Just Thinking

The Times really followed this story in 1959. It is nice to see that they featured a picture of the whole family of mama Elizabeth Mafekeng (Rocky), who was the president of African Food and Canning Workers Union (ACFWU) and the deputy president of the ANC women's league. Apartheid authorities forced her to leave with only the baby, leaving the husband and other kids behind.  (Click on the picture).

The Bafana “gees” has really gripped South Africa. It is heartening to see the patriotism that is expressed through the many South African flags that adorn cars and houses. The green and gold shirts declare in no uncertain terms where the loyalty of the nation lay/lied. It does not matter that the quality of the tee-shirt varies from genuine to imitations of the fakes. My employer is responsible for the two that I have.  Employers are also into the Bafana spirit. Employees are getting time-off from work to watch the Bafana games. Some employers (like mine) bought t-shirts for their employees and some spent a lot of money on match tickets. The controversy on the amount that government departments have spent on match tickets is at this stage not dampening the spirit. I guess we will deal with it later.  The national broadcaster – the SABC, played its role in psyching up the nation and rallying it around Bafana Bafana. It has been exciting to wake up to presenters who are...

The Soccer confederation cup has come and gone South Africa was not disgraced on the field of play. We were pleasantly surprised by the performance of Bafana Bafana. They held their own against big names in international football. Off the field of play a lot of good things were said about our organization of the event. One of the major shortcomings related to the country’s transportation system. The FIFA President, Sepp Blatter gave us a seven and a half out of ten and transportation was one of the issues he raised as needing attention before the Soccer World Cup in 2010.  I think a major problem with our public transport system is that it is not client centered. This is a diagnosis that is based on my experience with taxis, trains the bus service.  There was once a bus service in Mbekweni as I was growing up but we later got to depend more on trains to move to other areas. I still can recall getting onto trains that were, sometimes, without windows in winter and very late....

My hometown is covered in the British media.  This article appeared in The Times (London)  10 November 1959.  Click on the article to make it bigger. 

This is my great grandmother (sitting down) Mamdlane, Tutuse, Nomdimba. She was wife to Charlie Zantsi (Mqwathi). Charlie’s father was Melthafa and one of my grandmothers (we don't have great aunts in my culture) tells me that we have family members in the Eastern Cape who took the name Melthafa as their surname.   Another of Melthafa's sons was Dyan.   Charlie and Dyani’s grandchildren and great grandchildren can be found mainly in the Western Cape townships of South Africa.   Charlie’s children were Toni, Komanisi, Nonkcazelo and Bhaqiwe. My grandfather Toni married Sisiki Khethelo, known in Mbekweni as Tyhopho.   

As the FIFA World Cup is about to kick off in Russia I am reminded of what I wrote before the 2010 one in South Africa. : I can still vividly remember the day FIFA decided to give Africa a chance to host its first soccer world cup. I wrote in this column of the excitement as I watched the event on TV in the town of Springs. I can also recall the disappointment I had when I went back to my suburb blaring the hooter and people behaved as if they don’t know what was going on. It brought to me, once more, how divided a nation we were. My excitement made it difficult for me to sit down at home. I could not understand the stoic posture of former President Mandela’s security guards when these news were announced. One of them was a son of Paarl whom I later asked about his state of mind at that moment. He told me that his work demand that he suppress his emotions and focus on the job as that moment could have been an opportunity for would-be assassins. A lot has happened and have b...

It is interesting to read how my hometown is covered in the British media.  I will continue to share articles like this one that appeared in The Times (London)  15 December 1959.  Click on the article to make it bigger.