Liewe Heksie

Liewe Heksie ("Liewe" means "Dear" or "Sweet" and "Heksie" means "little witch" - pronounced "lee-vuh heck-see") is a fictional character created in 1961 by Afrikaans children’s books author, Verna Vels. The Liewe Heksie series consisted of a number of books. It was also dramatised on the Afrikaans radio station and made into a popular Afrikaans language television programme from 1981, with marionettes. In both the radio and TV versions, Verna Vels herself provided the (monotonous-sounding!) voice of Liewe Heksie. The television series was directed by well-known children's programme writer and director Louise Smit, who created more than 4000 children's shows for South African television.

tory and Characters

"Liewe Heksie" is a rather incompetent and forgetful witch who lives with her friends the elves in "Blommeland" (“Flower Land”). Her stupidity and lack of magical skill leads to many comic situations in the stories. Her given name is "Lavinia".

Her best friends are the elves "Blommie" (“Little Flower”), her kitten "Matewis" (a common name for a cat in South Africa, possibly originating from this very series) and the sophisticated "Karel Kat" ("Carl Cat"), an anthropomorphic cat who drives a car and owns a helicopter, from the city. Other characters include the magical horse "Griet" (who only appears whenever Liewe Heksie exclaims "Ooo Griet!" or "Oh dear". He has a girl's name, but Heksie claims that all the boys' names were taken by the time she named him), "Koning Rosekrans" (“King Rose Wreath”) who rules "Blommeland". Even though he likes Heksie very much, he gets frustrated with her, but not angry enough to chase her out of "Blommeland". "Kwaaitjie Kabouter" ("Littly Angry Elf"), a bad-tempered elf, and his baby brother "Kwaai Babatjie" ("Angry Little Baby"). He even lets her babysit "Kwaai Babatjie" when he has to deliver messages for the king.

There is also the evil "Geel Heks" (“Yellow Witch”), who with her minions, the "Gifappeltjies" (“Little Poison Apples”), are constantly trying to take over "Blommeland". The two "Gifappeltjies" are also dressed in yellow and orange, and aptly named "Kerrie" ("Curry") and "Borrie" ("Turmeric"), and are menacing-looking elves who call "Liewe Heksie" "die dom heks" (the dumb witch).

"Blommeland" is protected by the "Silwer Roos" (“silver rose”) which is under guard in the palace. On a number of occasions the "Gifappeltjies" and the "Geel Heks" try to steal the "Silwer Roos" to take it to their land ("Gifappeltjieland"). Should they succeed all the other flowers in "Blommeland" would die and the beautiful land of the elves would become dry and barren. However, on each of these occasions Liewe Heksie manages to save the day (albeit accidentally) and is hailed as a heroine!

Sometimes the "Feekoningin" ("Fairy Queen") intervenes, and lets Heksie believe that "she" has done some real magic. Heksie sometimes calls her "Koningin By" (Queen Bee).

Vernacular still in use in South Africa today

Liewe Heksie had a big impact on the way people who grew up watching the TV show, speak. She always gets everyone's names wrong because she's so absent-minded and forgetful. She calles "Koning Rosekrans" "Koning Rosedoring" (King Rose Thorn) or "Koning Rosebaard" (King Rose Beard). She calls "Karel Kat's" helicopter a "meulikopter" and calls the "Geel Heks" "Die Pers Heks" (the purple witch).

She speaks in a very monotonous tone of voice, and doesn't understand "big words" that Blommie and the other "kabouters" (elves) often use. She often says "Haai oe Blommie" (Oh, hey, Blommie) for everything new or interesting she hears. Whenever she does something stupid and the other "kabouters" laugh at her, she gets shy and says "Moenie vir my lag nie" (don't laugh at me). She also says "Ek wil nou nie snaaks wees nie, maar..." (I'm not trying to be funny now, but...) whenever she makes obvious observations.

Another thing she says a lot when she's panicking, is "Oo Griet!" ("Oh Griet" but similar to "oh dear!"). Whenever she says this, her magical horse "Griet" appears and helps her out of the pickle.

Theme Music

Several children's music albums followed the success of the series, and the theme song to the TV show is very well-known and still popular today, especially among the 30-something generation who grew up listening to and watching it.

Opening Lyrics (sung by a choir of children)

: "Hulle noem haar "Liewe Heksie": "maar "Lavinia" is haar naam": "sy kannie eintlik toor nie": "en sy is 'n bietjie skaam"

: "Blommie is haar maatjie": "en Matewis die parmant": "vergeet tog nie vir Karel Kat": "kom kuier in Blommeland"

Closing Lyrics

(sung by a choir of children): "Hier woon "Liewe Heksie": "en so lyk haar huis": "waar al haar vriende saamwoon": "in haar sterretjieskombuis"

(sung by Liewe Heksie herself): "Hulle noem my "Liewe Heksie": "maar "Lavinia" is my naam": "ek's die slimste heksie wat ek ken": "en ek was al op die maan!"

(sung by a choir of children again): "Nou ken ons Liewe Heksie": "en sal haar nooit vergeet": "kom kyk weer na ons storie": "as julle nog wil weet"

English Translation

Opening Lyrics (sung by a choir of children)

: "They call her "Liewe Heksie": "but "Lavinia" is her name": "she can't really do magic": "and she's a little shy"

: "Blommie is her friend": "and Matewis the cheeky": "forget not about Carl Cat": "comes visiting in Flowerland"

Closing Lyrics

(sung by a choir of children): "Here lives "Liewe Heksie": "and this is what her house looks like": "where all her friends live together": "in her star-filled kitchen"

(sung by Liewe Heksie herself): "They call me "Liewe Heksie": "but "Lavinia" is my name": "I'm the smartest little witch that I know": "and I've even been to the moon!"

(sung by a choir of children again): "Now we know Liewe Heksie": "and won't ever forget her": "come watch our story again": "if you want to know more"

Liewe Heksie is the only witch in "Blommeland", therefore she doesn't know any other witches there! She once went to "Gifappeltjieland" (that is dry and arid, and resembles the lunar surface) with the help of "Karel Kat" and his helicopter, and thought mistakenly that she'd gone to the moon!

She has a "sterretjieskombuis" (star-filled kitchen) because the corrugated iron roof covering her kitchen, was blown away by the wind when she rolled the rocks and pumpkins (that kept it down) off it, in order to paint it. The "Feekoningin" helped her by putting in a skylight, so that "Heksie" can see the stars above her kitchen at night.

Liewe Heksie Multimedia

* [http://enterprises.sabc.co.za/SearchResult.aspx?CategoryID=30 SABC Sales Website - Purchase Liewe Heksie DVDs]
* [http://pumamouse.com/TVlieweheksie.mp3 Listen to the Liewe Heksie theme here]