Sad farewell to a true gentleman

Date: 12 March 2017 By: Anton van Zyl

A member of one of the pioneer families in the Soutpansberg, Cyril Mocké (73), passed away last week. He was described as one of the region’s true gentlemen, always ready with a friendly smile and a word of advice for those around him.

Cyril Frederick Mocké was born in 1944 at Elim Hospital. At that stage his parents farmed at Bandur, a farm north of the Soutpansberg mountain, between Mopane and Alldays. His grandfather, Charles Mocké, bought the farm in 1919 when Cyril’s father, Chris Mocké, was only nine years old.

The Mocké family have been a part of the Soutpansberg community for almost 100 years. Cyril’s grandfather, Charles, was a dip inspector, and travelled through the region on horseback to do inspections on farms.  In 1923 he was retrenched, apparently because of his “enlightened” political views, and he took to full-time farming. His son, Chris, later continued with the farming on Bandur.

Interestingly enough the farm was first called “Durban”. It was a registered Post Office and, because the mail always ended up in Natal, the name was changed to Bandur.

Cyril and his three sisters’ early years were spent on Bandur.  In 1949, the family bought a farm in Levubu and Cyril attended primary school there. He was then sent to what is now known as Polokwane to finish his secondary schooling at Capricorn High School.  His father, Chris, became an estate agent, and he and the late Roelf Steyn of Louis Trichardt bought the farm Elandspruit on the Elim Road.

In 1962, Cyril matriculated and went to Johannesburg to work for, among others, Trust Bank and Phil Morkel, the furniture retailer. In 1969 he married the love of his life, Melody. The couple then opted to move back to the Soutpansberg where Cyril initially worked as a recruitment agent for Rustenburg Platinum Mine. He was retrenched in 1971 and then became assistant manager at Sibasa Trading Store in Sibasa, Venda, where they lived for 14 years and he and the late Jannie Crafford started C&M Motors in Sibasa.

Cyril bought Roelf Steyn’s share of the farm and farmed with his dad until his dad’s death in 1983. He farmed with cattle and game until he sold the farm in 2010,  and along with his wife, moved to a house in Louis Trichardt. He continued to work as a representative for Dunham-Bush International, however, selling air-conditioners.

In June 2015, they bought an erf at the retirement village “Die Oog” near Mookgophong.

On the 1^st of April 2016 Cyril was diagnosed with leukaemia and had to undergo treatment and have a few operations. He recovered well under the circumstances. Their house was completed and in September 2016 they moved into their retirement home.

He became ill last weekend and was taken to Pretoria where he was admitted to hospital. He died last Thursday (2^nd of March).

He leaves behind his wife, Melody, their four children, Christian, Brett, Kerryn and Sherryl and nine grandchildren. He also leaves his three sisters, Charlotte, Freda and Julia behind, all of whom currently live in Kwazulu-Natal.

A memorial service will be held on Saturday, 11 March, at the Methodist Church in Munnik Street, Louis Trichardt. The service will start at 12:00.

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Anton van Zyl

Anton van Zyl has been with the Zoutpansberger and Limpopo Mirror since 1990. He graduated from the Rand Afrikaans University (now University of Johannesburg) and obtained a BA Communications degree. He is a founder member of the Association of Independent Publishers.

More photos... 

An interesting photo of Cyril Mocké’s dad, Chris, taken in 1940 on the farm Bandur.