Not without my dogs: A South African's tale of fleeing Ukraine

By Hilda Van Dyk and Kobus Olivier

Please see blurb long

• Language: English
• Publisher: Tafelberg
• Release date: Jun 1, 2023
• ISBN: 9780624093978

Hilda Van Dyk

Hilda van Dyk started out as a crime reporter at Beeld. She covered numerous big murder cases and court cases over the years. She worked as Huisgenoot's news editor in Gauteng for five years. She stays with her husband and two children in Cullinan, Gauteng. 

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TAFELBERG

For Mario, who inspires me to never give up hope. The past three years he has been fighting his own war.

May there be more good days than bad.

Foreword

I met Kobus in 2019 in Ukraine, after I was appointed its ambassador by the South African government. As a career diplomat, I would also serve as a non-resident ambassador to Armenia, Georgia and Moldova. All four countries shared the burden of ‘frozen conflicts’, and for Ukraine, this would eventually lead to the outbreak of a heated war.

Most of the South Africans in the country at the time had close connections or family ties, like those married to Ukrainians. Kobus was an exception because his tie was to Ukraine – a love for the country itself. When we first met, it became clear quite quickly that we had a lot in common, like the fact that we had both studied in Stellenbosch and we both loved sport – especially rugby and cricket. And, of course, he loved his fur babies. We also had many friends in common. A few times, Kobus popped by the embassy for a ‘quick’ coffee, which generally led to a serious analysis of the current state of affairs in cricket. It was 2019, so there was a lot to discuss, with it being both the Cricket and the Rugby World Cup in the same year. During the latter, I got to know more South Africans at an Irish pub, where my compatriots would go to watch the rugby. I probably never would have met most of them otherwise, since they all led independent lives in their new country and would only have contacted the embassy if a consular or other official need cropped up.

Kobus is often called the cricket nomad, and it’s his nomadic lifestyle that has gifted him the best insight into not only cricket and sport but also life. His outlook is innocent and refreshing, one of the most prominent reasons why schoolchildren and children more generally seek out his company. However, it’s also clear in this book that one shouldn’t underestimate his ability to grasp – and, accordingly, deal with – serious situations. Keeping his circumstances in mind, his planning, timing, responsibilities and limited resources all contributed to him leaving Ukraine on his own terms. Despite him describing this very difficult time to readers in a very digestible way, it’s Kobus’s serious side that permeates this book.

In his life so far, he has tried and tested a few new business ideas, but it was his love of cricket that led to a breakthrough again and again. While using cricket as a vehicle to teach children English, he breathed life into the sport. This led to the founding of the Ukraine Cricket Federation, with Kobus as executive head. For me, as ambassador, it was a wonderful opportunity to shine a light on South Africa through sport. We’ve already made tremendous strides with rugby in Georgia, which will compete in the Currie Cup in 2023. Kobus’s vision for cricket in Ukraine included possible participation in the T20 series and the Olympic Games in the future. These goals were within his reach, since his plans included school participation – a necessity for the growth of the sport. To improve his life even more, Kobus got a job as principal at a private school, where he was happy and could find fulfilment in and through his interests and talent. Ukraine became his home.

All these dreams were shattered on 24 February 2022, when Russia invaded the country. Although Kobus and I spoke regularly, my responsibilities were focused on the well-being of all South Africans in Ukraine. Most with family ties used their own contacts to leave the country, while others needed support with consular problems – expired passports or visas – or access to public transport.

When the war broke out, I promised the South African students I wouldn’t leave the country before they did or before they were safe. As a result, my wife, three children and our two dogs were in Kyiv until 1 March, amid the bombs exploding and gunshots going off in our neighbourhood. Before I left, Kobus and I spoke about his plans, and he explained that he would not be evacuating without his dogs. We discussed different options to help him survive while he was making plans. I specifically remember Kobus asking me, even before the war, that if anything were to happen to him, I would make sure that his dogs found a new home with good people who could care for them as a unit or little family. My wife, Chrisna, took his request to heart, promising to ensure that his wish would be fulfilled.

The day he notified us that he was leaving Kyiv was a huge relief. Only two South Africans were still left in the city and, for private reasons, both refused to leave; they would later make it out of the country unscathed. In the meantime, Kobus made his way through Ukraine. When his driver drove off with his Ukrainian ID, I undertook to write an official letter to explain his situation if he couldn’t get it back. In the end, it wasn’t necessary.

Kobus’s last border issue was on the way to Croatia. What started to make things complicated was that countries were simply overwhelmed by refugees and were struggling to cope with the great demand for help. The further west in the country, the more complicated the process got. South Africans, and others who were not Ukrainian or European citizens, were told to obey the third-country principle and go home immediately. It wasn’t an option for Kobus because he didn’t want to be separated from his dogs. He was used to challenges, though, and – unsurprisingly to me – he overcame them. The Hungarian and Croatian ambassadors in Ukraine moved mountains to get Kobus into Croatia.

In this book, Kobus tells a story of love, human kindness and survival. His determination to protect what he loves is another indescribable example of so many stories that touch our hearts and give us hope in difficult times.

André Groenewald

CHAPTER 1

Ukraine, the country that stole my heart

There was a time in my life when I didn’t even know Ukraine existed, let alone Kyiv. They were a country and a city I had never even heard of – I’d never even read their names anywhere.

But the first time I set foot on Ukrainian soil, I fell in love. With its skyline and golden domes. With its leafy lanes. With its rows and rows of coffee shops. With its people. I know in my heart that Kyiv was meant to cross my path. It’s the city that became my home, the place that fits who I am, and the city that gave me a family, though not in a traditional sense. It’s a family that’s always excited to see me at the end of a long day, even though they’ve been home alone all day. For them, I’m the most important person in the world, and their morning kisses and night-time cuddles with their soft breath in my neck are simply the best. The family I would go through a war with. This was clear to me from the start.

Although I know, now, that I was always meant to be in Kyiv, I actually ended up there by chance. In 2013, I was still happily living in Cape Town. Cricket ruled my life, and I was fortunate enough to make a career out of it, playing club cricket for Western Province and Boland for more than twenty years. In this time I also managed to earn a living by playing club cricket in countries such as England, Scotland and the Netherlands during eleven South African winters. I was well known in South African cricket circles. My roommates were Brett Schultz, former Proteas paceman, and John Dobson, at time of writing the head coach of the Stormers. The likes of former Proteas Daryll Cullinan, Gary Kirsten, Jonty Rhodes, Brian McMillan and Adrian Kuiper, as well as the legendary Springbok winger James Small, were all my friends.

I was also the University of Cape Town’s director of cricket for fourteen years. I then became the head of the Faculty of Technology and Languages at Wynberg Boys’ High School. A year later, I was appointed as the head of sport and physical education at Herzlia Highlands Primary School and Herzlia High School, also in Cape Town.

And then a dream job crossed my path: executive head of Cricket Kenya. It was a tremendous honour and responsibility to be in the top management of a country’s cricket body. It was everything I ever wanted, so I said yes immediately. I would be getting a fat salary, a Lexus with a chauffeur, and a huge double-storey house in a private security complex on a coffee plantation.

I packed my bags and left South Africa in November 2013. Joining me on my new adventure was my wheelchair-bound father, Johannes Jacobus, and my three dogs: Mannetjie, a Scottish terrier; Jack, a Yorkshire terrier; and TV, a small pavement special. Sadly, my mother, Rina, passed away three months before I left. I don’t have any siblings, so I was all my dad had left.

We first went to Kenya, where I spent nine months at Cricket Kenya, before all five of us jetted to Dubai in August 2014. My almost four years there were some of the best times in my life, almost as good as the eleven I spent living in a cottage on the beach in Clifton, Cape Town. In Dubai, I was the director of cricket and a physical-education teacher at the Kings’ School Al Barsha. At the end of the school day, at 5 p.m., I taught cricket at the Gen-Next Kings Cricket Academy, which I founded in Dubai with the Indian spin bowler Ravichandran Ashwin. Ravi already had a similar academy in Chennai, India. He contacted me via one of his friends, the father of one of my students. The friend and I then travelled to India to meet with Ravi to chat about his plans, and on 19 October 2017 Gen-Next opened its doors in Dubai.

My dad, the three dogs and I led a very good life in Dubai. We lived on the fifth floor of Blakely Tower in Park Island, a posh complex in Dubai Marina. The views of the city were incredible