Hercules Jacobus Johannes McCarthy

Mechanic, Mine Foreman, Community Man, and Quiet Servant of Others

Story Introduction:

If I think back about my father, one memory immediately returns.

We are driving somewhere along a quiet road when we notice a stranded motorist standing beside his car with the bonnet open. Without hesitation my father pulls over, climbs out, and begins helping the man. A short while later the problem is solved and we continue on our journey as though nothing unusual had happened.

Only after his death did I truly begin to understand how many people he had quietly helped throughout his lifetime.

• He repaired motorcars without expecting payment.
• He helped families relocate.
• He repaired windmills on farms.
• He assisted elderly people.
• He visited relatives faithfully.
• Wherever he went, he tried to leave things better than he found them.

Looking back now, I believe my father understood something simple but profound: life was not about gaining — it was about giving.

Hercules Jacobus Johannes McCarthy was born on 14 October 1928 on the farm Klipplaasdrift in the Ventersdorp district.

He was the eldest son of Gert Hendrik Rautenbach McCarthy and Elsie Rachel van der Merwe. South Africa during his childhood was changing rapidly. The country was still recovering from the aftermath of the Anglo-Boer War while the mining industry expanded across the Witwatersrand. Thousands of Afrikaner families moved between farms, mining towns, and small rural settlements searching for stability during years marked by drought, economic hardship, and political uncertainty.

Like many families of the period, the McCarthys lived between two worlds:
– the older farming traditions of the western Transvaal,
– and the industrial mining economy growing around Johannesburg and the East Rand.

Hercules was baptised on 27 January 1929 in the Dutch Reformed Church at Ventersdorp.

The family later relocated to Brakpan where he attended President Brand School before continuing his studies through the Johannesburg Technical College. His school certificates reveal a young man already drawn toward practical and mechanical work.

His subjects included:

• Afrikaans
• History
• Accounting
• Geography
• Natural Science
• Art
• Health
• Woodwork
• Metalwork

He became a member of the Dutch Reformed Church at Venterspost on 27 April 1947 at the age of nineteen.

At the time South Africa’s mining and industrial sectors were expanding rapidly after the Second World War. Technical skills became increasingly valuable, and many young Afrikaner men entered apprenticeships linked to the mines and heavy industry. Hercules hoped to become a mechanic, but apprenticeships were difficult to secure.

He initially found work at the main post office in Crosby near Langlaagte in Johannesburg. Eventually he was accepted as an apprentice fitter at Blyvooruitzicht Mine on 21 August 1947. He stayed with his father at 19 First Avenue, Blyvooruitzicht while completing his five-year apprenticeship. Those years laid the foundation for the rest of his life.

He completed first aid training in 1948 and gradually developed into an exceptionally skilled mechanic and fitter. Family members later remembered him as a man capable of solving almost any mechanical problem, no matter how complicated. After qualifying as a fitter in 1952, Hercules worked underground at Blyvooruitzicht Mine before later being transferred to surface operations.

Around this period another important chapter of his life began.

While visiting relatives near Groot Marico — his uncle Piet McCarthy and aunt Lenie — his motorcycle broke down close to the farm of the van Staden family. The van Stadens assisted him. It was there that he met his future wife, Elizabeth Johanna Maria van Staden.

Harry and Elize

Sometimes family history changes direction through the smallest accidents.

Before marrying, Hercules travelled through Europe for nearly a year specialising in diesel mechanics. Travelling by ship, he visited several European countries during a period when Europe itself was still rebuilding after the devastation of the Second World War.

For a young South African mechanic from the western Transvaal, it must have been an extraordinary experience.

Harry travelling overseas

On 28 April 1956 Hercules Jacobus Johannes McCarthy married Elizabeth Johanna Maria van Staden in Groot Marico. They travelled to the South Coast on a motorcycle for their honeymoon.

In 1958 Hercules resigned from Blyvooruitzicht Mine and entered into a business venture with his brother-in-law Jan Antoon Swaters in Makwassie, where they established a service station. Those were years of optimism in many rural South African towns. Expanding road networks, increasing motor traffic, and agricultural development created new opportunities for small businesses in places such as Makwassie. Family memories from this period remain vivid.

For a time the family stayed in the town hotel after arriving in Makwassie. I still remember the excitement of meeting travelers and visitors passing through the small town. One memory that stayed with me was a group of Japanese visitors whose politeness made a deep impression on me as a child.

Later we rented a house with a large galvanised water dam before my father and his brother-in-law eventually built their own homes in Makwassie. We were immensely proud of that first house. 

My father remained deeply curious throughout his life.

Among his papers I later discovered:

• voter registration forms
• sales course certificates
• church documents
• engineering records
• political meeting minutes
• trailer licenses
• and technical papers connected to projects he constantly pursued.

He loved ideas and practical problem-solving. Unlike many people, he rarely read novels or fiction. Instead he preferred encyclopedias, technical manuals, and anything that expanded his understanding of how things worked. Eventually worsening drought conditions and economic pressure forced him to leave the Makwassie business venture.

In 1966 he joined Western Deep Levels Mine near Carletonville. South Africa during the 1960s and 1970s experienced major industrial growth driven largely by the mining industry. Gold mines expanded deeper underground while towns such as Carletonville grew rapidly around the mines. Hercules worked at the Number Two Gold Plant before eventually becoming a foreman fitter at the uranium plant.

He remained a remarkably dedicated employee. Records show that he completed additional first aid training in 1970 and continued working for Western Deep Levels for twenty-five years without missing a single day of work.

That kind of discipline defined him completely. He was also deeply involved in community and church life.

For many years he served as an elder in the Afrikaans Reformed Church and became closely involved in local cultural and political activities. He admired Dominee Mulder greatly and remained loyal to the church throughout his life.

He also joined the Rapportryers cultural organisation in 1977 and became active within local National Party structures in the Losberg district.

Looking back through old family documents years later, I discovered meeting minutes where my father served as chairman of the local branch.

My mother faithfully supported him throughout all these activities. Family holidays also became important memories.

We often travelled to Durban and stayed at the Four Seasons Hotel. I still remember the friendly waiters serving ice cream with coconut toppings — details that somehow remained fixed in childhood memory.

 Author and his parents at Four Seasons Hotel Durban

Despite his strict work ethic, my father deeply loved his family.

Saturday routines became almost sacred:
– working in the garden,
– washing the cars,
– attending to the dogs,
– and finally sitting together later in the afternoon sharing two beers.

He was also a devoted grandfather. My children knew there would always be chocolates hidden in the fridge when they visited.

One of my strongest memories was seeing tears in his eyes when my eldest son was baptised and named after him. It was one of the proudest moments of his life. In later years my mother became seriously ill and remained sick for almost a decade.

My father cared for her tirelessly without complaint. Only afterwards did I realise how extraordinary his patience and devotion truly were.

Even after retirement in March 1992 he refused to sit still. He continued performing mechanical installations on contract work for my father-in-law Michael van den Berg.

I can still picture his small Mazda bakkie packed to the brim with tools and equipment. He loved work.
He loved helping people. He loved being useful.

Fishing, however, he regarded as a complete waste of time. He could never understand why I loved it so much.

On 27 December 1995 the family received the shocking news that my father had died suddenly of a heart attack in Lichtenburg.

He was sixty-seven years old. We buried him in Carletonville.

My mother died only two months later. Looking back now, I do not think she could truly live without him.

Today, through certificates, photographs, work records, family memories, church documents, and the countless lives he quietly touched, the story of Hercules Jacobus Johannes McCarthy still survives — a practical man, a gifted mechanic, a devoted family man, and someone who believed that the true purpose of life was not what one gained, but what one gave to others.

Year	Event
21 Jun 1898	Hercules Jacobus McCarthy’s grandparents married in Lindley
14 Apr 1907	Gert Hendrik Rautenbach McCarthy, Hercules’s father, born
11 Oct 1906	Elsie Rachel van der Merwe, Hercules’s mother, born near Wolmaranstad
26 Jul 1927	Gert Hendrik Rautenbach McCarthy married Elsie Rachel van der Merwe
14 Oct 1928	Hercules Jacobus Johannes McCarthy born at Klipplaasdrift near Ventersdorp
27 Jan 1929	Hercules baptised in the Dutch Reformed Church, Ventersdorp
1929	Family relocated to Brakpan
1947	Hercules received his Standard Seven school certificate
9 Apr 1947	Hercules began apprenticeship at Blyvooruitzicht Mine
27 Apr 1947	Hercules became a member of the Ventersdorp Dutch Reformed Church
11 May 1948	Younger brother Gert Johannes McCarthy born
1952	Hercules qualified as a fitter at Blyvooruitzicht Mine
1953	Hercules issued with a driver’s licence in Fochville
1955	Hercules obtained a motorcycle licence
c.1955	Hercules met Elizabeth Johanna Maria van Staden near Groot Marico
28 Apr 1956	Hercules married Elizabeth Johanna Maria van Staden in Groot Marico
1956–1957	Hercules travelled through Europe specialising in diesel mechanics
28 Jun 1958	Hercules resigned from Blyvooruitzicht Mine
1958	Hercules relocated to Makwassie to start a business with Jan Antoon Swaters
29 Jul 1966	Hercules joined Western Deep Levels Mine
31 Dec 1973	Hercules reissued with a driver’s licence
1977	Hercules joined the Rapport ryers cultural organisation
16 Apr 1979	Hercules promoted to foreman fitter at the uranium plant
Mar 1992	Hercules retired from Western Deep Levels after 25 years of service
27 Dec 1995	Hercules Jacobus Johannes McCarthy died of a heart attack in Lichtenburg
1995	Hercules buried in Carletonville

Documents & Evidence:

Key records and sources connected to the life of Hercules Jacobus Johannes McCarthy include:

• Dutch Reformed Church baptism and membership records
• School certificates from President Brand School and Johannesburg Technical College
• Apprenticeship records from Blyvooruitzicht Mine
• Mining employment and promotion records from Western Deep Levels
• First aid certificates and training records
• Driver’s licence and motorcycle licence documentation
• Travel and diesel mechanic specialisation records connected to Europe
• Family photographs from Makwassie, Blyvooruitzicht, Fochville, and Carletonville
• Political meeting minutes and National Party branch records
• Rapportryers membership documents
• Oral family history preserved through Hendrik McCarthy and extended family members
• Estate references and death records

Together these records helped reconstruct the life of a man deeply shaped by the mining industry, Afrikaner community life, technical skill, faith, discipline, and an extraordinary willingness to help others

Open Questions:

Despite the large amount of surviving material connected to Hercules Jacobus Johannes McCarthy, several important questions still remain:

• Can passenger or travel records from his European journey still be located?
• Which countries and engineering facilities did he visit while specialising in diesel mechanics?
• Are there surviving photographs from his motorcycle honeymoon journey along the South Coast?
• Can additional documents relating to the Makwassie service station still be found?
• Are there surviving technical drawings, inventions, or mechanical projects created by Hercules?
• Can more information be uncovered regarding his years at Western Deep Levels and the uranium plant?
• Are there surviving church records connected to his years as an elder in the Afrikaans Reformed Church?
• Can the original National Party branch minutes and speeches be digitally preserved?
• Are there extended family members or former colleagues who still preserve stories about the many people he helped during his lifetime?