History of Paarl Families (Part 2)

Two sons, Solly, Ebrahim and daughter, Yasmina are still resident in Paarl. Boeta
Achmad married Aunty Abaashia and most of their children are resident in Paarl. Yusie
married Asie Richards and there are children resident in Paarl. Moosa married Fadiela
Dollie and their children are resident in Paarl. Ayesha married the late Yusuf Rhoda and
their most of their offspring are also in Paarl.
Patel Family
Perhaps it is time for me to refer to my own family. My father, Mohamed Patel,
immigrated from India at the beginning of the 20 th century, because of British oppression
in his mother country. He was the youngest son of Mahmoud. Some of his brothers
adopted the surname of Wadee, while he arrived here under the adopted surname of
Patel.
According to the information that I gained, my great-grandfather, Ishaaq, was a
Persian, who emigrated to India and he went to settle in the village of Iklera, in the district
of Soorah, in the province of Gujjeraat. The family resided there for centuries. My
grandfather, Mahmoud’s offspring were Ahmed, Yusuf (Essop), Ismail, Mohamed, a
daughter, Rasoul, and another daughter Mariam.
Three of the brothers, Essop, Ismail and Mohamed travelled via cargo boat to South
Africa. However, Essop returned to India. Ismail, who later became blind, remained in
Johannesburg, while our father, Mohamed settled at the Cape. The eldest brother,
Ahmed, never came to South Africa, but two of his sons, Mahmoud and Sulaiman
Wadee, immigrated to South Africa and settled in Johannesburg. The one sister,
Mariam, also moved to South Africa and married a person by the surname of
Chasmawallah in Johannesburg. Their offspring, one a Moulana Mohammed, are still
resident in Gauteng.
My father had very humble beginnings at the Cape. He was only 19-years-old when he
arrived here. He started trading with fruit by pushing a barrow to the market. Later he
obtained a horse and cart and went to nearby farms in the Boland area to purchase fruit
and vegetables, which he transported to Cape Town. He married his first wife in 1906.
She was a girl of mixed descent, with the surname of Hofmeester, who embraced Islam.
In the next ten years she gave birth to 6 children, before she passed away in the 1918 flu
pendemic.
The six children were Ebrahim (born in 1908), Mahmoud (1910) Essop (1912), Gadija
and Gouwa (twins born 1915) and Fatima (1917). The twin Gouwa passed away at the
age of two. Thus, my father was a widower with five young children, the eldest only ten
and the youngest one year old. He soon married a wife from Worcester, but
unfortunately she could not cope with the children and they separated again. In 1921 he
married my mother, Ayesha, born in Tulbagh and also a revert to Islam. To be nearer to
the farms, they moved around in the Boland area. He obtained a light truck on which he
could load his fruit and vegetables and transport them to the Cape Town market. Then
he would load fish, especially snoek at the harbour, and traded with the fish in the
country area.
My mother had five step children to care for as well as her own, which started arriving
from 1923, when my brother, Achmad, was born. In 1925, my sister Zaynab arrived. One
year later, another sister, Kulsom, was born. Then almost every second year there was a
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