Green’s Dictionary of Slang

(S.Afr.) a rubber-soled, laced canvas shoe.

1913		C. Pettman Africanderisms 491: Tackies is the name given to rubber-soled sand-shoes.
1924		Ann. Mountain CM S. Afr. 27 46 : Ye who scale with ropes and ‘tackies’ Cliffs of awe-inspiring grandeur.
1947		in L. Abrahams Cask of ]erepigo (1972) 236: And he looked quite all right, too, in his dinner-jacket and black trousers and carrying a tray. But his tackies, reinforced with string and newspapers, formed the subject of a good deal of ill-natured gossip in the dining saloon [DSAE].
1955		D. Jacobson Trap 20: He wore canvas takkies on his feet, his toes poking through the ends [DSAE].
1963		A. Fugard Blood Knot in New Eng. Dramatists 13 (1968) 130: And what about the takkies?
1966		L.G. Berger Where’s the Madam? 73: They come along [...] scuffing their dirty, laceless tackies in the dust.
1979		M. Matshoba ‘Glimpse of Slavery’ Call Me Not A Man 64: I skated down the stairs on the soles of my takkies.
1989		(con. 1968) P. Theroux My Secret Hist. (1990) 356: I wore a black suit [...] and tennis sneakers – takkies. It was the Kenyan word for them.
1990		A. Dangor Z Town Trilogy 63: Dr Malik [...] entered eternity, dirty takkies first.
1996		CyberBraai Lex. at www.matriots.com 🌐 Tackies: These are sneakers or running shoes. The word is also used to describe automobile or truck tires. ‘Fat tackies’ are big tires, as in: ‘Where did you get those lekker fat tackies on your Volksie (VW), hey?’.
2001		G. Coughlan Everyday Eng. and Sl. 🌐 Tackies (n): runners/trainers.
2005		A. Lovejoy Acid Alex 138: I took a breath, grabbed my takkies and ran lightly to the graze hall.
2005		www.theweebsite.com June 28 🌐 Athletic shoes come in many types and many nicknames [...] Tackies, Takkies [...] whatever ye’ calls ’em, I like Sneakers!
2010		IOL News Western Cape) 25 May 🌐 So how many hundreds of times have they made those gumboots, the ankle shakers, the pantsula takkies and the tapshoes do the talking?