Koos Kombuis

Koos Kombuis (born André le Roux du Toit, 5 November 1954) is a South African musician, singer, songwriter and writer who became famous as part of a group of anti-establishment maverick Afrikaans musicians, who, under the collective name of Voëlvry (directly translated meaning "Free as a bird"; in Afrikaans "voëlvry" is often potentially "synonymous" to the words "fugitive" and "outlaw"), toured campuses across South Africa in the 1980s, to "liberate Afrikaans from the shackles of its past". Fellow musicians of this movement were Johannes Kerkorrel and Bernoldus Niemand (James Phillips). They were a younger generation of Afrikaners who didn't believe in apartheid and didn't toe the ruling National Party line. This movement coined the term "Alternative Afrikaner" for themselves. Kombuis is something of an icon among certain South Africans who consider him a guru of Afrikaans rock music and father of non-conformist Afrikaans culture.

Humorous stage name

Koos Kombuis is his humorous stage name as well as his pen name. Koos (sounding like "koo-iss") is a shortened version for the common name "Jacobus" / "Jakobus", but is also Afrikaans slang for a chamber pot. Kombuis means "Kitchen" in Afrikaans. His childhood nickname was "Koos", and he got his last name from a time when he apparently squatted in the kitchen of former drug-dealer and author Al Lovejoy.

Du Toit started out as a poet and novelist in the early 1980s writing under the name André Letoit, to avoid confusion with other writers. (and later in Pretoria), where he spent the last year of high school at Paul Roos Gymnasium. After school, Du Toit did his compulsory military service: apparently he was so bad at shooting that he was posted in the fire brigade. But his parents insisted he attend the University of Pretoria instead. He left after two years, never finishing a degree, and moved to Johannesburg where he settled in an apartment in Hillbrow. Here he was involved in a lot of different fringe churches and religious denominations, but got increasingly worried about his own mental health.

He finally went back to his parents in Pretoria and asked to get medical help. After seeing several psychologists and being severely medicated, the decision was taken to give him shock therapy. Du Toit claims that after ten treatments, he suffered amnesia and effectively can't remember the year 1976 to date. After this treatment his parents had him committed to Weskoppies psychiatric hospital in Pretoria (wrongly) diagnosed as having schizophrenia. This was decided after a questionnaire and a single rorschach test . After a year in a psychiatric ward, a psychiatrist realised that he wasn't sick, and he was discharged. He describes this as follows: "Tot my groot ontsteltenis het hy my dadelik ontslaan. Toe moes ek van voor af begin werk soek" ("To my great dismay, he discharged me on the spot. Then I had to start looking for a job all over again.")

At this point he started sending his short stories to Afrikaans weekly Huisgenoot, and spent the next few years as a freelance writer, publishing several novellas, volumes of poetry and short stories. His first (semi-autobiographical) novel Somer II ("Summer II") appeared in 1985. His next autobiography, Seks & Drugs & Boeremusiek: die memoires van 'n volksverraaier ("Sex, drugs and Boere (folk) musiek: the memoires of a national traitor") appeared in 2000. In this book he corrected many of the more far-fetched claims he made in Somer II.

Musical style

He cites Bob Dylan, Neil Young as well as ex-Beatles George Harrison and John Lennon as musical influences. His musical style is raw, and Kombuis often accompanies himself only with his acoustic guitar, but sometimes uses his backing rock band known as "Die Warmblankes" ("The Almost Drunk / Mellow Whites"), a play on the Afrikaans word 'armblankes' (poor whites). One of his most popular hits is "Lisa se Klavier" ("Lisa's Piano"), which has been covered by Laurika Rauch and The Parlotones.

Discography

Ver van die Ou Kalahari (1987) (as André Letoit) Niemandsland and Beyond (1990) Elke Boemelaar se Droom (1994) Madiba Bay (1997) Blameer dit op Apartheid (1997) Mona Lisa (1999) Greatest Hits (2000) Blou Kombuis (2000, live with Albert Frost) Equilibrium (2002) 'n Jaar in die Son (2003) Bloedrivier (2008) Koos Kombuis (2009, self-titled) dertien (2012) Lente in die Boland (2013) Langpad na Lekkersing (2017) Nag Van Die Honde (2023)

Writings

Brekfis met vier (1981) (as André le Roux du Toit with Etienne van Heerden, Peter Snyders and Daniel Hugo) Suburbia (1982) (as André le Roux du Toit, met reissue as Koos Kombuis) Nou's die Kaap weer Hollands (1982) (as André le Roux du Toit) My nooi is in 'n tikmasjien (1984) (as André le Roux du Toit) Kleingeld vir 'n terreurdaad (1984) (as André le Roux du Toit) Somer II: 'n plakboek (1985) (as André le Roux du Toit, with reissue as Koos Kombuis) Die geel kafee (1985) (as André le Roux du Toit, with reissue as Koos Kombuis) 'n Roos vir die Karoomeisie (1987) (as André le Roux du Toit) Suidpunt-jazz (1988) (as André le Roux du Toit, with reissue as Koos Kombuis) Paradise redecorated (1990) (as Koos Kombuis) Die tweede reën (1998) (as Koos Kombuis) Koos se songs (1998) (as Koos Kombuis) Seks & drugs & boeremusiek: die memoires van 'n volksverraaier (2000) (as Koos Kombuis) My mamma is 'n taal (2001) (as Koos Kombuis) Hotel Atlantis (2002) (as Koos Kombuis) The secret diary of God: (aged 9 1/2 million trillion years) (2003) (as Koos Kombuis) Afrikaans my darling (2003) (as Koos Kombuis) Raka, die roman (2005) (as Koos Kombuis) Die dieper dors: 'n innerlike gesprek (2006) (as Koos Kombuis) The complete secret diaries of God (2008) (as Koos Kombuis) Die tyd van die kombi's: 'n persoonlike blik op die Afrikaanse rock-rebellie (2009) (as Koos Kombuis) Short drive to freedom: a personal perspective on the Afrikaans rock rebellion (2009) (as Koos Kombuis) Die reuk van koffie (2010) (as Koos Kombuis) i-Tjieng: 'n GPS vir verdwaalde siele (2013) (as Koos Kombuis) Ver in die wêreld, sushi! (2015) (as Koos Kombuis) Blasjan en die Blou Kitaar (2018) (as Koos Kombuis) Vandag wil ek my blou skoene dra (2018) (as Koos Kombuis) Eben: die ellendige eenhoring (2019) (as Koos Kombuis) Hubert the Useless Unicorn (2019) (as Joe Kitchen) Help! My dorp hou 'n kunstefees!: 'n crazy komedie (2021) (as Koos Kombuis) Deur die tonnel van twyfel op soek na waardes in 'n donker eeu (2023) (as Koos Kombuis) Twitter dawn (2023) (as Joe Kitchen) It's Always Friday Somewhere in the Universe (2023) (as Joe Kitchen) The Death of History: An Eyewitness Account (2024) (as Koos Kombuis)