The Kemp parents were Mogammad Amien Kemp and Amina (Sis Ana) Barendse Kemp. Amina Barendse Kemp was from Kenwyn (Sjambokland), where her parents had shops and a farm. Amina’s oldest daughter, Mariam was reared by her parents. Amina’s mother, Jamila Galant was from Draper Street in Claremont, she was the sister of Manoor Galant (Aap). The Barendse family were very close with Imam Haron’s family as his family also had property in Sjambokland. Mog Amien Kemp was from Salt River. Amien and Amina lived in Burns Road in Salt River when they first married and their first child was born in Salt River. They moved to Claremont when Amina was pregnant with the twins, Gairoe and Leiga. They lived with Amina’s aunt in Mosque lane until the twins were two years old and then moved to York Street. When the twins had their christening in Claremont Main Road Mosque, they were carried on trays into the masjied through the back door. When they lived in Mosque lane, they lived next to Barkie Abderouf, his daughter’s name was Soda and his son, Faeez. 

The Kemps moved to 18 York Street when the twins were 2yrs old. When the twins were 11yrs old, Amien’s second wife, Rola moved in. Rola was like a younger sister to Amina, Rola had a wonderful character. The Kemp children were Mariam, Liega & Gairoe(twins) b.1940, Manie, Biera, Osman, Rollah, Aysa, Gawa, Shaheeda, Bahia, Fatima (Fata) b.1947. The children all attended Tafala Primary and madrassa with Sissie in Harvey Road. Both wives and children lived without squabbling and the children were raised so that you could never tell that they had different mothers. 

Fatima remembers that her siblings never fought but her brother, Manie got a good hiding from the neighbour’s son, Yusuf Mustapha (Boetie). The neighbours were all like family and they all helped each other. Amina worked very hard to support her family. If Amina and Amien were still at work, the neighbour at 12 York Road, Fatima Mustapha would either invite the children to eat at her house or she would send over a bowl of food. It would be no different than the food she was feeding her own family. Fatima Mustapha would look after them and on Sundays she would take them and her children to Kirstenbosch gardens or Claremont Gardens, they would walk from Claremont and back. Fatima Kemp would steal the flowers and fruit from the trees growing on the white people’s properties. She was told that one day the police would pick her up for stealing and then the police stopped and picked them all up and they dropped them at the police station. The police didn’t want them were the whites were living and gave them a lift home. The Kemp children were friends with Fatima Mustapha’s children. Beira Kemp was Gabiba Mustapha’s friend, they would get into trouble together and both get hidings. Gabiba’s sister, Aysa and Beira’s sister, Fatima was also in their circle of friends. Beira remembers how they would cycle to Athlone to meet Gabiba’s boyfriend, Achmat, who she eventually married. If they were in trouble, Beira and Gabiba would go visit Gabiba’s cousins in Athlone. Rollah Kemp was friends with Salegga Mustapha and Salegga’s cousin, Faiza Gabriels. They played in the street with skipping ropes and would play with marbles next to the electricity sub-station. Gairoe Kemp was friends with Gadija Mustapha and Yusuf Mustapha. Gairoe remembers Mog Rashaad Mustapha as a serious man, if he was playing “dums” draughts on the stoep with others, the children would have to walk past quietly. 

The neighbours: Helen whose father was black and mother a Boer, Eric, Aysatjie Bless, Aunty Maroefa, Mr Reid was a Livingstone High teacher and he was close to Mr Forbes, Mrs Henkel, Mrs Arendse with her cats, Mrs Campbell with her dog and Mrs April. Imam Amien (Bonds) daughters were always glamorous and stylish, especially Mariam and Asma, even when Asma was older, her shoes, scarf and lipstick always matched. Mr Dudley was a teacher at Livingstone High, tragedy struck their family, their beautiful daughter Nerine just qualified as a medical doctor and died on the way to Kimberley Hospital in a car accident. Mrs Arendse was the caretaker at the DRC school. On Sunday the black people who previously lived in the area would come to church. The Wolhurters lived on the corner, they had many daughters and the brothers were Clive and Neville. Neville was Beira Kemp’s friend. In 2nd Ave, lived Mariam ”Malam” Kamalie, she was Gairoe’s best friend, they went everywhere together, Mariam had to move to Hanover Park. Naziyah’s mother, Aunty Deeya Isaacs died at age 37yrs, so the neighbours all helped to look after the children. There was the Russouws, van Niekerk, Swains. Fatima Kemp was friends with Jessica Van Niekerk, Eleanor Wessels and Laney Swain.

There were a few Chinese shopkeepers in Claremont. The Blacks were moved out of Claremont in the 1950’s to areas such as Langa and Nyanga but they returned on Sundays to their church to worship. Apartheid made them fear blacks, they were so scared of them. All blacks were seen as murderers. Gairoe remembers that she was working at Merry-go-round, a factory in Lansdowne and she felt so sick, so the foreman offered to drop her close to her home. She was so scared because that day the blacks were on strike and if they caught her they would hit her until she bled. She ran all the way home completely panicked by false fear. At the same time her twin, Liega who worked as a presser at Fletcher’s & Cartwright starting coughing blood, she was diagnosed with TB. The twins always felt each other’s illness. 

When Gairoe was 19yrs old, her mother bought a house and moved to Denver Road with her children but their stepmother remained in 18 York Street. The Kemp children would walk back to York Road on a weekend. If they came home early they would sleep over with their stepmother, if it was past midnight they walked home and it was perfectly safe. If they came home after midnight, their stepmother would tell their father and they would get a hiding. 

The culture is very different today as it was in Claremont, the Christians and the Muslims were very close. If the Christian neighbour asked you to go to the Christian butcher you went, you wanted the shilling payment, the neighbour would write the grocery list on a piece of paper. The people had respect for each other whether Christian or Muslim. On Labarang, there was an exchange of each household’s best bake, so every neighbour would make a few of their best bake and each neighbour would have a variety of the best. It was a beautiful life in Claremont, one woman’s pot of food would be shared with other households, that would not happen today.