I was born to German parents 1966 in Johannesburg. From Grade 1 until Standard 5 I went to the German School Johannesburg and for high school, from Standard 6 to Standard 10 I went to Blairgowrie High School in Randburg. There was no way around military service at that time, and I did the two years in the SAAF (South African Air Force) from 1985 until 1987.
From 1987 until 1990 I completed a commercial apprenticeship through Bayer AG, Leverkusen in Germany. Thereafter I worked in sales for the dye stuffs division until 1996 when I returned to South Africa. Here I sold ceramics and ceramic installations to mines and power stations. During this time, I met Michelle Filter and we were married in 2003. Our wedding was conducted by both a Catholic priest and a Lutheran pastor in the German-speaking Catholic Church in Honeydew. In 2010 our daughter, Christina, was born
In 2012 my company transferred me to the Cape Town branch, but the job did not match the job description, and I resigned in 2014. I decided to become a real estate agent and did all the required qualifications and worked for Harcourts until 2019. Since then, I have been a stay-at-home dad and doing what it takes to raise our daughter with her various activities.
I am still Catholic, but since our time in Cape Town have been part of this congregation.
Ralph Thomas
