ONE OF PMC AND MOTORSPORT’S BIG ONES PASSED AWAY
author: Leon Botha
Even though we expected the worst and although fighter that he was, Alton Berns showed signs of recovery last week, the old Big One lost the fight last night.
He will be remembered for many things as you will see below, but I need to pay my own personal tribute to one of the people who played a big role in my motorsport career.
At the start of my career I watched him and the other “Indunas” from a distance and if you did not know Alton – believe me you did not dare come close! He looked a bit like someone who would bite and sometimes he did have a bit of a sting in the tail.
As time went by and I worked my way up the importance ladder, I spoke to him quite often about the sport – but those days Pretoria Motor Club was the sport! All he cared for really was the Total Rally and PMC. When he did not have an answer to a problem people caused, he would simply say:“F&*% them they are C&+%s” anyway!
He was and will forever remain a character in our the eyes of the Baby Boomer generation as he contributed much more than he ever got recognition for. He was a man of few words most of the time and did not care too much for interference or even help – either you were on his side and worked with him or you fell under his definition of problem persons as mentioned above.
I did not see Alton more than about three times over the past 12 odd years and we spoke over the phone only once or twice – but I don’t think a month passed without me thinking off him or someone mentioned his name.
Last time I spoke to him he gave me a bit of his mind as to what he thought of the current motorsport situation and if he had his way PMC would have taken over the lot!
Not a bad idea if you ask me?
The funniest thing I ever heard was when I organised the Wesbank sponsorship for a rally and at the prize-giving where every competitor were present (strange – these days you pray to see the winners at these functions) - a competitor thanked Alton for organising the sponsorship and by golly he accepted the thanks without missing a beat. Naturally I was upset – I worked bloody hard to get them on board and I stood there with my hang lip sulking away!
A bit later Alton walked past me – stopped and said “by the way – they say thanks for organising the sponsorship!” and he walked off as if nothing happened. Later on I saw the Berns humour in it and knew that he knew I would be peed off!
Years later I realised that motorsport was filled with people who did not care what you did for the sport, all they worried about were to get things the way they liked it, or so they could benefit.
Behind the scenes he did his best to promote me – that is if I did not do something wrong that upset him – and he motivated me often which helped to keep me going while I struggled to keep the sponsored world champions around me at bay.
One day – after doing very well in the Castrol Rally I asked him why he, as a respected journalist and chairman of PMC did not do more to get the club members some sponsors? Unfortunately he had a run in with another member of the media and it was not a good time to ask him anything – let alone blame him for the lack of sponsors! “Listen here you little shit,” he said, “if you were so bloody wonderful why don’t you go and get your own forking sponsors?”
That was Alton – straight shooter down the line – and not many things or people impressed him!
Rest in peace my old friend – it was such a great experience to share some time with you, to have a laugh, to plan and work together and also be part of your great time called “Life”.
TRIBUTE BY ANDRIES VAN DER WALT:
It is with great sadness that I have read that Alton Berns have passed away.
I got to know Alton when I started my career at TOTAL. We had good times together. His dry wit was something to appreciate and he was never shy to assist one.
1987 was a great year for us. We celebrated 30 years of co-operation between TOTAL and the PMC with a special commemorative rally that started in Pretoria and finished at Aan de Vliet. We ran impossible regularity stages. The owner of Aan de Vliet was somewhat right wing and it took some convincing to get him to allow non-white people into the resort. Prior to the event we pasted TOTAL stickers over all the signs saying “Whites only”.
The prize giving was something else as we got Mike Cummins his Afrikaans alter ego, whose name escapes me right now, to do the prize giving the way they used to do it on the TOTAL.
The important part of the event was that it laid the foundation to get TOTAL back into national rallying.
His knowledge of the early years of rallying and his photographs was astonishing.
“Bernsie” as some of us used to call him was a rock in rallying and one wonders what his reaction would have been about today’s situation.
We will miss him. I will miss him.
ABOUT THE MAN:
Alton Berns, pioneering motor rally photographer over five decades and a stalwart founding member and long time chairman of the Pretoria Motor Club, passed away in Gonubie near East London last night. He was 76.
Alton was a Fellow of the SA Guild of Motoring Journalists and played an important role in its formation during a South African Grand Prix in East London in January 1961. He served on the SAGMJ committee on numerous occasions and for a long period as its treasurer.
Alton worked as a photo journalist with the Rand Daily Mail for 23 years and then established a photographic business in Pretoria from 1978.
He led the Pretoria Motor Club through interesting and innovative times in its early history. Apart from being a founding member in 1952 he once served as its chairman for 10 consecutive years. Together with the late Sy Symons he approached Total South Africa in 1957 to sponsor the PMC’s Lourenco Marques Rally, which later became the Total Rally with international status for nearly four decades. He initiated and then ran the Total Rally Press Room which pioneered the issuing of event information for national rallies at that time.
Alton, who leaves Angie (his partner for 14 years) and daughters Sandy and Brenda, had undergone surgery to rectify a hernia three weeks ago. Complications followed and he returned to hospital to be admitted to ICU where he remained until he died last night.
You will be informed of the funeral arrangements once they are finalised.
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