They may be 75 years old, but identical East London twins Betsie and Adrie Stiglingh still wear matching outfits – just like they did when they were little girls growing up in Gauteng.
The Stiglingh sisters – or Stiggies as they were once known by people who could not tell them apart – have always lived together, and their twilight years living in Kennersley Park are no different.
The sisters, who both taught high school maths for 34 years in Gauteng, wake up in their identical twin beds in the same room every morning and eat the same breakfast at their dining table for two, before deciding on matching slacks and blouses for the day.
Then they settle down to knit blankets which are donated to St Bernard’s Hospice or take a daily 3km walk down Bonza Bay, road where they have become a familiar sight.
Astounded passers-by sometimes stop to remark on their likeness.
“When we tell them we have one house, one car and one cellphone they can’t believe we share the same phone,” laughed Betsie, who is a smidgeon taller than her sister.
When they were little girls their mother sewed them identical dresses or employed a seamstress to create twin ensembles.
“If our mom could not find exactly the same clothes and bought things that were even a little different, we refused to wear them,” she said.
Although it is hard to tell, the twins have since relaxed their insistence on donning precisely the same garments and are prepared to differ slightly in the hues of their tops or jerseys.
“But they are always the same style.”
When the sisters are not knitting, walking or making dinner, they like to watch TV – as long as its not soapies or love stories.
“We like 50/50 and documentaries,” said Adrie, whose rheumatism has stopped her producing the framed embroidered pieces that line the walls of the neat lounge with its dusty pink ball and claw suite inherited from their mother.
“We lived with and cared for our mother until she died in 1997. We were a very close family and Betsie and I have never been party people. We didn’t even go to our matric dance. We never married. The right man never came,” said Betsie.
The sisters moved to East London in 2000. “We used to come to Gonubie on family holidays,” they said.
As they were posing for photos outside their two-bedroomed facebrick cottage, the complex’s maintenance manager called out a friendly greeting.
“Hello Tweedledum and Tweedledee!” — barbarah@dispatch.co.za
Inseparable twins share all things equally
The Stiglingh sisters – or Stiggies as they were once known by people who could not tell them apart – have always lived together, and their twilight years living in Kennersley Park are no different.
The sisters, who both taught high school maths for 34 years in Gauteng, wake up in their identical twin beds in the same room every morning and eat the same breakfast at their dining table for two, before deciding on matching slacks and blouses for the day.
Then they settle down to knit blankets which are donated to St Bernard’s Hospice or take a daily 3km walk down Bonza Bay, road where they have become a familiar sight.
Astounded passers-by sometimes stop to remark on their likeness.
“When we tell them we have one house, one car and one cellphone they can’t believe we share the same phone,” laughed Betsie, who is a smidgeon taller than her sister.
When they were little girls their mother sewed them identical dresses or employed a seamstress to create twin ensembles.
“If our mom could not find exactly the same clothes and bought things that were even a little different, we refused to wear them,” she said.
Although it is hard to tell, the twins have since relaxed their insistence on donning precisely the same garments and are prepared to differ slightly in the hues of their tops or jerseys.
“But they are always the same style.”
When the sisters are not knitting, walking or making dinner, they like to watch TV – as long as its not soapies or love stories.
“We like 50/50 and documentaries,” said Adrie, whose rheumatism has stopped her producing the framed embroidered pieces that line the walls of the neat lounge with its dusty pink ball and claw suite inherited from their mother.
“We lived with and cared for our mother until she died in 1997. We were a very close family and Betsie and I have never been party people. We didn’t even go to our matric dance. We never married. The right man never came,” said Betsie.
The sisters moved to East London in 2000. “We used to come to Gonubie on family holidays,” they said.
As they were posing for photos outside their two-bedroomed facebrick cottage, the complex’s maintenance manager called out a friendly greeting.
“Hello Tweedledum and Tweedledee!” — barbarah@dispatch.co.za
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