I really like the voice of this South African artist: Helena Hettema. She sings the song about her uncle on a farm in ‘Africa’ – he’s in trouble and can’t uphold his payments with the bank and in his letter, he asks to send Mannetjies Roux his greetings. Mannetjies Roux is a legend in South African rugby. You can see him in the video clips near the bottom of this entry. As a rugby-lover myself, I enjoyed watching these clips and wonder if the Springbok team will ever be the mighty ‘power machine’ they used to be a few years ago. I’d seen quite a few games on Loftus Versfeld and haven’t seen the brilliant rugby from the team after the 1995-team of Francois Pienaar. I hope anyone reading here disagree with me as that will give me some hope. Helena sings the very famous and popular song: Send Mannetjies Roux my greetings.
Greetings to Mannetjies Roux
My uncle’s car is an old machine,
He fills it up with diesoline,
And he sings on the roads when he comes to see me,
My uncle is old and I’m just about thirteen.
My uncle drinks coffee and my auntie tea,
I ask about the rain and he says ‘yes, no!’
And he drinks sweet coffee with one eye closed,
And he talks of the try of Mannetjies Roux.
Oh send us just a little rain,
My uncle has a tankful of diesoline,
And bless my mum and bless my dad,
And my uncle on his farm in Africa!
My uncle struggled on the farm,
Because the sun was too hot and rain was little,
The clerk from the bank just nodded his head,
Because my uncle, yes my uncle, was deep in debt.
Oh send us just a little rain,
My uncle has a tankful of diesoline,
And bless my mum and bless my dad,
And my uncle on his farm in Africa!
And in the morning, if you walk through the fields,
Then, you hear my uncle with his car with its ‘clack, clack clack,’
But my uncle, yes my uncle’s eyes are both now closed,
And in his letter he sends his greetings to Mannetjies Roux.
Oh send us just a little rain,
My uncle has a tankful of diesoline,
And bless my mum and bless my dad,
And my uncle on his farm in Africa!
Mannetjies Roux – the rugby player
A true legend
Mannetjies Roux interview – telling how he heard about this song the first time – very emotional.
Chessalee 