Jorinde’s search for her beloved Daphney

To many families across our community a domestic worker is not just a person who tends the house – they become a special member of the family whose bond is indispensable.

Dutch-born Jorinde Sorée (46) is in search of the woman she would grow to realise was of great importance to her. In 1971 Sorée along with her parents, older two brothers and a sister moved from Holland to South Africa after her father, Hay, found a job here.

For the next two and half years, the family lived in the Randburg area where they were assisted by Daphney Lebethe (née Makgopela). Sorée was only six-months-old at the time. “Daphney came to help my mother Janneke take care of the domestic work and also to help out with us four children.” Of this time, Sorée knows only the stories her family recollects and photos she has been shown.

“Wherever Daphney was, I was too, that’s what the stories and pictures show and tell,” shared Sorée. She only realised much later in her life how important Lebethe’s help was in those first years of her life – not only to her but to her mother as well.

After the family moved back to Holland, they would correspond with Lebethe by letters which spoke of the progress and changes in each of their lives. “That’s when Daphney wrote she got married, she was truly devoted to writing back to my mother, but unfortunately over time they lost contact.”

Sorée hopes to find Lebethe by the time she visits the country from 29 July to 6 August. All the information Sorée has to go on is Lebethe married in 1975 and had a son by the of Philimon, who should now be in his 50’s. Lebethe worked and lived in areas of Blairgowrie and Ferndale.

Do you know of Daphney Lebethe’s whereabouts? Contact Jayne Dold on jaynedoldsa@gmail.com or 062 121 0331.