost every morning to put on Teffillin I feel I need Hashem?s blessings. I also used to jog but now go for an hour?s walk sometimes before going to Shul, this means getting up at 4a.m. I put in a full day everyday and am still in excellent health, except that I need a cornea implant in my left eye as it is no longer possible for me to see using either glasses or contact lenses.
I am amazed at what some of you people have done with your lives. You could write a book and here I am struggling to write a page or two. I guess I was blessed in family and health rather than in my career. G-d bless all of you.
Leslie Singer