About Us – South Africans In Austin

A Little History About Us

In 2000 we helped establish a formal social club for South Africans living in the Austin area. I (John Els) created this website.  The goal was to provide information about club activities to South Africans in the area. Esmé Els managed the email.

The club existed for about 18 months when it was disbanded due to a lack of interest.

Since then, at my own expense, I continued to operate the website and Esmé continued to manage the email.

Today…

The word about this website has spread over the years as more South Africans moved to the Austin area. Many contacted Esmé by email and were added to our ever-growing email list.

For several years, we arranged two events of our own per year. These events include things like a braai (barbeque) in a local public park, or sometimes a camping weekend. More recently, our friend, Louis Cloete has been organizing “First Saturday” braais each month.

Esmé sends out an email notice about social events to everyone on the email list, and I post the event on the Events page. We also have a Facebook Page and Group where we post event information. Louis Cloete’s “First Saturday” braais are always posted on the Facebook groups.

We also distribute information about other social events organized by other South African groups in Texas, as they get submitted to us.

These South African events are open to anyone. However, please keep in mind that these are social events, and not opportunities for anyone with political ambitions. (Yes, we once had someone who tried to turn an event into an opportunity to make political statements! )

Disclaimer about the Social Events

Even though we arrange social events, we do not accept any responsibility whatsoever for the actions of anybody attending the event. Nor do we accept any responsibility for any injuries of any kind to anyone attending the event.

If you or any member of your family do anything that causes any kind of harm to anyone else at the venue or damages anything at the venue, you are responsible for that. If you or any member of your family get any injury at the event, you are responsible for that.

A word about Racial Issues…

Due to South Africa’s history, some people love to assume that all white South Africans are racists. This is ridiculous and simply not true. It is like saying all Germans hate Jewish people, which is equally ridiculous and untrue.

Every once in a while, people who like to look for racism in everything hurl accusations of racism at this site because they see photos of white people at events.

Also, every once in a while, groups or individuals who promote racial hatred among themselves will try to establish a connection between this website and their despicable activities by spreading our web address around in their emails. We distance ourselves completely from these people.