Get to know: Rene van Niekerk
From concert hopping in Europe to coming home with aims to make a difference, Rene van Niekerk tells us about himself.
Travelling and visiting unusual places is something Rene van Niekerk has a love for.
From these curious travels he experiences life from a different perspective with his partner by his side. One such adventure, they see the band, Dead Can Dance in an open arena that overlooked the city of Istanbul. On a separate trip, they could have been seen dancing to a Depeche Mode concert in Krakow Poland. Thereafter they head to an afterparty held in the parking lot of an old building that overlooked the sea. “As the sun came up you saw the snow on a beach that had black swans,” he described.
Since Covid-19 however, they’ve done little in the way of travelling, but that just gives him more time to spend doing his other hobby, gardening. A lover of old English gardens, he loves filling his garden with old English flowers, “I am aware that indigenous plants are the way to go but it is so difficult to part ways with the old English flowers,” he said.
Though he may have great green fingers, he doesn’t think he has any secret talents. Rather he sees himself as being stubborn a trait he attributes to his star sign, Virgo. Van Niekerk goes on to describe himself as being like a stubborn bulldog who won’t let go of any cause in believes in.
The Rossmore resident thinks that at this stage, he has achieved most of the goals he had set out for himself, “My partner and I still want to travel the States in a camper van and another goal is to have more spare time to do things close to my heart like working with charity organisations and maybe get involved with the rehabilitation of wild animals.”
A passion for his community fuels him as one of the courageous things he has done was take on big developers and town planners with the assistance of the community. Another courageous feat for him was leaving the country for Europe after his studies with just a backpack and enough money to survive abroad for about two weeks, “Ended up staying in Europe for over a year. Very strange things I had to do to earn a living like being in a German clinic that tested new medicine before it went public. They did pay very well.”
With every thrill however, comes challenges and one inevitable one are deaths of those close to us like family members, close friends and beloved pets. When his cross Jack Russel and Dachshund died after 18 years it took him a very long time to get over the loss.
Van Niekerk at least has the pleasure of easing such challenges away through the enjoyment of taking part in community activities. As his neighbourhood spills into Brixton, he finds there is always something to do in his community. Here he loves the diversity of these communities as it is one he sees as caring and always willing to help in times of crisis.
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