Die skofleier begin die skof.

Die means the. It appears twice because both nouns are definite:

• die skofleier = the shift leader
• die skof = the shift

So the sentence has one definite subject and one definite object.

Afrikaans usually writes compound nouns as a single word.
So:

• skof = shift
• leier = leader
• skofleier = shift leader

This is very common in Afrikaans, much more so than in English, where similar expressions are often written as two words.

The main noun is usually the last part of an Afrikaans compound. In skofleier, the main noun is leier.

That means a skofleier is a type of leier specifically connected with a skof.

This is a useful pattern to remember:

• boekwinkel = book shop, a kind of winkel
• tafeldoek = tablecloth, a kind of doek
• skofleier = shift leader, a kind of leier

In Afrikaans, verbs usually do not change according to the subject in the present tense.

So you get:

• ek begin = I begin
• jy begin = you begin
• hy begin = he begins
• ons begin = we begin

The verb stays begin in all of these. That is why the sentence says Die skofleier begin die skof, not something like begins.

Yes, in this sentence it is basically the same as English:

• Die skofleier = subject
• begin = verb
• die skof = object

So the pattern is subject + verb + object.

However, a broader Afrikaans rule is that the finite verb normally comes in the second position in a main clause. Because the subject comes first here, the result looks just like English word order.

Yes. In this sentence, begin directly takes die skof as its object.

So begin die skof means start the shift or begin the shift.

You do not need a preposition here. That is normal Afrikaans.
If you say begin met, that means begin with, which is a different structure.

No. Die is very simple compared with articles in some other languages.

It is used for:

• masculine nouns
• feminine nouns
• neuter nouns
• plural nouns

So Afrikaans does not make article changes like the versus different gender forms. In that way, die is much easier to use.

Yes. Begin in Afrikaans is clearly related to English begin, and the meaning is very close.

In this sentence, English would most naturally say starts the shift, but begins the shift is also understandable. So this is one of those helpful words that looks familiar to an English speaker.

It is capitalized only because it is the first word of the sentence.

If the same word appeared in the middle of a sentence, it would normally be written die, not Die. There is nothing special about the article itself here; it is just standard sentence capitalization.