Green’s Dictionary of Slang

(S.Afr.) a drunkard, an alcoholic.

1940		informant in DSAE (1996).
1954		Railway Gaz. 101 50/2: Here are a few nicknames given to trains by the S.A.R. & H. railway staff [...] ‘The Spook’ (night train), ‘Dronkie’ (drunks travel on it).
1959		J. Yates-Benyon Weak and the Wicked 112: ‘The Bitcher’ [so-called] because he was always discontented with his lot and never let anyone forget it; ‘Dronkie’ because of his taste for liquor.
1969		A. Fugard Boesman and Lena Act II: That piece of ground was rotten with dronkies.
1975		Barnard & Stander Unwanted 139: He’s an old ‘dronkie,’ you see, and he’s obviously been on a real bender.
1982		P.-D. Uys Karnaval 7: Early evening. Summer. A drunk’s voice from the street. dronkie [off]: [...] dronkie: My ou ma, missies, sy’s in die hospitaal, missies.
1987		L. Beake Strollers 70: Woollen-capped dronkies [...] danced with their eyes closed until they fell over.
2006		S. Albert Vengeance 265: Blind panic sucked the logic from his brain as, for seeming endless clicks, he ran round like some delirious dronkie.