“I’m a grandson of a refugee,” says patriarch of Backsberg, Michael Back. “C.L Back arrived in Cape Town at the beginning of the last century fleeing persecution in Lithuania. He got on the first boat he could, and only once it set sail did he find out where it was going.”
That image of high seas turmoil seems very far away here in the graceful gardens of Backsberg in the Simondium ward just outside of Paarl. But the past is very much alive in the eyes of Michael, third generation of the farm.
“When he got here my grandfather worked as a dockhand on a reclamation programme around what today is the Waterfront. He was then a bicycle delivery boy, which eventually led to him buying a butcher shop at Paarl’s train station,” continues Michael. “The story goes that one morning someone arrived at the shop and asked if he would be interested in buying a farm. He was. And so he sold up the butcher’s and bought the farm in 1916; and here we all are today.”
Michael’s son, Simon, the fourth generation at the farm has joined us at the oak table. Simon has taken over the running of the farm from his dad.
“It’s very important for the head of the family to handover responsibilities and to show trust to the next generation,” says Michael.
“I’m trying to get through the day without making a single decision,” he says laughing.
“I have lived here all my life. It’s exciting place, nothing static, nothing stationary. We change and move every day.”
Michael is famous for challenging conventions.
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