Kappie Botha

(b. Rawsonville, 22/05/1917 – d. George, 13/05/1997). Director, producer, cinematographer. Kappie Botha was originally a tailor in Worcester and after he married Euodia Kritzinger the couple moved to Paarl. He always had a great interest in photography and also began to experiment with motion pictures. His first film was an advertising short for Anton Rupert’s Rembrandt Group. When he joined the Christelike Afrikaanse Radio en Film Organisasie (CARFO), the organisation had been concentrating on making shorts and relied almost entirely on donations. Botha felt that if they started making very low-budget features with a Christian message, it could become a self-sustaining business. Based on a book by Ds. Norval Geldenhuys and a screenplay by Botha’s wife, Odie, they commenced production with Ek Sal Opstaan (1959). This was eventually followed by Kyk na die Sterre (1960), Die Hele Dorp Weet (1961), Bennie-Boet (1967), Twee Broeders Ry Saam (1968), Hulda Versteegh MD (1970) and K9 Baaspatrolliehond (1972). He also produced and was responsible for the photography of Gee My Jou Hand (1963) and Die Voortreflike Familie Smit (1965), both directed by Tim Spring. Most of these films were taken throughout the country on 16mm, showing in schools, church halls and the like. He and his wife, who wrote the screenplays for at least five of the CARFO films, retired to Wilderness on the Cape South Coast, where he died shortly before his 80th birthday. (FO)