Durban definition of a "van"

FiestaST

FiestaST

Honorary Master
Joined
Aug 9, 2009
Messages
221,690
Reaction score
104,245
Location
CPT~ /\\/¯¯¯\\/\\ ~ZA
As per the title. Is the definition of a "van" just much broader in Durban than the rest of the country?

All the houses & people I've interacted with in Durban over the past 7 years or so refer to a bakkie (D/C or S/C) as a "van". Some of them even refer to their SUV's (think X5) as a "van".

Is it a culture or tribal thing

Anyone from Durban here that has a bakkie or SUV that you refer to as a "van"?
 
:crylaugh: All the people i know that have bakkies refer to them as bakkies and a combie type vehicle as a van , SUV as a suv .
Mixing with the wrong people , may be faulty :crylaugh:
 
In Durban a "van" can refer to anything from a small bakkie, SUV to a taxi....:crylaugh:
 
van is normally some form of panel van but could be anything: venter , old volksie , etc.
 
thechamp said:
All I wish for is that we never fall into the habit of calling our bakkies trucks.
Click to expand...

Yeah you can't go calling a np200 a truck but those other huge Ford's (F350 I think ) are most definitely " truck's "
 
I'm not from Durban.

But we grew up calling it a van. I still call it a van in informal conversations.

The name may have come from "pickup van".
 
Last edited:
If from the Blue Lagoon it'd be called a Schnitzel Van, low profile tyres. Glowing ufo type lights, no exhaust pipe, belly scraping the road. A wing on the roof big enough to fit on a jumbo jet. Hooooo haaaaaa.
 
The word ‘bakkie’ is not so common amongst black people, especially rural and ‘SUV’ simply doesn’t exist.
Van= SC/DC bakkies
4x4= SC/DC bakkies with raised bodies and any SUV
 
FiestaST said:
As per the title. Is the definition of a "van" just much broader in Durban than the rest of the country?

All the houses & people I've interacted with in Durban over the past 7 years or so refer to a bakkie (D/C or S/C) as a "van". Some of them even refer to their SUV's (think X5) as a "van".

Is it a culture or tribal thing

Anyone from Durban here that has a bakkie or SUV that you refer to as a "van"?
Click to expand...

not Indian so ive never refered to bakkies / suvs as "vans" :D
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top
Sign up to the MyBroadband newsletter
X